War orphans, families reunite

A tiny Tararua town is welcoming back its adopted sons and daughters as New Zealand’s Polish community remembers the arrival of war orphans and refugees 75 years ago.

In 1944, the people of Pahı¯atua welcomed 732 Polish children and their 102 caregivers who fled a war-torn and Nazioccupied Poland. They were New Zealand’s first refugees, invited by Prime Minister Peter Fraser on humanitarian grounds.

Every year the remaining Pahı¯atua Polish children who are able to and their descendants gather to celebrate the anniversary of their arrival into safety.

The main celebration of the 75th anniversary will be held in Wellington next week, including a trip to Pahı¯atua with Polish ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski on Friday. Smaller events will be held by Polish associations in Auckland and Christchurch.

For five years the children lived in a camp known as ‘‘Little Poland’’ and were taught in Polish and English before being sent to secondary schools around New Zealand.

Pahı¯atua Polish children reunion committee member Tereska Lepionka-Carroll, whose parents were part of the original arrivals, said she and others like her remained proud of their heritage. The country and town that gave them safety after such harrowing experiences truly became their home. ‘‘Their memories of arriving in Wellington and travelling by train to Pahı¯atua, with hundreds of people waving and welcoming them, is forever etched in their minds and hearts.’’

Many of the children had lost parents when they were deported to Siberian work camps after Russia and Germany split the country between them, or in the harsh conditions of the camps.

Little Poland camp was effectively an orphanage and the children grew into a huge extended family.