Antidote to self-serving attitudes

Thanks to Bess Manson for the inspirational obituary about Krystyna Tomaszyk (June 27). Tomaszyk’s lifelong generosity to the string of needy groups and in her later life, Mother Teresa’s missions in India, is also a tribute to her ability to overcome adversity and never give in to the evil she suffered in Poland and Siberia.

Like the motto of Polish troops that finally took Monte Cassino after almost suicidal sacrifice: ‘For our freedom and yours’, Krystyna’s generosity is an antidote to self-serving, anti-refugee attitudes of many countries throughout the past decade – including far-Right elements of her country of origin.

The tribute’s quote, ‘‘She didn’t just talk, she would challenge. She didn’t just walk, she would stride, challenge. She didn’t just think, she would analyse’’, should be written in stone above some monument to her and all orphaned immigrants who have made contribution so much to our country.

Like the memorial plaque in St Mary of the Angels – host to services for Polish ex-patriots each October for decades – to the 14,500 Polish prisoners of war ‘‘murdered by the Soviets’’, such monuments remind us of the cost of countering oppression, and of the values that ultimately will defeat them. Steve Liddle, Napier

It is well and good to bask in the praise of a job well done, but that needs to be accompanied by the acceptance of responsibility when things go wrong. Not a good look for an ‘‘iconic’’ figure?

Ivan Hoshek, Camborne

Colonial museum

He added: ‘‘In none of the recorded interviews, and indeed in none of the material made available to me, is there evidence of any systematic effort to explore the most obvious alternative hypothesis – that these frequently bizarre and implausible allegations were the product of extensive contaminating questioning by understandably anxious parents.’’

Dr Barry Parsonson criticised the evidential interviewers and their methods. In 1998, three Justice Ministry officials said Parsonson’s research cast ‘‘considerable doubt on the reliability of the evidence given by the complainants’’. Although free recall is generally considered to produce the most accurate account from children, among the almost 15,000 questions which Professor Harlene Hayne reviewed, the children’s interviewers resorted to using free recall on only 11 occasions.

Based on the evidence, it is entirely plausible and perhaps likely that not a single child was sexually abused by Peter Ellis. The Crown, and the complainants, should welcome that prospect.

Ross Francis, Masterton [abridged]

Census additions

It is certainly a sound idea to gather some census data regarding the Rainbow community (Sexuality to feature in census, June 29).

They are a significant proportion of the population, who have largely hid in the shadows for a long time.

There is another group Statistics NZ does not gather data about, and that is the neurodiverse and dyslexic community.

International figures indicate strongly that at least 10 per cent of the population have dyslexia.

Many of these folk have also hidden in the shadows for generations. They have been short-changed in the education system and side-lined in the workplace.

Ironically, many dyslexic people have a range of skills and talents that could be put to good use to increase the nation’s productivity. A good place to start would be to gather data about the neurodiverse community.

Mike Styles, Paraparaumu

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