Pahiatua Polish Children’s 80th Reunion
1 - 3 November 2024, Pahiatua & Wellington, NZ

• 80th anniversary of arrival of New Zealand’s first refugees; displaced children from war-torn Poland
• Two days of commemorations in Tararua town of Pahiatua where a camp was set up for the 733 children and their caregivers
• Sir Dave Dobbyn to sing ‘Welcome Home’ to 23 surviving ‘Pahiatua Polish Children’ attending ceremony on Friday

The arrival in Pahiatua 80 years ago of displaced Polish children escaping war is being celebrated in the town that welcomed them and gave them their first New Zealand home.

733 Polish children and their 105 adult caregivers reached a specially set up camp in Pahiatua on 1 November 1944, where they remained until well after the war’s end a year later.

The group were New Zealand’s first refugees.

Pahiatua will again welcome the remaining Pahiatua Polish Children back to the town on Friday 1 November, along with their descendants, for two days of commemorations and a street fair.

Chair of the Polish Childrens’ 80th Reunion Committee Krysia Januszkiewicz Reid, says the weekend is packed with activities to remember and celebrate the special relationship the Polish community shares with Pahiatua.

“Pahiatua is held in the hearts of every Polish person in New Zealand as the place that offered these children, who had endured so much, a safe haven and a welcoming home.”

The children were among displaced Poles who had been deported to Siberian work camps by Russia when Poland was split under Russian and German control, and later evacuated to Iran under an amnesty reached with Russia in 1941.

Many of the children had lost their parents during the harrowing deportation, or harsh labour camp conditions, or their fathers were fighting for the Polish Army.

In 1944 New Zealand’s Prime Minister Peter Fraser invited the group to stay under humanitarian grounds, and they became known as the Pahiatua Polish Children.

After arriving in Wellington on the USS General Randall, they embarked on a train journey to Pahiatua, with locals turning out in their hundreds to welcome them.

Some of those people who were also children at the time, are set to welcome the small group of surviving Polish children who have been able to make the journey again.

“This is a very special occasion and Pahiatua is pulling out all the stops to make it a great weekend, even bringing in Sir Dave Dobbyn to sing his hit song ‘Welcome Home’ on Friday 1 November, as part of a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary. There will also be a visit to the site of the former Pahiatua camp where the children lived and the unveiling of three new information boards at the memorial site.

“We’re expecting 23 of the original Pahiatua Polish Children will attend events on Friday with approximately 350 extended family members coming from across the country, and other places around the world. Children from schools in Pahiatua as well as Polish dancers will participate in the welcome ceremonies which will be lead by the Mana Whenua.

On the Saturday there is a street fair with food trucks, film screenings and a concert featuring performers from the Polish Orlęta and Orzeł dance groups, members of Koledzy, a Polish music group, Scottish and Ukrainian dancers, and a school Kapa Haka performance. “

On Sunday, events move to Wellington with a mass at St Mary of the Angels church, followed by a luncheon and a wreath laying at the waterfront plaque that commemorates the Polish childrens’ arrival in New Zealand.

Ela Polaczuk-Rombel, president of the Polish Association in NZ Inc., says the 80th anniversary is significant and will realistically be among the last to be attended by the Pahiatua Polish Children.

“It is bittersweet; all of these children have had such fond memories of their arrival in Pahiatua and we’re really delighted that the Pahiatua community is making them – and the descendants – feel so welcome all over again.”

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