Polish Refugees Celebrate 70 years in NZ

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henryk
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Polish Refugees Celebrate 70 years in NZ

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Post by henryk » 03 Nov 2014, 20:39

http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/polish-re ... ote]Polish refugee community celebrates 70 years in NZ

By Jerram Watts Reporter Monday 27 Oct 2014 6:21 p.m.

The New Zealand Polish community is preparing to celebrate 70 years since they first arrived in Wellington as refugees of World War II. In 1944, 733 children and more than 100 adults arrived and settled in Pahiatua in Wairarapa.

Eric Lepionka was just eight-years-old when he arrived in New Zealand in 1944. "Seventy years is a long time," he says. "I didn't expect to live this long." He and more than 830 others were war refugees. They had survived the harrowing journey through Siberia and Iran before arriving in Wellington in November. "We felt quite strange because we left quite a lot of friends behind and we didn't know where New Zealand was and what was New Zealand like," says Mr Lepionka.

Then-Prime Minister Peter Fraser and his wife, Janet, oversaw the arrival before the Poles went to Pahiatua to begin their new life. "Next morning of course we had a shower, a warm shower for the first time," says Mr Lepionka. "I'd never had a shower in my life before."

Their stay was supposed to be temporary, but when Joseph Stalin seized control of Poland after the war, their time in New Zealand became indefinite. It was time to learn the Kiwi way of life, and Mr Lepionka remembers a few learning curves.
"There was a little jar with something black inside it, and I thought it was chocolate, so I opened it up and spread it on my toast quite thick and then I took a bite – wow. It's Marmite, not chocolate! People were laughing their heads off!"

Mr Lepionka's daughter, Tereska, is directing the Celebrating Everything Polish festival, involving cuisine, dance and literature. It's being run at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea through to Sunday next week. "It's about actually sharing our stories with them, showing them how we have come a long way from 70 years ago and built our platforms," says Ms Lepionka-Carroll.

The festival coincides with the release of Helena Wisniewska-Brow's book, Give Us This Day, a memoir from her father about settling in New Zealand. "The resilience I think, the resilience of those children was incredible, and the great success they have made of their lives given that hardship and what they experienced," says Ms Wisniewska-Brow.

That resilience is still at the heart of New Zealand's Polish community, which now numbers about 3000.

3 News
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https://www.facebook.com/PolishChildren70Reunion

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standar ... atua[quote]
Polish immigrants welcomed back to Pahiatua

"We will forever love the people of Pahiatua"
THOMAS HEATON
Last updated 16:22 30/10/2014

WARWICK SMITH/Fairfax NZ
BACK AGAIN: Dioniza Choros (nee Gradzik) receives a hug from Wanda Lepionka.

Red and white flags waved as Pahiatua welcomed home its Polish children today, 70 years after their first arrival in the Tararua town. In 1944, 732 children and their 102 caregivers arrived in Pahiatua as refugees from war-torn Poland. Today about returned, most travelling from Wellington as part of a series of events to commemorate their arrival in New Zealand. The welcomed guests arrived with both a military and police escort, the three buses drove up Main St as the town welcomed them.

The people of Pahiatua, joined by hundreds of school children from the surrounding area, lined the streets as they welcomed the polish children as they were 70 years ago. Original Polish child Maria Wypych, 79, said she thought the welcome was beautiful.
"We will forever love the people of Pahiatua," she said.

The buses circled the town before coming to a stop at the Pahiatua town hall where they were welcomed by a powhiri. There were tears, laughter and embraces as the children met each other, before listening to speeches and welcomes from organisers and dignitaries.

Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad deputy director Joanna Kozinska-Frybes thanked Pahiatua for what it had done for the Polish children 70 years ago. She spoke of the trials of World War II and the plight of the refugees.

After lunch, the children continued to the Pahiatua and Districts museum and St Bridget's Church. On their way back to Wellington, they had a memorial service at the Polish Children's Memorial, south of Pahiatua.

- Manawatu Standard
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