The main celebrations took place in the town of Pahiatua, where in 1944 the New Zealand authorities established a special camp, where children stayed with a group of 105 Polish caregivers until 1949. A group of several “Pahiatua Children” and over 400 members of their families, mainly from New Zealand and Australia, came to celebrate the anniversary.

The ceremony began with traditional Māori greting, after which the Mayor of the Town, Tracey Collins, the President of the Polish Community in Wellington, Elżbieta Polaczuk-Rombel, and the Polish Consul, Maksymilian Zych.

Performances by Polish folk groups featuring children and youth were one of the most visually captivating parts of the commemoration. During the event, commemorative plaques were unveiled in the immediate vicinity of the monument that stands on the site of the no-longer existing camp.

On the occasion of the celebrations, residents of the town of Pahiatua decorated the streets, shops and restaurants with Polish flags and other Polish national symbols.

The commemorations ended with the Mass at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington, and the last point was a group photo of the “Pahiatua children” and the members of their families. Reunions, often after many years of separation, evoked strong emotions and were deeply moving for everyone involved. The Sybir Memorial Museum gained unique new materials: recorded testimonies and scans of hundreds of photos from the private archives of “Pahiatua families.”

The visit of the delegation of the Sybir Memorial Museum took place in the framework of the “Poles in New Zealand – research, digitization, and access” project, organized by the WIDOK Cultural Education Association and funded by the POLONIKA National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad.