We invite you on October 23 at 6:00 p.m. to meet Martyna M. Wojtkowska, author of the reportage In New Zealand the Sun Rises: The Wartime Odyssey of Polish Children, published in June 2025.
The event will explore the moving story of Polish children who, during World War II, survived deportation to Siberia but lost their families. After the evacuation with General Anders’ Army, they found refuge in various parts of the world — and 703 of them arrived in New Zealand, where they settled in a camp in Pahiatua.
This meeting offers a chance to discover the history of the so-called “Pahiatua children”, whom the author personally met during her journey to New Zealand. Although their memories reach back to childhood, today they resurface in the voices of nonagenarians as deeply touching testimonies of those times.
Date: October 23, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: The Sybir Memorial Museum
Tickets: reduced 10 PLN, regular 15 PLN
Martyna M. Wojtkowska (b. 1990) – documentary filmmaker and author of the reportage In New Zealand the Sun Rises: The Wartime Odyssey of Polish Children, the audio series A New Day Begins in New Zealand: The Story of the Children of Pahiatua, and the podcast Free Paths. She has been nominated for the Teresa Torańska Newsweek Award and the Polish Radio “Melchiory” Reporter Award, and is a recipient of the Young Poland scholarship, granted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the field of literature.
