When the Sun Rises in New Zealand tells the story of 733 children who, after their forced deportation from occupied Poland deep into the USSR, lost their loved ones and later found a home in New Zealand.
They arrived in Pahiatua via Uzbekistan and Iran. From the orphanages in Isfahan — which were only a brief stop along the way — they carried with them a few belongings and the love of Polish culture instilled in them. In the Persian Gulf, they boarded a U.S. Army ship. On deck, they read Pharaoh, played cards, and enjoyed games with the sailors. Their stay in Pahiatua became a chance to regain the childhood they had lost.
The author first learned about the history of the New Zealand children while researching an article. During a conversation with an archivist at the Pilecki Institute, she heard that when the children arrived at the camp, a candy was waiting under each of their pillows.
“That was the moment that drew me in! My story about the children of Pahiatua essentially started from the end — from the moment they arrived in New Zealand. But I felt the entire journey could be reconstructed, that it was possible to reach the protagonists and retrace their steps with them, from Poland to the USSR. There had to be fragments left behind, memories that could be pieced together,” Martyna M. Wojtkowska said during the meeting at the Sybir Memorial Museum.
However, the moment she began gathering materials for the book turned out to be exceptionally difficult.
“It was February 2022 — Polish media were still reporting on the pandemic victims, and Russia had just attacked Ukraine. The idea of retracing the children’s route was impossible to carry out. On top of that, New Zealand was still closed because of the pandemic, so it was clear I couldn’t travel there — and only a few of the former children had ever returned to Poland. Fortunately, I managed to find contacts for two women,” Martyna recalled.
One of them was Mrs. Aleksandra.
“We spent two days together in Bielsko-Biała, and Mrs. Aleksandra recreated the story in such detail that one could almost write a book based solely on her account. She described her hometown, what she experienced in Kazakhstan, and she spoke of the dress she carried with her throughout the journey. Her memory of those events was extraordinary. But I also had a strong sense that this book needed many voices, many experiences. I was curious how others remembered that time, so as soon as New Zealand reopened its borders in June 2022, I set out on a journey to the other side of the world and spent six weeks there.”
For When the Sun Rises in New Zealand, the author spent many hours in archives and conducted numerous interviews.
“The protagonists surprised me in many ways — in how they told their stories and at which moments strong emotions surfaced. I was also deeply impressed by the materials preserved in New Zealand archives — exceptionally detailed and allowing me to understand the story even more profoundly,” Martyna said.
The story of 733 Polish children who — despite being exiled to Siberia — found hope and peace at what felt like the end of the world is not just a fragment of wartime history. It is also a story of the strength of memory, of survival, and of the truth that sometimes the end of the world can turn out to be the best thing that happens to us.
