{"id":23981,"date":"2023-12-13T13:07:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/?p=23981"},"modified":"2024-01-05T13:07:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T12:07:55","slug":"the-paradise-we-didnt-notice-sybiraks-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/the-paradise-we-didnt-notice-sybiraks-in-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The paradise we didn’t notice\u2019. Sybiraks in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just over a month after returning from a research expedition to New Zealand in the footsteps of Boles\u0142aw Augustis and other Sybiraks, its members shared their discoveries at a meeting at the Sybir Memorial Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tomasz Danilecki, PhD from the Scientific Department of the Sybir Memorial Museum and the members of the Widok Cultural Education Association \u2014 Urszula and Grzegorz D\u0105browski and Rafa\u0142 Siderski, PhD \u2014 went to the other hemisphere as part of the project \u2018Boles\u0142aw Augustis and the Sybiraks from New Zealand. Query and digitization of selected archives\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was co-financed by Polonika The National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad and the budget of the City of Bia\u0142ystok. The Sybir Memorial Museum was a partner of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The evening meeting at the Sybir Memorial Museum was attended by, among others: Deputy Mayor of Bia\u0142ystok, Przemys\u0142aw Tuchli\u0144ski and Head of the Culture Department of the City Hall, Anna Pieciul. Marta Szymska from Polonika the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad came to Bia\u0142ystok especially for this evening. The relatives of one of the characters of the story, Boles\u0142aw Augustis, also came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Productive expedition to the other hemisphere<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tomasz Danilecki, PhD, as well as Urszula and Grzegorz D\u0105browski shared their impressions from the expedition and its results with the audience. As Marta Szymska emphasized, they went to New Zealand as volunteers. Their experience and accomplishment made their expedition become the main narrative axis of the documentary film that the POLONIKA Institute is preparing about the volunteer projects it finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As part of the project, 12 video reports of \u2018Pahiatua children\u2019 (i.e. Polish orphans rescued from Siberia and adopted by the New Zealand authorities in 1944) and their descendants were recorded. Researchers obtained 18 pages from Boles\u0142aw Augustis’ album, containing 147 original black and white prints. Additionally, they made 217 scans of photographs from the archives of New Zealand Poles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Archiwum<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 It was very difficult for us to organize this trip, there was even a moment when we wondered whether it would take place \u2014 said Danilecki, PhD. \u2014 It was difficult for us to establish contact with New Zealand, it seemed to us that we were hitting a wall of silence. But once we got there, it all turned out to be an illusion, the image of our imagination was shattered. We were surrounded by great kindness, hospitality and openness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 We planned one meeting with Polonia \u2014 three took place because the New Zealand Poles organized it for us as a surprise. We were in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington \u2014 said the researcher. \u2014 Nina Tomaszyk, the President of the Polish Association, was very involved. Her grandmother was deported from Sok\u00f3\u0142ka \u2014 he added. \u2014 Professor Krzysztof Pawlikowski, also a Polish activist, also helped us a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From icy Hell to green Paradise<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How did it happen that those deported by the Soviets from Poland ended up in New Zealand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with Anders’ Army, 40,000 civilians were evacuated from the Soviet Union to Iran. About 18 thousand of them were children and adolescents. Thanks to British support, thousands of Polish women and children were transported to the English dominions in Africa, as well as to Lebanon, Palestine, India, Mexico and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 In 1943, about 1,800 children sailed to Mexico \u2014 said Danilecki, PhD. \u2014 The ship docked in Wellington for one day. They were warmly welcomed by the local people and the representatives of the authorities, including the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Wellington, Antoni Wodzicki, and his wife Maria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wodzicka was friends with the wife of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Peter Fraser. Perhaps her commitment to bringing Polish orphans influenced the decision for New Zealand to accept a group of Polish refugees who had experienced the hell of Siberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On October 30, 1944, 733 Polish orphans with 105 guardians and service workers arrived in Wellington. They were warmly welcomed there and then transported to the camp in Pahiatua. (You can read more about this extraordinary story on our website \u2018The World of Sybir\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 In New Zealand we saw heaven on earth. Or the dream of a mad gardener. Palm trees, cows grazing under orange trees \u2014 said Tomasz Danilecki, PhD. \u2014 Meanwhile, Stanis\u0142aw Manterys, one of the Polish children rescued from Siberia and brought to New Zealand, told us: \u2018None of us noticed this paradise. We all wanted to return to Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Members of the Bia\u0142ystok expedition had the opportunity to talk to twelve \u2018Pahiatua children\u2019. We must also add the next generations \u2014 children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 There were many people at the meetings, from over 80-year-old “Pahiatua children” to their grandchildren \u2014 said Tomasz Danilecki, PhD. \u2014 When we were going to New Zealand, we were afraid that if we were another team from Poland, no one would want to talk to us. Meanwhile, the interlocutors came to us themselves. Some people traveled from far away to meet us \u2014 admitted the historian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polish hospitality on Antipodes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the meetings with New Zealand Polonia, our employee talked about the Sybir Memorial Museum and how Bia\u0142ystok remembers Sybiraks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 I don’t want it to sound immodestly, but the speech always ended with an ovation. Poles in New Zealand are very interested in this, they are happy that someone wants to talk to them and record their stories. Each meeting extended into several hours of discussions and conversations \u2014 said Danilecki. \u2014 Here in Poland, we remember that Sybiraks could not talk about their experience for years. The situation was different there. They could speak, but there were no listeners \u2014 emphasized Danilecki, PhD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dr<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 We heard from them: \u2018We were not believed\u2019 \u2014 he said. \u2014 We also talked to the next generation, now adults, who regret not asking their father or mother about their Siberian experience. 58-year-old Paul drove several hundred kilometers to tell us about his father. He is very upset that he did not ask questions about Siberia when his father was still alive…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n