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New Zealand's First Refugees: Pahiatua's Polish Children

The first downfall

The first downfall

Weakened internally, the country gradually succumbed to the combined pressure from the Prussian (the future Germany), Russian and Austrian empires, which partitioned the country between them. So in 1795, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe for the next 123 years. The irony of history is that Poland, under its king Jan Sobieski, had earlier saved the Austrian Empire and Europe from a Turkish invasion.

Before its downfall, Poland, under its last king, experienced a resurgence of culture and learning, which on 3 May 1791 resulted in the proclamation page 19of a constitution and far-reaching peaceful reforms – the first in Europe. The anniversary of that event is now Poland's national day. One of the reasons for Poland's partitions was its neighbours' fear that the "rot" of reform could permeate to their own subjects. The loss of their nationhood saw an upsurge of patriotism and a flowering of Polish learning, literature, arts, folk culture and scientific discovery. Unable to express themselves under foreign rule, or exiled after unsuccessful uprisings, the educated gentry took their culture and skills to enrich the cultures of other, more fortunate nations.

To mention a few of these luminaries – Chopin is a household name in music, Pulaski of the American Revolution has his own national day in the US and Kośoeciuszko has the highest mountain in Australia named after him. The exiles fought in other people's wars, the American War of Independence, and campaigned with Napoleon Bonaparte in the futile hope of regaining their nationhood. Those that remained at home kept the Polish language and culture alive, resisting their destruction by the occupiers.

Those dispossessed by the eviction policies of the German occupiers were forced to migrate and a group found themselves pioneering in Taranaki, New Zealand, towards the end of the 19th Century.