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

Girls begin to leave

page 333

Girls begin to leave

The girls soon grew into young women. On weekends the hostel swarmed with young men, both Polish and New Zealanders. More and more weddings took place, so that by the time the hostel closed there were many children born to those marriages. Some of those children were brought back to the hostel to be looked after by the Sisters while the mothers worked.

The number of inhabitants in the hostel began to dwindle, not only because of the marriages, but as the girls grew more self assured they sought more independence and looked for private quarters (prywatki) to live in. Some also went to other countries to join relatives. But they all said that nowhere will they have as good a life as they had with the Sisters.