Greek and Polish Refugee Settlers in New Zealand ‐ 1944–1968
| Date | 01 July 1972 |
| Author | I. H. Burnley |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1972.tb00892.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1972 |
Greek and Polish Refugee Settlers
in
New Zealand
-
1944-1968
BY
I.
H.
BURNLEY
In common with Canada,
U.S.A.,
Australia and Britain, New Zealand has accepted
refugees arising from World War
II
and its political aftermath, although the relative
proportion
of
refugees in the post war period was significantly less than with the other
nations cited. The Polish population in New Zealand constitutes the largest refugee group
with 2,200 persons in 1968, over 80 percent
of
whom were refugees who migrated in two
waves: orphan children
who
arrived in 1944 and Displaced Persons who came to New
Zealand between 1949-1951. The 1,026 Greek Displaced Persons who arrived in 1951
constitute the largest ethnic group among the 4,584 Displaced Person refugees (12.27
percent) and the 744 Polish the second largest
(1
6.23
percent)[l], together accounting for
39 percent of the Displaced Persons in New Zealand.
The approach is to review the background and circumstances of migration
of
two refugee
groups
of
differing social and cultural origins and describe the residential, occupational
and social adjustment of the former refugees after two decades in New Zealand. It will
be shown that the circumstances of migration were of crucial importance in adjustment
of the refugees but that despite similar migration characteristics, ethnic and cultural
differences were still important.
ORIGINS AND MIGRATION
The
Polish
Orphans
The 837 Polish refugees who arrived
in
New Zealand
in
1944 were the flotsam of total
war. Caught behind the invading Russian armies
in
1939, most lost their parents
in
the
war or
in
the separation which followed the transshipment of adults to labour camps and
factory
to
help the Russian war effort. Under diplomatic pressure from the Allies, the
Russians provided for the survival of children and orphans and a sizeable group of
children and a smaller group of adults who had survived great privation and death of
relatives were later encamped at Teheran where they were supervised by the International
Red Cross. An agreement was signed, largely through the initiative of the New Zealand
Prime Minister, P. Fraser, whereby 755 orphaned children and a small number of nurses
and adults were transported to New Zealand in the
U.S.
warship ‘Randall’ under the
auspices
of
the Red Cross and the New Zealand Government
in
October-November, 1944.
115
Among the first Polish refugee wave, females were in the majority, accounting for 52.5
percent of arrivals, being dominant in the 5-9 and 15-19 age groups.[2] Seventy percent
of the arrivals were individual orphans or persons separated from
all
other kin, 9 percent
were in sibling groups of 2-3 children while a further 11 percent were in ‘denuded’ families
with one parent missing.
The guardianship of the children was vested in a Polish Board
of
Guardians appointed by
the New Zealand Supreme Court. After 1949, the Child Welfare Division of the Depart-
ment of Education assumed responsibility for the general administration of their place-
ment and care, and for the costs involved.[3] The day by day work with the children was
carried out by the Roman Catholic Church authorities in consultation with
a
specialist
welfare officer attached for the Department’s staff. Almost all the children were Roman
Catholics.
The Polish Displaced Persons
New Zealand joined the International Refugee Organization at its inception as an official
body. As a member, New Zealand shared the cost
of
care, maintenance and resettlement
of refugees. Under the I.R.O. Group Resettlement Scheme, some 743 Poles were trans-
shipped to New Zealand from Displaced Persons Camps in Germany and Austria, having
endured great suffering through war, forced migration and internment and finally a radical
change in political and social structure with its accompanying terror. Like the orphan
refugees before them, the Polish Displaced Persons were initially housed in a former army
camp a Pahiatua before carrying out work of national importance such as hydro-electric
installation construction, forest milling and other activities as part of their two year
employment contract with the New Zealand Government.
From table
I
it is evident tnat 20 percent of the Polish Displaced Persons were children
under the age of 15 years. Males constituted 62 percent of the draft due to the inclusion
of
a large body of single men who comprised
25
percent of the total number of draftees.
The great majority of the single men were between 23-29 years while the bulk of the adult
draftees were
in
the 2044 age group. Older relatives or individuals were admitted for
humanitarian reasons.
Only 37 percent of the Poles arrived as members of complete nuclear family groups
while a further 12 percent were in denuded or incomplete family units, the most common
of which were the mother and child groups. Twenty-eight percent of the draftees consisted
of single adults, and about
17
percent were married couples without children. The nature
of the draft, especially the sex imbalance, and the presence of denuded nuclear families
has resulted
in
a small but continuing chain migration of Poles since the arrival of the
displaced persons and also influenced the community structure and intermarriage patterns
of the Polish population.
The Creek Displaced Persons
Over 52 percent
of
the Greek population
in
New Zealand consists of persons born outside
Greece proper. Most of this number were Displaced Persons who were born mainly in
Rumania with others from Bulgaria, southern Russia and Turkey. The Greeks in Rumania
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