WelCom December 2024/January 2025
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the arrival of 733 Polish refugee children in New Zealand in 1944, the Trustees of the Ogonowska Education Charitable Trust are pleased to announce the Trust’s 2024 Awards.
These awards reflect and commemorate the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the Polish refugee children in New Zealand in 1944, among whom were Irena and Teresa Ogonowska.
The Trustees are Halina Ogonowska-Coates, Gordon Noble-Campbell and Jenny Gordon MNZM.
Gordon Noble-Campbell, Teresa’s son, considers it is important to remember and honour these two sisters’ lifelong commitment to education and their faith in overcoming life’s many obstacles. ‘It is important to acknowledge and reflect on the contribution and commitment of these two women, and the significance of their arrival in New Zealand as Polish refugee children,’ he says.
Pahiatua was the first home for the Polish refugee children following their arrival in Port Nicholson, Wellington, on 31 October 1944. They arrived aboard the USS General Randall, after a two-week voyage from Mumbai, India.
The 2024 Trust Awards recognise the work of students at St Anthony’s School Pahiatua in acknowledging this journey.
The Trustees congratulate these students and their families: Hazel Brass; Quinn Elliston; Charlotte Fouhy; and Meri Thomson.
Each of the students produced artwork relating to the 80th anniversary, which has been judged and selected by the school as worthy of special recognition.
Given the importance of the 80th anniversary, the Trustees announced four further awardsto go to outstanding students from the four Wellington Catholic Secondary Schools, still in existence, that welcomed Polish students from the Pahiatua Camp from 1945 through to the 1950s.
The students, all nominated by the respective principals from these four schools, are: Marianna Boless –St Mary’s College, Wellington; Laito Fauchelle –St Patrick’s College, Silverstream; Sam Glynan –St Patrick’s College, Wellington; and Viktoriya Lyubich –Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt.
