2019 - YEAR OF ANNIVERSARIES

MONTE CASSINO COMMEMORATED 2

75 YEARS AFTER WARSAW UPRISING 2

PASSPORTS TO PARAGUAY SCREENING 3

80 YEARS AFTER WW2 OUTBREAK 3

POLAND’S 20 YEARS IN NATO 4

POLISH NATIONAL DAY 2019 4

EUROPE DAY IN AUCKLAND 4

In this issue:

August 2019

NEWSLETTER No 24

E M B A S S Y O F T H E R E P U B L I C O F P O L A N D I N N E W Z E A L A N D

PISM DEPUTY DIRECTOR IN NZ 5

UW ACADEMICS IN NZ 5

POLISH IT SPECIALISTS IN NZ 5

GRAUPNER MUSIC FILM 6

POLISH FILM FESTIVAL 2019 6

BUILDNZ TRADE SHOW 6

GUSTAW HERLING-GRUDZIŃSKI 20th May 2019 marked 100 years since the birth of this one of the greatest Polish writers of the 20th century. He wrote novels, short stories, dia-ries and critical essays, but was best known for „A World Apart” (Inny Świat) - one of the most dramatic accounts of the power of humanity and dignity, a storring memoirs of the time he spent as a prisoner in a Soviet labour camp during 1940-1942. He went into self-exile after WW2 and later cofounded „Kultura”, a Polish-language

cultural periodical for Polish émigrés. As the Sejm resolution re-calls: „The destiny and creative achievement of Gustaw Herling-Grudziński are a testimony to the suffering and deeds of a man who had to survive the times of totalitarian violence and of the crisis of values.”

ANNA WALENTYNOWICZ Anna Walentynowicz would be celebra-ting her 90th birthday in 2019, had fate not decided otherwise. In the 1950s, she got herself a job at the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard, first as a welder and later as a crane operator, where she soon gained

model-worker status. Nonetheless, she soon became disillusioned

by socialism and the Communist regime in Poland. She got involved in workers’ protests, violently supressed in the 1970s, and later became a key member the Free Trade Unions of the Co-ast. It was her firing in August 1980 that inspired the strike at the Lenin Shipyard, which in turn ignited a wave of strikes that even-tually gave birth to the Independent Self-governing Labour Union “Solidarność”, the first trade union in a Warsaw Pact country that was not state-controlled and the world’s largest to date. After the strike, she became a member of the founding committee of “Solidarność” but was later removed on false accusations as the conflict within the union deepened. Walentynowicz died in the tragic plane crash near Smolensk on April 10, 2010.

STANISŁAW MONIUSZKO The composer, conductor and teacher, organist, wi-dely regarded as the creator of Polish national opera was born 200 years ago, on 5 May 1819. He was the director of the Grand Theatre in Warsaw.The MPs stressed in the document that Moniuszko was the model of a Polish patriot „The composer’s works to this day are an inspiration for many artists, while in his time they endowed the Poles with a range of

colours to express the finest shades of their patriotic feelings and national identity.”

NATIONAL PATRONS OF THE YEAR 2019

15 MARCH IN CHRISTCHURCH 7

WAITANGI DAY 2019 7

VISIT TO TONGA 7

75TH PAHIATUA CHILDREN REUNION 8

◊ 15 YEARS SINCE POLAND ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

◊ 20 YEARS OF POLAND’S MEMBERSHIP IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANI-

SATION (NATO)

◊ 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND’S FIRST PARTIALLY FREE ELECTIONS WHICH FOL-

LOWED THE “ROUND TABLE” TALKS

◊ 75 YEARS SINCE THE MONTE CASSINO BATTLE WHERE THE POLISH SOLDIERS FOUGHT NEXT TO THEIR NEW ZEALAND BROTHERS

◊ 75 YEARS SINCE WARSAW UPRISING

◊ 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL IN NEW ZEALAND OF POLISH CHILDREN OF PAHIATUA

◊ 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR OUTBREAK

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NEWSLETTER No 24

MONTE CASSINO BATTLE COMMEMORATED

On May 16, 2019, National Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassi-no was held in Wellington. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the New Zealand Government, the Parliament, diplomatic corps, Wellington City Council and veteran organisations. Various Polish communities were represented in large numbers, including the Polish Ex-Servicemen Association in New Zea-land, the Polish Association in New Zealand. Pre-sent were also the Polish Pahiatua Children. Minister Grant Robertson representing the NZ

Government, Polish Ambassador Zbigniew Gniat-kowski and other representatives of the countries belonging to the anti-Nazi coalition as well as Germany all laid wreaths in the Hall of Memories at the Pukeahu National War Memorial. After the official ceremony, the Polish Embassy organised a seminar with the participation of a renowned military historian Lt Col (Ret.) Christo-pher Pugsley, who spoke with great acclaim about Polish soldiers. We also presented the exhibition on the Anders Army and the video about Monte Cassino Battle.

Every year on August 1st at 5 pm, alarm sirens are heard on the streets of Warsaw. The city comes to a halt. In holding a minute of silence, Warsaw resi-dents pay tribute to the fallen insurgents and those who sur-vived. Public transport, cars and residents of Warsaw stop in their tracks to pay tribute to the insur-gents and murdered residents of the city. The Warsaw Rising broke out on August 1, 1944 and lasted 63 days. It was the biggest freedom surge in the history of WW2. Almost 50,000 Home Army insurgents faced the might of the German forces occupying the capital of Poland since 1939. The passivity of the Soviet Red Army units stationed on the other side of the Vistula, and the degree to which the insurgents were outnumbered in their fight against the Nazis, led to death of about 16,000 Home Army fight-ers and 150,000 Polish civilians. Combined with the demolition carried out by the Germans until January 16, 1945, the German Nazis destroyed over 70 percent of residential buildings and 90 percent of historic buildings of Warsaw’s left-bank part.

On August 1, in the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the Polish Embas-sy organised a seminar commemorating the Polish heroes. One of the rooms of the National Library of New Zealand was filled up with members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of New Zealand cultural and educational institutions, Polish Community and stu-dents of the Victo-ria University of Wellington. The Polish Ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski pre-sented a historical outline of the outbreak of World War 2, the persecution of Poles by the German and Soviet occupying forces, the unwa-vering struggle of Poles for freedom, as well as the con-

sequences of the Warsaw Uprising and the realities of post-war Poland that was under the Soviet occupa-tion. He paid a lot of atten-tion to the Polish heroes, presenting the silhouette of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, a Polish poet who died on the fourth day of the Upris-ing at the age of 23. Professor Roberto Rabel talked about the Warsaw Uprising from a personal perspective - as the son of the hero of the Uprising - Jerzy Rabel, pseudonym Jur, who during the Upris-ing fought in the War-saw sewers, and after WW2 settled in New Zealand. During the event two short films were shown: "There is a City" and a short docu-mentary about the Warsaw Uprising.

The Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the toughest and bloodiest battles

that determined the outcome of WW2.

The fourth assault by the Allied forces on German troops controlling the Benedictine abbey atop the hill of

Monte Cassino in Italy ended in the victory of the Polish 2nd Corps which broke the German defense lines and

opened for the Allied Armies the road to liberate Rome.

Monte Cassino was the key position of the German system of fortifications

in the narrowest part of the Italian Peninsula, called the Gustav Line. In the first half of 1944 Monte Cassino

witnessed fierce fighting between Allied forces and German troops.

Allied Commander Oliver Leese asked the Polish General Władysław An-ders, the commander of the Polish

2nd Corps, to join the battle of Monte Cassino. General Anders agreed, and on 11 May he issued a historic order

to the soldiers of the 2nd Corps: Soldiers!

The task that has befallen us will bring worldwide glory to the Polish soldier. In these moments of trial we will be in the minds and hearts of the entire Polish nation. The spirits of our fallen brothers in arms will support us.

Let the lion awake in your heart! After bloody fighting that lasted al-

most a week the abbey was con-quered. Another field of German

defense, called Hitler’s Line, was bro-ken. On May 18 at noon, a victorious white-and-red flag was hoisted on the

Monte Cassino hill. The assault cost the lives of 923 Polish soldiers, 2931 were wounded, and 345 were never

found. The Battle of Monte Cassino was a

testimony to Polish bravery and sacri-fice. Most importantly, it was an ex-pression of solidarity with other na-

tions fighting against Nazism.

75 YEARS AFTER WARSAW UPRISING

‘PASSPORTS TO PARAGUAY’

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NEWSLETTER No 24

On 20 August 2019 the Polish Embassy in coopera-tion with the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and the Embassy of Israel in New Zealand, organised a special sold-out screening of „Passports to Paraguay” documentary. The film, produced by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, presents a story of the Bernese Group - a group of Polish

diplomats and Jewish activ-ists in Switzerland who forged thousands of Latin-American passports to save Jews during WW2. It was a well-attended event and among guests we were honoured to have representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, New Zealand Ministry of For-eign Affairs and Trade, Polish & Jewish Communi-ties, academics and others.

80 years on, Poland continues to play

the role of a guardian of memory

about these events. We have proven

that with determination it is possible

to turn the tide of history. Ambassador Z. Gniatkowski

On August 27, 2019, at the Council Chamber of the University of Victoria in Wellington (VUW), the Polish Embassy, in cooperation with the Cen-tre for Strategic Studies (CSS VUW) and the New Zealand Holocaust Centre, organised the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. On this occasion a historical seminar was held with the participation of the Polish Ambassador and two VUW histori-ans: E. Prof. Roberto Rabel and A. Prof. Giacomo Lichtner, who also represented the Holocaust Centre. The seminar was moderated by A. Prof. David Capie, CSS VUW Director. Ambassador Z. Gniatkowski talked about the historical context of WW2 and the Polish per-spective of events in1939-1945, struggle of Polish people against the occupying forces, the post-war period, as well as today's contributions of Poland to building a lasting peace in the world. Prof. G. Lichtner presented the experience of war from the point of view of the Jewish community,

noting that the German occupation and the Holo-caust dramatically interrupted the thousand-year-long history of Jews in Poland. He based his speech on numerous quotes by historical figures. Prof. R. Rabel looked at the war period in various dimensions - personal, based on the experience of his parents, national - based on the history of New Zealand and the international one. Among the consequences of WW2 he listed a number of international institutions and agreements through which the countries undertook to build a post-war world order based on the norms of international law. As part of the commemorations, our Embassy organised an exhibition "Fighting and Suffering", prepared by the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk together with the Polish Foreign Ministry. The exhibition met with great interest of gathered historians, representatives of New Zealand institutions, the diplomatic corps, the Polish as well as Jewish communities.

80th ANNIVERRSARY OF WW2 OUTBREAK

In years 1942-1943, an informal group of

Polish diplomats and activists of Jewish

organisations worked together to obtain

passports of South American states for

Jewish people imprisoned in ghettos by the

Nazi German occupiers of Poland and

other European countries. Thanks to these

papers, many Jews avoided deportation to

German death camps. Holders of these

passports were sent to internment camps in

Germany and to occupied France instead.

Some of them survived. The families of the

survivors only today find out to whom they

actually owe theit lives. The secret group

working at the Polish legation in Bern in-

cluded: Aleksander Ładoś, Konstanty

Rokicki, Stefan Jan Ryniewicz, Julisz Kühl

and on the part of Jewish organisations - Adolf H. Silberschein and Chaim Eiss.

Today, we face new challenges

to a rules-based international

order, but there have been

others over the past eight dec-

ades. We should be comforted

that none of those challenges

are comparable to those that

were unleashed in September

1939. Prof. R. Rabel

There is a perhaps understandable

tendency to read the history of Juda-

ism in Poland from the lens of the

Holocaust, with the benefit of hind-

sight. In fact, 1000 years of Jewish

civilisation in Poland cannot be de-

fined only by the catastrophe that

befell Polish Jews between 1939-1945.

4

POLAND’S 20 YEARS IN NATO

The celebrations of Poland's National Day commemorating the 3rd of May Constitution, and this year also highlight-ing 15 years since our country joined the European Union, held on 3 May in Wellington, were well attended by Gov-ernment representatives, MPs, Diplomatic Corps, academ-ics, cultural and business institutions as well as numerous representatives of the Polish organisations from all around New Zealand and other ethnic communities. In his address the Polish Ambassador highlighted a very good shape of bilateral relations between Poland and New Zealand and reminded of significant milestones to be com-memorated this year. Ambassador put emphasis on the historic unification of Europe, while accentuating the road of difficult reforms Poland had taken upon in order to join the EU as well as the strategic benefits we have been en-joying since the accession that took place 15 years ago.

Jeff Langley, Deputy Secretary Australia, Europe, Middle East and Africa Group at MFAT, representing the NZ Government that night, highlighted an important role Po-land has played on the international area when hosting the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Con-vention on Climate Change COP24 in Katowice in Decem-ber last year or the Ministerial (Conference) to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East in Warsaw in February this year in cooperation with the US. To highlight the 15th anniversary of Poland's accession to the UE, Prof. Donald Maurice from the New Zealand School of Music performed the "Ode to Joy" on viola d'amore. Exhibition "15 Years in the EU" presenting Poland's road to the European Union's accession and its main benefits was shown that night.

POLISH NATIONAL DAY 2019

Guests invited by POLANZ (Polish-NZ Business Association) gathered on the 9th of May at the Europe House in Auckland to celebrate Eu-rope Day and the 15th anniversary of the accession of 10 countries, includ-ing Poland, to the European Union. The speeches were made by the Polish Ambassador, Deputy Ambas-sador of the EU Delegation to NZ, the NZ-EU Business Council Presi-dent, and Honorary Consuls of Lithu-ania and Latvia. All speakers indicat-ed that by accepting new members, the EU became stronger and safer and enlarged its common market.

The event was well attended by rep-resentatives of the business organisa-tions, students and lecturers from the University of Auckland, members of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Institute of International Af-fairs, members of the Auckland Con-sular Corps, representative of the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Robert Hołubicki, the Presi-dent of POLANZ, had acknowledged support in organising the event by the Polish Embassy, NZ-EU Business Council, NZ-Czech Republic Busi-ness Association and Honorary Con-suls of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

On 1 May 2004, Poland, together

with the Czech Republic, Slo-

vakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, joined the EU. It

was the largest enlargement in the

Union’s history.

In the first step, on 16 December

1991, Poland signed the Eu-

rope Agreement establishing an association be-

tween Poland and the European

Communities and their Member

States. A symbolic moment came on

8 April 1994 in Athens with the submission of a

formal application for membership in

the European Union by the

Government of the Republic of Poland. Official

accession negotia-tions with the EU

began four years later.

On 1 April Ambassador Z. Gniat-kowski hosted a dinner with a spe-cial guest the New Zealand Defence Minister Ron Mark and NATO countries' Ambassadors residents in New Zealand to highlight the 20th anniversary of Poland’s member-ship in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as 70th anni-versary of its establishment. Valuable talks were shared by all

present on cooperation between the Alliance and New Zealand. All gathered acknowledged the signifi-cance of shared values, such as pri-macy of the international law and the rules-based system as well as the need for a closer cooperation in the context of recent extremism and violent acts. A special exhibition was shown on this occasion.

NEWSLETTER No 24

EUROPE DAY IN AUCKLAND

During the last two decades Poland proved

to be a reliable al-ly. We take an active

part in NATO expedition and train-ing missions. In Iraq and Afghanistan, we

stand alongside the New Zealand

troops" - Ambassa-dor Z. Gniatkowski

Following the signing last year of an agreement be-tween the University of War-saw (UW) and Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington during last year’s visit to New Zealand of Polish Presi-dent Andrzej Duda, coopera-tion with Poland’s leading capital-city university has been going from strength to strength. On 22 - 24 July, the Centre for Strategic Studies and the Political Science and Interna-tional Relations Programme, Victoria University of Wel-lington (VUW) hosted a visit by Prof. Jakub Zajaczkowski from the UW’s Faculty of Political Science and Interna-tional Studies, accompanied by his colleague, Dr Dorota

Heidrich. During the visit, Dr Heidrich presented several well-attended seminars and lectures - on the concept of the Responsibility to Protect, the migration “crisis” in Eu-rope and current trends in Polish politics. The visitors also discussed opportunities for ongoing collaboration with the Centre for Strategic Studies, Politi-cal Science and International Relations Programme staff as well as the New Zealand-India Research Institute. The visit was coordinated by E. Prof. Rob Rabel of the Centre for Strategic Studies, who will follow up on these discussions when he makes his visit to Warsaw in Octo-ber to deliver seminars and guest lectures.

PISM DEPUTY DIRECTOR IN NZ

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NEWSLETTER No 24

On 24 of July, at Europe House in Auc-kland, POLANZ (PL-NZ Business Associa-tion) organised an IT-focused event featu-ring Polish specialists. Ralf Klis, is an IT architect, Certified Prin-ce2 Practitioner, Certified ScrumMaster® with a MScs, Master’s in Computer Science and an expert in WordPress, whose clients have included many top-end brands such as ASB, Vodafone, Healthscope NZ, Place-Makers and Ford. He’s the owner of Futu-reLab. Ralf presented on „The real cost of R&D for small business – pros and cons of investing in the unknown”. Chris Dzikiewicz graduated from top Euro-pean business schools and moved to New Zealand in 2010. He worked as the Digital Marketing Executive and now is a business consultant & digital strategist for busines-ses in the Pacific region. He combines strong analytical skills with a passion to drive sales via effective marketing. His presentation was entitled: Digital Marketing

Strategy – Methodology & Practical Tips. Jarek Beksa has had a wide-ranged career as a programmer, researcher, academic lec-turer, founder, designer, producer and so-und engineer. Since 2009 he has designed and developed 35 applications, from games and stories for kids to B2B applications. He is passionate about accessibility, sound engineering, user experience, games and interactive storytelling. In 2014, he was awarded The Vice Chancellor scholarship at AUT and moved to New Zealand for PhD studies on accessible audio games. He is a creator of award-winning Audio Game Hub and Blind Cricket simulator and the innovative Sonnar Library service on Ama-zon Alexa and Google Home platforms. Jarek presented on: Voice applications and smart speakers – future of Human-Computer Interactions. This event was well-attended. Present was also the Polish Ambassador Z. Gniatkow-ski.

Jacek Foks, deputy director of the Polish Institute of International Af-fairs (PISM) visited New Zealand on 13-14 May. In Christchurch, Jacek Foks met with Prof. Martin Holland and oth-er representatives of the National Center for Research on Europe at the University of Canterbury. In Wellington he took part in an expert seminar organised by the Center for Strategic Studies at the Victoria University. At the invitation of the New Zealand Institute of Interna-tional Affairs (NZIIA) he also pre-

sented a lecture on the Polish for-eign policy within the Euroatlantic community. The topics of the meetings covered wide range of issues with Transatlantic relations with the US, China and Russia, as well as security issues and Poland's mem-bership in the European Union. Mr Foks also met with the manage-ment of NZIIA - Vice President Prof. Roberto Rabel and Executive Director Melanie Thornton. PISM signed a cooperation agree-ment with NZIIA in 2015.

ACADEMICS FROM UW VISIT

POLISH SPECIALISTS INNOVATING NZ IT INDUSTRY

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NEWSLETTER No 24

NEW ZEALAND PREMIERE OF GRAUPNER MUSIC FILM

The New Zealand premiere of the docu-mentary music film and a joint Polish - New Zealand project presenting the mu-sic of Christoph Graupner was held on 8 April in Wellington Filmed on location at the 13th-century Owinska Monastery in Poland, "Christoph Graupner - for viola d’amore and more" film is a major contribution to the international rediscovery of the ex-quisitely beautiful viola d’amore, and of the music of Christoph Graupner, whose entire collection of manuscripts, by a strange twist of fate, was hidden from

view until the 1970s. As a prime example of Poland & New Zealand collaboration, the film features Prof. Marcin Murawski (Akademia Muzyczna in Poznań) on viola and Prof. Donald Maurice (Victoria University of Wellington) as viola d’amore soloist with Orkiestra Ars Longa of Poznan, Poland, conducted by Eugeniusz Dąbrowski. Christoph Graupner - for viola d’amore

and more was funded by Victoria Uni-versity of Wellington and the Adam Foundation and was proudly supported by the Polish Embassy.

NEW ZEALAND POLISH FILM FESTIVAL 2019

The 4th edition of the New Zealand Polish Film Festival - this year under the new name - has shown five Polish productions at Welling-ton’s Roxy Cinema in April. The Opening Night Gala saw a screening of "Another Day of Life"/Jeszcze Dzień Życia (2018) directed by Damian Nenow (Poland) and Raúl De La Fuente (Spain) with a story based on the real-life experiences by brilliant veteran Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński. Audience in Christchurch saw an inaugural edition of the Festival in June at the new Lu-mière Cinema at the Christchurch Arts Centre. Final screenings of the year will be held in Auckland on 24 & 26 October at Bridgeway

Cinema, Northcote. See nzpff.nz for more details. The New Zealand Polish Film Festival has been held in Wellington since 2016, up until this year under the name Wellington Polish Film Festival. Over 40 Polish films have been screened including features, documentaries and shorts, with Polish filmmakers present representing their films, and provid-ing opportunities for filmmakers from both countries to connect. The Polish Embassy has been a proud sup-porter and partner of the Festival since its beginnings.

On 23-25 June, Polish Embassy and Poland - New Zealand Business Asso-ciation POLANZ took part in BuildNZ - NZ's largest trade show for the build, construction and design industries, presenting Polish companies producing furniture, windows, doors and interior elements such as ceramic tiles and tim-ber floors. Among the companies pre-sented were BIM Furniture, Szkilnik Design producing wooden washbasins and baths, Radomsko and Tados Firek manufacturing windows and doors, and Hector Property Solutions. We were also hosting a representative of Christ-church-based Live House Design Stu-dio, a company importing and distrib-uting Polish ceramic tiles and timber floors. Our stand neighboured with Izodom New Zealand - producer of low energy and passive housing based on IZODOM 2000 technology devel-oped in Poland. We were pleased to welcome at

our stand the New Zealand Minister for Building and Construction and Associ-ate Minister of Housing and Urban Development Hon Jenny Salesa. The Polish Embassy and POLANZ joined the German - New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in holding the BuildNZ Networking Event. Polish Ambassador Z. Gniatkowski spoke about great condition of the Polish economy, construction and building sector export hits and booming Polish - German bilateral trade. Several New Zealand companies, also present at the event, base their offer on products and materials sourced directly from Poland, such as safety harnesses sold by Christchurch-based company ZERO or roof access hatches and lad-ders as well as skylights offered by Adlux. The Polish stand was financed by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology of the Republic of Poland.

BOOSTING PL - NZ TRADE RELATIONS

Photos:

NZ

School

of Mu-

sic

Facebo-

ok

CHRISTCHURCH 15 MARCH 2019

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NEWSLETTER No 24

In February, Ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski participated in the annual commemorations of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Waitangi Programme included a reception hosted by the Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Win-ston Peters. Ambassador, who through-out this year’s commemorations was acting as a representative of the Dean of Diplomatic Corps, acknowledged good relations existing between the diplomatic missions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and thanked the Foreign Minister for his hospitality „at the celebrations of one of the milestone moments in New Zea-land history”. Diplomatic Corps met with the local Māori representatives. Diplomats accredited to New Zealand, present at the commemorations of the New Zealand nationhood were hosted

by the Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and Sir David Gascoigne at a special luncheon in Russell. The annual Beat Retreat and Ceremo-nial Sunset Ceremony took place at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to commem-orate a longstanding naval connections with Waitangi. All present witnessed marching by the Guard of Honour and enjoyed performances by the New Zea-land Navy band and the cultural group. On the occasion of the Waitangi Day, the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, who paid an official visit to NZ in August last year, sent a letter to Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy. Also the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz sent congratulatory letters to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister Winston Peters respectively.

WAITANGI DAY 2019

In the wake of the terrorist attack that took place in Christchurch on 15 March, the Polish Ambassador, Ho-norary Consul and the leaders of the Polish organisations in Christchurch laid flowers near the mosque where 51 lives were lost. The Polish Ambassador said on March 15th : We are deeply saddened

and shocked to hear of shooting and

many deaths and injuries at Chri-

stchurch mosques. Our thoughts are

with the Muslim community and the

people of Christchurch. Condolence messages were sent from Poland: from the President of Poland Andrzej Duda to the Gover-nor-General Dame Patsy Raddy as well as from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to Prime Minister Jacin-da Ardern and from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz to Deputy Prime Minister and Fore-ign Minister Winston Peters.

In July, the Polish Ambassador to Tonga Z. Gniatkowski parti-cipated in the official celebra-tions of the 60th birthday of His Majesty Tupou VI King of Tonga in Nuku'alofa. Events like this create a great opportu-nity to meet with a whole ran-ge of people, politicians and dignitaries, such as Tongan Prime Minister ’Akilisi Po-hiva, Foreign Ministry repre-sentatives, High Commissioner of Tonga in London, Titilupe

Fanetupouvava’u Tu’ivakano. Polish Ambassador also met with the Foreign Secretary Mahe Tupouniua, Solomone Fifita of the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency as well as Lucy Mafi, Acting CEO of Tongan Ministry of Education. The agenda included Poland’s ac-tivities in the United Na-tions system, climate chan-ge and COP24, education & social programmes.

VISIT TO TONGA

Level 9, City Chambers 142-144 Featherston St

Wellington

PO Box 10211, Wellington 6143

E M B A S S Y O F T H E R E P U B L I C O F P O L A N D I N N E W Z E A L A N D

tel: (04) 4997844 fax: (04) 4997846

wellington.amb.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl www.wellington.msz.gov.pl

Feedback & comments: anna.golebicka@msz.gov.pl

PLinNewZealand

Polish Embassy in Wellington

WELLINGTON The Pahiatua Polish Children Facilitating Committee presents the na-tional program of events to commemorate 75 years since the Polish Children’s arrival to New Zealand. The reunion will be held in Wel-lington and Pahiatua. If you wish to attend this year’s commemorative events and you have not attended a past Pahiatua Polish Children reu-nion, you must register to receive the next communication. Please send your details to: pahiatuapolishchildren@gmail.com Friday, 1 November - Pahiatua Day Trip Saturday, 2 November (11.30am – 5pm) Alan Gibbs Centre, Wellington College,15 Dufferin St, Mt Victoria, Wellington EVENT: 75th Reunion - all Pahiatua Polish Children and their imme-diate families are invited to meet & mingle, plated lunch, entertainment & singalong, afternoon tea, exhibition. Saturday, 2 November (7.30pm) Dom Polski, 257 Riddiford St, Newtown Wellington EVENT: 75th Reunion: Evening event - the Polish Association warmly invites the extended Polish community to Dom Polski. This social event is tailored for the ‘next generation’. Sunday, 3 November (12.30pm) St Mary’s of the Angels, Wellington EVENT: 75th Anniversary Mass (Cardinal John Dew) Sunday, 3 November (2pm) Polish Dzieci Square, Cambridge Tce, Wellington EVENT: Blessing of the plaque at Polskie Dzieci Square Sunday, 3 November (3pm – 6pm) Alan Gibbs Centre, Wellington College,15 Dufferin St, Mt Victoria, Wellington EVENT: official group photo, anniversary cake, afternoon tea, exhibi-tion and farewell.

75th ANNIVERSARY OF POLISH CHILDREN ARRIVAL - PLANNED EVENTS

CHRISTCHURCH The Polish Association in Christchurch warmly invites our Polish community, its friends and supporters and the wider Christchurch community, to come together with us in giving thanks for the wel-come offered to the group of Polish children 75 years ago in their time of need, and to the many others who followed in later years, who together with their descendants make up the New Zealand Polish community today. All Pahiatua Polish children and their families are invited to an afternoon tea: Saturday, 9 November, 1pm 75th Reunion - The Fairway and Terrace Rooms, Russley Golf Club & function centre, 428 Memorial Ave, Burnside Sunday, 10 November, 2pm 75th Anniversary Thanksgiving Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 70 Spencer Street Addington After the Mass, please join us for afternoon tea in the adjoining hall. Inquiries to Joanna & Krysia (Kubiak): joanna.leahy@canterbury.ac.nz or krysia_m_waaka@hotmail.com (Pahiatua Polish Children’s Families Committee members)

AUCKLAND

An Auckland Polish Reunion bringing together all Poles and those of Polish descent is to be held Labour Weekend (24-27 October) in Auckland. This event will acknowledge the 75th anniversary of the Pahiatua children and is a lead-in to the main celebrations occurring in Wellington. If you would like to get on the database to find out more about the series of events occurring over Labour weekend, contact Wanda Lis: EMAIL: AucklandPolishReunion2019@gmail.com PHONE: +64 21 248 0629 And request to join our closed Facebook Group: Auckland Polish Reunion 2019 https://www.facebook.com/groups/AucklandPolishReunion2019/