Early Polish Settlers: A Harsh Life

At the back of a fireplace pure pork sausages hang like a row of giant toes. They are away from the flames, strung in the path of grey-blue smoke curling, swirling up the chimney. As the sausages are slowly, gently, seductively cured, the pungent smell of garlic and fragrant meat fills the old one-room lean-to on ‘German Street’. Hanging in the back porch are the sensory results - smoked ham, bacon and Polish sausage, all covered in stockinette, cheese cloth or muslin. This was a common sight and smell in and around Inglewood during the late 1800s when Polish settlers came to Taranaki.

Waitara's Ray Watembach, an expert on the region's Polish history, says there was an influx of immigrants in 1876. They came to New Zealand on the ship Fritz Reuter, which landed in Wellington. "Some 52 of them were trans-shipped in the SS Taupo to New Plymouth. They were housed in the Marsland Hill barracks, which was used as an immigration centre."

Ray says that within a week all the new immigrants had landed work scrub-cutting. "Except for one man who was seriously ill. I think he got gored by a bull." The injured man, a Mr Trebes, did survive the attack.

The Polish people first settled in Bell Block, but by 1877 most of the jobs were in Inglewood. The men worked felling trees, building the New Plymouth to Waitara railway line and then the Waitara to Whanganui line. Some Polish workers even helped create the totally man-made Pukekura Park in New Plymouth. A few of these families settled on Durham and Norfolk roads in Inglewood, while others moved to Johns Road, Tariki, and York Road, Midhirst. There was also a group of Poles who had found life too tough in Jackson's Bay in south Westland, so had moved to Taranaki and settled in the Ratapiko area.

But the majority of those who arrived in the province in 1876 were based in the town of Inglewood. "And were living in James Street, which was nicknamed German Street," Ray says. "The English settlers called them Germans, but the people considered themselves Polish."

However, there was a missing link for these Eastern European immigrants - there was no such place as Poland at that time. "The people came from an area called West Prussia, which had been formerly the Polish province of Pomerelia."

Ray gives a brief history of that contentious land, saying Poland existed from 966 to 1794, when it was invaded and partitioned. "It was one of the largest medieval states in Europe, with 20 principalities or kingdoms and 12 different languages." Between 1550 and 1750 about 30,000 Scots people migrated to Poland, with most settling in North Poland, which later became West Prussia. "Poland had a brief revival from 1805 to about 1815, at the time of (French leader) Napoleon," Ray says. Then, for more than 100 years it remained in the clutches of Germany, Russia and Austria. In 1919, after the end of World War I, it was re-established as an independent state.

Despite border changes, name changes and foreign perceptions, the people who settled in Inglewood were as Polish as their delectable sausages. Ray clarifies the difference: "Germans were mostly Protestant and spoke German, while Poles were mostly Catholic and spoke Polish."

Therefore, World War One was a difficult time for Polish people in New Zealand and even Taranaki. Polish technicians and managers on the Moturoa Oilfield were designated ‘German’ and required to report weekly to the local police. Also during the war, any references to Inglewood's ‘German Street’ disappeared, with the road forever called James Street.

Ray says Inglewood is still filled with people who have last names ending in ‘ski’. "And that doesn't show the female branches who married into English and particularly Irish families."

Religion was the link with the Irish, who were also mostly Catholic. Conversely, the relationship between the English and Polish settlers wasn't pleasant. "Poles were very often treated the same as Māori," Ray says. "In fact one of the old ladies from Ratapiko said to me that the Māori treated them better than the English ever did."

So the Polish people kept to themselves, spoke their own language and held fast to their cultural heritage. Part of that was their distinctive music. Playing the accordion, violin, Jew's harp and the zither, a harp-like instrument laid flat on a table, these Eastern Europeans brought Inglewood alive with the sounds of their distant homeland. "They also kept the customs of smoking fish and smoking sausage, which they called kielbasa," Ray says.

These foreign folk distanced themselves in matters of money too. Instead of borrowing cash from the English settlers at 9% interest, the Poles would lend and borrow small amounts to and from each other for zero interest. This is documented in the three volumes of diaries written by Joseph Fabish, who came to New Zealand in 1876 and kept a record of his life from 1885 to 1915. "He gives a good example of borrowing money from various other Poles and keeping a strict account every pound and repaying every pound," Ray says.

It was a hard life for these immigrants, especially the women. "I came to realise that Polish women worked very hard and suffered a lot from loneliness in some of the farm settlements while their husbands were away doing contract tree felling in order to bring in some hard cash."

One of Taranaki's most indomitable characters helped these poverty-stricken families. "Some years were so difficult the women and children would go into the bush to pick Jew's Ear fungus and wait at the railway station (at Inglewood) for Chew Chong to give them a few shillings for their dried fungus. "I credit Chew Chong with saving many of the Polish families from starvation," Ray says. "I think he was one of the great men of the province and I acknowledge what he did for our people." In turn, the Poles of Inglewood helped out others in need.

During World War Two, about 600 refugees from war-torn Poland found sanctuary in New Zealand. Ray says many of the homeless were children, who lived in a camp at Pahīatua. "In 1948, they realised they would never be able to go home, because the Russians had moved the frontier westward about 120 kilometres." Once this news sunk in, the children were sent to Taranaki to spend their school holidays with old Polish families.

He gives the example of a girl called Janina (known as Jean), who used to stay on the Dravitzki family farm. There, she met a young man called Michael. "They fell in love and got married," Ray says. Michael and Janina had 12 children. The couple stayed together all those years, until Michael died on 29 November 2002.

Meanwhile, the rest of the homeless Poles were assimilated into New Zealand life, but kept in touch with their culture. "As young adults they formed Polish Associations in Wellington and Auckland," Ray says.

In Taranaki, the old traditions had slowly disappeared. Ray says one word describes what became of these people: "Anglicised. Which means a total loss of language and most of the cultural bits, except a majority still remains Catholic."

Then, in the early 1970s, Dr Pobog-Jaworowski visited Taranaki to research the history of his home country's settlers for a thesis. "By doing so, he re-augmented an interest in Polish family history and our background. As a result we had a Polish centennial celebration at the end of 1976." Ray Watembach was the chairman of the organising committee and expected about 40 people to attend. "We ended up with 1800! Didn't we awaken the sleeping giant?" Among those who came were some of the World War Two refugees. "They were keen to come back to say 'thank you'. As a result, they brought back some 400 of them, along with a dancing group and a Polish youth orchestra from Australia."

Ray shakes his head in wonder. "Our people saw Polish culture for the first time, apart from the older people who remembered Polish culture from their childhood." With so many people coming to Inglewood, Ray was worried how the old and the new would blend. He shouldn't have worried. "When the new Poles arrived into the largest marquee in the Southern Hemisphere - it was in Jubilee Park - the first thing that happened was that they started singing Polish hymns known to both sides. The old Poles joined in the singing and I knew straight away it was a success." That spontaneous celebration was overwhelming. "It took my breath away," Ray says.

Since then, the Polish culture has been alive and thriving in Taranaki. Now, there is a solid core of genealogists searching for relatives the world over and especially in Poland. And every year, at the massive Taranaki Multi-Ethnic Extravaganza, there is a colourful representation of Polish costumes, customs and culinary contributions, including pure pork sausages that hang like a row of giant toes.

Pobag-Jaworowski, J.W. (1997). Polish Settlers in Taranaki, 1876-1976. Inglewood: Taranaki Polish Centennial Committee.

Polish Genealogical Society of New Zealand (2003). 125th anniversary of Fritz Reuter Polish settlers in Taranaki 1876-2001. New Plymouth: Polish Genealogical Society of New Zealand.