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New Zealand's First Refugees: Pahiatua's Polish Children
Notes on the text
Notes on the text
Polish surnames have gender endings, eg, Kowalski is a masculine name and Kowalska is the feminine version. Maiden or former names are in brackets.
Russia – Until 1991, Russia was known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or the Soviet Union. In this book, these names are used interchangeably when referring to Russia.
Siberia – Geographically, it is the area of northern Russia east of the Ural Mountains. To the Poles, Siberia (Sybir) has a secondary meaning which encompasses any part of northern Russia or its Central Asian territories – anywhere that Polish citizens were deported to forced labour while their country was under Russian occupation.
Pahlevi – A port in Iran since renamed Bandar-e-Anzali.
Bombay – A port in India since renamed Mumbai.
Allies – Mainly includes the US and British Commonwealth countries (including New Zealand), and later joined by the Soviet Union. This alliance fought against the Axis powers in World War II.
Polish Government-in-Exile – After Poland's destruction by the German and Russian armies in 1939, the Polish Government, led by Władysław Sikorski, re-established itself in London and was recognised by the Allies during the war years.
Polish army-in-exile – The Polish men and women who fled the invaders in 1939 were regrouped that year in the UK under British command. They were joined in 1942 by the men and women evacuated from the forced-labour camps in the Soviet Union under the command of General Władysław Anders.
- Ą– ong as in belong
- Ę – ang as in angle
- Ć– che as in cheap
- Cz – ch as in chip
- Ch – ch as in Scottish loch
- Dź Dż dge as in judge
- Dz – dze as in adze
- J – y as in yes
- Ł – w as in water
- Ń – soft n as in new
- Ó – oo as in took
- Ś – she as in sheep
- Sz – sh as in ship
- Rz, ż ź – g as in beige
- W – v as in very