Left to right, Ula Tansley and former President of
Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski delve into the archives.
Archivist Ula Tansley of Polish nationality was the right person in the right place when the former President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski made a visit to the Wellington office of Archives New Zealand recently.
Ula has been in New Zealand for just a year and was able to show Mr Kwasniewski some archives relating to the Polish children who came to New Zealand during World War Two.
“Mr Kwasniewski was most interested in documents reflecting life of the children in the Pahiatua camp set up for them near Palmerston North, their day-to-day life, education and documents reflecting their jobs aspirations. He also looked at the film we have in the National Film Unit Collection which shows the children arriving and settling in New Zealand.
“He enjoyed this hands-on view of his national history.” As part of his trip to the capitol Polish Ambassador Beata Stoczyńska accompanied Mr Kwasniewski, who is credited with finalizing and signing Poland’s Constitution in 1997.