Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust (POHOS)
Welcome!
Witamy!
2023 celebrates 250 years since the first Polish Explorers
set foot on New Zealand shores
Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, Georg joined James Cook’s second expedition to the
Pacific (1772-75)
The Forsters task was to work on a scientific report of the journey’s discoveries, arriving in New Zealand in 1773
Check out our 150th website to learn about Polish migration to New Zealand and our up-and-coming events.
Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust (POHOS)
Who We Are
Joining the Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust (POHOS) means that you become part of a community of early Polish settlers, more recent Polish immigrants, and a network of citizens primarily in Otago and Southland – brought together through a shared curiosity and passion for Polish language, culture, ethnicity and family heritage.
The Polish Trust offers enjoyable opportunities to discover, learn about and, support the Trust’s events and undertakings.
Our events provide welcoming places – locally and occasionally nationally – to hear excellent lectures, participate in events including special church services and Christmas celebrations, assist in the fostering and encouragement of Polish customs, revisit your Polish heritage and share with like minds, while exchanging your ideas and knowledge about local and national kinships alongside the efforts and goals of the Polish Heritage Trust.
Our Trust was formed in 1998 at the time when Otago was celebrating 150 years of existence and when little was known, in New Zealand, of the early Polish pioneers. It was with the coming together, at that time, of recent immigrants and the descendants of those early settlers of 1872 that brought about the beginnings of the Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust. Our aims then, as they are today, were to bring to the people of Dunedin and New Zealand awareness of our heritage and in the longer term to extend that awareness to the peoples of Poland.
Spoken Polish
If you would like to hear the Polish names and text spoken in Polish then we can help.
Firstly click on this link "Text to Polish" and then copy the text you wish to hear, and paste it into the translation box. You can either listen to it or have it download onto your machine.
Enjoy !!
Paul Klemick, QSM
This website is due almost entirely to years of dedication by Paul Klemick in researching and documenting the story of Polish settlement in New Zealand, and particularly in the Otago Southland area.
Chairperson ..... Ewa Rozecka-Pollard
Phone ......+64 3 477 5552
Secretary ..... Anna McCreath Munro
Phone ..... +64 3 464 0053
Facebook ..... Poles Down South
Contact Poles Down South
Poles in New Zealand We would like to hear from Poles or people with any Polish connection, who visited New Zealand and particularly those of you who paid a visit or lived anywhere in Otago or Southland.
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Polski “Poles Down South” jest stroną internetową organizacji polonijnej w Nowej Zelandii działającej w rejonie Otago i Southland na Wyspie Południowej. Siedzibą organizacji jest Dunedin.