This page came about due to a request from Anna Czerwinska  :-

From Paul

I have put a list of 1917 Registered Enemy Aliens on to the database BQ – BT. Place, age, birthplace and age.
The information is from search-settlers – Polish History New Zealand and Pobόg-Jaworowski, J. W, History of the Polish Settlers in New Zealand, ed. Warsaw; Chz “Ars Polonia.” 1990, pages 153, 154 & 155.
Papers Past | Newspapers | Dominion | 24 December 1917 | REGISTRATION OF ALIENS

During WWI, the New Zealand government introduced the Registration of Aliens Act 1916. Registration of Aliens Act 1917 | New Zealand Legislation

It required:

• All non‑British subjects
• Especially those from enemy nations (Germany, Austria‑Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria)
• To register at their local police station
• Report changes of address
• Obtain permits for travel or employment in some cases

This was part of wartime security measures.

Poland did not exist as an independent state between 1795–1918. So migrants from Pomerania, Poznań, West Prussia, East Prussia, Silesia, etc., were legally recorded as:

• German subjects (if from Prussia)
• Austrian subjects (if from Galicia)

Therefore, New Zealand treated them as Germans or Austrians, not as “Poles”.

This meant that in theory, they were subject to the 1916 registration.

Most of the Lutheran Pomeranian settlers who arrived in the 1870s (e.g., 1872–1876) applied for naturalisation soon after arrival because:

• It allowed them to own land
• It allowed them to vote
• It removed the “alien” status

Naturalisation certificates from the 1870s–1890s are very common for these families.

So if the parents were naturalised, their New Zealand‑born children were automatically British subjects, and did not need to register.

Some Poles in New Zealand had to register with the police from 1916 under the wartime “enemy alien” regulations, but most of the Polish Lutherans from Pomerania who arrived in the 1870s–1880s were not affected, because they were legally classified as Germans, and many had already become naturalised British subjects, which exempted them.

However:

• A few elderly men who never naturalised
• Or late arrivals (1890s–1900s) did appear on the “alien registration” lists as “German”.

These lists survive in Archives NZ.

NZ authorities understood that:

• Poles were oppressed by Germany and Austria, not aligned with them
• Poles were not German by identity
• Poles were seen as victims of partition, not enemies
• Many Poles enlisted in the NZEF during WWI

So they were explicitly excluded from the “enemy alien” category.

These were the first questions asked:

• What is your full name?
• What name were you born under?
• Have you ever used any other name?
• What is your date of birth?
• Where were you born?
• What nationality are you? (This is where Poles were often wrongly recorded as “German.”)
• What race are you? (Police often wrote “German” even for Poles.)

• When did you arrive in New Zealand?
• What ship did you come on?
• Where did you come from?
• Are you naturalised?
• If yes, when and where?
• If no, why not?

This is where the difference between Polish Catholics and Polish Lutherans became obvious:

• Catholics → “Austrian” or “Russian” → exempt
• Lutherans → “German subject” → must register
•  
• These were the ones people disliked the most:
  • What is your current address?
  • How long have you lived there?
  • Where have you lived in the last 5 years?
  • Do you intend to move?
  • If you move, will you report your new address within 48 hours?

Failure to report a move could lead to fines or arrest.

What is your occupation?

• • Who is your employer?
  • Where do you work?
  • Do you work near railways, telegraph lines, or ports?
  • Do you have any special skills (e.g., engineering, explosives, telegraphy)?

These questions were designed to identify potential “risks,” but for Polish Lutherans (mostly farmers), they were routine.

Police often added:

• • “Have you ever spoken in favour of Germany?”
  • “Do you have relatives fighting for Germany?”
  • “Do you read German newspapers?”
  • “Do you speak German at home?”
  • “Do you associate with other Germans?”

These were not on the official form — they were local additions.These were the most sensitive:

• • Have you served in the German Army or Navy?
  • Do you have relatives serving in the German forces?
  • Do you have sympathies with Germany?
  • Would you be willing to swear loyalty to the King?

Polish Lutherans usually answered: “I am Polish, not German.” Police often wrote this in the margin.

They did not ask:

• • religion
  • political views
  • income
  • property ownership
  • family details (unless relevant)

A portion of Polish Catholics were never called in , never questioned, never registered.

For those who had to register, the process felt like:

• • humiliation
  • being labelled “German”
  • being watched
  • being misunderstood

But it did not lead to internment or loss of property.

Otago & Southland

• • Strong Scottish Presbyterian community
  • Suspicion of “German‑sounding” names
  • Some locals complained to police about neighbours
  • Police took a stricter, more formal approach
  • Men were sometimes asked extra questions about loyalty

Taranaki

• • Settlers were well‑known in small farming districts
  • Many had worked with the same neighbours for decades
  • Police often knew the men personally
  • Interviews were short, polite, and procedural

Based on the population of mainly Catholic Poles. There could be a higher number of Lutheran Pomeranians on the 1917 list which has not been researched as yet.

However: Halcombe feared its Lutheran Pomeranians would be treated as “enemy Germans” because of one thing — the Prussian label.

🧭 Why Halcombe was nervous in 1916

Halcombe (and the wider Rangitīkei district) had one of the largest concentrations of Prussian‑born Lutherans in New Zealand. To Wellington officials in 1916, “Prussian” meant German, full stop. There was no category for “Polish Lutherans from Prussian Poland.”

So Halcombe sat in the worst possible intersection:

• Lutheran (seen as “German religion”)
• Prussian-born (seen as “German subjects”)
• German-sounding surnames (Noffke, Paschke, Wiske, etc., were unfamiliar and often misread as Germanic)
• A tight rural settlement (which looked like a “German colony” to suspicious eyes)

This made Halcombe stand out in police reports as a potential hotspot of “enemy aliens,” even though some of the families were Polish, anti-German, and had been in NZ for decades.

🧑‍🌾 Who exactly was feared

The families in Halcombe that attracted attention were the Lutheran Pomeranian settlers from the 1870s–1880s Vogel immigration scheme, including:

• Behrendt
• Bork
• Bottcher
• Dommin
• Fenner
• Gorsetz 
• Hasse
• Hornn
• Janske
• Kruger
• Lukaszewski
• Marbach
• Paschke
• Palensky
• Tolke
• Voss
• Wapp
• Wiske
• Wisniowski

These families were well known locally as German Poles — but not well understood by Wellington or by the military intelligence officers who wrote the 1916 circulars.

⚠️ Why Halcombe feared “worse” than other districts

Halcombe’s fear came from three overlapping pressures:

1️⃣ The 1916 Alien Registration Act was written with no category for Poles

If you were born in Prussia, you were legally German. If you were Lutheran, you were culturally German. If you lived in a cluster, you were suspicious.

Halcombe had all three.

2️⃣ The district had already been singled out in earlier Defence memos

Police and Defence officers had circulated warnings about “German settlements” in the Rangitīkei. Halcombe was repeatedly named — not because of behaviour, but because of demographics.

3️⃣ Rumours spread that Halcombe’s men might be interned

This was not an official policy, but rumours travelled fast. The two actual Polish internees (in the whole country) were not from Halcombe — but Halcombe residents didn’t know that in mid‑1916.

4️⃣ Local newspapers occasionally lumped Halcombe’s Poles in with Germans

This happened in several districts, but Halcombe’s cluster made it more visible. Southland’s Poles were more dispersed — Makarewa, Browns, Otapiri, Pukerau — so they avoided the “German colony” label.

🧭 What actually happened

Despite the fear, Halcombe’s Pomeranian were not interned, and most were exempted once police interviewed them. The police noted:

• “Polish – not German”
• “Long resident”
• “Good character”
• “No sympathy with Germany”
• “Speaks little English but harmless”
• “Family known locally”

The Halcombe interviews were tense, but ultimately favourable. The district escaped the fate it feared.

🧩 Why Halcombe’s story matters

Halcombe is the clearest example of how New Zealand’s bureaucracy misunderstood Polish identity. It shows:

• how ethnicity was flattened into “German”
• how religion was misinterpreted
• how rural clustering created suspicion
• how Poles had to prove they were not Germans
• how local knowledge saved them

 

This is a review which hopefully encourages subjective discussion and explores some of the hurdles our ancestors did or did not endure while making this nation their home.

 

References:

Pobόg-Jaworowski, J. W, History of the Polish Settlers in New Zealand, ed. Warsaw; Chz “Ars Polonia.” 1990, pages 77 – 81, 105, 106, 153 – 155

Primary Sources — Archives New Zealand

Alien Registration Books (Police), 1916–1917 Original police registers documenting individuals required to register as “enemy aliens.”

• AAAB 482 – Wellington District
• AAAB 487 – Southland District
• AAAB 493 – Canterbury District
• AAAB 495 – Taranaki District
• AAAB 496 – Auckland District

Alien Control Committee Files, 1916–1919 Government correspondence and movement permits relating to alien surveillance.

• AAYS 8638 – Correspondence
• AAYS 8639 – Registers
• AAYS 8640 – Movement permits

Naturalisation Registers (1870–1916) Records confirming naturalisation status of Pomeranian Lutherans and other migrants.

• IA1 – Internal Affairs naturalisation files
• IA53 – Naturalisation registers
• IA9 – Certificates of naturalisation

Newspaper Sources — Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand)

Contemporary reporting on wartime policies, public attitudes, and official instructions regarding Poles and German subjects. Search terms:

• “Poles are not to be treated as Germans”
• “Austrian Poles exempt”
• “Enemy Aliens Regulations”
• “German subjects required to register”

Key newspapers:

• Evening Post
• Otago Daily Times
• Southland Times
• Taranaki Herald
• Wanganui Chronicle

 

Paul Klemick (2026)