Tania Kopytko, WWII displaced persons, Part 1 - Manawatu Conversations

Description: Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio, 28th May 2024. Part 1 of 2. Tania is involved with a project called “Untold Stories – World War II Displaced Persons Who Settled in Palmerston North” It is focused on national and local history that is untold. An estimated 5000 displaced people came to New Zealand between 1949 and 1952 from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. Many from displaced persons camps from the ravages of WWII and civil war. The project covers people who came from Belarus, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia. She tells the story of her father who spent time in a Russian Gulag, was captured by Germans and put in POW camps and eventually became a displaced person in the UK. Many who came to New Zealand went to a camp for displaced people at Pahiatua where they learned the English language and New Zealand culture then placed in jobs. They filled New Zealand’s need for skilled labour. Research for the project is difficult because many records are restricted until 2065. Polish people though have preserved their own history.