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Veteran Affairs Minister Judith Collins, signing the visitors' book at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw.
Veterans Affairs Minister Judith Collins signs the visitors book after laying a wreath at Warsaw’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during her bilateral visit to Poland.
Mrs Collins represented New Zealand at the official commemorations to mark the outbreak of World War 2, at Westerplatte, on 1 September, 1939. New Zealand joined Britain and France in declaring war on Germany on 3 September, with New Zealand and Polish soldiers fighting alongside each other, including at Monte Cassino.
During her visit to Warsaw and Gdansk, Mrs Collins also met with the Poland-New Zealand Parliamentary Friendship Group, the Secretary of State for Justice Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, the Undersecretary of State for Police and Security Adam Rapacki, the Chiefs of Police and Prisons, and visited the Warsaw Rising Museum.
New Zealand and Poland have strong historical and people links, with New Zealand’s taking in of 733 children to Pahiatua in 1944 still holding particular resonance within Poland. New Zealand also enjoys strong relations with Poland, as an influential member of the European Union, and through like-minded positions on multilateral issues.
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