Pahiatua

{{Infobox settlement |name = Pahiatua |native_name = |image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 9 |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |pushpin_map = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = New Zealand |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Manawatū-Whanganui |subdivision_type2 = Territorial authority |subdivision_name2 = Tararua |subdivision_type3 = Ward |subdivision_name3 = |seat_type = Electorates |seat = |parts_type = |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = Territorial Authority |leader_name = Tararua District Council |leader_title1 = Regional council |leader_name1 = Horizons Regional Council |leader_title2 = Tararua Mayor |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = Wairarapa MP |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP |leader_name4 = |established_title = Founded |established_date = 1881 |established_title1 = Settled |established_date1 = 28 February 1882 |established_title2 = Incorporated (borough) |established_date2 = 25 July 1892 |established_title3 = |established_date3 = |extinct_title = |extinct_date = |founder = W. W. McCardle |named_for = |elevation_footnotes = the camp in 1944 thumb|Polish refugees arriving at Wellington and at the Polish Children's Camp at Pahiatua, 1944 On 1 November 1944, 838 Polish refugees, of which 733 were children, were sent to a refugee camp about south of the town. The camp had been used as an internment camp for foreigners at the start of World War II. The camp even had a Polish elementary school (until 1949) and a Polish gymnasium (until 1946). The settlement was expected to be a temporary measure, but with the occupation of Central Europe, including Poland, by the Soviet Union and its subsequent imposition of communist regimes after the end of the war, the refugees stayed on at the camp until 1949 at which point they were naturalised.

In 1951, the camp was used for over 900 refugees from Central and Eastern Europe.