Polish migrants were already organising community activities on board migrant transport ships.  Polish migrants on board the "Fairsea" prepared performances by a choir and dance group.  The group entertained Arthur Calwell, Minister for Immigration when he visited the ship to welcome the 50,000th new migrant to Australia at Fremantle, Western Australia in August 1949.  The photo was taken after that performance.

Cultural life has always been important within the migrant experience.  The Polish choir from Greta Camp NSW perform for the general public in Maitland NSW, September 1949.

Polish dancers performing the Krakowiak folk dance to the music of George Klim on accordion, September 1949.

The Australia of the1940s and 1950s was encouraging "new australians" to assimilate into the anglo-celtic mainstream.  Yet the Polish community, as did many other ethnic groups, utilised culture to maintain continuity with the "homeland" (ojczyzna).  Here Polish dancers from the Greta migrant camp perform the Krakowiak folk dance in rural New South Wales - at the Cessnock Show, 1950.