When India help Poland in WW2 (Mini Poland in India)

2020-07-05T11:24:00.012+05:30

You are going to know how a man's will led to the savior of thousands of children. This incident is frpm World War 2 when Soviet and German attacking their neighbor killing millions. Poland was one of them. And then a man from India saved the poor children and women who were forced to become refugee

How This Started

In 1939, During the Second World War Poland was attacked by Germany and The Soviet Union. The helpless poor citizen of Poland faced the drastic consequences of this attack and they have to hide or migrate from their places . The Soviet and the Germans were brutal and mass killing is no big thing. Many people escapes but those who don't faced Forced Labor, Jail for War Crimes. Many people were send to different part of the World.

How India help Poland started

Children were orphaned women were widowed and the have no place to go as nobody accepting them. The Orphaned Polish children — Jews and Catholics alike — faced an uncertain future, but in the midst of the gloom a ray of hope appeared when a kindhearted Maharaja accept the Polish children and look after them. Polish come to India on Maharaja’s invitation from orphanages in Ashkhabad, the capital of Turkmenistan, and Samarkand, Tamerlane’s ancient capital on the Silk Road, traveling in canvas-covered trucks through roads and through the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the sacred city of Meshed, then on through Persia to Mumbai.

India help Poland:- Maharaja Digvijisinhji (Jam Saheb)

At that time India was under British rule and going through a volatile nationalist struggle, which would culminate with independence in 1947. Maharaja Digvijaysinhji, also known as “Jam Saheb,” who served on the British Empire’s Imperial War Cabinet, was the ruler of Nawanagar, a princely state (a state governed by a native Indian ruler) in British India.

India help Poland: Problems faced

When their ship docked in Mumbai, the British governor too refused them entry. Maharaja heard of the plight of the refugees, sought to help them and pressurized the British government to allow the refugees to disembark. Frustrated by the lack of empathy and the unwillingness of the government to act, the Maharaja ordered the ship to dock at Rosi port in his province. Thus began the story of Little Poland in India.

The children were set up in tented accommodations, while the Maharaja set about building the Balachadi camp, located near his summer palace and 25 km away from the capital city of Jamnagar near the beach.

India helped Poland: The First meet and Mini Poland in India

During their First meet Maharaja said, “Do not consider yourself orphans. You are now Nawnagaris and I am Bapu, father of all the people of Nawanagar, so also yours.”

Maharaja build a Mini Poland for them and make sure they get all facilities School, health, games, even priest from goa are called for the cultural education of the Children. Maharaja make sure that nobody face any problem. The local resident like the Polish too. Its an lifetime event for them they loved the kids and even after facing drought and famine during that time. They don't raise any voice against them.

After Maharaja's action The princely state of Kolhapur was the next to offer a site where a family camp, Valivade, was set up for some 5,000 people, mainly women and children.

Maharaja faces huge risk from the British for taking refugees but Maharaja said they all are my children and family member going further Maharaja legally adopted all of them by making proper adoption certificates

India help Poland: The memories

One servivor said,

"Recalls another survivor, Mrs Jadwiga Tomaszek, “We never liked the spinach that was cooked in the camp and so we decided to have a spinach strike. When Bapu heard of this, he immediately ordered the cooks not to make spinach anymore."

Another said,

“If not for the Maharaja, we would have been in trouble…. I still do not understand that in spite of being a true patriotic Polish, one part of my soul still misses India and thus does not make me fully comfortable in Poland, as I feel that India is still my home too.”

India Help Poland: A noble father

When the children arrived he greeted them saying he was “Bapu,” their father. When the war ended, “Bapu” adopted the children to prevent their forcible return to a Communist Poland ruled by Moscow, the very same regime that had deported them to Siberia in the first place.

They organises Christmas Day, all national holidays and various other functions with them in one of such event jamsaheb said,

“It is a great honour for me and my wife to be the godparents of your standard. May these silver nails which we are hammering into the wooden staff of the flag become the nails in the coffin of the enemies of freedom and of your homeland… I will remain forever loyal and true to Poland, I will always be sympathetic towards the future of your homeland. I feel certain that Poland will be free, that you will return to your happy homes, to a land free from oppression. The Polish spirit, known to the whole world, will overcome its present situation, no matter how long it takes. Defend this flag even with your lives because with this spirit you will overcome everything. Today will remain in the history of Jamnagar as one of the most beautiful occasions. May God bless you and let you return to a free and happy homeland.”

India help Poland: Jamsaheb's Relation with Poland

During one of his interview he said, "I was extremely fortunate that I was in a position to help these Polish children. I care deeply about the Polish nation that is fighting so gallantly against enslavement, a nation that produced such special children. My father was always interested in Polish affairs, which he knew much about thanks to his friendship with that great Pole, Paderewski. They used to meet in Geneva at the League of Nations. I remember one of those meetings. My father took me as a young man to Geneva and there introduced me to his friend, the great artist and statesman. Paderewski noted my hands and said my fingers seemed to be just right for playing the piano, to which my father answered that my fingers may be fine but my ears are not worth a penny. So it was this friendship of my father’s that instilled in me an interest in Poland. Today, when your country is suffering so much, when your people are fighting so heroically and the Polish forces are fighting on every front, when more than a million Poles are scattered across the earth, I am trying to do what I can to save some of the children who must, after their terrible ordeal, regain their strength and their spirit so that they will be able to, in future, fulfill their obligations to their liberated country.”

Jamsaheb's Memorial in Poland School

India help Poland: After end of the war

And after the end of war when everything coming back to normal The Polish started assuming Balachdi as their home and willing not to go back. They spend a very good time their when all their countrymen facing attrocities.

India help Poland: The Hero

The Maharaja is a hero in Poland. His act of generosity is clearly still remembered in Poland, where he was posthumously award the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the President. Poland has also named the Maharaja the Honorary Patron of the popular Warsaw Bednarska High School. In 2013, the Government of Poland inaugurated the ‘Good Maharaja Square’ in Warsaw. But as the time passed we all forget this hero and nothing can be found in India. But Polish saved the memory of him for forever.

India help Poland: The Conclusion

The war ended and millions of people displaced, killed and faced attrocities. We all remember the brave in the war but we forget about the saviors those who helped in the most vulnerable times.

Its not a country who helped Poland but its a man who do it on a humanity ground. There are many people out their helping others. We all must support them and become a part of it. One thing Gautam Budh said, "The savior is bigger than the killer".

Jamsaheb done his part he become a savior to all of them and motivated others too. Similarly everyone should do their part to make society a better place to live.

The Raw Leaf

When India help Poland in WW2 (Mini Poland in India)

How This Started