It was in the year 1939. Second World War had just begun. Nazi Germany and Soviet Union had signed Molotov-Ribbentrop pact - a treaty of non aggression and commitment that neither government would ally itself to or aid an enemy of the other. It was also mutually agreed to divide Poland between themselves. Sixteen days after Hitler attacked the western border, the Red Army launched an eastern offensive.
The two great powers carved up Poland according to plan and for a while co-existed peacefully. An estimated two million Polish civilians were deported to Arctic Russia, Siberia, and Kazakhstan, in the terrible railway convoys of 1939-40, at least half of them died within a year of their arrest. Thousands of children were orphaned who were then relocated in camps and temporary orphanages where they were often left to die of illness and hunger.
In 1941 finally an amnesty was declared and the orphans were allowed to leave Soviet union, but because of the ongoing war, there was no homeland to which they could return. Some of them eventually found refuge in Mexico, New Zealand and other distant countries, but India was the first state to offer them shelter. In 1942, India was under British rule and going through a volatile nationalist struggle. Maharaja Digvijaysinghji, also known as “Jam Saheb” who served on the British Empire’s Imperial War Cabinet, was the ruler of Nawanagar, a princely state in British India. When the British decided to accept Polish refugees into India, the Maharaja offered to host the orphans in his state and volunteered to provide them with a home.
A camp for the children was set up at Balachadi, a small seashore town in north-western India, 25 km from the Maharaja’s capital Jamnagar. In early 1942, the first group of 170 orphans, travelled 1,500km in trucks from Ashgabat (now in Turkmenistan) to Bombay (now Mumbai), from where they went to Balachadi. The Maharaja greeted the newcomers with the following words: ‘You are no longer orphans. From now on you are Nawangarians, and I am Bapu, father of all Nawangarians, so I’m your father as well’. He built dormitories in which each of them had a separate bed. He also generously provided for the children so that they could study, play and eat to their heart’s content.
Between 1942 and 1946 another 600 Polish children found a home in India thanks to the maharaja. Far from the ravages of the war, life in Balachadi, was warm and cheerful. Every effort was made to create a home away from home. The children were provided with housing and education. A school and a hospital were built. They were free to use Jam Saheb’s gardens, squash courts, and pool. The preservation of Polish culture and tradition was greatly prioritized and a Polish flag was raised at the site. Scouting and church, institutions that were integral to Polish life, were built in the “Little Poland” that sprung up in India.
Decades later, Jam Saheb is considered a Polish hero. He was posthumously awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, one of the highest honors in Poland. In the heart of Warsaw lies the Square of the Good Maharaja, a cozy space with trees and benches in the central district. Not very far from it is one of Warsaw’s foremost private schools, the Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji High School. It was the fulfillment of a promise made long ago. General Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of Polish Government in Exile, had asked the Maharaja, “How can we thank you for your generosity?” The Maharaja replied, “You could name a school after me when Poland has become a free country again.”
0 Comments