WHAT OUR INDIAN CULTURE. what we were, what we are Pakistan can't understand. watchout.
Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, a Rajput, was born at Sadodar on 18 September 1895, nephew of the famed cricketer K.S. Ranjitsinhji. He was educated at Rajkumar College, Rajkot, in Saurashtra, then at Malvern College and University College London.
Commissioned as second lieutenant in the British Army in 1919, Digvijaysinhji enjoyed a military career for over two decades.[1] Attached to the 125th Napier's Rifles (now 5th Battalion (Napier's), The Rajputana Rifles) in 1920, he served with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, subsequently receiving a promotion to Lieutenant in 1921.[2] He then served with the Waziristan Field Force from 1922 to 1924; after a promotion to captain in 1929, he retired from the army in 1931.[3] However, he would continue to receive honorary promotions in the Indian Army until 1947, ending with the rank of lieutenant-general.
Two years later, Digvijaysinhji succeeded his uncle, who had adopted him as his heir. From 1939 until his demise, he was the longest serving President of Governing Council of The Rajkumar College, Rajkot.
During World War II, an Indian king set up a home away from home for Polish refugees and orphans: a Little Poland in India. His efforts saved the lives of more than 640 women and children.
The ravages of the Second World War left Poland a shadow of the country it once was. The nation was torn apart by destructive forces, its people held captive in concentration camps and countless of its children left orphans.
Overcoming grave obstacles and challenges, hundreds of Polish children (and women) managed to escape the dire circumstances in their country. Contradictory reports exist on how the kids planned their escape. However, it is known that they were turned away from every country they approached for help.
When their ship docked in Mumbai, the British governor too refused them entry. Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar, who had 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.
On disembarking, the Maharaja warmly welcomed the Polish women and children, saying “Do not consider yourself orphans. You are now Nawnagaris and I am Bapu, father of all the people of Nawanagar, so also yours.”
RAJKOT: The special bond between Poland and Balachadi town, ..
Balachadi and Jamnagar.
RAJKOT: The special bond between Poland and Balachadi town, 25km from Jamnagar, will be relived by by half-a-dozen World War II
survivors, who were among the 1,000 orphaned Polish children given refuge by Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji, the king of erstwhile
Navanagar (now Jamnagar) after their country was invaded by German Nazi soldiers in 1942.
Now in their 90s, the six survivors are expected to arrive in Jamnagar on September 30 with their spouses to participate in a day-long
celebration of the special bond Poland has with India. The event is being organised by the Polish government, which is celebrating 100
years of independence in November this year.
It will be a diplomatic function at Balachadi where nearly 40 people from Poland, including senior ministers and diplomats, will
participate along with Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and Jam Shatrushaliyaji, son of late Jam Digvijaysinhji. Poland was invaded
by Hitler's Nazi forces and Stalin's Red army in 1939. Most of the families from Soviet-dominated areas were sent to labour camps from
where they were loaded in trucks and sent to Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India. Many families made it to the refugee camp
while Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji gave shelter to nearly 1,000 children and built the school for them.
Jam Saheb had also arranged for seven cooks from Goa to cook food that was less spicy for these children, who went on to stay in
Balachadi, the summer palace of the royal family, for four years
The six survivors coming to Jamnagar are the part of a documentary "A Little Poland in India," produced by film maker Anu Radha.
"The event is a progression of film on the Polish children who are now in their 90s and featured in my film are being invited to share
their stories of their childhood. It was an idea very close to my heart, and these Polish survivors as we call them, feel such enthusiasm
whenever they are given an opportunity to visit Jamnagar and Balachadi," Anu Radha told TOI.
Andreej Stuczynski, third secretary embassy of Poland in India, said, "Poland and India have a special relation. It's a people-to-people
contact thanks to the support of Jam Saheb. It's beyond the standard of economic or political relations." Jamnagar district collector Ravi
Shankar said "The Polish survivors will refresh their memories at Balachadi and will also visit few places in Jamnagar during their fourday stay."
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. Facing severe objections from the British government for taking in foreign refugees, the Maharaja proudly claimed they were part of his family, even going so far as to provide the government with adoption certificates for them! “Our father politically adopted them,” the king’s daughter Harshad Kumari, told.
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