PM Modi's Poland visit brings back focus on erstwhile Jamnagar ruler

Jamnagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Poland has brought into focus Gujarat's ties with the eastern European nation dating back to World War II when the then ruler of Jamnagar provided shelter to hundreds of Polish children.

As Modi paid homage to a monument built in the honor of Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Jadeja of the then princely state of Nawanagar, now Jamnagar in Gujarat, at the 'Good Maharaja Square' in Warsaw, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel recalled how the state played a "special role" in furthering India-Poland relations.

Digvijaysinhji provided shelter to over 600 Polish refugee children during World War II, an act of kindness that is still remembered in Poland, he said in a post on X.

Humanity and compassion are vital foundations of a just and peaceful world. The Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial in Warsaw highlights the humanitarian contribution of Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, who ensured shelter as well as care to Polish children left homeless… pic.twitter.com/v4XrcCFipG

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 21, 2024

Gujarat government spokesperson and minister Rushikesh Patel also referred to the erstwhile Maharaja's noble act.

"These children were provided with a good place to live, education and all the necessities of life including food," Patel said.

The refugee Polish children, brought out of the USSR, lived at a camp set up in Jamnagar-Balachadi. In 1945, they were transferred to Valivade near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, the largest settlement of Polish citizens in India during the war.

The Maharaja was decorated posthumously in 2011 with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

Poland has also honoured Digvijaysinh by naming a school for him, and in 2016, 50 years after Jam Saheb's death, Poland's Parliament unanimously adopted a special resolution honouring him.

According to historians, the Soviet Union declared an amnesty in 1941, allowing Polish children who were deported to Siberia during the outbreak of the war in 1939 to leave Russia.

General Sikorski, who then led the Polish government, had sought help for the Polish refugees from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It was then that a decision was made to set up a refugee camp at Jamnagar.