You may not have your parents, but I am your father now - said “Jam Saheb Maharaja Digvijay Sinhji Jadeja”
Inspite of the cultural differences, political chaos, bharat still remains the civilization with highest human factor. We are nurtured in a country from where the ancient times, message of Bharata is वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम (whole world is a family) and it's tolerance has been well known in the world. Few people today raise doubt put question marks on Bhartiya's tolerance. But Bharat was will remain an Culture Rich ,brave, tolerant, compassionate and genuine humanitarian - plus pro life, pro good values and great respect.
Walking through the schools on Bednarska and Raszynska streets is like a trip to an Indian museum. The reason for the special emphasis on India and its culture goes back to an important phase of Polish history prior to World War II.
The legacy of the kindness shown by an Indian ruler decades ago continues in this school — thousands of kilometres away from India. At first glance, it looks like any school in Warsaw, Poland. Children playing outside, the buzz in the corridors, the gentle aroma of snacks shared by students, and teachers hurrying to their classrooms — a typical school scene.
However, once inside the building, one is transported to different surroundings. Numerous pictures of Indian monuments and landscape, wall graffiti depicting classical dance and rangoli, dozens of handicrafts and decoration items, Tibetan Thangka paintings, classrooms with bright motifs and paintings, pictures of Indian gods and goddesses adorning the walls of the school office makes one wonder whether one is still in Warsaw.
The Friends of India Education Foundation that runs this school named it after Jamsaheb Digvijay Singh Jadeja, the former ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar, as a tribute to his love and kindness shown to Polish refugees in the 1940s. Digvijay Singh was known to have learnt much about Polish history and culture from his Polish neighbours during his stay with his uncle in Switzerland in the 1920s.
The school has a unique form of functioning. It has a constitution, the executive, judiciary and legislature comprising students, parents and teachers that administer the “school republic” in a democratic manner. The school today has different premises for primary, secondary and International Baccalaureate (IB) sections spread across the city. Interestingly, Digvijay Singh was declared the patron saint of this school after the school community consisting of parents, students and teachers conducted a referendum in June 1999 and overwhelmingly approved the move.
But why would a school in Poland was named after Jamsaheb Digvijay Singh Jadeja, The ruler of Nawanagar? How did a ruler so far away earn the respect and honour of the school and is still remembered today?
During the years preceding World War II, a huge number of Poles were taken away by the Red Army to work at the Soviet-run labour camps in remote parts of North-Eastern USSR and Siberia. When Hitler's army invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the USSR announced a general amnesty leading to the release of Polish exiles from labour camps. This was also done with a view to encourage forming a Polish Army unit to fight the German army that was fast advancing into the USSR.
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.
Thus began a great exodus — from the cold parts of the Soviet Union to warmer southern regions of Central Asia. 500 Polish women & 200 children were put on a ship to save them from the Germans. The ship was left in the sea by the Polish Army and the Captain was told to take them to any country where they can get shelter. The last msg from their countrymen was
"If we are alive or survive, we will meet again!"
The long and arduous journey stretched over hundreds of kilometres. It was a test of human endurance and suffering in the most difficult situations. Many travellers lost their loved ones en route owing to the cold, hunger, malnutrition and dehydration. The journey stretched across many lands and transit points — were refused to come in by many European Ports, Asian Ports like Seychelles, Aden, Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tehran in Iran, Afghanistan, Quetta, Zahedau and The ship continued to sail & somehow reached a harbour port of Karachi in present day Pakistan and to India's western coast. Yes so far away! There also they did not get any permission!
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.
Kind heart
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. Jam Saheb Digvijay Singh was being the Chancellor of the Council of Princes and member of the Imperial War Cabinet in British India (1939-1945). He knew from the officials of the Polish government in exile that operated from London owing to his position in the Imperial War Cabinet.Frustrated by the lack of empathy and the unwillingness of the government to act, the Maharaja who opened his province to Polish refugees threatened with annihilation 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.
MahaRaja Digvijay Singh not only welcomed the refugees, but also ensured that they had special accommodation, schools, medical facilities and opportunities for rest and recuperation at Balachadi, near Jamnagar. Singh also opened a camp at Chela and involved the rulers of Patiala and Baroda, with whom he had a good rapport in the Chamber of Princes, to help the refugees. Business houses like Tata and other individuals raised over Rs. 6,00,000 between 1942 -1945 (a huge amount in those days) to maintain the first batch of 500 refugees.
Later other camps were also set up at Balachadi, Valivade (Kolhapur), Bandra (Mumbai) and Panchgani. Singh coordinated with the Polish Government in exile and took steps to impart education in Polish language apart from arranging for catholic priests to follow the religious mores of the refugees.
The Maharaja took many personal risks to ensure that more than 640 women and children found a safe haven in Balachadi. He didn’t just provide the Polish citizens with the bare necessities either, but went to great lengths to ensure that Balachadi became a home away from home for these people.
He not only gave shelter to 500 women but also gave their children free education in Balachiri in an Army School, These refugees stayed in Jamnagar for nine years till World War II lasted. They were well taken care of. Jam Sahib regularly visited them and was fondly called *Bapu* by them. Later these refugees returned to their own country. One of the children of these refugees later became the Prime Minister of Poland.
Mr Wieslaw Stypula, a Polish survivor, remembers the Maharaja’s concern for their eating habits, “When we arrived at the camp, the Maharaja gave a party but he did not know what we children liked to eat… Despite being hungry, we didn’t like to eat at all. Bapu saw this and said ‘Don’t worry, I will fix this.’ He brought seven young cooks for us from Goa!”
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.”
Mr Jerzy Tomaszek, a member of the ‘Survivors of Balachadi’ (as they fondly refer to themselves) says, “I met Jadwiga (his wife) in Balachadi camp. I loved her since the age of 15 but married her at the age of 78. We perhaps need to thank Maharaja Jam Saheb for our meeting.”
Mr Jan Bielecki, yet another ‘Survivor of Balachadi, remarked:
“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.”
1986 photo of Jam Saheb Shatrusalyasinhji.
Location: The inaguration of memorial plaque at the site of Polish Children's Camp in Balachadi, Jamnagar
Their fond memories of the camp and the Maharaja are evidence that the four years they spent under his care were life-changing and memorable.
Even today, the descendants of those refugees come to Jamnagar every year and remember their ancestors. In Poland, the name of many roads in the capital of Warsaw is named after Maharaja Jam Sahib. There are many schemes in Poland on his name. Every year Poland newspapers print articles about Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijay Singh.
When asked about his decision to house the Polish kids, the Maharaja is believed to have told Polska, a weekly Polish magazine:
“Maybe there, in the beautiful hills beside the seashore, the children will be able to recover their health and to forget the ordeal they went through…. I sympathise with the Polish nation and its relentless struggle against oppression.”
Between 1942 and 1948, about 20,000 refugees stayed and transited through the then undivided India for a duration ranging from six months to six years. About 6,000 of them were granted war-duration domicile that stretched till March 1948, according to Prof. Anuradha Bhattacharya, whose doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Pune in 2006 documents the comprehensive history of Polish Refugees in India.
After the World War II and the recognition of Poland's government by Great Britain, the refugees were asked to return to Poland. However, many chose to be repatriated to the UK, the US, Australia and other Commonwealth nations while just a few returned to Poland. Today, many of the survivors still recall with emotion and tears, the Maharaja's personal send-off at the railway station.
The School's principal, Krystyna Starcewska, says that this incident from history is remembered with respect and gratefulness, and had become a part of the school's own legacy.
Right custodians
He is known as Indian Oskar Schindler in Poland and Israel. The king of Jamnagar Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijay Singh ji had saved 1000s of children from Poland during World War 2. This was one of defining acts of humanity during the World War 2
Watch documentary 'Little Poland In India' to see journey of 1000 Jews kids who were not given shelter by anybody but India.
Maria Krzyszt of Byrski, former Ambassador of Poland to India from 1993 to 1996 and a professor of Indian Studies, opined that naming the school after the Maharaja was a better option as the “students of such a school would be the custodians of the valuable history.”
Poland had recently honoured the king posthumously by presenting the “Commanders Cross of the Order of the Merit of the Polish Republic,” (Order Zasługi Rzeczy pospolitej Polskiej). This is given to civilians and foreigners for contributing to good foreign relations between Poland and other countries. There is also a proposal pending with the city authorities to name a square in Warsaw after the king and setting up a special plaque describing the history of his connection to Poland.
"Good Maharaja's Square"
in Warsaw, Poland, was named after Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji in recognition for his help to Polish refugees during the World War II.
As historian Anuradha Bhattacharya once remarked “There is no denying that Jam Saheb’s generosity is unparalleled. It was the cornerstone for other Polish people to get sanctuary in India. That they found refuge here also, speaks volumes about the national movement, which was not xenophobic, and about the Native people who showed no antagonism to the presence of the Polish children in a year of severe drought and famine.”
The Maharaja’s gesture went on to inspire many others to open their hearts and homes to the innocent victims of war, not just in India but across the world. 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.
The Maharaja’s actions are more noteworthy still given that while the world was at war, India was fighting an important battle of its own – one of self determination, against the backdrop of severe famine and drought.
Starczewska says that the legacy of kindness experienced in India continues. The school provides free education to the children of refugees in Poland from Chechnya, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Tibet and African countries.
Maharaja Jam Sahib
Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji was born at Sarodar 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.
On 7 March 1935 at Sirohi, Sir Digvijaysinhji married Maharajkumari Baiji Raj Shri Kanchan Kunverba Sahiba (1910–1994), second daughter of Maharajadhiraj Maharao Sri Sir Sarup Ram Singhji Bahadur, the Maharao of Sirohi. She took the name of Her Highness Deoriji Maharani Shri Gulab Kunverba Sahiba, and the couple had one son and three daughters. After a reign of 33 years, Sir Digvijaysinhji died in Bombay on 3 February 1966, aged 70. He was succeeded by his only son, Shatrusalyasinhji, who was a first-class cricketer for Saurashtra.
Ceremonial Necklace for Maharajah of Nawanagar
The necklace was made for the Maharajah of Nawanagar, 1931 by Jacques Cartier.
Described as the finest Cascade of Colored diamonds in the world, it included the 136.25-carat blue-white Queen of Holland Diamond, a 12-carat olive-green diamond and several substantially sized pink diamonds among other huge white diamonds. Jacques Cartier said the necklace was “a superb realization of a connoisseur’s dream.”
Sadly, the necklace no longer exists except in archival photos. The image on left is a Replica of the necklace.
The big diamond necklace was featured in Ocean’s 8 trailers, named as Jeanne Toussaint Necklace by Cartier. To create the necklace for the film, Cartier mobilized the resources of its High Jewelry workshops situated at 13 Rue de la Paix in Paris. It took more than 4,200 total hours to create the necklace for the film, involving 10 to 15 artisans.
The necklace for the film was adjusted to Anne Hathaway’s measurements and reduced by 15 to 20 per cent of the original size, as it was initially designed for a man.
Ruby Diamond Necklace for Maharaja Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar
The splendid necklace was commissioned from Cartier in 1937 by Maharaja Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar, who was a passionate collector of jewels. When the young Digvijaysinhji succeeded the throne he inherited the fabulous Nawanagar State treasure. He maintained the close relationship with Jaques Cartier enjoyed by his father for twelve years and the firm continued to recreate jewels of the highest class. The rubies in this extraordinary necklace were supplied from the royal treasury. The 116 rubies weighing over 170 carats, with their naturally rich, deep red colour, bereft of any enhancement, originated from the famous Mogok mines of Burma. A design from the Cartier London’s sketchbook confirms the date of this commission, resulting in a tour de force of modernist design.
However, in the early 1950s, the necklace was returned to Cartier and re-offered for sale to an exclusive and select clientele, worn famously by Gloria Guinness at Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball in 1966.
Titles
1895–1913: Rajkumar Sri Digvijaysinhji Jawansinhji Jadeja
1913–1919: Yuvaraja Sri Divijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja
1919–1921: 2nd Lieutenant Yuvaraja Sri Divijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja
1921–1929: Lieutenant Yuvaraja Sri Divijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja
1929–1933: Captain Yuvaraja Sri Divijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja
1933–1935: Captain His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar
1935–1936: Captain His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, KCSI
15 February-23 September 1936: Major His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, KCSI
23 September 1936 – 1939: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, KCSI
1939–1942: Lieutenant-Colonel His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, GCIE, KCSI
1942–1947: Colonel His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, GCIE, KCSI
1947–1966: Lieutenant-General His Highness Maharaja Jam Sri Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, GCSI, GCIE
Honours
India General Service Medal w/ Wazirstan Clasp-1924
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal-1935
King George VI Coronation Medal-1937
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE)-1939
1939-1945 Star-1945
Africa Star-1945
Pacific Star-1945
War Medal 1939-1945-1945
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India (GCSI)-1947 (KCSI-1935)
India Service Medal-1945
Indian Independence Medal-1947
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (posthumous) – 2011
Service
Commissioned as second lieutenant in the British Army in 1919, Digvijaysinhji enjoyed a military career for over two decades.
Attached to the 125th Rajput Infantry in 1920,
he served with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, subsequently receiving a promotion to Lieutenant in 1921.
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. 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.
Upon the passing of his uncle, Digvijaysinhji became Maharaja Jam Sahib in 1933, continuing his uncle's policies of development and public service.
Knighted in 1935, Sir Digvijaysinhji joined the Chamber of Princes, leading it as president from 1937 to 1944.
Upholding the cricketing tradition of his uncle, he served as President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1937–1938 and was a member of several prominent sporting clubs. He had previously played a single first-class match during the 1933–34 season, captaining Western India against the MCC during its tour of India and Ceylon. He scored 0 and 6 in his two innings, in what was also the only first-class match played by his brother, Pratapsinhji.
During the Second World War, Sir Digvijaysinhji served on the Imperial War Cabinet and the National Defense Council, along with the Pacific War Council.
In 1942 he established Polish Children Camp in Jamnagar-Balachadi for refugee Polish children who were brought out of the USSR during World War II. It existed until 1945, when it was closed and the children were transferred to Valivade, a quarter of a city Kolhapur. The camp site today is part of 300 acre campus of the Sainik School, Balachadi.The Jamsaheb Digvijay Singh Jadeja School in Warsaw was established to honor this legacy. In 2016, 50 years after Jam Saheb's death, Poland's Parliament unanimously adopted a special resolution honoring Jam Saheb Digvijay Sinhji for his aid to Polish children refugees during WWII.
After an independence of India, he signed the Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947. He merged Nawanagar into the United State of Kathiawar the following year, serving as its Rajpramukh until the Government of India abolished the post in 1956.
Representative at International Organisations
Divijaysinhji represented India as a delegate at the first session of the League of Nations in 1920. He was also the Deputy Leader of the Indian delegation to the UN, and chaired both the UN Administration Tribunal and the UN Negotiating Committee on Korean Rehabilitation following the Korean War.
Digvijaysinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar and the liberation of Junagadh
The most famous of the Jadeja Rajput rulers of Nawanagar was the cricketer Ranjitsinhji, but his nephew Digvijaysinhji was also no mean cricketer. He served in the Indian Army, headed the Chamber of Princes, and became famous in Poland for his help to Polish refugees during World War II. In 1947 it was clear that the princes of Saurashtra would accede to India, but when the Muslim League politician Shah Nawaz Bhutto became Diwan of Junagadh he pressured the Nawab and roused the Muslims of Junagadh. The Nawab acceded to Pakistan and all kinds of wild rumors filled the populace: that any day now the army and navy of Pakistan would enter Junagadh, and India would do nothing. Violence broke out in the state and Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji went to Delhi and warned that there could be retaliation in the Hindu states unless India took steps to end the chaos.
But after rousing Muslims in Junagadh to communal violence, Pakistan did absolutely nothing for them. Under Dewan Bhutto's orders Muslim landlords oppressed villagers, Junagadh army was deployed to crush protests and attack smaller states near Junagadh that had joined India. The peoples government of Junagadh was formed at Rajkot, with Samaldas Gandhi at its head. Hindu landlords like Amra Bhan Wala of Vaghania (Barwala), Ranjitsinhji of Limbuda, and Chandrasinhji Jadeja of Bhadwa-Taluka, led a volunteer force of Kathis and Rajputs against the Pakistani Dewan.
India had created a Kathiwar Defence Force to prevent the conflagration from spreading outside Junagadh. To this were added the state forces of Nawanagar, Bhavnagar, and Porbandar. With no help coming from Pakistan, the Nawab realised he had been duped and fled to Karachi, while the tough talking Bhutto quietly invited India to take control of the state.
India's Home Minister Sardar Patel visited Junagadh in the Nawanagar aircraft with KM Munshi and NV Gadgil. He was visibly moved to see the dilapidated condition of the Somnath temple. After consulting Digvijaysinhji, he took seawater in his hand and pledged that this ancient and sacred temple would be reconstructed and restored to its former glory. NV Gadgil writes: "Then we two and the Jam Saheb came to the temple and there in the presence of about 500 People, I announced: Government of India have decided to re-build this temple and install the deity. This Government has come to fulfil and not to destroy. The age of reconstruction is now on."
The Jam Saheb gave the first donation of one lakh of rupees for the reconstruction and became the Chairman of the Somnath Trust. Samaldas Gandhi representing the Junagadh administration followed with Rs. 51,000 and became a member of the Trust along with NV Gadgil and KM Munshi. The objects of the Trust were to include not only the rebuilding and the maintenance of the Somanath Temple but also the renovation of Dehotsarga where Bhagwan Krishna was cremated, and numerous Sanskrit pathshalas and goshalas at Prabhas Patan.
JamSaheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji became the first Rajpramukh of united Saurashtra state with the capital at Rajkot. The Jam Saheb asked Indian diplomats to send a pinch of soil, a few drops of water and twigs from all over the world for the foundation ceremony of the new temple. The foundation stone was laid, and the flag hoisting ceremony was performed by Digvijaysinhji on 8th May 1950. The Pratishthapan Vidhi was performed by President Rajendra Prasad, on 11th May 1951, and the temple was completed on November 28, 1966. The temple architect Padmashri Prabhashanker Sompura utilized the same local hard stone for the construction as in the older temples.
The Maharaja Jam Saheb remained Chairman of the Somnath Trust till his death. This photo by Dr VS Chouhan on Panoramio shows the Shri Digvijay Dwar, the entrance to the Somnath temple complex, built in memory of the Rajput ruler.
The foundation stone was laid by KM Munshi in 1966 and Digvijaysinhji's widow, Rajmata Gulab Kunwar Ba of Nawanagar, completed this grand entrance gate in 1970 using the same materials and in the same design as the main temple. Just in front of Digvijay Dwar is statue of Sardar Patel. His role in Somnath temple reconstruction is widely known but the contribution of Digvijaysinhji bapu and KM Munshi should be known also.
The remnants of the old temple, representing the ancient heritage of Saurashtra and Gujarat, have been preserved and are on display at the Prabhas Patan museum.
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