Remembering a slice of Indian hospitality during WWII
Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Poland on August 21, the first visit by an Indian premier in 45 years, some focus will be on a forgotten slice of history during the turbulent Second World War in which two Indian rulers gave shelter and protection to thousands of Polish children and refugees caught in the crossfires of the biggest-ever conflict on earth.
The PM is likely to pay a visit to the 'Good Maharaja Square' in Warsaw, which has been built to pay homage to the erstwhile ruler of Nawanagar, Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, who provided shelter to a group of Polish children who had been left homeless after Poland was ravished by the war.
The Nawanagar ruler, along with Shrimant Rajarshi Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj of Kolhapur provided housing and hospitality to an estimated 5,000 Polish citizens from 1942 to 1946 as the war raged in Europe.
The ruler of Nawanagar in particular is appreciated in Poland as he was the first to take in almost a 1,000 Polish children trying to find refuge after being released from Soviet labour camps.
In the early stage of the war, Poland got divided into two parts after a pact between Russia and Germany to divide Europe between themselves. As a result of the Soviet occupation, a large number of Polish families were transported to labour colonies.
However, by 1941, when it became clear that the Russia-Germany pact could not be sustained and a resistance army had to be raised in Poland through the Russian help, Moscow decided to free some prisoners and their
