The Indian diaspora in Warsaw welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi with open arms before he made history as the first prime minister to pay tributes at the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial. Additionally, he paid his respects at two Warsaw memorials—the Monte Cassino and the Kolhapur.
The history of these memorials has a unique connection between India and Poland, according to Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs. Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (now in Gujarat) saved Jewish children from Poland and gave them a safe home in India during WWII. Jam Saheb Digvijaysinh is honoured at Warsaw’s ‘Good Maharaja Square’ for his humanitarian actions; the Maharaja welcomed the displaced children into his summer home.
Approximately a thousand Polish children who had been left orphaned during World War II made the dangerous journey from Siberia to India in 1942. After being rejected at multiple ports, Jam Sahib took in the kids and set up camp in Balachadi, close to Jamnagar.
The Polish soldiers who lost their lives in the 1944 conflict are remembered at the Monte Cassino Memorial.
