:-|Why was a school in Poland named after Jamsaheb Digvijay Singh
Jadeja, who once ruled Nawanagar? Jayaraj Manepalli has the story:
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At first glance, it looks like any school in Warsaw, Poland. Children
playing outside, the buzz in the corridors, the gentle aromaof 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 andgoddesses
adorning the walls of the school office makes one wonder whether one
is still in Warsaw.
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.
How did a ruler so far away earn the respect and honour of the school
and isstill remembered today? 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 inJune 1999 and overwhelmingly
approved the move.
The many wars
During the years precedingWorld 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.
Thus began a great exodus— from the cold parts of the Soviet Union to
warmer southern regions of Central Asia. The long and arduous journey
stretched over hundreds ofkilometres. It was a test of human endurance
and suffering in the most difficult situations. Many travellers lost
their loved ones en route owing to thecold, hunger, malnutrition and
dehydration. The journey stretched across many lands and transit
points — Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tehran in
Iran, Afghanistan, Quetta, Zahedau and Karachi in present day Pakistan
and to India's western coast.
The first batch of the 500 severely malnourished andexhausted orphans
had a surprise welcome, when they arrived in Nawanagar,from the
Maharaja himself. "Don't consider yourselves orphans. You are now
Nawanagaris and I am Bapu, the father of all Nawanagaris, including
yourselves," he said. Digvijay Singh was the Chancellor of the Council
ofPrinces and member of theImperial War Cabinet in British India
(1939-1945) who opened his province to Polish refugees threatened with
annihilation. He knew the officials of the Polish government in exile
that operated from London owing to his position in the Imperial War
Cabinet.
Kind heart
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...
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