Oskar Schindler of India

By Parag Ranjan Dutta

When Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, Nazism or National Socialism advocated by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had a strong foothold in Germany. The essence of Nazism was to annihilate all the enemies of the Aryan Race. Around 1901 the German Human Geographer Friedrich Ratzel theorised the concept of ‘Lebensraum’, living space or biological habitat, which a territory or country required to grow and survive. This is the infamous ‘Organic Theory of States’ of Ratzel which says that bigger states should grow at the expense of the weaker states. Ratzel was greatly influenced by Darwin and his theory of natural selection. He pronounced that political entities like countries behave similar to biological organisms. Hitler also believed that Germany required ‘living space’ for survival. That led to the annexation of areas from weaker states. Lebensraum became the ideological principle of the Nazis that provided the justification for territorial expansion. Hitler believed that Eastern Europe had to be conquered for Germany’s survival. And to achieve that Nazis wanted most of the indigenous people of the Central and Eastern Europe, mostly Poles, Czechs and other Slavic nations to be removed through deportation to concentration camps, death or enslavement. And Poles were one of the worst sufferers of this ideology. The two regimes of Germany and Soviet Union had already signed a pact to divide Poland. The attack launched on Poland by Stalin orphaned thousands of children mainly Jews, and sent them deep inside Soviet Union in detention camps, often left to die of hunger and disease.

Nearly 17million Polish citizens were deported from Eastern Poland deep inside Russia in Siberian gulag, a system of forced labour camps established during the long rule of the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin. In a desperate and unprecedented move to save the lives of their citizens during the World War the Polish Army quietly put about 500 children and women into a ship and ordered the captain to take them away to any country where they could get safe shelter. The last words of the Polish Army to them were “If we are alive and survive then we will meet again”.

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The ship had no proper destination, sailing aimlessly for weeks and was denied entry in the territorial waters of a number of European ports. The ship continued its journey and reached Iran but was also denied shelter here. Even the Asian port of Aden and Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa refused the ship entry. The simple reason was not to invite the wrath of the Fuhrer, as the great dictator Hitler was otherwise known as. From Seychelles the ship turned East and reached Bombay.

The Nazi Army built a number of extermination camps across Europe but the one in Poland near the rail station of Sobibor became infamous where millions of Jews were exterminated. Around that time people came to know about a German industrialist and a powerful Nazi party member, one Oskar Schindler who saved the lives of many of his Jewish employees. He spent almost his entire assets in an effort to save the lives of over 1200 of his Jewish employees. Inspired by true events of Schindler’s life, the great American film director Steven Spielberg produced his epic Academy Award winning movie Schindler’s List. Many years after the war was over in Europe and stories were retold by those who survived the holocaust, this came to be known to the world that touched the hearts of many.

During the British rule the Indian state of Gujarat was ruled by the Maharajas. Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, son of the famed cricketer and Maharaja Ranjitsinjhi, popularly known as Jamsaheb, was the ruler of erstwhile princely state of Nawanagar, now Jamnagar, in the Kathiwar region.

The Polish ship which was sailing aimlessly so long reached the Indian waters near Gujarat and wanted to dock. Even the British Governor refused entry of the Polish ship. Jamsaheb tried to persuade the British Government to allow the children and women to disembark, but in vain. But there was a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel. When he came to know about the immensurable misery and he became concerned about the ill-fated women and children, Maharaja ordered the ship to dock at Rozi port under his territory. Many other Polish refugees found shelter during the war in Gujarat.

A camp was established for Polish children, who were brought out of the USSR during the war, in Balachadi, a sea- side resort of Jamsaheb, 25 kilometres east of Jamnagar, near the gulf of Kutch. On arrival he welcomed the Polish children and women saying “Do not consider yourself orphans, you are now Nawanagaris, and I am Bapu, father of all the people of Nawanagar, so also yours”.

He even opened his summer house at Balachadi for the Polish refugees. The Polish refugees stayed in Jamnagar for nine long years but they returned to their motherland after the war was over. But the story did not end with their return to Poland. There is a fascinating story behind their return, one of the refugee children went on to become the Prime Minister of the country.

Fifty years after the death of Jamsaheb the Polish parliament unanimously adopted a special resolution honouring him for his help to the Polish children. A school was established in Warsaw in 2016 to honour him. This is one of the best schools of Warsaw today which was named after Jamsaheb and is known as ‘ Jamsaheb grammar School’. The school named after the Maharaja stands on the streets of Bednarska and Raszynska. The school has hundreds of paintings with interesting motifs on the walls which reflect the great influence of Indian culture. Besides in recognition for his help to Polish refugees during World War II, a Square, known as The Square of the Good Maharaja (Skwer Dobrego Maharadzy) was built in the Ochota district of Central Warsaw.

It has been written that ‘the reason for this special emphasis on India and its culture goes back to an important phase of history prior to the 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’.

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In September 2018 an event was organised by the Polish embassy in India to commemorate the establishment of the second home for the Polish refugees. Adam Burakowski, Polish ambassador to India in his tweet said “Proud to be here in Jamnagar with #II WW survivors from #Poland who spent time of war # in India after escaping from Siberian gulag.

76 years later six Polish citizens aged nearly 90 returned to the place that provided them refuge by a kind-hearted good Maharaja during the World War. Andrzej Chendyski, a Polish refugee and the President of the Association in India (1942-48 ) on his return to a camp in Valivade settlement camp near Kolhapur once spoke along with others near the Monument of Gratitude about the long association of the Polish refugees with the people of Kolhapur, who once welcomed them with great warmth. Nearly 5000 refugees found shelter in Valivade camp. Feliks Scazihino, an octogenarian from Kersy in eastern Poland, who was deported to Siberian gulag, in his reminiscence to an Indian reporter once narrated his ordeal and expressed his gratitude to Maharaja. The great soul and a saviour who did an Oskar Schindler died in 1966. The respect and gratitude shown to Jamsaheb reached a new height recently during the Russia Ukraine war. During the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine when Operation Ganga was launched by the Government of India to rescue Indian students, a number of them from different parts of Ukraine took refuge inside Poland. As a mark of respect to the Maharaja the authorities opened the doors of their educational institutions so that the Indian students can continue their further studies. When the country was celebrating its 75th year of Independence or Azadi ka Amrit Mohotsob last year, thousands of miles away in Poland a tram was named after Digvijaysinjhi and Rajarshi Shahi Maharaj of the princely state of Kolhapur who gave shelter to a large number of Polish children, in Wroclaw city. The Indian Ambassador to Poland, Nagma Mallick and the Mayor of the Wroclaw city jointly inaugurated the tram dedicated to India’s 75 years of Independence. The tram was interestingly named ‘Dorby Maharaja’ (Good Maharaja).

Even today some Polish refugees and their descendants travel to Jamnagar every year to pay homage to Bapu and remember their ancestors.

(The author is the former Head, Department of Geography, St. Edmund’s College)