Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reached Warsaw on the first leg of his two-nation visit, paid his tributes at three memorials — Dobry Maharaja Memorial, Kolhapur Memorial and the Monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Poland is the first trip by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in the past 45 years. 

Dobry Maharaja Memorial in Warsaw

• The Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial in Warsaw highlights the humanitarian contribution of Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja (of modern day Jamnagar in Gujarat). 

• Jam Saheb is fondly remembered in Poland as Dobry (Good) Maharaja.

• The memorial, located at the Square of the Good Maharaja, Warsaw, is a remembrance to the deep respect and gratitude that the people and government of Poland have for Jam Saheb.

• In 1942, the Maharaja had provided refuge to about 1,000 Polish children from war-torn, occupied Poland and Soviet camps following the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

• The surviving Polish children have formed an Association of Poles, which meets annually in one of the major Polish cities.

• Eight Polish primary and secondary schools are named after Jam Saheb.

• The memorial monument, a small brick pillar with inscriptions, was unveiled in October 2014 at the Square of the Good Maharaja, Ochota district in Warsaw.

• At the memorial, PM Modi met with the descendants of polish people who were given shelter by the Jamsaheb.

Kolhapur Memorial in Warsaw

• PM Modi paid tributes at the memorial plaque for the Valivade-Kolhapur camp near the Monte Casino War Memorial, which was inaugurated in November 2017.

• This Memorial is a tribute to the great Royal Family of Kolhapur. This Royal Family was at the forefront of giving shelter to Polish women and children displaced due to the horrors of World War II.

• Valivade village near Kolhapur town in Maharashtra was where over 5,000 Poles had lived, integrated, and worked for several years before returning to their motherland.

• The majority of them had arrived either by land or sea route after evacuations from Polish camps at the height of World War II.

• At the memorial, PM Modi met with polish people who had lived in the Kolhapur camp and their descendants.

Monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino

• PM Modi laid a wreath and paid tribute at the Monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino in Warsaw.

• This Monument commemorates the sacrifice and valour of soldiers from Poland, India and other countries who fought alongside each other in the famous Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy during World War II.

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