The Memorial Pillar located in Valivade (a village near Kolhapur, India) is in memory of over 5000 Polish refugees who escaped to India during World War II and were given shelter in the area. Poland''s Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz unveiled the pillar on 14 September 2019.[1][2][3]

Background

The first group of refugees had arrived in Valivade on 11 June 1943 and stayed till 1948. Whereas in 1948, many Poles returned to their homeland, a few stayed back.[4] Valivade was the largest settlement of Polish citizens In India during the war.[5][6][7] There were other smaller Polish settlements in India at the time in areas such as Balachadi and Panchgani which offered settlement mainly due to the hospitality of Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar State.[8][9] A Polish cemetery is also in Vilavade, home to 78 people who died there.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Polish WW-II Memorial Pillar unveiled in Kolhapur". Outlook India. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  2. ^ Bhusari, Piyush (12 September 2019). "Memorial pillar to remember Polish refugees to be unveiled on Saturday". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  3. ^ Banerjee, Shoumojit (14 September 2019). "Memorial to Polish refugees to be unveiled in Kolhapur". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  4. ^ Phadke, Manasi (14 September 2019). "For these Poland nationals with ties to World War II, 'home' is a tiny village in Maharashtra". The Print. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  5. ^ Piotrowski, Tadeusz (17 September 2015). The Polish Deportees of World War II: Recollections of Removal to the Soviet Union and Dispersal Throughout the World. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5536-2.
  6. ^ Phadnis, Samrat (13 February 2014). "Over 70 Polish refugees to visit city in March, relive WW-II memories". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020.
  7. ^ Deshpande, Devidas (31 July 2011). "The last Pole of Valivade". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019.
  8. ^ Wójcicka, Ewa. "Google Arts & Culture: 1939–1948 Passage to India, Polish settlements in Balachadi and Valivade". Warsaw: Polish History Museum.
  9. ^ Jumde, Anandita (17 April 2016). "How One Maharaja Helped Save the Lives of 640 Polish Children and Women During World War II". Bangalore: The Better India, Vikara Media Pvt Ltd.

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