The department of youth and cultural affairs of the Gujarat government will be co-organisers for the centenary celebrations to mark independence of Poland in Delhi and other parts of the world. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in this regard today between the Gujarat government and the Poland government. The MoU was signed by Polish ambassador to India Adam Burakowski and principal secretary of youth and cultural affairs department V P Patel in presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, as per an official release.
Burakowski had requested the Gujarat government to become the co-organisers of the celebrations under “generations to generations” programme, recalling that during the World War II, King of Jamnagar Digvijaysinh Jadeja had provided shelter to over 600 women and children of the European country. As per the agreement, the state government’s cultural affairs department will help Poland in organising and publicising “generations to generations” programme in Delhi and other parts of the world, the release said. A programme will be conducted on the king providing shelter to the Polish residents.
According to reports, hundreds of Polish women and children who had managed to escape on a ship from their country during World War II were provided help by the royal at a time many countries had refused to take them in. After staying in the then princely state of Jamnagar, they returned to their country after normalcy was restored. In Poland, Jadeja was posthumously awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the President. In 2013, the Government of Poland inaugurated the ‘Good Maharaja Square’ in Warsaw. Poland gained independence in October 1918.
