How the Maharaja of Jamnagar saved 1000 Polish children | #193
+ Queen Victoria's Indian daughter 😱😱
Friends,
You probably know the story of Oskar Schindler. He was a member of the Nazi Party but after the German invasion of Poland, he used his connections, money and skill to save over 1000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps - all of whom were recorded in a list.
It is a chilling reminder of how brazen and brutal the Nazi regime was and how acts of immense courage helped save precious lives. Schindler was unusual in that he was a member of the Nazi Party and has been honored for his actions by being buried in Jerusalem, possibly the only known member of the Nazi Party to get this honor.
This week’s newsletter, we take a look at other heroic efforts taken by people during World War 2, who also deserve movies about them.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Nazi Germany has occupied your country and you know Jews will be killed. How do you stop it? You create a FAKE EPIDEMIC!
Dr Eugene Lazowski had finished medical school when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. It was a bad time not only because of the occupation, but also because of a deadly disease Typhus that was killing over 500 people a day. Nazi Germany had a solution for this disease - If jews had the disease, kill them and burn their houses, if non-jews had the disease, isolate them. If a city had a sizable Jewish population, but a lot of non-Jewish folk had the disease, they would quarantine the entire city. The way to test if the disease is present is through a blood test which could detect if antibodies to fight Typhus are present or not. Eugene learnt that the anti-bodies are not only produced for Typhus bacteria, but also with a strain of the Proteus bacteria called OX-19, which is harmless to people. In 1942 he was living in the city of Rozwadów, where he was the only doctor in the area. On learning that the Germans were approaching, he injected jews and non-jews, who had come to him for treatment with the harmless OX-19 bacteria strain and then drew their blood. It was sent to the German authorities for testing. The Germans drew a conclusion that Rozwadów was a hotbed for Typhus and the city was off-limits for Nazi Germany. It is said that by inventing the Typhus epidemic in Rozwadów, Eugene was able to save around 8000 lives.
The Bielski brothers—Tuvia, Asael, and Zus—emerged as unlikely heroes amidst the Holocaust's horrors. They were Polish Jews from Stankiewicze, now Belarus, who witnessed the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Refusing to surrender, the brothers fled to the dense forests of Belarus, determined to fight back and save as many Jewish lives as possible. In the forest, they established a partisan group, prioritizing the rescue and survival of their fellow Jews over direct military confrontation with the Nazis. Their camp became a sanctuary for Jews fleeing the ghettos and Nazi execution squads. Under Tuvia Bielski's leadership, the camp grew into a self-sufficient community, with makeshift facilities including sleeping quarters, a kitchen, workshops, a school, and a hospital. The partisans engaged in guerrilla attacks against German supply lines and collaborated with local police forces to procure necessities, but their primary focus remained on ensuring the safety and well-being of their members. This policy of unconditional acceptance was revolutionary. The Bielski Partisans eventually saved over 1,200 Jews, making their operation one of the largest and most successful rescue missions of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust.
Jamnagar today is welcoming the who’s who of the Business World for the Ambani wedding, but back in 1942, the Maharaja of Jamnagar played a significant role in saving over 1000 Polish children. In the period leading up to World War II, a significant number of Polish citizens were deported by the Red Army to Soviet labor camps located in the far reaches of North-Eastern USSR and Siberia. The invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany in 1941 prompted the USSR to declare an amnesty, resulting in the liberation of these Polish exiles. These survivors embarked on arduous journeys to various destinations, including Tehran in Iran, Afghanistan, and the western coast of India. The initial group of over 500 emaciated and weary orphans found refuge in Jamnagar, welcomed by Jam Sahib Digvijay Singh. Jam Sahib, who had acquired an appreciation for Polish history and culture from Polish acquaintances during a stay in Switzerland in the 1920s with his uncle, extended a warm welcome to the refugees. He provided them with dedicated housing, educational facilities, medical care, and spaces for rest and recovery at Balachadi, near Jamnagar. Additionally, he established a camp at Chela and enlisted the support of the rulers of Patiala and Baroda, leveraging his connections in the Chamber of Princes to assist the refugees. Contributions from business entities such as Tata supported the initial group of 500 refugees which then swelled to 20,000 who found temporary or longer-term shelter in what was then undivided India. The Jamsaheb Digvijay Singh Jadeja School in Warsaw was later established to commemorate his significant contributions to the welfare of Polish refugees.
From IWTK, with love 💌
MF Hussain was famous for being barefoot. Do you know why?
Queen Victoria had an Indian daughter. Know more about this here.
Only In India 🇮🇳
I do not envy the cashier in this showroom
Be cool,
❤️ IWTK