The memorial pillar at Valivade, near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, honours the memory of about 5,000 refugees from which country who were given shelter there during the Second World War?

The memorial pillar at Valivade, near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, honours the memory of about 5,000 Polish refugees who lived in a camp there from 1943 to 1948, during and after the Second World War.

Background:

• In 1939, Poland was invaded and divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet authorities deported hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens, including women and children, to labour camps in Siberia and Central Asia.
• After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, an agreement allowed many Poles to leave the Soviet Union, and they travelled through Iran.

India gives shelter:

• Several thousand Polish refugees, mostly women and children, were brought to India.
• The Maharaja of Nawanagar, Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji, set up a camp for Polish children at Balachadi, near Jamnagar in Gujarat (1942).
• The largest settlement was at Valivade, near Kolhapur, with the support of the princely state of Kolhapur and the British Indian government.

Life at Valivade:

• It was like a small Polish town, with schools, churches, a post office, shops, a theatre, and community activities.
• The refugees lived there until 1948, when they left for other countries, such as Britain, Canada, Australia and the USA.

The memorial:

• The memorial pillar was unveiled in 2014, in the presence of Polish representatives and local leaders.
• It expresses the gratitude of the Polish people to India.

India-Poland relations:

• The "Good Maharaja" Square in Warsaw is named in honour of Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji, for his kindness to the Polish children.
• Poland has also honoured him with its Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Refugees from Tibet came to India much later; Burma and Greece were not the source of the Valivade refugees.