Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja

Uncommon card · No. 92176

Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja (18 September 1895 – 3 February 1966), known widely in Poland as the Good Maharaja (Polish: Dobry Maharadża), was the ruling Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (present day Jamnagar), succeeding his uncle, the famed cricketer Ranjitsinhji. He ruled Nawanagar from 1933 to 1947, when Nawanagar was merged into the United State of Kathiawar, after which he held his title nominally. Jadeja is personally credited with saving around 740 Polish orphans between 1942 and 1946, following the Invasion of Poland. While serving as the Hindu delegate to the British war cabinet he convinced members of the Red Cross and Anders' Army to transport the orphans to Jamnagar, where he provided them with food, shelter, clothes, education, and medical care in the nearby coastal village of Balachadi. Following the Surrender of Germany, the orphans were returned to Poland. In 2011, Jadeja was posthumously bestowed the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit by the President of...

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