In April 1942, the first transport of Poles arrived to India. They were mainly children who came there from the Soviet Union through Iran. In the next months, more of them arrived and found shelter at the Balachadi settlement near Jamnagar, Valivade near Kolhapur or at the transit settlements: Karachi (Country Club) or Malir.
“Pole in India” and the “Indian Baby Elephant”
Despite the harsh conditions, the refugees set up libraries, schools and pre-schools in the Polish settlements, and the cultural life was thriving. Publishing was blooming as well with brochures, books and magazines, like the biweekly “Pole in India” (turned weekly after 1945), published by the Delegation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Care in Mumbai.
A drawing of two elephants between palm trees, designed by Krystyna Biskupska, was on the front page.
A children’s supplement was published as well, entitled “Indian Baby Elephant”. Janina Sułkowska was the magazine’s editor. She appeared in the magazine as Aunt Jasia and taught the children about such things as the seasons or the New Year’s taking place at various places in the world. A drawing of two elephants between palm trees, designed by Krystyna Biskupska, was on the front page. The first issue of the several-pages-long supplement to the “Pole in India” magazine came out in August 1944.
Polish, Hindi and Persian legends appeared on the pages of the supplement, as well as fairy tales (Puss in Boots, The Seven Dwarfs), short stories (Warsaw Eagles, Autumn Is Coming, The Fern Flower) and poems (Guard At Vistula, By The Fire, Jan The Traveller).
Short story titled "Santa Claus" printed in the eighth issue of “Indian Baby Elephant", a supplement for children in "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
"We are building a nativity scene" - an article published in the eighth issue of "Indian Baby Elephant", a supplement for children in "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
Christmas away from home
Several issues, eight through nine, 29 and 46 of the supplement were devoted to Christmas topics. Here is a short piece of a Christmas tale published in the magazine:
“So that at least in our dreams we could see the snow creaking beneath our feet, a true Christmas tree standing there and the blistering cold painting wonderful flowery shapes on the window glass… Little Haneczka prayed during Christmas midnight mass.”
Short stories like “Santa Claus”, “When the kids go to sleep”, “The Christmas tree legend” and poems like “Lord Jesus roams the world” also made their way into the magazine. Riddles and puzzles appeared in the print as well. One such riddle was this:
“From the forest, it shines bright, underneath the lights are toys. All good children get the presents, and they’re happy more than ever!”
Additionally, the magazine included instructions on how to make Christmas decorations and nativity scenes. The short story “Christmas star” was published on the first page of issue no. 46, in December 1946, illustrated with a xylograph by Tadeusz Cieślewski.
The magazine also touched on various educational topics, which was crucial for several thousand children staying in India. These included such things as punctuation, which was being taught with poems by Jan Brzechwa. In total, 48 issues of the “Indian Baby Elephant” came out, the last one was published in February 1947.
Front page of issue nine of "The Indian Baby Elephant", a supplement for children in "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
Instructions for making Christmas tree decorations, printed in the ninth issue of "Indian Baby Elephant", a children's supplement to "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
Christmas, 29th issue of "Indian Baby Elephant", a supplement for children to "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
Story titled “Christmas star" publication in the 46th issue of "Indian Baby Elephant", a supplement for children to "Pole in India", donated to the resources of the Institute of National Remembrance Archive in Warsaw by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948
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A collection of the “Indian Baby Elephant” supplements, along with other documents and photographs showing the every day life of Poles in India at the Valivade settlement was donated to the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw in 2019 by the Polish Club in India 1942-1948.
A monograph “From the »Inhuman Land« to the land of maharajas. Polish refugees from the USSR in India 1942-1948” was created based on the aforementioned documents.
