Last Updated:February 25, 2026, 22:06 IST Narendra Modi recalled Jams ahib Digvijaysinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar, who sheltered nearly 1000 Polish Jewish children during World War II. Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji with the Jewish refugees. (Image: Sand Prints) When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Israel’s parliament — the Knesset, during his two-day visit to Israel, he did more than speak about strategic ties and modern partnerships. He reached back into history. In his speech, Modi recalled a lesser-known but deeply moving chapter of India–Israel goodwill: the story of a Gujarati ruler who offered sanctuary to Jewish children fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust. That ruler was Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (present-day Jamnagar in Gujarat). A Haven Found Far From Home In 1942, as World War II raged and Nazi persecution devastated Jewish communities across Europe, nearly 1,000 Polish children, many of them Jewish, found refuge in India. After a harrowing journey through Soviet territories and the Middle East, the children arrived on Indian shores. It was then that Maharaja Digvijaysinhji stepped forward. …