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Banasinska and supported by the Archbishop of Delhi, the Mother Superior of the convent of Jesus and Mary, raising funds among private donors including the philanthropic Indian fam- ily, the Tatas. A British official, Captain A.W.T. Webb, administered the funds and also left be- hind an invaluable historical record. At first there was some notion of placing the children in foster homes but the Polish govern- ment was opposed to separating the already traumatized children. Other options such as In- dia was then still ruled by Britain so obvi- ously the Polish authorities turned to them for assistance, but imperial rule does not al- ways allow for quick decisions. However, some princely states still enjoyed a level of autonomy and it was from one of these that the first offer of help – unencumbered by bu- reaucratic considerations and imperial pri- orities – came from the Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar. On hearing of the plight of the children he immediately offered to take in 500 – a figure he soon raised to 1000 – and built a camp for them on his seaside summer estate because he wanted the children to en- joy the pleasures of a beach. When the chil- dren arrived he greeted them saying he was “Bapu,” their father. request to have the young maharaja of Kol- hapur officially open the camp was turned down, while the consul-general was denied admission in his official capacity. One sus- pected visit resulted in a memo stating: “We must draw his attention at once to the rules debarring States from corresponding directly with Foreign countries or inviting foreign consuls to the State without the P.D.’s (Political Department) approval.” The youngest children at the Balachadi camp Courtesy of the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum Valivade, though established by the Govern- ment of India, was funded by the legation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Services of the Polish government in London. It soon turned into a thriving community: the refu- gees planted gardens, put up Polish street When the war ended, “Bapu” adopted the children to prevent their forcible return to a signs, and established schools and a hospital. An Indian shopping syndicate set up several Communist Poland ruled by Moscow, the very same regime that had deported them to businesses providing groceries, fish and meat, cloth, stationery and, in time, even a Siberia in the first place. The princely state of Kolhapur was the next cinema that screened one show daily. to offer a site where a family camp, Valivade, was set up for some 5,000 people, mainly women and children. Bhattacharjee reports that several other sites were offered by other princely states but were turned down by the British who did not want the autonomous princely states to have any dealings with for- eign governments. Indeed, Mrs. Banasinska’s