India, Oct. 22 -- An Indian king, 650 Polish children fleeing the horrors of World War II, and an act of kindness that has endured for nearly eight decades. The story of the "Good Maharaja" continues to hold a special place in Poland's national memory, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk recalling the Indian ruler's legacy on Thursday.

The story dates back to 1942, when a ruler from Gujarat opened his doors to Polish children displaced by the war. At a time when the conflict had torn families apart and left thousands of children without a safe place to go, he offered them shelter far from their homeland.

The man remembered as the "Good Maharaja" was Shri Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, a princely state in pre...