- £175.00
Pakistan. (Polish Refugees in India - Pakistan). 1943. Air Mail envelope written from 'Polish Refugee Camp, Karachi, Pakistan' addressed to 'Jeruzalem, Paleztyne, P.O. Box 260' bearing India SG 269b, 1 1/2a purple tied by Experimental double ring, endorsed 'By Air Mail' with re-sealing label 'P.C. 90/ Opened By Examiner' tied by framed 'Crown/ Passed/ DHB/ 14' on face with 'DHB/ 137' hand-stamp in violet applied in Karachi on face.
When Soviet forces entered Poland an estimated one million Poles were deported to Labour Camp Gulags in Siberia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
An estimated 5000 women and children made the perilous journey south via Iran, Syria and Palestine via Pakistan to India. The Maharaja of Nawanagar established a cam for between 500 and 1000 women and children many of whom were orphans at Balachadi (Bandry Camp).
The Country Club, Transit Camp, Karachi, more than 25,000 Poles escaping persecution passed through this holding camp on their way to India, Africa, Mexico and New Zealand. Mail however is almost impossible to find as most of the children were orphans and the women widows.
