File No. 861.48/117

The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State

No. 3741

Sir: With reference to the previous correspondence regarding the plan for relief in Poland, I have the honor to enclose herewith a memorandum which I received yesterday from Sir Edward Grey.

I have [etc.]

Walter Hines Page
[Enclosure]1

Memorandum of the British Foreign Office

On the 21st February last the United States Ambassador communicated to Sir E. Grey a memorandum embodying the following proposals for affording relief to Poland:

There are approximately 15,000,000 people in the German occupied eastern area, including Russian Poland and western Russia. Of this population, between 3,500,000 and 4,000,000 people are concentrated in, or in the immediate neighborhood of, the cities of Warsaw, Lodz, Schenzochow [Czestochowa], Vilna, Kovno, and Bella Ettap [Biala Etappe].

In order to handle the problem of provision[ing] from a practical point of view, and at the same time with proper safeguard as to all the international phases in the matter, the following basis is proposed:

1. The American commission shall undertake the revictualing of the above-mentioned cities only.

The German Government to undertake to furnish to the cities above mentioned a supply which will cover a ration of—

400 grams of potatoes per diem per capita
10 salt
10 sugar
3 tea

The American commission to import cereals to an amount which will afford a ration of 340 grams per diem per capita of wheat, or beans, peas, rice, maize; also with 40 grams of fats per diem per capita and a moderate amount of condensed milk for children.

2. That the German Government shall undertake to revictual the whole of the balance of the population in the occupied territory.

3. The German Government will undertake to devise financial means for the provision of gold exchange abroad to pay for the foodstuff purchased by the American commission. The Allies to give necessary permits for these financial operations by the commission.

4. The German Government will make the necessary arrangements to turn over to the commission sufficient German shipping to do the entire transportation from North America or other places to Danzig.

5. The revictualling to last only until October 1, at which time the new harvest will take care of the entire civilian population.

6. The German Government to undertake that there shall be no interference with the imported foodstuffs; that they will be consumed absolutely by the native civilian population; that the American commission will be furnished every facility for the control of the entire revictualling of the cities in question, including the German contribution to the ration.

7. In order to carry out the above it will be necessary to import approximately 40,000 tons of foodstuffs per month. It is proposed that such portion of these foodstuffs as go to the well-to-do population should be sold, and in this particular the German Government is prepared to give free railway transport over the occupied areas and one-half railway rates over the German State railroads. It is proposed to provision the destitute without cost.

[Page 893]

His Majesty’s Government at once referred the question of principle involved in these proposals to the Russian Government who have now accepted it. His Majesty’s Government are accordingly prepared to agree to the immediate inauguration of the above arrangement, provided that the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments are prepared to give certain assurances. In assenting in principle to the grant of relief to a territory occupied by the enemy, in spite of the statements recently published by the German authorities that they are in reality able to relieve the Polish population unaided, His Majesty’s Government feel that they have made a concession in return for which they have a right to demand that their enemies shall now at length place beyond doubt their intentions towards the populations of occupied territories whose treatment by them in the past has been so much at variance with the responsibilities of civilized warfare and the dictates of humanity. The assurances required are as follows:

1.
The scheme submitted by the United States Ambassador relates only to that part of Russian Poland at present in the occupation of the German forces. His Majesty’s Government consider it essential that any system of Polish relief should apply to Russian Poland as a whole, and they cannot recognize the existing division into two spheres, occupied respectively by German and Austro-Hungarian troops. There must be a definite undertaking by the two Governments that the export from the whole of Russian Poland of all foodstuffs, native or imported, will be absolutely prohibited, and that any excess over domestic needs which may exist in the southern part under Austrian administration (which is understood to be self-supporting) will be employed exclusively for the provisioning of northern Poland, whether such foodstuffs are utilised to supply the towns under the care of the relief commission or the country districts to be revictualled by the German Government.
2.
It is understood from a document which has been communicated to His Majesty’s Government by Mr. Walcott, of the Rockefeller Foundation, and of which a copy is annexed to this memorandum, that the German authorities in northern Poland undertake that all food supplies originating in Poland shall be used exclusively for the civil population and the constabulary. His Majesty’s Government cannot admit that the constabulary should be allowed to use native foodstuffs which have subsequently to be replaced by supplies imported by the relief commission. They must therefore request that in this respect the constabulary should be placed on the same footing as the occupying army.
3.
From the same document it appears that the German authorities wish to export from Poland any excess of the potato supply. As a result of the experience which they have gained in connection with Belgian relief, His Majesty’s Government are most reluctant to agree to the exportation from Russian Poland of so-called excess supplies, since the question of what constitutes an excess is largely a matter of opinion. Nevertheless, in order not to prolong the negotiations, His Majesty’s Government agree to the export of potatoes at such times and so long as, in the opinion of the neutral relief authorities, an excess supply in fact exists over and above the requirements of the whole of Russian Poland.
4.
The German vessels mentioned under paragraph 4 of Mr. Page’s proposal must fly a neutral flag, be under the sole control of a neutral body to be agreed upon, be manned by neutrals, and be run entirely at the expense of the German authorities.
5.
It should be understood that the responsibility of the German Government is not ended by the supply of the partial ration mentioned in the above scheme of relief. His Majesty’s Government cannot undertake to allow the relief commission to import more than a minimum supplementary ration over and above the maximum which the enemy are in a position to supply at any given time.
6.
The neutral relief authorities in Poland must enjoy absolutely free and unfettered facilities for the communication to their London office of any data connected with their work. They must have every facility to satisfy themselves of the manner in which the undertakings of the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments are being carried out in all parts of Poland. It is, of course, understood that the “German relief officer for the civil population” mentioned in the enclosed memorandum before alluded to shall have no control of any kind over and shall in no wise interfere with the complete discretion of the American commission or its representatives.
7.
The German and Austro-Hungarian Governments should undertake, as a part of the present arrangement, adequately to supply and care for the populations [Page 894] of Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro, all of which countries are now being reduced to a state of starvation through the removal, or the use by the occupying forces, of the supplies of native foodstuffs. The carrying out of this undertaking should be under the supervision of neutral subjects or organisations in those countries.

His Majesty’s Government trust that the above proposals, which represent merely the renouncement of indefensible practices and assurances for the due respect of the lives and rights of the population of occupied territories in the future, will meet with the prompt acceptance of the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments, so that the necessary preliminary arrangements may be made without delay.

[Subenclosure]

Draft guarantees sketched between Mr. Walcott, of the Rockefeller Foundation, and the German authorities in Poland

In the event that the Commission for Relief in Belgium shall be able to assist in the ravitaillement of Poland, the following principles are agreed to by the German Government:

1.
The Americans have the right of control in exact agreement with the convention arranged for the north of France and/or Belgium.
2.
The German authorities pledge themselves that all the food supplies introduced by the Americans shall be applied exclusively to the use of the civil population, and distributed according to the methods now obtaining in north of France and/or Belgium.
The distribution is to be made through the Polish local committees under the supervision of the American representatives or delegates and the German relief officer for the civil population.
3.
The German authorities guarantee that all food supplies originating in Poland shall be used exclusively for the civil population and the constabulary. Excepted from the above are surplus potatoes left after the needs of the civil population and constabulary have been completely covered. The constabulary is required to pay cash marks, or equivalent for whatever foodstuffs they purchase or requisition at a fair market price. The allowance of potatoes per capita per day for the population in determining this surplus is to be at least 400 grams per day.
4.
The German authorities guarantee that the transportation of the imported American food supplies destined for the General Government of Poland, the Etappe of Biala, and the Government of Wilna shall be shipped from Danzig to the German frontier at one-half rate, and without charge from the German Polish frontier to its destination in Poland or the Etappe.

The above guarantees are given by—

  • The General Government of Poland,
  • The Government of Wilna,
  • The Government of Biala Etappe.

Oberst Schall
  1. See File No. 861.48/167.