Paris Peace Conf. 184.01102/61
Lieutenant Frederic R. King to Professor A. C. Coolidge45
Subject: Report of Mr. Van Svarc regarding Teschen. (American newspaper correspondent.)
Mr. Svarc who arrived this morning in Prague from Teschen gave us the following account of events which took place in Teschen from Sunday morning to Tuesday afternoon. He said in substance as follows:
“On Sunday morning the Poles had made all arrangements to get out of the town entirely and then they began a systematic hunt of all Czechs of any prominence in order that they might ship them away from Teschen as hostages. I was informed that about twenty of them were gathered together at Teschen and about forty more from the neighboring towns and villages and all these with the exception of two who managed to escape in the confusion on the way to the railroad station were put aboard the train and sent eastward, the report being that they were being sent to Cracow.
Sunday night rumors spread that the Czecho-Slovaks would be in Teschen by midnight, but they did not come, however, until Monday, when at 12.15 in the afternoon the first automobile, bearing their officers and guard, arrived in the square. I happened to be near the railroad station when they arrived and heard the rousing cheers with which the people received them. In half an hour later the first Czechoslovak troops entered the town proceeding to the public square, and from that time on until 8 o’clock in the evening they kept arriving. They were not molested in any manner whatsoever and all kept marching toward the public square where they concentrated. About two o’clock Monday afternoon the Czecho-Slovaks placed their flag on the tower of the city hall while the troops sang the Czech national hymn. When this ceremony was over rousing cheers were given by the populace that had gathered there.
On Tuesday morning I heard rumors that the Poles had retired from Teschen in order to organize a counter-attack, but from inquiries which I made and information which I was able to gather, I am convinced that they have no such motive in view. I also heard rumors that the Poles intended to come back in force within two months, but I do not place any credence in that story because the Czecho-Slovaks once in Teschen would be able to hold the town from [Page 325] a military point of view as they have the necessary troops to garrison it, and have the guns, artillery and ammunition as well.
From the information I could gather regarding the Polish troops I firmly believe that they have no intention to offer any resistance to the Czecho-Slovak Army, as their morale is of a very low order and the troops made up of men whose only reason for being in the Polish Army is the fact that they have practically nothing to do and receive three meals a day. I was told that the only resistance offered to the Czecho-Slovak troops at Karvin and Dombrova was on the part of civilians who had been surreptitiously armed by agitators, but there was no active resistance offered by the Polish troops who immediately fled upon the coming of the Czechs. I tried to learn the motive for the arming of these irresponsible civilians, who were principally miners, and was told from several sources that this arming was probably done by the manager of the Count Larisch estate. The Count Larisch Estate has large holdings in coal mines and property at Karvin and they were afraid that the Czecho-Slovak Republic would condemn their property for the benefit of the state.
The rumors regarding the number killed run as high as 300 on the Polish side (British and French soldiers confirm this report). There were two Czecho-Slovak officers and a French captain killed, and also 18 Czecho-Slovak soldiers.
In this connection I think it would be well to explain the underlying causes of the so-called resistance at Karvin. Both Reger and Rev. Lonzdin, who are members of the Polish National Council at Teschen, for weeks have been carrying on propaganda among the miners in that place and the workmen throughout the district generally. This propaganda led to Bolshevik outbreaks. These men were promising the workmen what they knew could not be fulfilled, namely; a six hour working day for miners, at high wages. Also that they would receive food-stuffs at nominal prices, flour for instance, at 3 K. per kilo. They also told them that the woods on the large estates in the neighborhood would be the property of the people if the Polish representatives should be in power there. These statements and the constant baiting of the Czecho-Slovaks on the part of the Polish agitators led the workmen to believe that their interests lay in opposing the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This opposition on the part of the so-called Polish workmen at Karvin was not merely nationalistic but socialistic or bolshevistic as well.
I was told that for weeks constant burning of the forests had been going on, that the forest keepers had been driven off and refused to return because they claimed that their life was in danger, and at the same time the Polish Government did not interfere with these depredations and anarchy which was fast increasing, because to do so would have weakened their position and they would have had to retract their course with regard to the broad promises they had been making. It was this spirit of anarchy that was fast gaining ascendancy that was endangering life and property in this neighborhood and causing in the minds of the merchants of Teschen a fear of the future.
This same spirit had brought down the coal production to probably 50% of what it had been before the Polish National Council had begun to interfere.”
- Transmitted to the Commission by Professor Coolidge under covering letter No. 60, February 5; received February 12.↩