840.48/3362
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Henderson)
Dr. Rajchman came in to see me this afternoon. He said that the purpose of his visit was to acquaint me with the situation in so far as he knew it with respect to Polish relief. He had already had a talk earlier in the day with Mr. Long.12 The Polish Government had sent him to this country in order to assist in coordinating various Polish relief activities and to speed up the despatch of aid to Poland.
The following is a summary of the statements made by Dr. Rajchman during the course of his conversation:
The Polish Government feels that if relief is not extended without delay to the population of Poland, great numbers of persons will perish during the next few months from malnutrition. It is obviously impossible to feed the whole population of Poland. The Polish Government has decided, therefore, that relief activities should be concentrated upon that section of the Polish population which will be most in need. That section comprises the women and children of the citizen towns with a population of 10,000 or over in what may be termed as Government Poland, that is, that part of Poland not annexed by Germany, the Soviet Union, or Lithuania. It is estimated that this will mean the feeding of about 1,500,000 people. Experts have estimated that to feed this number of persons about 1,200 tons of foodstuffs daily will be needed, at a cost of approximately $2,000,000 a month.
The Polish Government has already decided to apportion $1,000,000 for feeding purposes out of funds lent it by its Allies. It has suggested to the British Government that the latter contribute approximately 1,000,000 pounds, and to the French Government that it donate about $3,000,000. It is believed that the French and British Governments will contribute provided arrangements satisfactory to them for food distribution can be made between the feeding organization, which all agree should be American, and the German Government.
The relief program as envisaged cannot be successful unless: (1) the American Government also makes a large contribution to the fund by Act of Congress; and (2) an arrangement which will guarantee that the foodstuffs will not be misused can be effected between the feeding organization and the German Government.
Voluntary subscriptions in the United States have not been large. Only about $200,000 have been raised by the Commission for Polish Relief, of which amount approximately $137,000 have been contributed [Page 757] by Polish-American organizations. The American Red Cross thus far has been able to collect for its program, which has to do with medical supplies and clothing, only about $397,000.
When the Polish Government discussed the project with the British Government and suggested that the Commission for Polish Belief, which seemed to be the clearing house in the United States for various relief organizations, should be the agency in charge of the feeding work, some of the British authorities raised the question as to whether the fact that Mr. Hoover was associated with the Commission for Polish Belief might not cause some embarrassment to the American administration since he was one of the leaders of an opposition political party. Before proceeding, the Polish Government, therefore, made informal inquiries in this connection, and was assured by responsible American officials that Mr. Hoover would be most acceptable to the American Administration as the leader of Polish relief. When the British Government was informed of this fact, it agreed that the Commission for Polish Belief should be the organization in charge of the program.
The British Government has insisted that not only will it have nothing to do with the program but that it will not permit foodstuffs to pass from the United States to Poland unless Germany will permit a supervision of food distribution which will assure that no foodstuffs will be diverted to purposes other than that for which they are intended. The British authorities state that they have complete confidence in Mr. Hoover and that any arrangement with the German authorities which may satisfy him will be satisfactory to the British Government.
Neither the British nor the Polish Governments are satisfied with the offers which the German Government has thus far made. Since the feeding operations may continue over indefinite periods, and will cover considerable territory, it will be necessary for more personnel to be permitted to go to Germany than the German Government has as yet been willing to approve. There is no criticism of the American Red Cross for having accepted the German terms, since relatively few persons are required to supervise the distribution of medical supplies and clothing, which, for the most part, are given as an emergency measure through institutions and in lump amounts. Nevertheless, it is felt that the acceptance by the Red Cross of the German terms has to an extent weakened the negotiating position of the Commission for Polish Belief.
Dr. Rajchman has had several talks with Mr. Hoover, who will plead for large appropriations in Congress, and with various members of Congress. Mr. Bloom13 has assured him that he is prepared to [Page 758] introduce a bill authorizing the President to set aside sums up to $15,000,000 for European relief.
It will, of course, be impracticable to bring all the food that will be necessary for relief from the United States. Potatoes, cabbages, and other bulky foods will probably be purchased in Europe. It is possible that some of these supplies will be obtained from Rumania, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and so forth. One advantage of this procedure, from the Allied point of view, would be that the exports of foodstuffs from Eastern Europe to Germany may be correspondingly curtailed.
I thanked Dr. Rajchman for his courtesy in furnishing me the information.