Office of the Historian

860C.01/578: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, July 30, 1941—4 p.m.
[Received July 30—12:10 p.m.]

3292. Personal for the Acting Secretary.

I. Following is text of agreement tentatively planned to be signed this afternoon between the Governments of the U. S. S. R. and Poland:

  • “1. The Government of the U. S. S. R. recognizes the Soviet-German treaties of 1939 as to territorial changes in Poland as having lost their validity. The Polish Government declares that Poland is not bound by any agreement with any third power which is directed against the U. S. S. R.
  • 2. Diplomatic relations will be restored between the two Governments upon the signing of this agreement and an immediate exchange of Ambassadors will be arranged.
  • 3. The two Governments mutually agree to render one another aid and support of all kinds in the present war against Hitlerite Germany.
  • 4. The Government of the U. S. S. R. expresses its consent to the formation on the territory of the U. S. S. R. of a Polish army under a commander appointed by the Polish Government in agreement with the Polish Government [Government of the U. S. S. R.]. The Polish army on the territory of the U. S. S. R. being [will be] subordinated in an operational sense to the Supreme Command of the U. S. S. R. upon which the Polish army will be represented. All details as to command, organization and employment of this force will be settled in a subsequent agreement.
  • 5. This agreement will come into force immediately upon signature and without ratification. The present agreement is drawn up in two copies, each one in the Russian and Polish languages. Both texts have equal force.

Public Protocol.92

The Soviet Government grants an amnesty93 to all Polish citizens now detained on Soviet territory either as prisoners of war or on other sufficient grounds, as from the resumption of diplomatic relations.”

II. If the agreement is signed the following communiqué will be issued by the Foreign Office, to which will be added public statements by General Sikorski for the Poles and Ambassador Maisky for the Russians:

“1. An agreement between the Soviet Union and Poland was signed in the Secretary of State’s room at the Foreign Office on July 30, 1941. General Sikorski, the Polish Prime Minister, signed for Poland and M. Maisky, the Soviet Ambassador, signed for the Soviet Union. Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden were present.

2. The agreement is being published.

3. After the signature of the agreement Mr. Eden handed to General Sikorski an official note in the following terms:

‘On the occasion of the signature of the Polish-Soviet agreement of today’s date, I desire to take the opportunity of informing you that, in conformity with the provisions of the agreement of mutual assistance between the United Kingdom and Poland of August 25, 1939,94 His Majesty’s Government in the [Page 245] United Kingdom have entered into no undertakings toward the U.S.S.R. which affect the relations between that country and Poland. I also desire to assure you that His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom do not recognize any territorial changes which have been effected in Poland since August 1939.’

General Sikorski handed Mr. Eden the following reply:

‘The Polish Government takes note of your Excellency’s letter dated 30th July, 1941, and desires to express its sincere satisfaction at the statement that His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom do not recognize any territorial changes which have been effected in Poland since August 1939. This corresponds with the view of the Polish Government which, as it has previously informed His Majesty’s Government, has never recognized any territorial changes effected in Poland since the outbreak of the present war.[’]

4. Mr. Eden said that he wished to congratulate the two parties on the signature of the agreement. It was, he believed, fair and advantageous to both sides. It would lay a firm foundation for fruitful collaboration between the two countries in the war against the common enemy. It was therefore a valuable contribution to the Allied cause, and would be warmly welcomed in all friendly countries, and not least by public opinion in the United Kingdom.”

III. Assuming that the agreement has been signed the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs tomorrow will be asked in Parliament if the British Government has guaranteed the Polish pre-war frontiers. Mr. Eden will reply by stating that Great Britain has not guaranteed the restoration of any European frontiers.

Winant
  1. In his Polish Series despatch No. 32, July 31, 1941, Ambassador Biddle included the wording of a secret protocol, as follows: “The various claims of a public as well as of a private nature will be considered in the subsequent negotiations between the two Governments.” (860C.01/584)↩
  2. In Polish Series telegram No. 62, June 3, 1945, Rudolf E. Schoenfeld informed the Department of the special meaning of the word “amnesty” in Soviet law as it was explained to him by the Polish Prime Minister of that time, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk: “In Russia a person who is amnestied is not relieved of guilt, can at any time be politically disqualified and can still be kept in detention. The Russians insisted on the use of this term for the Poles held in Russia in the Polish-Soviet treaty of July 30, 1941. This led in practice to serious controversy and while many were released thousands were not.”↩
  3. Signed in London; for text, see British Cmd. 6106, Misc. No. 9 (1939), p. 37.↩