860C.48/751
The Ambassador to the Polish Government in Exile (Biddle) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 3.]
Sir: Supplementing my despatch Polish Series No. 178, July 16, 1942, and referring to the Under Secretary’s letter of July 13, 1942, to [Page 162] me,23 regarding signs of Polish-Russian tension over outstanding questions, I have the honor to attach hereto, two confidential Memoranda: A and B; also copies of the Polish Government’s Aide-Mémoire of July 20 to the British Foreign Secretary.24
In brief, Memorandum A contains report on Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Masaryk’s25 expressed concern 1/ over the current deterioration in Polish-Russian relations, 2/ over traces of antagonism in attitudes of Russian Ambassadors Litvinov26 and Bogomolov towards the envisaged Czechoslovak-Polish Federation, 3/ lest, in this connection, continued tension between the Poles and the Russians lead to Russian pressure on Czechoslovak Government to drop further negotiations with Polish Government.
Memorandum B covers the substance of a stormy conversation on July 22, between General Sikorski and Russian Ambassadors Bogomolov and Maisky,27 in the presence of Mr. Eden, the Chinese Minister28 several other British and Polish officials, and myself. In brief, General Sikorski and Foreign Minister Raczynski brought up the questions of the arrests of Polish Relief Delegates, by the Soviet authorities, and of the prompt evacuation from Russia, of the three organized Polish Divisions. At the conclusion of an ensuing heated exchange of words between General Sikorski and Ambassador Bogomolov, Mr. Eden urged an early adjustment of outstanding difficulties. In turn, I said it was essential to maintain the solidarity of the United Nations; hence it was necessary to iron out these difficulties promptly and fairly. I felt confident that my Government would share my earnest hopes that a formula be found for an early and just settlement of these outstanding problems. In response, Ambassador Bogomolov said he understood this point of view, and considered it a just one. Whereupon both he and Maisky assured Mr. Eden and me they would give prompt and careful examination to the matters under discussion.
At the present moment, the following are, in brief, the outstanding questions for which the Poles are striving to obtain a satisfactory settlement: [Page 163]
- (a)
- the evacuation of 50,000 Polish children from Russia;
- (b)
- release of Polish Relief Delegates, recently arrested, and the reestablishment of the relief distributing bureaus;
- (c)
- reopening of Polish recruiting bureaus to enable the recruiting of some 80,000 Poles Available for the Polish forces in Russia;
- (d)
- the release of Polish officers still believed by the Polish Government, to be held in Russian prisons;
- (e)
- prompt evacuation of the three organized Polish divisions (45,000 men), still held in Turkestan, notwithstanding Russian Government’s agreement to their evacuation. (In the stormy debate of July 22, Bogomolov told Sikorski that the reason for the delay was a lack of transportation. It was clear, however, that General Sikorski did not accept this as an adequate explanation. In this connection, it may be recalled that the evacuation of 28,000 Polish recruits into Iran has already taken place).
In further connection with the aforementioned problems, I am aware that General Sikorski is seriously considering sending Dr. Retinger,29 at an early date, to Kuibyshev, in the hope that he might succeed in bringing about a settlement of problems (a) and (c) above described.
Furthermore, I have just been handed a letter for Mrs. Roosevelt, wherein Madame Sikorski has addressed an appeal for Mrs. Roosevelt’s intervention in the matter of the release from prison, of Polish officers described in problem (d) above.
Respectfully yours,
- Latter not printed. In this letter Mr. Welles stated: “From such information as we are able to obtain from the Soviet Union, Polish-Soviet relations have suffered a considerable set-back as is evident by the recent arrest of officials of the Polish Government in Vladivostok and in the northern Soviet Arctic ports. We are hopeful, however, that the present coolness between the two Governments will be only of a temporary nature and that both Polish and Soviet leaders realizing the importance of maintaining unity for the promotion of the common cause will be able to compose their differences.”↩
- None printed.↩
- Jan Masaryk.↩
- Maxim Maximovich Litvinov, Soviet Ambassador in the United States.↩
- Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky, Soviet Ambassador in the United Kingdom.↩
- Chin Wen-ssu, Chinese Minister to the Allied Governments in Exile at London.↩
- Joseph Heironin Retinger, political chef du cabinet of General Sikorski.↩