860C.2222/18
The Polish Ambassador ( Ciechanowski ) to the Acting Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honor to refer to our conversation on March 4th when I visited you together with Count Edward Raczyński, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland.
In the course of that conversation you informed us that The President was favorable in principle to the suggestion of granting to the Polish Government the possibility of enlisting in the Polish Army Polish citizens resident in the United States, provided this did not interfere with the Selective Service Act. You further informed us that the Department of State would take the matter up with the appropriate Departments.
On March 13, 1942, Col. W. Onacewicz, Military Attaché of the Polish Embassy, was told by Col. Carlton S. Dargusch, Deputy Director of the Selective Service System, that his Department was at present studying the question of making it possible for citizens of the United Nations who had active national armies, to enlist men in those armies, and that the Selective Service System intended to grant the right to such selectees, both declarant aliens and non-declarant aliens called up under the Selective Service Act for service in the army, of individual choice between service in the U. S. Army or that of the country of their origin. Col. Onacewicz drew the attention of Col. Dargusch to the fact that leaving the matter of service in the Polish Army to Polish citizens resident in the United States to the free choice of these Polish citizens, might not bring the desired result and a sufficient number of soldiers to supplement the losses of the Polish Army which has been fighting for two and a half years on various fronts and which, being cut off from Poland, could not count on a normal flow of reserves from Poland. He therefore expressed the hope that it would be possible to find some way of making service of these Polish citizens in the Polish Army compulsory. Col. Dargusch appeared to be favorable to this view, but explained that any decision regarding compulsion could not be taken by the Selective Service System, but would have to be decided upon by the Department of State.
I have the honor to bring this to your attention and to ask for your favorable attitude in this matter.
Accept [etc.]