760C.61/4–1443
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Elbridge Durbrow of the Division of European Affairs
Mr. Kwapiszewski, the Counselor Minister of the Polish Embassy, called this morning to report that he had received accurate information that the German short wave radio for the last two days has been [Page 375] giving great prominence to the following story regarding the discovery by the German authorities near Smolensk of a mass grave where thousands (the Germans indicated that the figures may reach ten thousand) of Polish officers who were buried after having been executed by the Soviet authorities in 1940.
According to Mr. Kwapiszewski’s version of the German propaganda report the officers were buried with their uniforms on and with papers and identification tags intact, four deep in a plot 28 by 16 meters. The Germans claim that the bodies were in sufficiently well-preserved condition so that they may be identified individually. The Germans report that the grave was found near the GPU2 Recreation Center in a small town near Smolensk, and they allege that a delegation of Poles from Warsaw has been sent to Smolensk to verify the facts as given.
Although Mr. Kwapiszewski stated that of course the entire story might have been concocted out of thin air, he is afraid that there may be very serious repercussions inside Poland and among the Polish forces in the Near East who were recently released from the Soviet Union to assist the British.
Some credence was given by Mr. Kwapiszewski to the possibility that the report might be true since, as is well known, the Polish authorities in the USSR had been endeavoring for over a year to ascertain from the Soviet authorities the whereabouts of some five to eight thousand Polish officers whom the Polish authorities feel certain were captured by the Soviet Military authorities in 1939. The Soviet authorities indicated they did not know of any such large group of officers.
Mr. Kwapiszewski stated that whether or not the report is true, if the Germans can convince the Polish delegation which is reportedly now on its way to Smolensk that these are really Polish officers executed by the GPU there would be serious repercussions in Poland and among the troops in the Middle East. He indicated that if the Germans had really found a mass grave of Polish officers they have decided to release the information at this time in connection with an all-out offensive against the Soviets this summer and hope to release this story to obtain the cooperation of the Poles in Poland and possibly even to arm Poles to carry on an active fight against the Soviets.
- Secret Police of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union.↩