860C.002/328
Memorandum by the Polish Ambassador (Ciechanowski)96
The Polish Ambassador informed the Secretary of State that he had received today the following urgent telegram from Count Raczyński, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland:
“Information is being received by the Polish Government in London directly from Poland that news of the death of Prime Minister General Sikorski is causing depression bordering on despair among the Polish people. There appears to be urgent need of raising the spirit in Poland. In view of the enormous personal authority and popularity of President Roosevelt in Poland, Count Raczyński asks, on behalf of the Polish Government, whether the President would very kindly agree to make a suitable declaration referring to the death of General Sikorski and stressing his faith that the Polish people will follow General Sikorski’s leadership by continuing their united and unbroken resistance in their struggle to regain Poland’s independence and for the triumph of the principles for which the United Nations are fighting and suffering.”
The Polish Ambassador added that General Sikorski had succeeded in fully organizing Poland’s underground army which, together with the entire nation, regarded him as their military and political leader in their organized struggle against the enemy.
- Handed to the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs on July 7, with a request for an opportunity to discuss the contents of the memorandum with the Secretary of State at the Secretary’s earliest convenience. An appointment was arranged for the Ambassador to see the Secretary at 12:30 p.m. on the following day. The Secretary recorded in a memorandum dated July 8, that he had replied to the Polish Ambassador’s request for a statement by the President that he thought it would be all right to lay such a suggestion before the President, with the approval of the State Department, and that he believed the President would be in accord (860C.002/330). For text of President Roosevelt’s message to President Raczkiewicz on July 9, in response to this appeal, see Department of State Bulletin, July 10, 1943, p. 20.↩