760C.61/2088
The Ambassador to the Polish Government in Exile (Biddle) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 18.]
Sir: I have the honor to forward the attached copies of a confidential Aide-mémoire14 handed me by Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs Romer.
[Page 450]The Minister drew my attention to that part of the Aide-Mémoire which stated that simultaneously with the news received from Poland regarding mass murders of Poles by the Germans, alarming information had been received concerning the activities in Poland of the Soviet-inspired elements. The Minister went on to point out that numerous parachutists from the USSR and Soviet prisoners of war escaped from German camps had gathered in groups and, under the pretext of fighting against the German occupying forces, looted and committed murder among the local populations. What was more, by committing irresponsible and wanton acts of sabotage, they had brought about bloodshed and ever-increasing German reprisals in all Polish provinces from east to west.
The Minister furthermore drew my attention to that part which stated that information received from Poland seldom concerned fights between these Soviet “guerillas” and the army of occupation; that the murders committed by both parties and the subsequent reprisals were mainly directed against the Polish population; that the similarity in the information received from various points throughout Polish territory gave one food for thought. (This recalls to mind the substance of a confidential report given me in March, 1943, by a young Polish member of the underground organization who had then recently reached London from his country. See my despatch Polish Series No. 270, March 3, 1943, regarding my informant’s report on the activities of the “Partisans” and of Soviet agents attempting to penetrate the underground organization through the Polish Workers Party, established through the subtle inspiration of Soviet agents in Poland). The Minister went on to point out that in this Aide-Mémoire his Government had ventured to make certain suggestions: (a) that our Government, and if possible jointly with the British Government, draw the attention of the Soviet Government to the aforementioned reported conditions, and request it to do all in its power to rectify this state of affairs; (b) that our Government, and if possible jointly with the British Government, agree to grant technical facilities needed to transmit to Poland an appeal of the Polish Government warning the population not to permit themselves to be induced to a premature uprising, and to beware of non-responsible elements which might attempt to incite them thereto.
Respectfully yours,
- Dated August 5, not printed.↩