The Ambassador said he had come to see Admiral Leahy because the
President had told him during Mikołajczyk’s visit2 that if any
particularly urgent question involving the Polish Underground on
military questions came up, he could go direct to Admiral Leahy. The
Ambassador said, however, he wished to make sure that the Department
of State was fully informed and therefore had brought in the
attached memorandum. I told the Ambassador that I assumed there was
little the Department could do since the matter was under active
consideration by American military authorities to which he fully
agreed.
[Attachment]
Memorandum by the Polish Ambassador
(Ciechanowski)
secret
The Polish Ambassador received an urgent secret telegram from
Minister Romer dated London, September 3rd, concerning the
situation of Warsaw and the most urgent necessity of help in the
form of food, arms, munitions and medical supplies to the
fighting garrison of the Polish Home Army. Foreign Minister
Romer informs the Ambassador that Premier Mikołajczyk personally
submitted to Prime Minister Churchill on September 1st the
desperate situation in Warsaw, which the Germans have now
threatened to burn down entirely.
[Page 187]
The simultaneous evacuation of German forces from the eastern
bank of the Vistula westwards appears to prove that the
liberation of the town may be close. It is therefore of the
utmost importance that the Polish Home Army fighting in Warsaw
should be able to continue its fight and be helped at this
moment by substantial aid from the air of arms, munitions, food
and medical supplies. It is likewise urgent that the objectives
held by the Germans be bombed.
In view of the decreasing effectiveness of the nightly very
reduced nights of the Polish air crews from Bari, Prime Minister
Churchill promised Premier Mikołajczyk once more to investigate
the possibilities of one large-scale operation which would be
undertaken by the British R.A.F.
from British and Italian bases and would not exclude even the
risk of forced landings on Russian air bases. Unfortunately, the
technical investigation carried out on September 2nd showed that
this intention could not be carried out from bases accessible to
the British forces.
The Polish Ambassador is instructed by Minister Romer
confidentially to inform the competent authorities of the United
States Government about the opinion of Prime Minister Churchill
that there appears to exist the possibility for American Air
Forces, at present closer to Warsaw than the British, to carry
out such an operation.
The latest reports received by the Polish Government from the
High Command of the Polish Home Army, dated September 2nd, are
to the effect that the Germans succeeded in taking from the Home
Army the district of “Old Town” (Stare
Miasto), which has created a very serious breach in the
defense system of Warsaw. General Bór communicates that
munitions are almost exhausted. The spirit of the soldiers is
good. The population is suffering from lack of food, which has
been rationed up to September 7th only, of water, of shelter, of
clothing, and is in very bad sanitary conditions. The morale is
still good, but it must be regarded as dependent on hope that
the end of the fighting will come soon or that aid will really
be forthcoming.
Minister Romer stresses the need for utmost urgency.
Washington, September 4th,
1944.
