740.0011 European War 1939/6–1244
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Stettinius) to the Secretary of State
We21 spent forty-five minutes with the President this morning. He was very sympathetic.
The President spent considerable time describing the present situation relative to the war, having just come from his map room. He spoke specifically of the new airport which had been created as the result of sinking a large number of Liberty Ships.
The President stated that he felt Poland and Russia were at an impasse at the present moment, and the sooner the Polish Prime Minister returned to Poland with his Government, and went to Moscow for conferences, the better.
The President spoke of the fact that Queen Wilhelmina22 and King Haakon23 had both agreed to return to their countries at the first moment possible. Furthermore, they had agreed to select new members of their cabinets from their countrymen who had remained at home during the war and had gone through the terrible suffering.
The President at this point stated that he felt it was important for the Polish Prime Minister to make the changes in his Government [Page 1281] which the Russians were demanding, for after all, it was only four people24 and it might be the deciding factor. The Polish Prime Minister did not agree with this, saying it would be misunderstood and that he would be losing face.
The Prime Minister spoke of the commitment that had been made in December 1939 by his country, to hold an election the first three weeks of liberation so that the people could decide what kind of Government they wanted and who their leaders would be. The President stated that he remembered this, but thought it had been forgotten, and said it would be a good thing to have restated at this time.
The President said he was convinced the Russians were sincere in their desire for a strong independent Poland, and indicated that he thought they could trust the Russians to give them fair treatment.
The Polish Prime Minister indicated that he could trust America to give them fair treatment politically and economically, but did not trust Russia.
The President said that he was not worried about territorial matters, that they would get East Prussia and Silesia, and if they had to give up a little something somewhere else, he thought it was a pretty good exchange.
The President said he did not agree on the formula based upon the old Curzon Line. He did not feel the Russians would insist upon this. Further, the President stated, he did not feel that Stalin would insist on Koenigsberg, and that he felt Stalin would be willing to have Koenigsberg as a “shrine for the world,” inasmuch as the city controlled Danzig and was an important locality. The President recalled Stalin having referred to it as the “Home of the Teutonic Knights.”
The President referred to his disappointment in the Finns and felt that they had missed an opportunity for a fair settlement of their problem.25
The President spoke also of his desire to see the Ruhr and the Saar under a trusteeship.
The Polish Prime Minister spoke of the need of having available sources of oil in the post-war period. The President stated that he hoped the Russians would agree eventually on pro-rating oil among the United Nations.
The Polish Prime Minister was most frank, most cordial, and there is no question in my mind that the President and the Prime Minister have established a complete faith between two men.
[Page 1282]The President invited the Prime Minister to return to his office on Wednesday,26 on his way to the plane, to say goodbye and be photographed together.
The President presented the Prime Minister with an autographed photograph of himself.
Upon leaving the President’s office, the Prime Minister asked me what he should say to the press. I asked him if he was satisfied with his talk with the President, and was he encouraged. He stated, “Yes, I am.” I then suggested that he make the following statement to the press, which he did:
“I have just had a most frank, satisfactory and reassuring discussion with the President.”
- Mr. Stettinius, the Polish Prime Minister, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, and the Polish Ambassador, Jan Ciechanowski.↩
- Queen of The Netherlands.↩
- King of Norway.↩
- The President of Poland, Wladyslaw Rackiewicz; the Commander in Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkowski; the Minister of War, Lt. Gen. Maryan Kukiel; and the Minister of Information, Stanislaw Kot.↩
- Regarding the failure of Finland to withdraw from the war and the rupture of relations between the United States and Finland, see pp. 556 ff.↩
- June 14.↩