740.0011 European War 1939/8–2144: Telegram
The Chargé to the Polish Government in Exile (Schoenfeld) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 21—2:13 p.m.]
78 Poles. For the Secretary and the Under Secretary. My 76, August 19.7 I have just seen Romer who asked me urgently to call on him. He said the Polish Government was in the greatest difficulty. No word had been received from Stalin in response to Mikolajczyk’s requests for aid for Warsaw. On the other hand most depressing telegrams had been received from Warsaw. The situation there was most serious. These telegrams reported that 70% of the town was already in flames or destroyed. Opinion there could not understand the lack of aid.
Romer went on to say that because of the Warsaw situation serious opposition to Mikolajczyk’s proposals for a Soviet-Polish settlement had developed within the Government and it had been necessary to postpone action on those proposals. Members of the Government felt that if there were no word from Stalin and no aid after his promise to Mikolajczyk this meant that Moscow did not contemplate a settlement. They felt it would consequently be useless to consent to the proposals if there were no chance of success. The Government would in fact find it difficult to carry through the proposals if it could not succeed in bringing aid to Warsaw in face of the resultant state of feeling in Polish political and military circles and on the part of Polish opinion.
Romer said he and Mikolajczyk were seeing Eden at 4 o’clock this afternoon. They intended to explore with him whether anything could be done. They would inquire whether there had been any word from Moscow, whether the British would urge action on Moscow and whether the situation could be clarified. He asked if I would make similar inquiry in Washington.
He said if it seemed unlikely that anything could be done he feared the Mikolajczyk Government would be obliged to resign.
A further Polish Cabinet meeting to consider matters would be held tomorrow. He added he would be grateful if I could pass on to him as soon as possible any information I might receive from Washington.