760C.61/2318: Telegram

The Chargé in the Soviet Union ( Hamilton ) to the Secretary of State

1786. Professor Lange came in to see me yesterday afternoon and told me of a talk he had had with Stalin for an hour and a half on the evening of May 17. Molotov was present. Lange said that the talk covered many subjects and a good deal of ground. Stalin had asked him what opinion he had formed as to the sincerity of Soviet statements of policy toward Poland. To this Lange had replied that he based his judgment on what he had seen of the members of the Polish army in the Soviet Union, that these men obviously looked forward to and believed in an independent Poland, and that they were not puppets of the Soviet Union.60 Marshal Stalin told Lange that he favored not only an independent Poland but also a strong Poland. As to territorial adjustments, Stalin favored Poland being accorded East Prussia and territory to the west as far as, and including Stettin, as well as parts of Silesia. When Lange asked a direct question about [Page 1410] Lwow, mentioning that the Poles seemed to feel strongly about its retention, Stalin had replied that this would have to be studied and that it would raise the question of Ukrainian nationalism, to which Stalin apparently felt that because of the sacrifices of the Ukraine during the war special attention should be given.

Lange said that Stalin raised the question whether it might not be a good idea for Professor Lange to make a trip to London to talk with members of the Polish Government there and tell them what he had seen in the Soviet Union, the views of members of Polish armed forces here and the statements which Marshal Stalin had made to Lange. Stalin mentioned that his only means of getting his views to the Polish Government in London was through the British Government, that he never knew exactly how these views were presented and that it might be useful if a private American citizen who was not directly party to the matter and who did not represent a government would himself talk to the Polish leaders in London and tell them of his visit to the Soviet Union.61 Possibly Lange as a private citizen might do some good; at least he could make the trip without commitment. Stalin suggested that Lange talk also to Sosnkowski and find out what he had in mind. Stalin did not think it a good idea for Lange to go to London directly from the Soviet Union as that might carry an implication that Lange was carrying some message from the Soviet Government. Stalin thought Lange should first return to the United States. He should take up with the State Department the question of his making the trip to London for the purpose of talking with members of the Polish Government there.

Lange said that Stalin is disappointed at a recent speech made by Mikolajczyk,62 as Mikolajczyk had displayed in it a very anti-Soviet attitude.

Marshal Stalin told Lange that a few leaders of the Polish underground63 had gotten in touch across the lines with the Red Army to offer and discuss cooperation; that the Soviet reply had been that the Soviets welcomed cooperation but that the Polish underground should function under the military leadership and direction of the Red Army; that the underground leaders had then left and that nothing further had been heard from them but that individual members of the Polish underground, men in ranks, had come over and joined the Red Army. This had been done in small groups. Stalin was supremely confident that the Red Army would be welcomed by [Page 1411] the Polish people when it entered Polish territory and drove the Germans out. Stalin had said that he would not set up an AMGOT64 in Poland.

During the conversation Stalin had commented that cooperation between the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain was not a matter of expediency but was being established on a solid foundation.

Lange said he was considering sending a message to the Polish Minister of Labor65 who is now in the United States where he has been attending the ILO conference in Philadelphia.66 Lange would like to have a talk with him and thought he would remain in the United States if he knew Lange were returning soon. He was considering sending a message through normal channels but was somewhat afraid that such a message might become known to the press in the United States. He thought that possibly present British restrictions on entry might cause the Polish Minister of Labor to remain in the United States for the time being.

Lange said that he was leaving Moscow on May 22 to return to the United States and that on his return trip he was to visit a Polish community near Novosibirsk.

Stalin’s suggestion that Lange might go to London to talk as a private American citizen with members of the Polish Government is an interesting one I believe and warrants careful thought. I made no comment on the matter to Lange.

Lange has called at the Embassy several times and has told me what he has been doing. He is not a supporter of the Polish Government in London but is a supporter of the ideas of the Union of Polish Patriots and the Polish army in the Soviet Union. He came here with that belief and still has it and I have found him in what he has said to me to be thoughtful, reasoning and temperate. He himself favors working toward a Polish Government composed of 50% of Polish leaders of opposition to Germany who are now in Poland with the remainder of the government made up of representatives of the Union of Polish Patriots and the Polish Government in London.

Copies of memoranda of conversations with Lange are being forwarded by air.67

Hamilton
  1. The Chargé in the Soviet Union, in telegram 1597, May 8, 1944, had already reported on the trip made by Lange to inspect Polish army units in the Soviet Union. It seemed to be that most of these troops “were appreciative of Soviet efforts to free Poland but were insistent on Polish independence with no interference from the Soviet Union or any other country in the internal affairs of Poland.” They opposed the Curzon Line as a boundary settlement and demanded Lvov and Vilna for Poland. The troops were mostly peasants and hoped for the breaking up of the large estates, but were opposed to collectivization. Relatively few were Communists, and all “made it clear that they were looking to America for guidance”. (760C.61/2292)
  2. For correspondence on the interest of the United States in the Polish Government in Exile and in its relations with the Soviet Union, see pp. 1216 ff.
  3. Stanislaw Mikolajczyk became Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile at London on July 14, 1943, and resigned on November 24, 1944.
  4. For correspondence concerning U.S. support of the Polish Underground organizations and attempts to secure the cooperation of the Soviet Union with them, see pp. 1354 ff.
  5. Allied Military Government in Occupied Territory.
  6. Jan Stanczyk was Minister of Labor and Social Welfare in the Mikolajczyk Cabinet.
  7. The International Labor Organization held its 26th conference in Philadelphia between April 20 and May 12, 1944.
  8. Four despatches from Moscow: Nos. 420, May 4; 453, May 13; 475, May 18; and 484, May 20; none printed.