860c.01/7–545
No. 503
The Chargé Near the Polish
Government-in-Exile (
Schoenfeld
)
to the Secretary of
State
No. 778
Subject: Termination of Mission of The American Embassy near the Polish Government in exile in London.
Sir: I have the honor to report that, in compliance with your telegram No. 25 of July 4, 10 p.m.,1 I called on Mr. Adam Tarnowski, Polish Foreign Minister, this evening at 6.45 and delivered to him a note (copy of which is enclosed) notifying him of the United States Government’s recognition of the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity as the Government of the Republic of Poland, and the termination of the Mission of the American Embassy near the Polish Government in exile established in London.
After reading the note, Mr. Tarnowski said that the action of the United States Government was of course not unexpected but he regretted its decision none the less. He said he could not understand why the United States and Great Britain were pushing Poland into the arms of the Bolsheviks. The Polish Government established in London had no illusions about Soviet policy toward Poland. The United States and British Governments seemed still to nourish such illusions. He thought they would later have regrets. What hurt the Poles most, he said, was the claim that the arrangements arrived at at Yalta and at Moscow were fair and just. He could not believe that they were so. Poland, he continued, had suffered 150 years of enslavement and had in the end recovered its freedom and independence. It would continue to struggle for its freedom and independence and he felt confident it would eventually secure them.
I told Mr. Tarnowski, who had spoken with evident feeling but with quiet courtesy, that the policy of the United States Government had been directed toward assuring a free and independent Poland. I said that he would recall that President Wilson had been the exponent of the idea of a free and independent Poland after the last war. [Page 737] I had no doubt that this continued to be the aim of the United States Government.
I added that I desired to thank him for his consistent courtesy toward me personally and to express my appreciation of the cooperation which this Mission had received from his Government in the past. Mr. Tarnowski replied that he wished in turn to express his appreciation of the agreeable relations which the Polish Government had had with this Mission.
Respectfully yours,