Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945

Hiss Collection

United States Proposal on Poland, February 8, 1945¹

Leningrad, February 8, 1945, 4 p.m.

top secret

The proposals submitted by Mr. Molotov in regard to the Polish question in reply to the President’s letter to Marshal Stalin dated February 6, 1945, have been given careful study.

In regard to the frontier question, no objection is perceived to point One of the Soviet proposals, namely, that the eastern boundary of Poland should be the Curzon line with modifications in favor of Poland in some areas of from five to eight kilometers.

In regard to point Two, while agreeing that compensation should be given to Poland at the expense of Germany, including that portion of East Prussia south of the Koenigsberg line, Upper Silesia, and up to the line of the Oder, there would appear to be little justification to the extension of the western boundary of Poland up to the Western Neisse River.

In regard to the proposals of the Soviet Government concerning the future Government of Poland, it is proposed that Mr. Molotov, Mr. Harriman and Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr be authorized on behalf of the three Governments to invite to Moscow Mr. Bierut, Mr. Osubka-Morawski, Bishop Sapieha, Mr. Vicente Witos, Mr. Mikolajczyk and Mr. Grabski to form a Polish Government of National Unity along the following lines:

1. There will be formed a Presidential Committee of three, possibly consisting of Mr. Bierut, Mr. Grabski and Bishop Sapieha, to represent the Presidential office of the Polish Republic.

2. This Presidential Committee will undertake the formation of a government consisting of representative leaders from the present Polish provisional government in Warsaw; from other democratic elements inside Poland, and from Polish democratic leaders abroad.

3. This interim government, when formed, will pledge itself to the holding of free elections in Poland as soon as conditions permit for a constituent assembly to establish a new Polish constitution under which a permanent Government would be elected.

4. When a Polish Government of National Unity is formed, the three Governments will then proceed to accord it recognition as the Provisional Government of Poland.

1. Carbon copy, endorsed “2/8 Presented by President.” See ante, p. 776. The copy of this paper in the Bohlen Collection has the entire text in quotation marks under the following heading: “Counter proposal circulated by the United States Delegation to the Soviet and British Delegations of February 8, 1945.” The copies in the Matthews Files and the UNA Files carry no heading or quotation marks.

   The Hiss Collection contains at this point, along with the other documents herein cited to that Collection for February 8, the carbon copy of the undated paper entitled “Concrete Proposals on the Polish Question” which is printed under Malta Conference, ante, pp. 510–511.