860C.01/2–2445: Telegram

The Chargé to the Polish Government in Exile ( Schoenfeld ) to the Secretary of State

[Extracts]

Poles 25. Mikolajczyk has given me a copy of a memorandum49 which he gave Eden50 yesterday following their conversation a couple of days ago with regard to invitations from the tripartite commission at Moscow looking toward formation of a reorganized Polish Government.

Its substance is as follows:

If invited by the full tripartite commission, the persons given in Annex 151 (he believes) are ready to take part in the consultations with the commission. But their ultimate consent must depend on fulfillment of the following conditions:

(1)
The list of the persons to be invited must be made known beforehand to those participating.
(2)
Their departure from England to the conference will take place immediately on notification of the arrival in Moscow of the [Page 126] representatives of the political parties from Poland whose names have been previously agreed on.
(3)
In order to assure such conditions at the conference that decisions may be taken freely the representatives from Poland and London must be accorded the right of free communication between themselves before and during the conference. Moreover all who participate must be given a guarantee of an unhindered departure in a direction which they themselves will determine.
(4)
The representatives from London must be given the possibility of free communication with their colleagues inside Poland.
In principle all the genuine representatives of the political parties both inside Poland and abroad ought to take part in the consultations. Hence invitations should be extended to the persons in London (Annex 1) and those in Poland (Annex 2),52
(5)
The London representatives in the conference will be informed in advance of the attitude of the British and United States Governments concerning the recognition of the Polish Government to be formed in Poland, the political guarantees and the economic and financial assistance to be accorded to Poland, the future of the Polish armed forces abroad, the termination of the Polish Government in London, et cetera, et cetera.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Commenting on the points in the memorandum he had given Eden, Mikolajczyk said regarding point 1 that he regarded it as essential to have ahead of time the list of persons to be invited to Moscow.

He might otherwise find himself there dealing only with Bierut53 and some persons who had been handpicked by the Lublin group.

Regarding point 2, he also considered it essential that the Poles to be invited from London should know before setting out that those invited from Poland had arrived.

The Soviets might otherwise say they had been unable to get in touch with them and they had thus been unable to come.

As to point 3, it was clear that the Poles could not come to any satisfactory decisions unless they could communicate freely with each other.

He had had the experience on a previous visit to Moscow of not being able to talk to other Poles. He thought it also evident that they should be allowed freely to leave.

[Page 127]

As for point 4, the British had arranged for him to communicate with personalities inside Poland; this was especially necessary since the present Polish Government was sending reports that were not helpful and it was necessary for him to be in a position to explain and persuade.

He thought it necessary to insist on all these safeguards because even now there were attacks on him from Communist quarters here in England which were perhaps inspired and designed to make him more amenable.

As for point 5, Mikolajczyk spoke of his interest in having some idea in advance of the attitude of the United States and British Governments concerning recognition of the Polish Government to be formed in Poland, political guarantees and economic and financial assistance to be accorded to Poland, the future of the Polish armed forces abroad and the termination of the Polish Government in London.

I explained that I had no new information beside what was given in the communiqué. He also wondered whether conversations and exchanges when he was in the government still applied. He referred, for example, to the President’s letter to him of November 17 last54 delivered by Ambassador Harriman and to statements which touched on the question of post-war economic reconstruction. I pointed out that in that letter the point was made that such assistance was “subject to legislative authority” and that it was in fact very difficult to say in advance precisely what action might be taken.

If there are any observations which the Department feels I could convey to Mikolajczyk, I feel sure he would appreciate them.

Mikolajczyk was particularly concerned regarding the Polish armed forced [forces?]. They were being stirred up not only by the present situation but also by exaggerated accounts from the present Polish authorities regarding executions and deportations in Poland. Some of the Generals were very sensible. He included Kopanski55 and Tabor56 among them. They were exercising a calming influence. The problem for the future was also a most difficult one since the armed forced [forces?] were bound by their oath to the President.57 He hoped that it would be possible to get a sufficiently representative political grouping in Poland so that the Polish President [Page 128] might somehow be induced in time to turn over the power to a suitable person.

Repeated Moscow as 68.

[
Schoenfeld
]
  1. Not printed.
  2. Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
  3. Not printed; Mikolajczyk proposed that the following persons be invited by the tripartite commission in Moscow from among Polish political leaders in exile at London: from the Peasant Party (Stronnistwo Ludowe), Stanislaw Mikolajczyk and Wladyslaw Bartnicki; from the Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partja Socjalistycna), Jan Stanczyk, Adam Ciolkosz, and Ludwik Grosfeld; from the Christian Labor Party (Stronnictwo Pracy), Karol Popiel and Zygnmnt Kaczynski; from the National Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe), Marjan Seyda, Bohdan Winjarski, G. Czeslaw Meissner, and Lucjan Rybinski; non-party, Stanislaw Grabski and Tadeusz Romer; representing the Poles in Germany, Arka Bozek.
  4. Not printed; Mikolajczyk proposed that the following persons from among politicians within Poland be invited by the tripartite commission in Moscow: From the Peasant Party, Wincenty Witos, Kazimierz Baginski, Jozef Niecko, Adam Bień, Wladyslaw Kiernik; from the Polish Socialist Party, Zygmunt Zulawski, Zygmunt Zaremba, Kazimierz Puzak, and Antoni Pajdak; from the Christian Labor Party, Jozef Chacinski, Franciszek Urbański, Kwasiborski, Ignacy Sikora, and Piwowarczyk; from the National Democratic Party, Wojciech Trampczynski, Stanislaw Zielinski, Stanislaw Jasiukowicz, Aleksander Zwierzynski, and Knopczynski; from the Democratic Party, Adam.
  5. Bolesiaw Bierut, President of the Polish National Council and leader of the Polish Workers’ Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza), the party of the Polish Communists.
  6. Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. iii, p. 1334.
  7. Gen. Stanislaw Kopanski, Chief of the Polish General Staff.
  8. Pseudonym for Brig. Gen. Stanislaw Tatar, one-time Chief of Staff of the Polish Underground Army.
  9. Wladyslaw Raczkiewez, President of the Polish Government in Exile at London.