860C.01/2–2845
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Charles E. Bohlen, Assistant to the Secretary of State
The Polish Ambassador86 called this afternoon at his own request and left with me the attached three documents.87 He said he hoped [Page 133] that they could be brought to the attention of the President before he made his speech which he understood from the radio is scheduled for tomorrow.88 He also hoped that the United States Government might find it possible to halt the continuing arrest, execution, etc. of members of the Polish underground home army by the Soviet authorities as set forth in the papers he left with me. I told the Ambassador that I would see that these papers were given consideration by the proper authorities and if possible would be shown to the President although I could not guarantee that the President would see them before he made his speech tomorrow.
The Ambassador then said that he wished to express the personal hope that the United States Government having now taken the responsibility in regard to the future Government of Poland, a step which he knew was welcomed all over the world, would really implement this responsibility and not accept any “face saving” government but would genuinely press for a really representative Polish Government. I told the Ambassador that I was sure that the United States Government would certainly live up to any responsibility which it had assumed.
In conclusion the Ambassador said that he thought careful study should be given to the question of the role of the President of the Polish Republic in connection with any provisional government. He felt that the legal continuity of the office of the President, which at the present time was occupied by Mr. Raczkiewicz, was a factor of real political importance and a bargaining weapon in the hands of the British and American Governments.
- Jan Ciechanowski.↩
- None printed. One was a commentary regarding Prime Minister Churchill’s statements on the Polish question in a speech in the House of Commons on February 27, 1945. A second transmitted information obtained by the Polish Government in Exile at London regarding the totalitarian nature of the Polish Provisional Government established in Warsaw. The third document transmitted information obtained by the Polish Government in Exile regarding reprisals by the Communist-dominated government in Poland against the Polish Underground Army, deportation and abuse of Polish citizens, and devastation of natural resources within Poland.↩
- For text of President Roosevelt’s message reporting on the Crimea Conference, delivered before a joint session of Congress on March 1, 1945, see Department of State Bulletin, March 4, 1945, p. 321.↩