860C.00/7–2746: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Poland (Lane)
695. There is quoted below draft note to PolGov which has been submitted to Secretary for his consideration. It has been suggested to Secretary that he discuss this matter with Molotov and Bevin in Paris in order to ascertain whether joint action is possible; if not, we contemplate presenting note ourselves. But this should not be done until you receive specific instructions to that effect. Please tel [Page 486] urgently any comments you may have on draft note.95 BritEmb is being advised informally of this proposal.
“I have been instructed by my Gov to inform you that it has been glad to learn of the announcement that the Pol Provisional Gov intends to promulgate electoral laws during the month of August and to hold elections early in the month of November. My Gov is deeply conscious of the grave responsibility which it assumed, together with the Brit and SovGovs, by the decisions taken at the Crimea and Potsdam conferences with respect to the holding of free and unfettered elections in Poland. During the conversations which were held in Moscow in June 1945 the Pol leaders agreed to the acceptance of the principles formulated at Yalta. Accordingly, the PolGov which was then functioning in Poland was reorganized and there was created the Pol Provisional Gov of Natl Unity, with which the Govs of the SovUnion, Great Britain and the US established diplomatic relations.
In departing from its traditional policy by assuming responsibilities in connection with the internal affairs of another state, my Gov was motivated by the feeling that as one of the principal powers engaged in liberating the peoples of Eur from the yoke of Nazi aggression, it had a special responsibility to assist in giving the Pol people who had suffered so greatly from Nazi occupation an opportunity freely to choose the government under which they would live. My Gov feels, therefore, that it has both the right and the duty to bring the following to the attention of the Pol Provisional Gov of Natl Unity.
The USGov considers that it had no responsibilities in connection with the referendum held in Poland on June 30. Nevertheless, as the PolAmb in Washington informed my Gov on Apr 4, 1946, this referendum was a measure preparatory to the election and the methods by which it was held bear a relation to the preparations for holding the election itself. The official reps of the USGov in Poland have reported that the voting in the referendum appeared to have been generally carried out in a correct and fair manner but that the methods used in tabulating the ballots and reporting the vote have given rise to charges of serious irregularities, including removal of the ballot boxes from the polling places in contravention of the referendum law.
It has also been brought to the attention of my Gov that the Pol Labor Party was not allowed to hold its party congress and that as a result of this and other developments, the majority leadership of the Labor Party has requested the membership of that party to suspend [Page 487] all political activity until such time as the attitude of the Pol Provisional Gov toward the Labor Party has changed. The Pol Provisional Gov is, of course, aware that one of the essential elements in the agreement for the holding of free elections in Poland is that all democratic, anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates. To this end it is necessary that all democratic parties be free to engage in political activity in the period preceding the elections.
In view of the foregoing, my Gov wishes to emphasize its belief that inter alia it is essential for the carrying out of free elections that (1) all democratic and anti-Nazi parties are allowed to conduct election campaigns freely without arrest or threat of arrest, (2) all parties are represented on all electoral commissions and ballots are counted in presence of representatives of all parties, (3) results will be published immediately by local districts, and (4) there shall be an adequate system of appealing election disputes.
My Gov is confident that the Pol provisional Gov of Natl Unity will take into account the views presented above in making arrangements for the election.”
Repeated to London as no. 5686.
- In telegram 1189, August 2, from Warsaw, Ambassador Lane expressed enthusiasm regarding the draft note prepared by the Department, but did suggest the text of an additional paragraph to be inserted after paragraph 4 of the draft. The additional paragraph, which Mr. Lane felt had been made necessary by the recent actions taken by the Polish Government authorities against the Polish Peasant Party, was included in the final text of the note as delivered by the Ambassador on August 17; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, September 1, 1946, p. 422. Ambassador Lane’s telegram 1189 also suggested that representations to the Polish Government such as those envisaged by the Department should be made without delay before the approaching meeting of the National Council of the Homeland, scheduled for August 20, brought about a recurrence of political bitterness and possible physical disturbances which would not be conducive to the statement of the United States position receiving the attention it merited. (860C.00/8–246)↩