860C.00/9–2746: Telegram
The Ambassador in Poland (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 29—1:03 p.m.]
1500. I lunched alone with Mikolajczyk today, my first talk with him since his return from Copenhagen.14
He said that while Secretary’s Stuttgart speech had hurt Mikolajczyk politically, from overall diplomatic viewpoint effect of speech was not unfavorable to Polish interests. He said he had knowledge that German Communists had some weeks ago gone to Moscow where they had urged western Polish lands be restored to Germany otherwise Communist control would be stifled. Secretary’s speech provided warning to Russia which Molotov unwilling to answer at once because of imminent German elections. Molotov’s speech15 indicated that Kremlin had realized as a result that western political frontier must be moved from Rhine to Oder. Stalin’s remarks to London Times correspondent are confirmation of Soviet admission that Secretary’s speech prevented any aggressive move.16 Stalin’s remarks should be interpreted as attempt to conciliate western powers.
Mikolajczyk said new electoral law17 much more drastic than referendum law and can in effect prevent PSL participation in elections was attitude of USSR in suppressing free speech of PSL at KRN meeting, reference to expulsion from country of those who demand foreign intervention in elections, arrests of PSL members Baginski and Mierzwa,18 suspension of PSL Party bulletin, attacks on PSL headquarters Warsaw, Katowice, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Szczecin clearly indicate that Government parties intend to eliminate PSL from active participation in elections. Although PSL congress was shortly to meet, it has now been decided to have restricted executive committee meeting instead, as reports have reached Mikolajczyk that all members of PSL congress would be arrested and supplanted at meeting by PPR stooges.
[Page 497]Mikolajczyk said that many members of his party desirous of boycotting elections. He would agree to this only as last resort in event names of all PSL candidates should be stricken from lists as is possible under new electoral law. He would prefer to be beaten at elections thereby giving Yalta Powers opportunity to voice protest and perhaps refer to United Nations Security Council question of elections which he is sure will be fraudulent. He fears that boycotting would bring forcible action of underground preventing election be held thus resulting in civil war and giving plausible excuse to Russians to occupy country to restore order.
My comments follow in subsequent telegram.
Repeated to Paris for the Secretary as 319;19 to Moscow as 189; to Berlin as 248; to London as 228.
- Mikolajczyk had been in Copenhagen for a conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations during the first part of September.↩
- Reference presumably is to Foreign Minister Molotov’s statement to a correspondent of the Polish Press Agency regarding Poland’s western frontiers, released in the Soviet press on September 17, 1946.↩
- Reference to Generalissimo Stalin’s answers to questions of Alexander Werth of the Sunday Times, published in the Soviet press on September 24, 1946.↩
- The National Council of the Homeland passed an electoral law on September 22, 1946.↩
- Kazimierz Baginski, a member of the Executive Committee of the Polish Peasant Party, was arrested in September 1946 for publication of a PSL Party bulletin declared illegal by the Government. Stanislaw Mierzwa, a member of the Chief Council of the PSL and editor of the party organ Piast was reportedly arrested on September 18.↩
- The Secretary was chairman of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, July 29–October 15, 1946.↩