Triumph and Tragedy (The Second World War) (73 page)

After setting forth the Soviet proposal I continued:
Following is the text of our [Anglo-American] revised
proposals for Poland:

(i) It was agreed that the Curzon Line should be the
eastern frontier of Poland, with adjustments in some
regions of five to eight kilometres in favour of Poland.

(ii) It was decided that the territory of Poland in the
west should include the free city of Danzig, the region
of East Prussia west and south of Königsberg, the
administrative district of Oppeln in Silesia, and the

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lands desired by Poland to the east of the line of the
Oder. It was understood that the Germans in the said
region should be repatriated to Germany and that all
Poles in Germany should at their wish be repatriated to
Poland.

(iii) Having regard to the recent liberation of Western
Poland by the Soviet Union Army, it was deemed
desirable to facilitate the establishment of a fully
representative Provisional Polish Government, based
upon all the democratic and anti-Fascist forces in
Poland, and including democratic leaders from Poles
abroad. That Government should be so constituted as
to command recognition by the three Allied Governments.

(iv) It was agreed that establishment of such a
Provisional Government was primarily the responsibility
of the Polish people, and that pending the possibility of
free elections representative Polish leaders should
consult together on the composition of this Provisional
Government. M. Molotov, Mr. Harriman, and Sir
Archibald Clark Kerr were entrusted with the task of
approaching such leaders and submitting their
proposals to the consideration of the Allied Governments.

(v) It was deemed desirable that the Provisional
Polish Government thus established should as soon as
possible hold free and unfettered elections on the basis
of universal suffrage and secret ballot, in which all
democratic parties would have the right to participate
and to promote candidatures in order to ensure the
establishment of a Government truly representative of
the will of the Polish people.

When we met again on February 8 Mr. Roosevelt read out his revised proposals based on Molotov’s draft. “No objection,” he stated, “is perceived to the Soviet proposal that the eastern boundary of Poland should be the Curzon Line, with modifications in favour of Poland in some areas Triumph and Tragedy

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of from five to eight kilometres.” Here at least was one matter on which we could all agree, and although I had invited the Russians to make some minor concessions it seemed better not to multiply our difficulties, which were already serious enough. But the President was firm and precise about the frontier in the west. He agreed that Poland should receive compensation at the expense of Germany, “including that portion of East Prussia south of the Königsberg line, Upper Silesia, and up to the line of the Oder; but,” he continued,
“there would appear to be little
justification for extending it up to the Western Neisse.”
1

This had always been my view, and I was to press it very hard when we met again at Potsdam five months later.

There remained the question of forming a Polish Government which we could all recognise and which the Polish nation would accept. Mr. Roosevelt suggested a Presidential Committee of three Polish leaders who would go to Moscow, form a Provisional Government from representatives in Warsaw, London, and inside Poland itself, and hold free elections as soon as possible.

After a short adjournment Molotov voiced his disagreement.

The Lublin Government, he said, was now at the head of the Polish people. It had been enthusiastically acclaimed by most of them and enjoyed great authority and prestige. The same could not be said of the men from London. If we tried to create a new Government the Poles themselves might never agree so it was better to try to enlarge the existing one. It would only be a temporary institution, because all our proposals had but one object, namely, to hold free elections in Poland as soon as possible. How to enlarge it could best be discussed in Moscow between the American and British Ambassadors and himself. He said he greatly desired an agreement, and he accepted the President’s Triumph and Tragedy

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proposals to invite two out of the five people mentioned in his letter of February 6. There was always the possibility, he said, that the Lublin Government would refuse to talk with some of them, like Mikolajczyk, but if they sent three representatives and two came from those suggested by Mr.

Roosevelt conversations could start at once.

“What about the Presidential Committee?” asked Mr.

Roosevelt.

“Better avoid it,” he answered. “It will mean having two bodies to deal with instead of one.”

“This,” I said, “is the crucial point of the Conference. The whole world is waiting for a settlement, and if we separate still recognising different Polish Governments the whole world will see that fundamental differences between us still exist. The consequences will be most lamentable, and will stamp our meeting with the seal of failure. On the other hand of course we take different views about the basic facts in Poland, or at any rate some of them. According to British information, the Lublin Government does not commend itself to the great majority of the Polish people, and we cannot feel that it would be accepted abroad as representing them. If the Conference is to brush aside the existing London Government and lend all its weight to the Lublin Government there will be a world outcry. As far as can be foreseen, the Poles outside of Poland will make a virtually united protest. There is under our command a Polish army of 150,000 men, who have been gathered from all who have been able to come together from outside Poland. This army has fought, and is still fighting, very bravely. I do not believe it will be at all reconciled to the Lublin Government, and if Great Britain transfers recognition from the Government which it has recognised Triumph and Tragedy

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since the beginning of the war they will look on it as a betrayal.

“As Marshal Stalin and M. Molotov well know,” I proceeded,

“I myself do not agree with the London Government’s action, which has been foolish at every stage. But the formal act of transferring recognition from those whom we have hitherto recognised to this new Government would cause the gravest criticism. It would be said that His Majesty’s Government have given way completely on the eastern frontier (as in fact we have) and have accepted and championed the Soviet view. It would also be said that we have broken altogether with the lawful Government of Poland, which we have recognised for these five years of war, and that we have no knowledge of what is actually going on in Poland. We cannot enter the country. We cannot see and hear what opinion is. It would be said we can only accept what the Lublin Government proclaims about the opinion of the Polish people, and His Majesty’s Government would be charged in Parliament with having altogether forsaken the cause of Poland. The debates which would follow would be most painful and embarrassing to the unity of the Allies, even supposing that we were able to agree to the proposals of my friend M.

Molotov.

“I do not think,” I continued, “that these proposals go nearly far enough. If we give up the Polish Government in London a new start should be made from both sides on more or less equal terms. Before His Majesty’s Government ceased to recognise the London Government and transferred their recognition to another Government they would have to be satisfied that the new Government was truly representative of the Polish nation. I agree that this is only one point of view, as we do not fully know the facts, and all our differences will of course be removed if a free and Triumph and Tragedy

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unfettered General Election is held in Poland by ballot and with universal suffrage and free candidatures. Once this is done His Majesty’s Government will salute the Government that emerges without regard to the Polish Government in London. It is the interval before the election that is causing us so much anxiety.”

Molotov said that perhaps the talks in Moscow would have some useful result. It was very difficult to deal with this question without the participation of the Poles themselves, who would have to have their say. I agreed, but said that it was so important that the Conference should separate on a note of agreement that we must all struggle patiently to achieve it. The President supported me. He said that it was the great objective of the Americans that there should be an early General Election in Poland. The only problem was how the country was to be governed in the meantime, and he hoped it would be possible to hold elections before the end of the year. The problem was therefore limited in time.

Stalin now took up my complaint that I had no information and no way of getting it.

“I have a certain amount,” I replied.

“It doesn’t agree with mine,” he answered, and proceeded to make a speech, in which he assured us that the Lublin Government was really very popular, particularly Bierut, Osobka-Morawski, and General Zymierski. They had not left the country during the German occupation, but had lived all the time in Warsaw and came from the underground movement. That made a deep impression on the Poles, and the peculiar mentality of people who had lived under the German occupation should be borne in mind. They sympathised with all those who had not left the country in difficult times, and they considered the three persons he had named to be people of that kind. He said Triumph and Tragedy

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he did not believe that they were geniuses. The London Government might well contain cleverer people, but they were not liked in Poland because they had not been seen there when the population was suffering under the Hitlerite occupation. It was perhaps a primitive feeling, but it certainly existed.

It was, he said, a great event in Poland that the country had been liberated by Soviet troops, and this had changed everything. It was well known that the Poles had not liked the Russians, because they had three times helped to partition Poland. But the advance of the Soviet troops and the liberation of Poland had completely changed their mood. The old resentment had disappeared, and had given way to goodwill and even enthusiasm for the Russians.

That was perfectly natural. The population had been delighted to see the Germans flee and to feel that they were liberated. Stalin said it was his impression that the Polish population considered the driving out of the Germans a great patriotic holiday in Polish life, and they were astonished that the London Government did not take any part in this festival of the Polish nation. They saw on the streets the members of the Provisional Government, but asked where were the London Poles. This undermined the prestige of the London Government, and was the reason why the Provisional Government, though not great men, enjoyed great popularity.

Stalin thought that these facts could not be ignored if we wanted to understand the feelings of the Polish people. I had said that I feared the Conference separating before agreement was reached. What then was to be done? The various Governments had different information, and drew different conclusions from it. Perhaps the first thing was to call together the Poles from the different camps and hear what they had to say.

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There was dissatisfaction, he continued, because the Polish Government was not elected. It would naturally be better to have a Government based on free elections, but the war had so far prevented that. But the day was near when elections could be held. Until then we must deal with the Provisional Government, as we had dealt, for instance, with General de Gaulle’s Government in France, which also was not elected. He did not know whether Bierut or General de Gaulle enjoyed greater authority, but it had been possible to make a treaty with General de Gaulle, so why could we not do the same with an enlarged Polish Government, which would be no less democratic? It was not reasonable to demand more from Poland than from France. So far the French Government had carried out no reform which created enthusiasm in France, whereas the Polish Government had enacted a land reform which had aroused great enthusiasm. If we approached the matter without prejudice we should be able to find common ground. The situation was not as tragic as I thought, and the question could be settled if too much importance was not attached to secondary matters and if we concentrated on essentials.

“How soon,” asked the President, “will it be possible to hold elections?”

“Within a month,” Stalin replied, “unless there is some catas trophe on the front, which is improbable.”