Office of the Historian

Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Stettinius) to President Roosevelt 43

Washington, March 8, 1944.

The request of Marshal Stalin that Dr. Lange and Father Orlemanski be permitted to go to Moscow44 for the purpose of discussing with a group of Poles in Moscow the future Government of Poland raises a very serious question.

These two men represent a specific and heavily slanted view on the Polish-Soviet question which is not shared by American citizens of Polish descent nor by American public opinion as a whole.

If they go to the Soviet Union with the tacit consent and assistance of this Government, we may become directly involved in the dispute between the Polish and the Soviet Governments. Their visit will be widely interpreted as the first step in the abandonment by this Government of the Polish Government-in-exile. In addition, inasmuch as we recognize the Polish Government-in-exile as the legal Government of Poland, it is possible that their activities in Moscow would bring them within the purview of the Logan Act45 which prohibits American citizens from having any dealings with a foreign government or agents thereof “to defeat the measures of the Government of the United States”.

On the other hand, it may be undesirable, if not impossible to refuse these two American citizens permission to accept the invitation tendered by the Soviet Government.

If they go, some form of public statement on our part may be necessary, making it clear that they are proceeding as private citizens with no connection whatsoever with the Government of the United States. 1 believe, therefore, that it would be desirable for you to inform Marshal Stalin of the possible necessity for such a statement, and I attach for your consideration a draft cable46 to him.

E. R. Stettinius, Jr.
  1. Copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N.Y.↩
  2. There is no written request from Stalin for aid in facilitating the issuance of passports for Dr. Lange and Father Orlemanski which can be found either in the files of the Department or at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. Ambassador Gromyko called on the President between 12:45 and 1:00 p.m., on February 21, 1944, at which time he presumably made the request orally. The President directed his military aide and secretary, Maj. Gen. Edwin M. Watson, in a memorandum of March 6, to see the Ambassador and to inquire whether Dr. Lange and Father Orlemanski had applied for their passports; also to say that the President thought the applications would be put through quickly, but that the two gentlemen would have to apply in person.↩
  3. Concerning private correspondence with foreign governments, approved January 30, 1799; 1 Stat. 613.↩
  4. Infra.↩