860C.01/2–2745: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:39 p.m.]
565. For the Acting Secretary from Harriman. ReEmbs 557, February 27, 11 a.m. Clark Kerr and I made it plain to Molotov at our meeting today that we considered Bierut’s reply indicated that he and his associates had a completely false understanding of the agreement reached in the Crimea. After some discussion it was agreed that a telegram should be sent to the Polish Provisional Government, paraphrase of which follows:63
“We have received your telegram which raises questions which in our opinion call for direct oral discussion. We therefore invite the following representatives of the Polish Provisional Government to come to Moscow as soon as possible: Messrs. Bierut, Osobca-Morawski, Rola-Zymierski. The first announcement of your arrival in Moscow will be published after our meeting with you and we request you to pursue a similar course with regard to publication in Poland.”
Clark Kerr and I submitted additional names of Poles as suggestions for consideration of the commission to be invited for consultation. [Page 130] No action was taken, Molotov agreeing to give the names his consideration. The list is as follows: “From London: Stanzyk65 (Socialist), a Christian Labor Party man (I proposed Popiel66), Seyda67 (National Democrat). From Poland: Chacinski68 and Urbanski69 (Christian Labor Party); Zielinski70 and Trampczynski71 (National Democrats; I took exception to Trampczynski because of his age); Adam72 (Democrat); Baginski73 (Peasants Party); Zaremba74 (Socialist).” It is not our expectation that all of these men will or should be invited to Moscow, and we expect to get the reaction of the Warsaw Poles before anyone is invited. Molotov continues to agree that we in no sense shall be bound by the views of the Warsaw Poles.
- In telegram 469, March 2, to Moscow, the Department stated that it was pleased to learn of the agreement reached by the Commission concerning the reply to be made to the Provisional Government (860C.01/2–2745).↩
- Jan Stańczyk, General Secretary of the Polish Trades Union Congress, member of the Executive Council of the Polish Socialist Party and former Minister of Labor and Social Welfare of the Polish Government in Exile (resigned November 1944).↩
- Karol Popiel, Chairman of the Christian Labor Party in Exile, Minister of Reconstruction for Public Administration in the Polish Government in Exile (resigned 1944).↩
- Marian Seyda, member of the Executive Committee of the National Democratic Party and Minister of Preparatory Work for the Peace Conference in the Polish Government in Exile (resigned November 1944).↩
- Jozef Chacinski, Chairman of the Christian Labor Party in Poland and participant in the anti-German underground within Poland during World War II.↩
- Franciszek Urbanski, responsible Secretary of the Christian Labor Party in Poland and participant in the anti-German underground within Poland during World War II.↩
- Stanislaw Zielinski, former member of the Polish Sejm and Polish Consul General in Berlin before World War II.↩
- Wojciech Trampczynski, former President of the Polish Senate and a person of great prestige within Poland.↩
- Pseudonym of the Acting Chairman of the Democratic Party within Poland and a member of the underground Council of National Unity (Rada Jednosci Narodowej). Mikolajczyk, who first advanced the name of this person (see footnote 52, p. 126), did not know his real name.↩
- Kazimierz Bagiński, Vice President of the underground Council of National Unity and Vice President of the Polish Peasant Party within Poland.↩
- Zygmunt Zaremba, Chairman of the Polish Socialist Party within Poland and prominent in the anti-German underground.↩