860C.01/6–2145: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 22—12:50 a.m.]
2218. Polco. The Poles have come to an agreement among themselves which was reported to the Commission tonight.29 The Presidium of the National Council will consist of Bierut, President, Witos, Szwalbe30 and Grabski, Deputy Presidents, and three additional present members.31 This body is the source of power of the Govt when the Council is not in session.
[Page 353]In the Govt Morawski remains as Prime Minister, Gomulka,32 Workers Party, remains as Vice Prime Minister, Mikolajczyk becomes Vibe Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture. The other Ministers33 remain substantially unchanged except that Kiernik, Peasant Party, becomes Minister of Public Administration, Stanczyk becomes Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Thugutt, Peasant Party from London will be Minister of Posts and Telegraph, Wycech, Peasant Party from within Poland will be Minister of Education, and Kolodziejski, nonparty, will be Minister without Portfolio. Thus there will be six new Ministers out of a total of twenty. Popiel, Christian Labor, will be invited to return to Poland and take part in public affairs. It is Mikolajczyk’s hope that Popiel will be given a ministerial portfolio at a later date.
Mikolajczyk and Kiernik, representing the Peasant Party, have not done badly in that they have introduced four new Peasant leaders. The Socialists, however, did not take a very strong position and Stanczyk is the only new Socialist Minister. They hope that after the new Govt is organized the old time Socialists will be able to increase their influence.
The Commission accepted the settlement reached among the Polish conferees and a meeting will be held tomorrow, Friday evening, to agree on the public announcement.34 In the meantime no publicity is to be given. I request urgent instructions but unless I receive contrary instructions by 8 o’clock Moscow time, 1 o’clock Washington time, I shall accept the settlement as complying with the Yalta formula.35
Clark Kerr and I made it clear that the formation of the Provisional Govt of National Unity was only the first step and that the Yalta decision would not be fulfilled until the holding of a truly free election.
There are some additional understandings on which agreement has been reached in principle only, such as that the National Council shall be reorganized to include fair representation of the different parties represented in the Govt and that the men for the underministerial posts shall be selected in the same proportion as the distribution of the ministerial posts.
The fundamental basis of the reorganized govt is that the Workers Party, the Peasant Party and the Socialist Party shall each have six [Page 354] portfolios and two are to be held by other democratic parties. Both Mikolajczyk and the old line Socialists not now affiliated with the Warsaw Govt hope that they can replace at a later date some of the weaker men holding portfolios but there is no assurance that this will be done.
In frankness I must report that this settlement has been reached because all the non-Lublin Poles are so concerned over the present situation in Poland that they are ready to accept any compromise which gives some hope for Polish independence and individual freedom.
At the meeting tonight I asked assurance that the principal parties concerned would pledge the maintenance of the basic agreement until a free election could be held. Definite assurances were given. I also asked assurances of freedom of assembly and discussion prior to the election and for amnesty for persons accused of political offenses within Poland. These were answered in generalities only but Bierut assured me privately after the meeting that the principle of amnesty was already accepted and that he expected 80% of those now under arrest in Poland would be released.
Clark Kerr acted as chairman tonight and stated that the Brit Govt would accept the settlement and extend immediate recognition to the new govt.
One could not fail to gain the impression that Molotov and the Warsaw Poles were in high spirits and that the other Poles were seriously concerned but hoped that because of the trust they had shown in the good faith of Moscow the Poles would gain a freer hand to conduct their own affairs. I personally am much relieved that there is a settlement agreed to by the Poles themselves and see no reason why we should not accept it. On the other hand we must face the fact that the Poles are counting on us for continued interest in insuring a free election.
Rptd London for Winant and Schoenfeld as No. 311.
- For an account of the deliberations among the Poles for the establishment of a Provisional Government of National Unity, see Mikolajczyk, The Rape of Poland, pp. 124–129.↩
- Stanislaw Szwalbe, a left-wing Socialist.↩
- The three other Deputy Presidents of the National Council were Roman Zambrowski, a leader in the Polish Workers’ Party, Marshal Rola-Zymierski, and Romuald Mikler of the Democratic Party.↩
- Wladyslaw Gomulka, Secretary General of the Polish Workers’ Party.↩
- For a list of the Ministers in the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity, see Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. i, pp. 719–720.↩
- For text of the communiqué on the question of the formation of a Provisional Polish Government of National Unity, agreed to by the Three Power Polish Commission for release on June 23, see telegram 2231, June 23, 1945, from Moscow, ibid., p. 722.↩
- In telegram 1370, June 22, 3 p.m., to Moscow ( ibid., p. 720), the Department concurred in the Ambassador’s action in accepting the settlement.↩