SOVIET PUPPET GOVERNMENT IN POLAND
The Crimean Conference, when dealing with Poland, touches upon two principal problems. First, the Big Three agreed to deprive Poland of half of her territory, giving the eastern provinces to the Soviet Union.
Second, and by far the more momentous resolution, provided for the formation of a new Polish Government. It was to be based on the so-called "Provisional Government," backed by Russia, and created in Lublin on December 31, 1944. This "Provisional Government," by the terms of the Yalta agreement, was to be reorganized "on a broader democratic basis" before it assumed its duties.
The shapers of the world to come were most generous with the Soviet creation in Poland. Only minor doubts were expressed-and very cautiously at thatas to whether the Lublin Government was representative of the Polish Nation.
The doubts as to the Lublin Government's representative character should have been raised more frankly since from the very beginning it had been recognized by the independent public opinion throughout the world for what it was: the Soviet puppet Government in Poland. No amount of propaganda articles and statements to the contrary succeeded in fooling public opinion.
It has been constantly asserted by the Soviet propaganda that the Polish nation is split between two factions and that at least half of the Polish people backed the Soviet puppets of the Lublin Communist Government.
There is no point in using big words to deny this statement. It is utterly false. Poland has many political parties, They differ in their opinions and views, but all have one goal: independence of their country. No Pole will submit to a puppet government set up by a foreign power.
The conflict between the Polish Government, temporarily in London, and the Lublin regime, is not an issue between two Polish factions. The conflict involves much graver issues: Poland's right to freedom and independence threatened today by the Soviet Union.
The Poles at home and abroad give their loyalty unanimously to the Polish Government-in-exile. This loyal support is given not to the individuals, but to the cause for which the Polish nation had fought unceasingly these past five years: the independence of Poland.
There is nothing new about the technique of depriving a nation of its freedom by setting up the "governments" composed of a few traitors and a few opportunists. The world has seen it done by Japan in Manchuria and
Nanking, by Hitler in Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, Norway, Belgium, Holland etc. The Soviet Union proved to be an apt student of the method, which led to the sub-mission of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, though it has proved
unsuccessful so far in Finland (the government of Kuusinen during the
Russo-Finish war of 1940).
Even in the history of Polish-Soviet relations the attempt to foster on Poland a puppet Soviet government is not new. In 1920, when the Red Army was approaching the gates of Warsaw, the ready-made "government" of Commissar Dierjinski followed in its wake.
In 1944, even as in 1920, the "Provisional Government" set up in Poland by Moscow, is backed by Russian bayonets.
None of the Four Freedoms the United Nations are fighting for, exists under the rule of the "Lublin Government." There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of press, no freedom of assembly, no freedom from want, and the
freedom from fear seems more unattainable than ever. Terror of arrests, deportations and executions reigns in the country plagued by hunger, chaos and hordes of spies and agents.
Some of Poland's friends try to allay our fears and their own by recalling Stalin's words that he wished to see "a strong and independent Poland." These friends try to believe that Russia will not want to abolish Poland's
independence or interfere in Poland's internal affairs.
It is too bad that the experience of the last few years has been so completely lost on those who try to full themselves into a false sense of security. Let us bring back to their minds what the Soviet Prime Minister (now Minister of Foreign Affairs) V. M. Molotov had to say on the subject of
the future of the Baltic republics on October 31, 1939:
"As you know, the Soviet Union has concluded pacts of mutual assistance with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that are not of major political significance . . . These pacts are based on mutual respect for the political, social and economic structure of the contracting parties, and are
designed to strengthen the basis for peaceful, neighborly cooperation between our peoples. We stand for the scrupulous and punctilious observance of pacts on a basis of complete reciprocity, and we declare that all nonsense about sovietizing the Baltic countries is only to the interest of our common enemies and of all anti-Soviet provocateurs . . ."
A year later these states existed only as communist republics, part of the Soviet Union.
The following tract deals with the true character of the puppet regime imposed on Poland by the Soviets and its present activities.
THE WIRES OF THE PUPPET SHOW
The Soviet policy toward Poland has been markedly double-fated. In the course of the past years the Soviets held in one hand the trumps of a neighborly cooperation with the Polish Government-in-exile. With their other hand they played another game, preparing the puppet Polish group to
take over the government of Poland, once the country is "liberated" by the Red Armies.
The Soviets joggled long enough with the two decks of cards and the trumps were drawn from either deck, depending on the general political situation and the ascendancy of the Soviet Union at the moment. Finally, toward the end of 1944, the deck of cards which served to play with the Polish Government in London was discarded. The Soviets then played a clear game: they backed the Lublin stooges and included Poland among their other household goods.
To view the stages of the game it is necessary to go back to the year 1939. To September 1939.
Communist Group is Created
On September 17, 1939, while the Polish Army was fiercely resisting the German invaders, the Soviet armies, faithful to the spirit of the German-Russian pact of August
23, 1939, marched into Poland's eastern provinces. The Red Army occupied half of Poland and took as their prisoners of war 181,000 Polish soldiers, among them 10,000 Polish officers.
Thus a valuable pawn fell into Soviet hands, and they did not mean to squander it away. One of the many plans hatched by the foremost NKVD brains was to set up in Russia a political and military organization which would play Russia's game but bear a Polish label.
From among all the Polish prisoners of war the NKVD Commissar Beria selected 120 and housed them in a comfortable country mansion near Moscow.
The remaining prisoners proved to be immune to Soviet arguments, despite the pitiful plight they were in.
About the same time a similar group was organized by the NKVD among the civilians in occupied zone. It consisted mainly of Polish communists of the intelligentsia class. They rallied around Miss Wanda Wasilewska, a communist writer who has long regarded the Soviet Union as her spiritual home. The group's most important publication, the bimonthly called Nowe Widnokregi (New Horizons) appeared in Lwow.
Communists Sabotage Allied War Efforts
It was published at tire period when the political work of the Communist Party all over the world was directed towards halting any armed effort and disseminating defeatism in the Allied camp. Eventually it became necessary to put an end to this misuse of civic freedoms (arrest of Maurice Thorez in France, suspension of the Daily Worker in Great Britain, arrest of Earl Browder in the United States, etc.).
These activities had been inspired by Moscow. V.M. Molotov, then Premier and Foreign Commissar of the Soviet Government, had this to say about the Allies' war against Nazi Germany (report to the 5th Extraordinary Session of
the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. delivered in Moscow on October 31, 1939):
"Today, as far as the European great powers are concerned, Germany is in a position of a State that is striving for the earliest termination of the war and for peace, while Britain and France, which but yesterday were declaiming
against aggression, are in favor of continuing the war and are opposed to the conclusion of peace . . . The ruling circles of Britain and France have been lately attempting to depict themselves as champions of the dramatic rights of nations against Hitlerism and the British Government has announced that its aim in the war with Germany is nothing more nor less than 'the destruction of Hitlerism. It amounts to this, that the British, and with them the French supporters of the war, have declared something in the nature of 'ideological' war on Germany, reminiscent of the religious wars of olden times . . .
"The real cause of the Anglo-French war with Germany was not that Britain and France had vowed to restore old Poland and not, of course, that they decided to undertake a fight for democracy. The ruling circles of Britain and France have, of course, other and more actual motives for going to war with Germany. These motives do not lie in any ideology but in their profoundly material interests as mighty colonial powers . . . Thus the imperialist character of this war is obvious to any one who wants to face realities and does not close his eyes to facts.
Our relations with Germany have radically improved. Here development has proceeded along the line of strengthening out friendly relations, extending our practical cooperation and rendering Germany political support in her effort for peace."*
Wanda Wasilewska's tactics followed naturally Molotov's policy. Hence the Polish communist group did not organize any resistance against the German invader; nor did it make any attempts to free its country from foreign occupation. Instead, all efforts were concentrated on sowing distrust of Western democracies at war with the Germans.
In view of special conditions of the Polish terrain, where eulogizing Germany could not fail to completely destroy the standing of the Polish communists, certain deviations from Molotov's policy were advisable.
Therefore the brunt of propaganda activities of the scant but noisy communist group enjoying the support of Soviet authorities was turned against Poland's pre-war regime and against the Polish State.
It was at that time that Wanda Wasilewska relinquished her Polish citizen-ship and received a Soviet passport; she was appointed member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., and her personal bonds with Russia were tightened by her marriage to Alexander Korneychuk, Deputy Commissar for
Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and a successful playwright.
Imperialistic War Becomes Holy War.
On June 22, 1941, the Soviet world outlook was turned upside down by the German invasion of Soviet Russia. The war condemned heretofore as "imperialistic" became overnight a "Holy War." Vilest invectives were hurled
at the erstwhile German friend and the hostile attitude toward England changed into an interest in the war effort of a comrade-in-arms.
It would seem that this was the most propitious moment for making use of the Polish communist group in spreading war propaganda. Evidently, however, Kremlin did not think its protege influential enough at that time to be entrusted with such a task.
And no wonder, for in the meantime the Polish Government, which, acting first from France and after the fall of France-from Great Britain, had directed the Polish nation's struggle against the Germans at home as well as abroad -had won the full confidence and authority of the Polish population and of the Allies. This was due to its unyielding stand in the defense of Poland's rights to freedom, its democratic composition and platform, the
skillful command of a large army fighting alongside the Allies and the efficient organization of the Underground Movement. As a result, the insignificant communist group, entirely deprived of the support of the Polish nation and covered with ridicule by its ideological acrobatics, could
not compete with this authority.
Soviet-Polish Alliance and its True Lining.
After a sober survey of the international and internal Polish situation, the Russian Government decided for the time being to relinquish the services of Wanda Wasilewska's group and seek alliance with the Polish Government. The
alliance was duly concluded without further difficulties because, for the price of a lasting neighborly
understanding, the Poles were willing to forget all the wrongs suffered at the hands of Russia in the period of 1939-1941. As a result of conversations conducted through the intermediary of the British Foreign Office, a Polish-Russian pact was signed on July 30, 1941, which annulled
the German-Soviet partition pacts and established the foundation for an understanding between the two greatest states in Eastern Europe.
Unfortunately, while proclaiming loudly-for tactical reasons-their desire for friendship and cooperation with Poland, the Soviets had not forsaken the idea of dominating their neighbor country.
On December 1, 1941, the very day when Prime Minister Sikorski landed at the Kuibyshev airfield on his way to Moscow to sign the friendship treaty with Russia, at Saratov only 200 miles away, a secret convention of Wasilewska's group was taking place.
The resolutions passed at this secret convention were never made public. But the convention in itself was a vivid testimony to the fact that Soviet Union was concealing behind its back a weapon with which to strike at the
very nation whose friendship (to all outward appearances) it sought.
From Bad to Worse.
In May 1942 Soviet authorities resumed the publication of their fortnightly Polish Nowe Widnokregi (New Horizons), which had been suspended at the time of Germany's attack on Soviet Russia.
At the head of the publication were Wanda Wasilewska-Korneychuk and Helen Usiyevich, a Russian born communist, daughter of a prominent communist and friend of Lenin, Felix Kohn.
In the early fall of 1942 the Soviets announced that they had neither food not arms nor equipment for the Polish Army whose units were being formed in Russia. Following their express demand, the Polish Army was evacuated from
the Soviet Union to the Middle East. Colonel Zygmunt Bering, one of the few Polish officers who had once been hand-picked by the NKVD and put up in the luxurious villa near Moscow-succumbed to the Soviet instigations and
deserted the Polish Army. The reason for his desertion the world learned only several months later, when the ecruitment for the Soviet-sponsored Polish Army was announced, to be led by Colonel Berling. Arms, food and
equipment were then found easily for this new "Polish Army."
The Polish-Soviet relations were further deteriorated by the forcing of Russian citizenship on approximately one million Polish citizens deported to Russia (Note of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of January 16,
1943). The Polish Government's protest against that violation of international law was of no avail. Those Polish citizens who refused to accept Soviet passports were put in prison, threatened with beating, starved or sent to labor camps. Schools, orphanages, homes for invalids
established for the Polish deportees by the Polish Government were closed and all inventory and supplies, property of the Polish Embassy, confiscated.
In March 1943 there appeared in Moscow a new bimonthly Wolna Polska (Free Poland) published by the Soviet authorities. Although Wanda Wasilewska herself was the editor of this publication, the tone of Wolna Polska was
much more aggressive than that of Nowe Widnokregi. Evidently this new paper was designed for different purposes.
And indeed the subtitle of Wolna Polska read: "Organ of the Union of Polish Patriots." No one had ever heard of such an organization previous to the appearance of the initial number of Wolna Polska. But even after it made its official public bow, the Union of Polish Patriots continued to be
shrouded in a veil of secrecy. Where was it founded, who were its members, who its leaders and how were they elected, remained undisclosed. Naturally the disclosure of these details might have proved inconvenient to the
organizers. It would have come as a great shock to the democratically minded western world, not accustomed to the formation of such unions of citizens of one country by the governments of another country.
With the first issue of Wolna Polska Wanda Wasilewska's group made their debut as patrons of the deported Poles. It was obvious that the Soviets had decided that, after the victory at Stalingrad, they need be concerned no
longer with the public opinion of the United States and Great Britain but could lay open their cards and play out the Polish-Russian game.
Events followed rapidly. On April 25, 1943, the Soviets severed diplomatic relations with the Polish Government. The reason given for that break was Russia's indignation over Poland's demand for the Red Cross investigation of
the case of the 10,000 officers prisoners of war murdered at Katyn.
Soviet indignation was hard to understand, for Poland's demand gave Russia ample chance to clear itself of the accusations raised publicly by the Germans. In the light of the events presented above, it became obvious that
the Katyn affair, which up to the present time has never been investigated by any inter-national agency, served only as a pretext. The break of relations with the Polish Government had been decided upon much earlier and
was necessary to enable the Soviets to make unrestrained use of the
communist embryo so thoughtfully begot.
The international press, well acquainted with the Soviet methods, saw
immediately through this scheme. Four days after the severance of official
relations the New York Times had no doubts as to further Soviet plans. The
cable from Moscow (New York Times, April 29, 1943) bore the headline: "New
Polish Regime is Seen in Russia ---Formation of a 'Government' There is
Hinted at in a New Anti-Sikorski Diatribe."
It took more than a year for the prophecy to be fulfilled. The Soviets were
not quite ready yet.
"Polish Patriots" Prompted by NKVD
The first official Convention of the Union of Polish Patriots did not take
place till June, 1943 (June 9-10). According to the official list 66
"delegates" were present. The "dele-gates" can be divided into the
following groups which we later meet over and over again in all the future
"Polish" organizations set up by the Soviet Government:
1) About twenty notorious communists on the Soviet payroll, graduates of the
Komintern political courses.
2) A few officers of the Russian Army (some of them of Polish ancestry),
trained to take over key positions in the army and administration of Poland;
3) A few men bent only on their personal career, and willing to seize any
chance to further it;
4) A majority consisting of Polish citizens frightened into submission by
prison, labor camps and starvation, who must applaud all Russian acts to
avoid the persecution of the NKVD.
The leaders of the Patriots Union were of course elected unanimously-as
always is the case with the Soviet elections. Wanda Wasilewska became
Chair-man and Dr. Boleslaw Drobner and Andrzej Witos, Vice-Chairmen.
At this point a peculiar twist in Soviet policy may be observed. All the
Poles on Russian soil had been forced to accept Russian citizenship.
Then-the Soviets began to support an organization of these "Russian
citizens" whose object apparently was to create a Polish state! This
paradox may be explained only in one way: the newly created Polish state was
intended to become the 17th Soviet Republic. Of course any open hint of the
kind would be punished by immediate arrest, because officially Russia was
still talking about "a strong and independent Poland" and about the
non-interference in internal affairs of the other countries. This - as a
matter of fact - she continues to do even today.
Army of Polish Deportees and Russian Officers.
Along with the organization of the political group went the formation of
the Army. There are serious reasons for believing that recruiting Officers
to that army was started even at the time when Russia still maintained
official diplomatic relations with the Polish Government in London. The
recruits were drawn from among over a million Poles deported to Russia in
the period of 1939 -1941.
Recruiting to this Russian-sponsored army was done on the volunteer basis
i.e. a Polish citizen in Russia was free to choose either prison or the
army. No wonder that recruiting was very successful.
Partly for the lack of Polish officers but mainly for political reasons, the
majority of officers in Berling's army came from the ranks of the Red Army:
As a rule all the key posts were filled by them.
Soviets Spurn Polish Cooperation
In January 1944, when the Soviet armies entered Polish Cooperation
territory, the Polish Government ordered the Polish Underground Army to
cooperate fully with the Red Army.
At the same time the Polish Government declared that it could not recognize
unilateral decisions or accomplished facts which took or might take place at
some future date in Poland, and that it was the Governments sincere desire
to discuss all outstanding questions with the Soviet Government.
The Soviet Union rejected swiftly all Polish offers aiming to bring about in
understanding, including the proposal of discussing controversial matters
through the intermediary of the United States and Great Britain (January 26,
1944). The reason given was that "the conditions have not yet ripened to a
point where such good offices could be utilized to advantage."
What was the Soviet Union waiting for? Where was that point of "ripeness?"
It is not hard to answer the question today. The future communist
government" of Poland was neither supported by the Polish people not did it
have any territory to govern. The group of the sixty-six "delegates" was
too absurd to bluff the whole world, and lack of the possession of soil was
a handicap even more serious.
Litmus Paper Turns Red
One item has always been included in the platform of every sponsored
"Polish" organization: the demand for a change in the Polish-Soviet boundary
line to one more profitable to Russia. This frontier problem is like litmus
paper test: whenever it is touched by the acid of the Russian band-it turns
red, and the surrender of half of Poland to Russia is immediately demanded.
The frontier item was therefore included as a matter of course in the
platform of the Union of Polish Patriots. In fact, it was one of the
reasons for its inception. It followed naturally that the day to put
"Sunday clothes" on the "Polish patriots" and present them to the world as a
governing body of Poland, was to be the day when the Red Army would cross
the "Curzon Line" and Eastern Poland would be held securely by the Soviets.
This clever game purported to show that there were no Poles in the eastern
part of the country. The governmental jack-in-the-box could spring up only
in "Poland proper." The plan was good, but it failed to take into
consideration one well known item: in chasing the Germans from the provinces
of Lwow, Wilno, Tarnopol and Volhynia (all situated to the east of the
Curzon Line), the Red Army was aided and assisted by the Polish Home Army.
Thus the Poles washed off the Russian propaganda with their own blood.
National Council of Poland Set Up in Moscow.
The Communist "Government of Poland" had to be created in a way which would
make it possible to mislead the opinion of the world as to the true
character of this group. With this aim in mind, ever since the beginning of
February 1944, the Soviet press has been announcing the creation of a
National Council in Poland under the German occupation. The Council was
supposed to be composed of the representatives of the "Polish Peasant Party,
Polish Socialists, the Polish Workers' Party and other democratic national
groupings" (broadcast from Moscow, February 12, 1944).
Rather inadvertently, the same Moscow broadcast revealed the organizers of
that new body. We quote the AP cable (New York Times, February 13, 1944):
The Russian-sponsored Union of Polish Patriots has already organized a
National Council inside Poland, the Moscow radio disclosed tonight, adding a
new climax to the open conflict between Russia and the Polish Government in
exile.
"The disclosure that the union, organized in Moscow, had set up operations
in Poland followed an editorial in the communist party newspaper Pravda
attacking the Polish regime in London anew and implying that a government
acceptable to Russia might be established in Poland."
There certainly is no need for a more explicit statement as to where the
idea of the so-called National Council really arose and by whom it was
organized.
But the statement was never again repeated publicly. Moscow became aware
that this admission bungled up the works and quickly switched its propaganda
line to publicize the fact that the "National Council" was created
spontaneously on January 1, 1944 by political elements in Poland.
The names of the members of this National Council (later it was found out
that its real name was Krajowa Rada Narodowa, i. e. "Home National Council")
were never made public. The reason given was the fear for the safety of
those members who were under the German occupation. But although ever since
December 1944 the Council met in Lublin, that is, in the territory occupied
by the Soviet armies - the names continued to be kept secret. Two months
after the Red Army took Warsaw, the names are still concealed. It would seem
that the reason is not the fear for the safety of the members of that
"parliament" but rather the fear of losing face by that communist body
filled with worthless ballast of yes-men. During these weeks a feverish
quest was probably made for persons who could be "convinced" by the NKVD to
join this "National Soviet of Poland," as it was pertinently called by
British papers.
The only two names that have been disclosed may serve as a sample of the
entire membership:
Chairman-Boleslaw Bierut, Soviet citizen since 1921, professional Komintern
agent for Central Europe;
Vice Chairman-Edward Osubka-Morawski, a member of the secession group
called the Workers' Party of Polish Socialists, who together with this group
joined the Communist party camouflaged in Poland under the name of PPR (for
details see Appendix).
Lublin Committee of National Liberation
On July 24, 1944 the Soviets announced the list of members of the new
"Polish Government." This body did not date as yet to call itself a
government, but acting as the provisional executive authority" was content
with the name of Polish Committee of National Liberation.
The following was the composition of the Committee:
Edward Boleslaw Osubka-Morawski, Chairman and Department of Foreign Affairs,
Andrzej Witos, Vice Chairman and Department of Agriculture and Agrarian
Reform,
Wanda Wasilewska, Vice Chairman,
Gen. Michal Rola-Zymierski, National Defense Department,
Gen. Zygmunt Berling, Deputy Head of National Defense Department,
Stanislaw Kotek-Agroszewski, Public Administration Department,
Jan Stefan Haneman, National Economy and Finance Department,
Jan Czechowski, Justice Department,
Stanislaw Radkiewicz, Public Security Department,
Dr. Boleslaw Drobner, Labor and Social Welfare Department,
Jan Michal Grubecki, Communications, Post and Telegraph Department,
Dr. Emil Sommerstein, War Reparations Department,
Dr. Stanislaw Skrzeszewski, Department of Education,
Wincenty Rzymowski, Department of Culture and Art,
Dr. Stefan Jedrychowski, Department of Information and Propaganda,
The world was informed that the Committee was appointed by the anonymous
Home National Council. The appointment act bore no signatures.
The Soviet summer offensive brought the Red Army to the upper and middle
Vistula River and to the suburbs of Warsaw. The seat of the Committee was
then transferred from the small town of Chelm (30,000 population) to Lublin
(population 125,000).
Time is "Ripe"
The next Soviet offensive started on January 12, 1945, and eventually
dislodged the Germans from all the territory of the Republic of Poland. Two
weeks before the opening of, the offensive the Home National Council held a
meeting in Lublin. It started, according to the best Soviet traditions,
with a tribute to Marshal Stalin, after which the resolution was passed
"unanimously" to change the character of the Committee to that of the
"Provisional Government of Poland."
On this occasion the members of the group were reshuffled again. Most
characteristically, the names of Wasilewska, Berling, Drobner, Sommerstein
and Witos were no longer there. Their usefulness had ceased. They had to
be replaced by new people less compromised or more pliant.
It was not for the first time that the Soviet machine discarded just as that
much garbage, the people who had ceased to please it. The history of Polish
communism lists the following names of people who voluntarily fled to Russia
only to meet there their death by execution or to be put in Soviet
concentration camps: Karol Radek, Stefan Dombal, Bruno Jasienski, Warski,
Walecki, Kostrzewa, Lenski, Adamski, Leszczynski, etc, Soon the world will
be able to learn whether the unhappy Lublin - puppets will meet the same
fate.
The list of the members of the "Provisional Government of Poland" as
announced on December 31, 1944 is:
Edward B. Osubka-Morawski, Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Wladyslaw Gomolka, First Vice Premier,
Stanislaw Janusz, Second Vice Premier,
Col. Gen. Michal Rola-Zymierski, Minister of National Defense,
Joseph Maslanka, Minister of the Interior,
Stanislaw Radkiewicz, Minister of Public Security,
Konstanty Dabrowski, Minister of the State Treasury,
Dr. Stanislaw Skrzeszewski, Minister of Education,
Wiktor Trojanowski, Minister of Labor, Social Welfare and Public Health,
Edward Bertold,
Minister of Agrarian Reform and Agriculture,
Jan Rabanowski, Minister of Means of Communication, Hilary Minc, Minister
of Industry,
Teodor Piotrowski, Minister of Food Supplies and Commerce,
Tadeusz Kapelinski, Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone,
Edmund Zalewski, Minister of justice,
Wincenty Rzymowski, Minister of Culture and Arts,
Stefan Matuszewski, Minister of Information and Propaganda.
On announcing these names (January 6, 1945) the Polpress News (this service
is registered in the U. S. Department of justice as a Polish department of
the Soviet official TASS Agency) which is the Lublin Committee's publicity
agent, thus commented on the party allegiance of the members:
"The cabinet is composed of five representatives from the Polish Socialist
Party, five from the Peasant Party, four from the Polish Workers Party, one
from Democratic Party, and two members are not affiliated to any political
party."
This comment was immediately denied by representatives of the political
parties concerned (Socialist Party, Peasant Party and Democratic Party), who
asserted that their executive committees at home and abroad not only did not
send their delegates to the Lublin Committee, but regarded that Committee as
an illegal authority, imposed by violence on the Polish people.
Political Chameleons
The difficulties in establishing party affiliations of the members of the
Lublin Committee also lie in the fact that they change their convictions
according to the exigencies of the situation they find themselves in.
Thus "Premier" Osubka-Morawski appears sometimes as a member of the Workers'
Party of Polish Socialists, on other occasions as a member of the Polish
Workers' Party, and sometimes even-as a Polish Socialist. In reality he is
a communist.
Deputy Premier Janusz presented himself as a Peasant Party man, but in
December 1944 he admitted his affiliation with the Polish Workers' Party.
In the "provisional government," however, he represents the Peasant Party.
Haneman, a well-known communist, was charged with the organization of a
brand-new political party: the Democratic Party.
Where Are Communists?
On perusing carefully the data supplied by Lublin, it is readily noticed
that the presence of any communists in the "provisional government," is
denied. These denials are repeated
so often as to become ridiculous.
Thus an explanation is necessary as to what is really concealed under the
name of the Polish Workers' Party.
In 1937 the Polish Communist Party was dissolved by the Moscow Komintern,
who had had too much trouble with the Trotsky'ites. But in 1942 Komintern
agents were dropped on Polish territory by Soviet planes to organize a new
Communist Party called Polish Workers' Party (PPR).
Neither the origin nor the membership of this party leave any doubt as to
its political character. Besides, its allegiance was most emphatically
asserted by the signature it affixed (along with those of other communist
parties of the whole world) under the resolution dissolving the Komintern
(June 15, 1943).
The following eleven Lublin officials are members of the Communist Party:
"President" Bierut,
"Premier" Osubka-Morawski,
"Vice Premier" Gomolka,
"Ministers": Radkiewicz, Rola-Zymierski, Skrzeszewski, Minc, Dabrowski,
Bertold, Matuszewski, and the Paris representative Jedrychowski.
Some more "ministers" of whom nothing is known (such as Trojanowski,
Rabanowski, Piotrowski, Kapelinski, Zalewski) may also belong to the Party,
but all of them violently disclaim being communists. The example of the
"Minister of National Defense" Gen. Rola-Zymierski is rather typical: he
claims to have no political affiliations, but is the proud holder of the
membership card No. 26 of the PPR.
Camouflage
The political camouflage of the communists in Poland is not restricted to
individuals; the same system is applied to organizations themselves.
As a striking illustration of this policy we submit the list of Polish
organizations and parties, along with their equivalents set up by the
Soviets:
Original organizations
National Council of the Polish
Republic (London)
Council of National Unity (in Poland)
Home Army
Polish Socialist Party (PPS)
Democratic Party
Peasant Party
Publication Rzeczpospolita Polska (Polish Republic)'
Newspaper Robotnik (Worker)
Soviet-sponsored organizations
Home National Council
People's Army
Polish Socialist Party (PPS)
Workers Party of the Polish Socialists (Polish abbreviation-RPPS)
Polish Workers Party (Polish abbreviation--PPR)
Democratic Party
Peasant Party
Rzeczpospolita (Republic)
Robotnik
By assuming the same or similar names, communist organizations try to
de-ceive the wide masses in Poland who are faithful to the Polish Government
in London and to exploit their confidence for their own political purposes.
Puppets and their Soviet Advisers
A telling example of the "independence" of the "provisional government" is
offered by the fact that all ministries of political character are not only
headed by communists, but are also controlled by Soviet officials.
And so, for example, in the Ministry of National Defense special powers were
given to Col. Zawadzki of the NKVD; in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs --
to communist Berman, in the Ministry of Propaganda - to Belayed, a
staff -member of the Moscow Pravda, while a whole Soviet Commission is
attached to the Ministry of Public Security.
Polish People's Attitude.
Polish citizens, regardless of political views and religion and of their
present residence, condemned the Lublin Committee by an overwhelming
majority and declared their loyalty to the Polish Government. Thousands of
telegrams to that effect were received from Polish organizations in Great
Britain, France, Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Union of
South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Kenya, Uganda, Palestine, Turkey, Egypt,
Iran, India and from all the free countries of the world wherever the Poles
are living.
Only a small number of communist agents and their dupes opted for the Lublin
Committee.
A free expression of will of the Polish nation in Poland will give without
any doubt the same result. This is the conviction of the Polish Government
as is testified by the memorandum sent on January 23, 1945 to the American
and British governments, asking for an Inter-Allied military commission
under whose protection free election (to the first Polish Parliament) could
be held.
This proposal proves that the Polish Government is not afraid of the
out-come of the will of the nation; on the contrary - it wants it to be
revealed, provided the plebiscite is conducted in a democratic way, without
political, military and administrative pressure of any interested power.
ACTIVITIES OF THE LUBLIN COMMITTEE
The seven months of the Soviet-sponsored administration on Polish
territories permit us to draw correct conclusions as to the character of
this government which had first operated under the name of the "Polish
Committee of National Liberation" and later under the name of the
"Provisional Government of Poland." In the discussion to follow this group
shall be called for short "the Lublin Committee.
Viewing the record of the Lublin Committee's administration it is
worthwhile to pause and consider whether they have fulfilled their promise
of bringing Poland true independence and democracy.
Democracy can be well measured by the seven tests of freedom so well defined
last Summer by the British Prime Minister Churchill in his message to the
Italian people:
I) Free expression of opinion and criticism of the Government
2) The fight of the people to turn out the Government
3) Courts of justice free from executive interference, mob violence and
party interference
4) Laws based on broad principles of decency and justice
5) Fair play for the poor as well as the rich and for the individual as well
as the government official
6) The fights of the individual maintained, asserted and exalted
7) Freedom from fear of a police organization under the control of a single
party.
An impartial reader will have no difficulty in ascertaining that the joint
rule of the Soviet NKVD and the Polish puppets fulfills neither all seven
conditions of democratic freedom, nor even any one of them.
Nothing save label remained of the promise of independence. No attributes
of Polish sovereignty survived.
The Polish reality today is a direct negation of democracy as it is
understood by the Western world and by the Polish nation.
Administration
The administration of Polish territories occupied by Soviet armies and
situated to the west of the Curzon Line was entrusted to the Lublin
Committee by the decision of the Soviet Government of July 26, 1944. To the
east of this Line, notwithstanding the absence of any international
agreement providing in advance for the status of Poland's eastern provinces,
Soviet administration was introduced.
Administration has been divided into two departments: Public Administration
and Public Security which deals with all political matters. Such a division
exists in the USSR only (People's Commissariat of State Security).
The Ministry of Public Security is headed by Stanislaw Radkiewicz, member of
the communist Polish Workers' Party. Its task is to supplement the
activities of the NKVD, the Russian Gestapo, and to assist it by its
knowledge of local conditions. The organization of this department has been
modeled on the Russian pattern. It includes two branches of police service:
the so-called People's Militia and Special Security Service (commonly called
"Polish NKVD"). The latter, non-uniformed for the most part, receives 100%
better pay and acts under NKVD orders.
"Enemies of The People
"Tribunals of political responsibility" have been working at full speed
since the end of October 1944 and are subjected to the police authorities.
On January 30, 1945, Radio Lublin reported the arrival in Cracow - two days
after the city had been taken -- of a large group of judges and prosecutors
to try "fascists, collaborators and the enemies of the people."
Since it is a well known fact that both Polish judges and prosecutors, after
the occupation of Eastern Poland by the Soviets in 1939 were the first to be
placed on the lists of "people's enemies," sentenced to prison and deported
to Asia, the people who are now administering Soviet justice remain a
mystery. They are probably Polish and Russian communists trained not so
much in law as in carrying out periodic "purges" so characteristic of the
Soviet administrative system.
Many innocent civilians had been arrested by the Soviets, One of the most
shocking instances was the arrest of the Polish Red Cross officials, among
whom there was the wife of the Polish Prime Minister, Mrs. Tomasz
Arciszewski.
According to Soviet nomenclature, all Poles who want true freedom for their
country and repudiate the totalitarian Soviet system are "fascists." The
Soviet NKVD justice consists therefore of liquidation of all independent
centers of Polish opinion.
Arrests and deportations aim above all to break the backbone of the
Under-ground Movement and the Home Army which has cooperated with the
Soviet armies in their fight against the Germans.
The first months of the rule of the Lublin Committee have shown that these
measures lead to an epidemic of denunciations as well as to continuous
purges even in administrative offices. In the course of the first two
months more than 60 persons were dismissed from the "Ministry of the
Interior" alone. There is no news as to what became of them.
Frequent purges are also taking place in the local administration. In the
town of Kielce four governors and six mayors have succeeded one another.
One-way Passage
One of the first acts of the Lublin Committee was to conclude an agreement
with the Soviet Republics of the Ukraine and of White Ruthenia concerning
the exchange of population. Outside of a single testimony of an American
correspondent (Henry Shaper of the United Press) who saw one trainload sent
from Lwow to Lublin-there is no evidence to support the assertion that the
four million Poles residing in the Eastern part of Poland have ever had an
opportunity to transfer to the west of the partition line. The "exchange of
population" provided but "one way passage."
On the other hand the Polish Underground continually reports mass
deportations of the Poles (from the lands both to the west and to the east
of the Curzon Line) into the depths of Russia. The same policy had been
applied successfully in 1939-41, decimating the Polish population of Eastern
Poland, particularly in the cities of Wilno and Lwow.
Destruction of Economic Order
On August 24, 1944, the Lublin Committee issued a decree equalizing the
Polish currency zloty - with the Russian rouble. Thus preliminary steps
were taken toward the unification of the two economic systems.
How well favored the Polish currency was under this policy becomes obvious
when we recall that the real value of the pre-war zloty was equal to about
seven- -eight roubles, and during the war this difference became even
greater. Be-sides, the standard of living in Poland, even in the poorest
provinces, was much higher than the standard of living of the citizens of
the Soviet Union.
Simultaneously with the decree concerning the equalization of the two
currencies, new banknotes were issued, signed by a fictitious "Polish
National Bank," in institution which has never been actually called to life.
On January 15, 1945, a new financial decree of great importance has been
issued by the Lublin Committee. This decree withdrew from circulation the
so-called "Cracow zlotys" (printed by German-organized Bank of Issue in
Cracow) and the Soviet roubles. But whereas the "Cracow zlotys" became
valueless after February 28, the roubles were to remain in circulation until
July 15, 1945.
The most important perhaps is that paragraph of the decree which provides
that no more than 500 zlotys ("Cracow zlotys") can be exchanged for the new
currency. Because of the skyrocketing prices in Poland today the sum of 500
zlotys is barely sufficient to provide two-day maintenance for a family.
The rule is equivalent to the confiscation of all savings and it deprives
whatever private enterprise remained of their working capital. The real aim
of the decree is to ruin private enterprises: commerce, crafts, industry,
etc. Their ruin will hasten and facilitate -the introduction of the "state
enterprise." Thus the January decree more than any other contributes to the
sovietization of the Polish economy. The decree was faithfully patterned
after the similar decree of the Soviet Government in Russia in 1918, making
void the pre-war Czarist- and the so-called Kerensky roubles.
The western part of Poland where the German marks had been used were even
more afflicted. The Lublin Committee established the rate of exchange
making one zloty equal 2 marks. The amount which would be exchanged for the
new currency was even smaller than in Eastern Poland: only 250 zlotys.
To the people of Poland, starved out in the course of five years of German
occupation, the Russians had once promised food. But no food was ever sent.
Instead, the Soviet soldiers were allowed to send home from Poland
eleven -pound packages with food. With millions of Soviet soldiers now in
Poland this has but one possible effect: the starvation of the despoiled
country, by a rule which is usually applied to conquered lands.
The Polish farmers, who had suffered considerable losses at the time of
German retreat, were thus completely stripped of food by the large scale
requisitions of the Red Army. These requisitions are estimated to be 20%,
higher than those imposed by the German occupants.
But this development of education has its drawbacks. The Ministry of
Education headed by Stanislaw Skrzeszewski, an old hand at communism,
endeavors to inoculate Stalinism into the students. Especially is this
true of the study of Polish history: starting with the XlVth century the
facts have been revised" to suit Russian ideas.
The Lublin Radio made several announcements about the quick reconstruction
of education in Poland, about schools being opened, the universities in
Lwow, Wilno, Krakow, Lublin and former Warsaw Polytechnic having supposedly
resumed their work. These claims are fantastic. In a country with the
majority of cities destroyed, population dispersed, hundreds of university
professors killed by the Germans and deported by the Soviets to Russia,
libraries pillaged, the majority of scientific books and text books
withdrawn from circulation and destroyed by the Germans, university life
could not be resumed in such a short time. Obviously such information
should be treated is pure propaganda.
Two weeks after Warsaw was captured by the Russians the Lublin Radio boasted
that the Warsaw Polytechnic, whose elaborate scientific instruments,
laboratories and other facilities were destroyed, has resumed its work in
the suburb of Prague. A few weeks later the Lublin Radio claimed again that
the Warsaw Polytechnic is working in Lublin. Both these informations are
obviously calculated to impress foreigners, as the resumption of teaching
by any Polytechnic in such circumstances is entirely impossible.
For the time being the Catholic Church is said to enjoy some privileges in
the territories occupied by the Red Army. This does not come as a surprise
to a student of the Soviet Union's policy toward religion. About three
years ago the Soviet regime decided that it could gain more by subordinating
the Church to its authority rather than by fighting it, because people's
attachment to religion proved stronger than the communist doctrine and
education.
Profiting by the Soviet experience the Lublin Committee boasts of having
accorded full freedom to the clergy and of not interfering with services.
As special privilege ecclesiastic and monastery grounds have been exempt
from confiscation imposed by the agrarian reform, In this way the Lublin
Com-munists tried to win over the Church authorities, or at least not to
antagonize them.
But the Committee gives no assurance of continuing this policy. It admits
that the policy may undergo a change if it is "the will of the people." Thus
the sword of uncertainty is hung over the head of the church authorities.
Godless Propaganda
The recent news from Poland brings first accounts of the godless propaganda
that is being spread there. Tablet (Brooklyn, N. Y.) reports on February
24, 1945:
"The Lublin Committee has aroused the anger of the Polish population by the
anti-religious propaganda which it either directs or permits.
"This his been revealed in Paris by three French prisoners of war who,
having escaped, spent nearly two months in Lublin territory.
"They declared that they were twice present at godless films. On both
occasions the audience left the hall in anger as soon as they perceived
the
tendency of the films."
As in all similar cases, so in the case of the Lublin Committee, after the
initial tolerance, the true policy of the Communists discards its veil.
Democracy a la Russe
Local administration is based on community, county and province Soviets
called in Polish rada. The members of these rada are elected,
but--conforming to the Soviet customs these are all one-ticket elections.
Thus in reality only active communists and their stooges may get into the
Council.
There is no freedom of speech or press in the territory administered by the
Lublin Committee and the NKVD. All newspapers are controlled strictly by
the communists, even though some of them are hiding behind a shield of true
Polish political parties. It is forbidden to listen to the foreign
broadcasts. The population is led with the broadcasts in Polish from the
Lublin and Moscow stations. Here again people are "free to chose": they can
either turn off their radios or listen to the communist propaganda. This
system of "radio -pressure" had been used for years in the Soviet Union,
effectively keeping the Russian people in the dark, cut off from the news of
the world.
There is no freedom of assembly or associations in the territory
administered by the Lublin Committee and the NKVD. Only those willing to
follow the official directives are permitted to assemble.
The one-party system has not been introduced so far in Poland, mainly
be-cause of the genuine anxiety and earnest determination to mislead the
democracies of the Western World. The multi-party system was therefore
apparently maintained. But there was one "improvement": the key positions
in the old -established and well-known Polish political parties were given
to the newly introduced communists. At the same time a swarm of brand-new
political parties appeared to camouflage the bona fide communists. The new
parties merit attention if not for any other reason than their arresting
names: Citizens' Initiative Committee, Group of Polish Leftists,
Syndicalists, etc.
The trade unions were reorganized in Poland along the Soviet lines and
blessed with the Soviet one-ticket elections, as well as with the penalty of
loss of work and arrest for those in opposition.
The very nature of the Lublin Committee excludes, of course, any freedom of
deciding the most vital issues. All the more important problems are solved
in Moscow where the obedient pupils of the Komintern appear every few weeks.
Under these circumstances the problem of an independent foreign policy of
the "Provisional Government" does not even arise. The moves of the Lublin
Committee are but a covering echo of the Soviet foreign policy.
The decrees of the Lublin Committee are prepared by the Russian experts, and
a great number of them are literally translated from the Russian originals
(military penal code).
A student of the current events in Poland cannot possibly escape one
conclusion: the rule of the Lublin Committee, directed by the Kremlin,
introduces in Poland a regime well known and well remembered from the first
period of the sovietization of Russia.
Agrarian Reform
The agrarian reform as carried out by the Lublin Committee does not
endeavor to set up new, self-sufficient farms in Poland, but creates
instead a transitory chaos prior to the introduction in Poland of
collective economy modeled on a Soviet pattern.
Conforming with the Lublin Committee decree of September 6, 1944, all the
estates covering more than 124 acres (50 ha) of usable area were confiscated
in their entirety. Land, buildings, machinery, equipment and livestock were
confiscated without any compensation to the owner.
In some cases estates even smaller than 124 acres were confiscated, for
in-stance, in cases when the owner was declared to be "an enemy of the
people." Since the Lublin regime considers as an "enemy of the people" every
citizen whose views differ from those of the ruling group, it is easy to see
what a powerful instrument of political repression this extermination rule
has become.
New Agrarian Proletariat
Theoretically the size of new farms was fixed at 12.4 acres. In practice,
however, usually much smaller parcels were granted. Information Bulletin of
the Embassy of the U.S.S.R. in Washing-ton (Vol. IV, No. 130) speaks of
grants of land not exceeding 7.4 acres (3-ha).
According to the statement of "minister" Bertold of December 30, 1944,
505,135 acres have been already parceled in Poland. This land was given to
17,321 families of agricultural workers, 16,736 landless families, 69,328
dwarf farmers, 1,934 families of war invalids and 4,349 families with many
children. All in all 109,668 families received land, which averages about
4.5 acres per family.
It is obvious that such a small strip of land cannot guarantee
self-sufficiency to the farmer.
Agrarian reform bad been introduced in Poland years before the Lublin
reforms." If the Lublin Committee's goal were not short-lived glamour but
genuine improvement of the lot of rural districts, it would try to profit by
the 20-year experience during which the Polish Government has parceled out
more than 8 million acres of large estates.
By dividing the land into tiny parcels, the Lublin Committee plainly does
not improve the agrarian system in Poland but is creating a new class of
agrarian proletariat and with it a new source of social unrest.
The unavoidable failure to supply the new farmers with sufficient quantities
of farm machinery, tools and livestock will necessarily bring about, in the
near future, sharing of buildings, tools and livestock of the former estate
holder. This in turn will mean a complete ruin of the system of individual
farming.
"Kolhozes" in Poland
Thus economic need (brought on with premeditation by the authors of the
reform) will lead to the liquidation of individual farms and replacing them
by collectives. In this way, Poland gradually will become a network of
kolhozes operating according to Russian
pattern, seemingly without any pressure from above.
The plans for such unreasonable division of land caused dissatisfaction even
among that class which was supposed to be the beneficiary of the reform.
W. H. Lawrence, N. Y. Times correspondent who had a chance to investigate
the situation on the spot, reported (January 12, 1945):
"Polands new landowners, the beneficiaries of the Government's agrarian
reform program, are rugged individualists who want no part of collectivized
farming, even though it may be more efficient, who praise highly the land
that has been given to them, but wish the initial acreage allotment were
greater, and whose chief complaint is a shortage of horses to sow and
harvest their crops."
Resistance of the Population
These circumstances explain many difficulties when the distribution of land
was carried out. According to the broadcast of the Lublin Radio (October
14, 1944), the agrarian reform met with "bitter resistance." It was blamed
by the Lublin Committee on "landlords and reactionaries" and their
"sabotage."
The saboteurs must have wormed their way into quite high places since they
were found even within the Lublin Committee. For on October 16, 1944 we
read the following cable sent from Moscow by W. H. Lawrence to the New York
Times about the resignation of the Vice Premier Andrzej Witos:
"At a crucial moment in the Stalin-Churchill negotiations, the Polish
Committee of National Liberation admitted today a significant failure in
carrying out its agrarian land reform program in that part of Poland that
already has been liberated.
"Coupled with a press announcement that the liberation committee had not met
its October 10 deadline for completing preliminary steps toward dividing
landed estates of more than fifty hectares (123.5 acres) into plots of five
hectares each for landless peasants was the news that Andrzej Witos, vice
president of the committee and Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform,
had given up all his committee posts because of bad health."
Andrzej Witos was one of the few non-communists who had taken part in the
Lublin Committee.
Ex-landowners Liquidated
A few words remain to be told about the fate of those landowners who were
deprived of their land.
Within three days after their estates bad been confiscated they had to leave
not only their homes but even the community where they had lived. In their
new community where they might decide to settle they are allowed to apply
for a grant of land not to exceed 12.4 acres.
Semi-official Russian monthly in this country, Soviet Russia Today (Vol. 13,
No. 10, February 1945) described the lot of the ex-landowners of Poland,
taking as a typical example the Radzyn county, province of Lublin. In the
Radzyn county there were 31 landowners before the war. Out of their number,
one -- the owner of the largest estate in the county of about 4,300
acres-had been killed by the Germans; 17 are in German jails or
concentration camps; 6 had escaped the war by going to Western Poland; and
the fate of one is not known since he had left for Warsaw before the Warsaw
Uprising took place (August-October 1944). Even a publication as unfriendly
to Poland as the Russian monthly is in no position, in view of these typical
figures, to deny that the Polish landowners have not forfeited their
heritage or forsaken their patriotism.
Six landowners had decided to remain on their land, even with the Russians
coming. Two of them were immediately arrested, three ordered to leave their
homes and transfer elsewhere, and one taken into the army.
Thus the liquidation of the larger estate owners had been accomplished in
Poland under the cover of the "agrarian reform," The Germans were the first
to start the "liquidation" of this class of the population. The Russians
completed the job, making the Lublin Committee to do the unpleasant part of
the work.
Material and physical destruction could not satisfy entirely the new
powers -to-be. To vilify the landowning class in the eyes of their
fellow-countrymen Lublin charged they were "Nazi collaborators."
Even a pro-Russian paper, Soviet Russia Today, hesitates to support these
absurd slanders. The Soviet monthly writes:
"The general charge made by the Lublin government spokesmen against those
landowners who fled with the Germans is that they were pro-Nazi. This is
perhaps an over-simple statement of what was a very complicated set of
facts."
The well-publicized "Agrarian Reform" conducted by the Lublin Committee is
only an attempt on their part to introduce in Poland a system of collective
farming on the Soviet scheme. Through the senseless and badly managed
distribution of the land the Lublin Committee tried to win the good will of
the landless peasants and to weaken their will of resistance to the Moscow-
imposed rule.
Army
The Soviet -sponsored Polish army was at first created from Poles deported
to Russia in 1939-1941.
After the Curzon Line had been crossed, the Lublin Committee began the
enlistment of Poles on a voluntary basis. There was, however, little
enthusiasm for this army and only 15% of the quota was filled in this way.
Russians Command Polish Army
This apathy cannot be ascribed to the exhaustion of Poles by the five years
of occupation and surely not to their lack of ardor to fight the Germans.
The splendid record of the Home Army, especially during the heroic battle of
Warsaw in August and September 1944 is ample proof of this statement. The
reason for the Poles' hostility was the very character of that strange army,
which, though bearing Polish badges, was a political tool in the hands of
the Soviets and had to obey the orders of Russian officers.
This was the command of this "Polish Army" in the spring of 1944:
Commander in Chief, Lt. Gen. Zygmunt Berling, deserter from the Polish
Army.
Deputy Commander, Major Gen. Karol K. Swierczewski, a Red Army officer, who
under the assumed fine of "Karol Walter" was in command of some
international brigades in the Spanish Civil War.
The political chief of the Corps, Col. Vladimir Sokorski, also a Red Army
officer.
The chief of Intelligence, Lt. Col. Piotr Kozuszko, an officer of the
NKVD.
First Division: Commander, Major Gen. B. I. Polturzynski, Deputy Commander,
Maj. Gen. Boleslaw A. Kieniewicz; Artillery commander, Maj. Gen. V. M.
Bevziuk. All three officers of the Red Army.
Second Division: Commander, Maj. Gen. Antoni F. Siwicki; Deputy
commander, Col. Jacob A. Pravin. Both Red Army officers.
Third Division: Commander, Maj. Gen. Stanislaw S. Galicki, a Red Army
officer.
After the Lublin Committee was organized, the command passed into the hands
of a former Polish General, Gen. Michal Rola-Zymierski. This man who had
been stripped of his officer rank in the Polish Army in 1927 and sentenced
to 5 years of prison for financial abuses in connection with army supplies,
could hardly serve as an example for the Poles.
The voluntary system was therefore replaced by compulsory recruiting and at
the beginning four age classes were called up.
Gen. Alexander Zawadzki, a colonel in the NKVD, who had served in Manchuria
for many years, became Deputy Commander of the Army. His assignment is to
supervise "political education" and especially "selection of officers and
liquidation of pro-fascist elements." In other words he is a "purging"
specialist.
The other Deputy Commander is Gen. A. Korczyc, also a Red Army officer.
Polish Citizens of Russian Grace
To give some semblance of law to this infiltration of Soviet citizens and
officers into the "Polish Army," the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union has
granted by decree of June 22, 1944 Polish citizenship to all persons "who
take active part in the struggle for the liberation of Poland from under the
occupation of German fascists."
The case of a foreign power granting its people the citizenship of another
country has no precedent since time immemorial. This decree throws a
characteristic light on the grotesque vassal relation of the Lublin
Committee to the Soviet Government.
But this stuffing of the "Polish Army" with Soviet officers has not stopped
the Russian command from attaching since August 1944 a special NKVD
Commission to supervise Gen. Zymierski. The Commission, headed by Gen.
Bogdanov and with Gen. Zhukov and three NKVD colonels as members, is charged
with the investigation of "anti-Soviet activities." And one of the most
criminal anti-Soviet activities is considered fighting the Germans in the
ranks, of the Polish Home Army.
The persecutions of the NKVD caused the President of the Polish Republic to
issue on February 7, 1945, the order disbanding the Polish Home Army.
Contempt for Poles Fighting in the West
Lublin-men's hatred for the Poles looking toward the Polish Government in
London as their authority is not limited to home territory, for it extends
to the armies fighting side by side with the Allies (Italy, France, Belgium,
Holland).
We quote from the cablegram by Gault MacGovan in the New York Sun (January
11, 1944):
"All the patriotic and vastly war-experienced Poles who escaped from Poland
in 1940 to continue the struggle-many are now fighting in Italy, among them
the heroes of the storming of Monte Cassino - will be barred from promotion
or appointment within this new army. The same applies to the gallant Polish
airmen who were "assistant heroes" in the battle of Britain."
Incidentally, the communists were not at all happy about the participation
of Polish armies in the war in the West. Wolna Polska (Free Poland) in
Moscow has criticized the decision of the Polish Government to send
divisions "to help the British and Americans conquer the earth of sunny
Italy one centimeter after another."
"Why are they not with us?" the Moscow paper asked. "Why are they not here
to march with us along the Warsaw highway, which is the direct way to
Poland, to the West." (New York Times, March 15, 1944).
And just recently Lublin Radio shed crocodile tears over the fate of the
Polish soldiers fighting side by side with the Allied forces (broadcast of
January 31, 1945):
"You have been cheated, soldiers, when under false pretenses you were sent
to Iran. You are still shedding your blood on foreign soil at the side of
those heroic Britishers, those brave Australians, those fearless New
Zealanders and shoulder to shoulder with the courageous Hindus. You have
thus lost the most glorious opportunity to achieve victory in your own
homeland."
But this matter belongs to another chapter, the chapter of the relations of
the Lublin Committee to the Polish Government and the Polish people.
The Lublin Committee and The Polish People
To the totalitarian mentality of the Lublin Committee the Polish Nation
appears as divided in but two groups:
I) those who accept in silence the yoke of the Russian-imposed government;
2) those who oppose the Lublin puppets and who-in the perverted language of
dishonest Lublin slogans-are referred to as "traitors, fascists and
reactionaries."
The notorious Soviet terminology adopted by Lublin Committee is a product
for export. It is supposed to calm the worried conscience of the world, by
arguing that every Pole who strives for Poland's Independence is a fascist.
In reality the Lublin nomenclature is used as follows:
Every Pole who fights for the freedom of speech and the freedom of press -is
a reactionary.
Every Pole who defends the people's right to free elections and opposes
one-party system - is a fascist.
Every Pole who persists in his loyalty to the legal government of the Polish
Republic-is a traitor.
Every Pole who fights against the Germans in an organization that refuses to
submit to the Lublin Committee-is a Nazi collaborationist.
Thus a large majority of the Polish people has been branded by the Soviets
as reactionary, fascist and quisling. Fortunately the Soviet propaganda is
bound to backfire against the communist slanderers themselves, since no
other nation in occupied Europe has a record of resistance as splendid as
the Poles.
A concrete illustration of the Lublin Committee's attitude toward the Polish
Nation is furnished by their methods of dealing with the Polish Home Army.
Communists versus the Home Army
One of the first acts of the Lublin committee was to accuse publicly the
Polish Home Army and General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, its commander, of all
kinds of crimes. From the very beginning of their activities in Poland, the
communists were instructed to consider the members of the Home Army as
dangerous adversaries, who might stand in the way of their expansionist
political plans. Hence Soviet partisans had endeavored to liquidate Polish
political and military centers, despite the fact that they constituted the
backbone of the anti-German resistance.
Here are a few examples:
On October 4, 1943, Col. Monczynski, Commander of the province of
Volhynia, was kidnapped by Soviet partisans. He was found murdered a few
days later.
On December 10, 1943, an officer of another Polish unit by the name of
Dziedzic, was invited by Soviet partisans for parleys and was shot by them.
About the same time Lt. Bomba, of the Polish Home Army met his death in
similar circumstances near Tarnopol and Lt. Drzazga was trapped in an
ambush near Luck.
Hostility of the communists toward the Home Army changed into open hatred
with the moment when intensified anti-German activities in 1944 revealed
that the strength, efficiency, and organizational unity of the Home Army
greatly exceeded Moscow's expectations. Partisan units sent from the
U.S.S.R. or organized in Poland by Soviet emissaries could not stand
comparison with those of the Home Army, either numerically or as to their
influence among the population or the effectiveness of their operations.
The Polish population looked at the partisans with misgivings, because they
seemed more interested in fomenting discord between social classes and
spreading communist gospel than in fighting the Germans.
In spite of the communist hostility, the Home Army followed the orders of
the Polish Government, and cooperated with the Soviets in all the battles in
Poland, helping to rid of the Germans the provinces of Volhynia, Tarnopol,
Polesie, Stanislawow, Lwow, Wilno, Lublin, Kielce and Cracow.
Warsaw Uprising - A Crime
The Home Army's fight against the Germans culminated in the Uprising
Uprising of Warsaw (August 1-October 2 1944). When the roar of the Soviet
guns began to come close to Warsaw and broadcasts from Moscow called on the
Poles to rise, Gen. T.
Komorowski, commander of the Polish Home Army (whom history remembers
by the assumed name of "General Bor"), ordered an uprising. The entire
population of Warsaw went to arms.
At this moment the Russian attitude made a sudden about-face and the Lublin
Committee followed obediently. The Red Army stopped at the thresh-hold of
Warsaw. The uprising was branded as premature and unprepared. Soviet
planes disappeared from the Warsaw skies, and for six weeks American bombers
were denied the use of Russian shuttle-bases, which increased the losses of
the Western Allies when they tried to bring help to Warsaw.
Along with Russian accusations meant to soothe public opinion and justify
Soviet indifference to the heroic battle, the Lublin Committee started its
general attack. In fact the desperately fighting Poles were berated more
venomously by the Lublin Committee communists than they were by the Kremlin
itself.
The main target of the attack was General Bor, who, meanwhile, had been
promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Polish forces at home and
abroad. He was accused of failure to make contact with the Russian command,
of cowardice, of absence in Warsaw, etc, All these accusations were nothing
but mud-slinging. All efforts to establish contact with the Red Army had
failed. Dispatches sent direct to the Russians or through the British
Foreign Office to Moscow remained unanswered. They were sent by the Polish
Government and by Gen. Bor himself, who shared the dangers of the fight
alongside his soldiers.
Gen. Bor-a Traitor.
Thus while tire entire world was paying tribute to and expressing admiration
for the heroism of the inadequately armed people of Warsaw and their 63-day
struggle against the regular German army, equipped with aircraft, tanks,
guns, flame-throwers and heavy mortars the Lublin "Prime Minister"
Osubka-Morawski threatened to bring General Bor to trial as "a criminal and
a traitor."
The Lublin Committee had no chance to fulfill its threats. After nine weeks
of lonely fighting, the last cartridge fired, Warsaw capitulated and General
Bor and his soldiers were taken prisoners by the Germans.
The Lublin Committee's attitude toward the Warsaw uprising is only a sample
of this Committees attitude toward the Polish Home Army. We must remember
that contrary to other occupied countries where almost every political
organization had its military units, but no central leadership-in Poland
all such units bad been gathered together as far back as 1941 in one
military organization, subject to one central command and obeying this one
command's orders. Thus the underground army that came into being, consisted
of approximately half a million soldiers and served as is the case with
normal armies in free countries -the interests of the entire nation and not
of one faction.
Only insignificant groups (such as the People's Army organized and headed by
Moscow agents) remained outside of this Home Army.
Home Army Disarmed, Deported, and Executed.
After the occupation of Poland by the Russian Army, the Lublin Committee
cooperated wholeheartedly with Soviet authorities in the liquidation of the
Home Army. These were the tactics adopted by Soviet authorities:
1. Assistance of the units of Home Army was accepted for fighting the
Germans;
2. After the battle was over, these units were compelled to join the army
of
the Lublin Committee;
3. Those who remained loyal to the Polish Government in London were
disarmed and arrested;
4. Those who refused to break their military oath were deported to Russia.
Some of them were even executed.
The situation in Poland today cannot be compared to that of any other
occupied nation. The differences are far too important to be neglected:
"Liberating" armies entering Polish territories do not deal with partisan
factions torn by dispute and disagreement as is the case in Greece, but with
a united organization of an allied state. The Home Army was recognized by
the Governments of the United States and Great Britain as an Allied
belligerent force, enjoying full combatant rights and status (statement of
August 29, 1944).
The Tragic Record
The methods applied by the Soviet army are also different. Here are some
reports from Poland, bearing witness to this statement:
1) Luck province: the 27th Division of Home Army revealed its identity and
fought the Germans together with the Red Army. Gen. Kurochkin, commander
of the Soviet Army Group, and Gen. Prkhomienko, commander of the Corps,
praised the ability of the Polish command and courage of the Polish soldiers
and promised help in arms and ammunition.
After the battle in Volhynia had been won, all the officers were arrested;
the soldiers were disarmed and forced to join the Soviet sponsored "Polish
Army."
Soviet authorities hanged the local Luck commander and several soldiers of
the Home Army (March 9, 1944).
The local commander of the Home Army in Kiwerce was shot (March 15, 1944).
At the end of that month a number of other officers and men of the Home
Army, who divulged their identity to the Soviet authorities on orders of the
Polish Government in London, were executed.
2) Wilno: After friendly parleys the Soviet authorities arrested the staff
of the Home Army of the districts of Wilno and Nowogrodek. Officers were
deported to an unknown destination. The soldiers were disarmed and most of
them deported, too. (July 19, 1944).
3) Zamosc: The delegate of the Polish Government in London and his entire
administration of 235 persons were arrested (August 12, 1944).
4) Majdanek: Officers and about 3,000 soldiers of the Second Division of
the Home Army were arrested and interned on the premises of the notorious
German death camp. Some officers were deported to Kiev (Soviet Russia).
. 5) Lublin province: After a victorious battle against the Germans won by
three Home Army divisions along with the Red Army, the Polish divisions were
interned and disarmed. About 21,000 Poles are now imprisoned (October 2,
1944).
6) Rzeszow: All inmates of this prison except one, a real criminal, are
soldiers of the Home Army, officials of the Underground Administration and
prominent citizens. Interrogations, conducted usually at night, are
accompanied by beating. The prison guards are made up of criminals.
(October 6, 1944).
7) Lwow: The prison at Lencka Street is filled with Polish Home Army
soldiers. Conditions are deplorable.
Local Commander of the Home Army and two colonels were sent to a prison in
Moscow (October 7, 1944).
8) Lublin: After being arrested, the soldiers of the Home Army are deported
to Russia. Manhunts are going on for officials of the underground
ad-ministration. Thirty-eight soldiers of the Home Army were shot without
trial (October 19, 1944).
9) Brzesc: officers of the Home Army interned here were deported to Russia
(October 19, 1944).
10) Siedlce: In the Krzeslin village the NKVD set up a concentration camp
for 1,500 members of the Home Army and Underground administration.
Arrested men are held in covered dugouts of four square yards each, in
complete darkness. On November 13, 1944 all those who had been interned,
together with the soldiers imprisoned in Siedlce, were deported to Russia.
11) Bialystok: 143 railway cars filled with arrested Poles were sent East,
to Russia. So far arrests of the members of the Home Army amount to 10,000
in Bialystok and to 5,000 in Grodno. In some cases utmost brutality was
applied in dealing with the prisoners: beating with barbed wire, pin
pricking and breaking of ribs, (November 1 5, 1944).
Hundreds more of such instances could be quoted. But these few will give a
sufficient idea of the purge now being carried out in Poland by Soviet
authorities through the Lublin helpers.
Mudslinging.
In their campaign of lies, directed against all who do not approve of their
methods, the Lublin Committee stops at nothing.
Men who for five years have fought a tragic war against the Germans are
now called "traitors" and "Pro-Hitlerite bandits."
Leaders who led their armies to battles in the African deserts, on the
slopes of Monte Cassino, men who have liberated Ghent and Breda-are called
mercenaries and hirelings.
The Polish soldiers who have fought on all the fronts of the world are
called to desert their banner (General Rola-Zymierski on January 1, 1945).
At the Polish Government are leveled the charges of being a band of
aristocrats and landlords, while in reality not a single aristocrat or
landowner is to be found therein. The same Government is accused of fascist
tendencies, when it is a well known fact that Premier Arciszewski's
Cabinet's platform is to fight against any form of totalitarianism.
Finally, conscious of the sensitiveness of Western opinion, The Lublin
Committee carefully conceals the anti-Semitic past of some of its members
such as Jan Grubecki and accuses the Polish underground of massacring Jews
and delivering them to the Germans.
This last charge was immediately denied by the Delegation of Jewish Refugees
from Poland who declared on February 3, 1945 in Jerusalem:
"The group of Jews, Polish citizens, who managed to escape from Poland and
reach Palestine in 1944, learned that news was being spread through-out the
world that the Polish Underground Movement anti-Polish Home Army were
helping Germans in the action of extermination of the Jewish people in
Poland. We the undersigned who for five years were eyewitnesses of all
that was going on in Poland under the German occupation declare and state
that any news to this effect is a base calumny. The Jews have never suffered
any wrong from the hands of the Polish Underground Movement and the Polish
Home Army."
The New World order began in Poland with the fight of Communists against a
nation. The fight may be won by a small minority only with the help of the
Russian bayonets and the disinterest of the Western Democracies.
The issue at stake is the independence of a country for whose right to
freedom the Western Democracies stood up by declaring war on Germany. It is
even more: The fight goes for the Right against the Might.
In 1939-Poland was First to Fight against the totalitarian violence.
In 1945-Poland stands by the same ideals, no matter what the price.
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