Chapter 229 Volume 6, Chapter 39, Potsdam: The Polish Border Question

Poland, Germany and the USSR Poland's compensation due to the Curzon Line Displacement of inhabitants July 17th Potsdam Conference First General Assembly July 18th Second Congress and press disputes Plans for drafting peace treaties Germany What is the meaning ofI call for a discussion on Poland's western borders for the exiled Poles, Germany's grain and the eastern provinces I stress the urgent need for a solution July 24th I meet with members of the Polish Provisional Government I advocate free elections July 25th with Beirut conversation. Of the problems before us at the Potsdam Conference, victory in the war with Japan was neither the most difficult nor the most influential.Germany is broken, and Europe must be rebuilt.Soldiers must go home, and refugees must return whenever they can.Above all, nations must seek peace in which all may live together, if not in comfort, at least in liberty and security.It is not my intention to repeat the detailed views we exchanged in our formal meetings and private conversations on the many pressing issues that weighed upon us.Many of them have not yet been resolved.England is fighting for Poland, but Poland is neither free nor peaceful; Germany is still divided and not at peace with Russia.Russia's acquisition of land from Poland, Poland's acquisition of German land, the place of Germany and the Soviet Union in the world, these were the overriding topics in our discussions.Due to space constraints, what is discussed here is limited to these issues.

We had agreed at Yalta that the western frontier of Russia should be advanced as far as the Curzon Line in Poland, and it was always recognized that Poland, too, should in principle receive compensation from German territory.The question is how much?How far should it advance in Germany?There are quite different opinions on this issue.Stalin wanted to push Poland's western frontier along the Oder to its confluence with the Sines; Roosevelt, Eden, and I insisted that it stop at the Sines.The heads of state of the three countries had publicly agreed in Yalta to discuss this matter with the Polish government and leave it to the peace conference for final settlement.

We've done our best to get this far.But in July 1945 we were faced with a new situation.Russia has advanced her borders to the Curzon Line. In Roosevelt's and my experience, this meant that the three or four million Poles who lived on the other side of the line had to move west.Some of the things we have now are much worse than these situations.The Polish government, dominated by the Soviet Union, has also pushed forward, not to the Donnis but to the Sinis.Most of the inhabitants of this area are Germans, and although millions have fled, many remain behind.How do we deal with them?Relocating three or four million Poles is troublesome enough.Are we going to relocate more than eight million Germans?The remaining German lands did not have enough food to feed them even if such a move was considered possible.Most of Germany's food was obtained from the land taken by the Poles.If this land is not given to us, all that is left to the Western Allies is a ruined industrial belt and a hungry and bloated population.As far as the future peace of Europe is concerned, this is a big mistake, and the question of the Alsace-Lorraine-Danzig corridor seems insignificant by comparison.One day the Germans will want their territory back and the Poles will not be able to stop them.

The first general meeting of the conference was held on Tuesday, July 17, at 5:00 p.m.Stalin proposed that the president should be the chairman.I second.So Mr. Truman accepted our invitation.A number of secondary issues were raised. Mr. Truman proposed that Italy should join the United Nations and that the foreign ministers of Britain, Russia, China, France and the United States should draw up peace treaties and a European border settlement.I have my doubts about both of these suggestions.Although our navy suffered heavy losses in the Mediterranean, we were still very friendly to Italy, and we gave Italy fourteen of the fifteen ships Russia demanded from the Italian fleet.But I say bluntly that the British people do not easily forget that Italy declared war on the Commonwealth at its most dangerous moment when the French resistance was already on the verge of collapse; nor do they ignore that Italy fought it long in North Africa before the United States entered the war .

Stalin was equally skeptical about inviting China to the Foreign Ministers' Conference.Why should it be used to discuss an issue that is primarily European?And why at all is this new agency?We have a European Advisory Council, and we have agreed in Yalta to have regular meetings of the three foreign ministers.Having another body complicates things in vain, and when exactly is the peace conference?The president insisted that since China is a member of the World Security Council, it should have a say in the settlement of European problems, and he also acknowledged that the new UN agency would narrow the scope of discussions at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the three major powers.All this seems to me to be too early.I worry that the major leagues will be disbanded.A world organization that is open to all nations and advocates magnanimity in everything will become weak and impotent.Free elections in Poland are a more pressing issue, so I remind my colleagues that this real issue is still ahead of us.Having said that, we adjourn the meeting.

At 5:00 p.m. on July 18, during the second meeting, I immediately raised another matter. Although this matter was not on the agenda, it was of urgent importance.In Tehran it was extremely difficult for journalists to get close to the venue, and in Yalta it was almost impossible.But now, just outside the delegation's seat, a hundred and eighty journalists prowled angrily and watched.They have powerful weapons and are shouting in newspapers all over the world that they are not being interviewed.Stalin asked who had let them in.I explained that they were not in the delegation area, most of them were in Berlin.The meeting could only work in quiet and secrecy, which should be maintained anyway, so I volunteered to meet the journalists and explain to them why they couldn't be accommodated and why the news couldn't get out until the meeting was over.I hope Mr. Truman will receive them too.Journalists need to be reassured, and I imagine they would be kind enough not to come in if the importance of secrecy and quiet was explained to them.

Stalin angrily asked the reporter what he wanted, and Mr. Truman said that each of us has a representative who meets the reporter.We have agreed not to let them in, and let things take their course.I defied the majority, but I thought then, and still think, that it would be better if the reasons were given to them openly. The foreign ministers then laid out their plans for drafting various European peace treaties.The foreign ministers' meeting is still composed of the five foreign ministers proposed by the president, but only countries that have signed the surrender letter of the enemy country can participate in the drafting of the terms of the peace negotiation.We all agree on this point, but I have some concerns when the United States proposes to send these articles to the United Nations.I pointed out that I am sorry to disagree if this means going through a lengthy and cumbersome process of consulting with every member of the UN.Mr. Bernas said that we are indeed bound by the UN declaration in this way, but both he and Stalin believe that submitting it to the UN for discussion can only be implemented after the five major powers agree.I will stop here.

Then there's the German question.The definite powers of the Control Board, the various economic issues, the disposition of the Nazi fleet, were not prepared for discussion.I asked, what is the meaning of German?Stalin said: referring to its current situation after the war. Mr. Truman said: Germany in 1937.Stalin said that it is impossible to speak apart from the war.That country no longer exists.There are no definite borders, no border guards, no army, only four occupied areas.In the end we agreed to take Germany in 1937 as the starting point.So putting the matter aside, we turn to Poland.

Stalin then pointed out: All stocks, property and all other properties that originally belonged to Poland and are still in the hands of the Polish government in London should be transferred to the Lublin Poles immediately, regardless of the form of property and no matter where it is proved to be at present. place or in someone's hands.He also assigned the armed forces of Poland, including the navy and merchant ships, to the Lublin Poles.This leads me to the following passage. This burden rests on the shoulders of the British.When their native land was ravaged and driven out of France, many Poles took refuge in our island nation.The Polish government in London had few properties to speak of.I said I believed there were about twenty million pounds of gold in London and Canada.This amount is frozen by us because it is the property of the Central Bank of Poland.To unfreeze and transfer this deposit to a central bank belonging to Poland must follow the normal route of transfer.That is not the property of the Polish government in London, so they have no authority to withdraw the deposit.Of course there is a Polish embassy in London, and if the new Polish government is willing to send an ambassador, that embassy will be immediately available to him and the sooner the better.

Having said that, one may ask how the Polish government in the United Kingdom has spent the past five and a half years.The answer is that it is maintained by the British Government; We paid the Poles about £120 million to maintain their army and their diplomatic expenses, and to enable them to take care of the Poles who had escaped from the torment of the Germans and took refuge in our island nation.When we recognized the new Polish provisional government instead of the Polish government in London, we agreed that all workers should be dismissed after being paid three months' wages.It would not be right to send them away without paying that amount, and the cost falls on the British.

Then I asked the President to allow me to explain an important matter, because we are in a special position with regard to it, how to demobilize or repatriate the Polish troops who fought with us.When France fell, we withdrew all the Poles who would come, about forty-five thousand men, and from these and Poles from Switzerland and elsewhere we built up a Polish army, which in the end amounted to about five strength of the teacher.The Polish troops, numbering about 30,000 in Germany, and a Polish corps of three divisions in Italy, were psychologically agitated and mentally tormented.The entire Polish army, from the front to the rear, amounted to more than 180,000 men, who fought valiantly and well-disciplined in Germany and, to a greater extent, in Italy.There they suffered heavy losses and were able to hold their ground as well as any army on the Italian front.So it's a matter of British government honor.These troops have valiantly stood alongside our troops when trained troops were scarce.Many have died and even if I have not pledged this in Parliament, we hope that they will be treated with respect. Stalin said he agreed with this layer.I went on to say that our policy was to try to convince not only the military but also the civilian employees of the former Polish government to return to their country, but we had to have some time to tide over our difficulties. Poland has come a long way in the past two months, so I sincerely wish this new government success.Although this government cannot fully meet our wishes, it has made remarkable progress. This is the result of the patient work of the three powers.I have said in the House of Commons that if any of the Polish soldiers who have fought with us refuse to go back, we will settle them in the British Empire.Of course the better things are in Poland the more Poles are going back and it will help things if the new Polish government guarantees them a way out and freedom without persecuting them for past allegiances .I hope that as conditions in Poland continue to improve, most of these people will return to their homeland, liberated heroically by the Soviet troops, and become good citizens. Stalin said he understood our problems.We sheltered the former rulers of Poland, and although we favored them, they caused us many difficulties.But the Polish government in London remained.They have the means of going on, in newspapers and elsewhere, and they have their agents.This layer creates a bad impression on all allies. I say we have to face the facts.The Polish government in London was officially and diplomatically over, but that could not prevent its individual members from living their lives and talking to others, including journalists and old-time sympathizers.There is another layer, we have to watch out for the Polish army.If the current situation is not handled properly, they may rebel.I ask Stalin to trust the British government and give us considerable time.On the other hand, every effort should be made to make Poland a place that encourages Poles to go back. Mr. Truman said he saw no fundamental difference between us.I asked for considerable time, and Stalin had already abandoned proposals that would complicate matters.The best way is for foreign ministers to discuss these issues, but he hopes that the Yalta agreement can be implemented as soon as possible. Stalin then suggested that the whole matter be handed over to the foreign ministers. I said: including elections. Stalin replied that the Provisional Government had never rejected free elections. Thus ended the second meeting. The third and fourth sessions of the Potsdam Conference discussed various issues.But none reached a definite conclusion.Stalin asked the United Nations to sever all ties with Franco and to help the democratic forces in Spain establish a regime that was popular with the Spanish people.I objected to this proposal and finally dropped the subject.The disposition of the German navy and merchant ships, the terms of peace with Italy, and the Allied occupation of Vienna and Austria were discussed without much result.Most of all the problems are handed over to our foreign ministers to review and report.My own policy is to focus on these problems first, and then start to solve them after the results of our election are announced. We did not speak of the Polish question until the fifth meeting on July 21. The Soviet delegation wants to extend the western border of Poland to the west of Swinemünde to the Oder River, put Szczecin on the Polish side, and then follow the Oder River to its confluence with the Sines River, From there it follows the Sines River to the Czechoslovakian border. Mr. Truman remembered that we had agreed to divide Germany into four occupation zones according to the 1937 borders.The British and Americans had withdrawn their troops into their occupied zones, but the Soviet government apparently gave the Poles a zone without consulting us.How can we solve the problem of reparations and all other German problems without making this occupied territory part of Germany? Stalin did not admit that they had allocated a section of their own occupation to the Poles.He declared that the Soviet government could not stop them.German residents had retreated westward with their armies.Only the Poles remained there.The Soviet Army needed someone to run their rear.They were not used to fighting and liquidating local enemies while at the same time setting up their own administration.So why not let the Poles do it? The president said: We should keep the occupied area that we agreed upon in Yalta. If we don't, then compensation and everything else will be difficult to resolve. Stalin said: We are not bothered about compensation. Mr. Truman replied that the United States had nothing to gain anyway, but they also tried to avoid giving something. Stalin said: With regard to the western border, no definite decision was taken in Yalta.Between us, no one is bound. This is not bad.The president said he doesn't think we can resolve this matter now.This matter must be left to the peace conference. Stalin said: It is more difficult to restore a German administration. The President said: You can use a Polish administration in your own German-occupied zone. That's currently fine.Stalin replied that since the Germans had fled, the natural solution was indeed a friendly administration run by the Poles.This does not bind us to any particular boundary.If the meeting cannot reach consensus, it can be put on hold. I interjected, okay?These areas were very important for feeding the Germans. Stalin retorted, who will produce food?No one was left to till the fields except the Poles. What happened to the Germans, we asked at the same time? They have fled. During these conversations, I have rarely spoken, but now I do. How, I asked, would we feed the Germans who had escaped?Germany would lose a quarter of its arable land.If the area proposed by Britain and the United States were given to Poland, some three or four million Poles would have to be moved east of the Curzon Line; but the Soviet plan would have meant moving more than eight million Germans.So is there room for them in the rest of Germany?I'm not even sure whether Stalin was right in saying that the Germans had all fled.Some people think there are more than 2 million Germans left there. Stalin then refuted my figures by saying that the Germans had conscripted many people from these areas for military service.The rest have run away.There is no longer a single German in the area he proposes to give to the Poles.The Germans had left their lands between the Oder and Vistula.The Poles are farming there and they won't let the Germans go back. The President still wants us to leave the western border issue to the peace conference, but I stand by my view. I say that Poland deserves compensation for ceding to Russia east of the Curzon line, but that she is now demanding more than she is giving up.If there are three or four million Poles east of the Curzon line, there should be room for them west of the line.Such a mass migration would astonish the British people, but the removal of 8.25 million people would make it impossible for me to justify it.Compensation should be roughly commensurate with the loss.It does Poland no good to gain so much extra territory.If the Germans escaped, they should be allowed to go back.The Poles have no right to make the German feeding problem a disaster.We do not wish to remain on our side of a mass of deprived Germans.The Ruhr is in our occupied zone, and if the people there don't get enough food, we're going to have a situation like the German concentration camps. Stalin said: Germany has always needed food imports.Let it buy it from Poland.I replied that the British government could never agree to the conversion of East German territory ravaged by the war to Polish territory.Stalin said: But the Poles live there and have cultivated the land there.We cannot force them to produce food and give it to the Germans for free.I protested that these were not ordinary times.The Poles were clearly selling Silesian coal to Sweden and Great Britain was experiencing its worst fuel shortage since the war.The food and fuel produced within the German borders in 1937 should supply all Germans living there, regardless of which occupied zone they live in.Stalin asked who produced the coal there?The Germans don't produce coal there, the Poles produce coal.The German owners of the Silesian coal mines have fled.If they went back, the Poles would probably hang them.I reminded him that he had said at a previous meeting not to let memories of hurt or feelings of revenge dictate our policy, and asked him to appreciate the situation we encountered, the large numbers of Germans crowding our strip Here, they could only get food from the areas occupied by the Poles. Stalin said his previous words did not apply to war criminals.I replied, but not all of the 8.25 million people who fled were war criminals.He then said that he meant the German owners of the Silesian coal mines.Russia itself is short of coal but buys it from Poland.Having said that, Mr. Truman supports me.He said that eastern Germany had been given to Poland, which seemed to be a fait accompli, but when it comes to compensation and provision, it should not be treated separately.The question of Poland's western border, which he was quite willing to discuss, even if it could only be settled at a peace conference, did not want to see parts of Germany cut into pieces.Stalin insisted that only Poles could farm these areas.The Russians lack labor and there are no Germans there.We can only stop production, or let the Poles do it.The Poles lost a valuable coalfield to Russia, and so compensated with the coalfields of Silesia.I pointed out that the Poles had always worked in the mines in Silesia, so I had no objection to them doing so as agents of the Russian government, but I objected to treating Silesia as if it were already part of Poland.Stalin insisted that it was impossible to disturb the present situation.The Germans themselves have always been short of labor.When the Russians entered Germany, they found industries employing Italians, Bulgarians, and other nationalities, including Russians and Ukrainians, who had been forcibly emigrated.When the Red Army arrived, these foreign laborers had already returned.Germany mobilized a great deal of manpower, most of which were either killed or captured.Germany's vast industry had only a handful of German workers and depended only on foreign workers, and these have now dispersed.The factories were either closed or let the Poles run them. What happened was not the result of deliberate policy, but the natural course of events.In this case, only blame the Germans.He also believed that the Polish government's program would cause difficulties for Germany.I interjected, also causing difficulties for the British.But Stalin said that he did not consider the problem of causing difficulties for the Germans.This is his policy, and it will prevent them from waging another war.Rather than making it difficult for the Poles, it is better to make it difficult for the Germans, and the less German industry there is, the bigger the British market will be. When we met again the next day, Sunday, July 22nd, we were no closer in opinion than we had been yesterday.I repeat and emphasize the more important reasons why the British Government cannot accept Poland's demands, and I offer the following reasons: (1) Final decisions on all border issues can only be settled by peace conferences (Stalin says he agrees with this). (2) It would not be in their interest for the Polish people to receive a large piece of land, as they now demand. (3) This will destroy the economic unity of Germany and put an excessive burden, especially the burden of food and fuel, on the countries occupying the western region. (4) The British feel serious moral unease about the practice of mass immigration.If the number of Germans emigrated from eastern Germany is equal to the number of Poles emigrated east of the Curzon Line from eastern Poland, that is acceptable to us, say two or three million; but Poland's request involves eight The emigration of nine million Germans is too many and a completely wrong approach. (5) Information on the number of Germans in the disputed areas is inconsistent.The Soviet government said they all fled.The British government believes that a large number, some millions, remain there.Of course, we can't go to the local area to check the number of people, but we have to believe so until it is proved wrong. Stalin still insisted that Germany could get enough fuel from the Ruhr and Rhine areas, and said that there were no Germans left in the Polish-occupied areas. We spent a long time discussing how to take the whole thing to the foreign ministers' meeting.The president said he did not understand why the matter was so urgent.The matter cannot be finally resolved until a peace conference.We have had very useful and helpful discussions, and the best thing to do is to take this issue to the foreign ministers.I protested that the matter was urgent.Future troubles will become irreparable.The Poles have acquired this land, whether of their own volition or by someone else's instigation, and they will hold on to it, thinking that they are the masters there.This meeting should result in a decision, or at least know where we stand.If the opinions of the three major powers cannot agree, it is of no use to invite the Poles to discuss with the foreign ministers meeting in London.Meanwhile, the whole burden of the fuel and food problem remains and will fall especially on the British.Most populous due to lack of food in the British occupation zone. If the meeting of foreign ministers fails to reach an agreement after listening to the Poles, it looks like they will not agree. Winter will bring all the difficulties, and then another summit of government will have to be called to solve the problem.I was eager to resolve the real difficulties that Stalin had described the day before, arising from the actions of the army and the development of events.Why not draw a line stating that this side is temporarily occupied by the Polish authorities as Poles, and agree that the western side of the line will be where the Poles will work as agents of the Soviet government? We agree that the western frontier of New Poland will be advanced to the so-called Oder line. The difference between Stalin and me was how far this frontier was going to be stretched.The words Oder Line were used in Tehran.The meaning of this statement is not clear, but the British delegation has a line for foreign ministers to consider in more detail.I pointed out that I used the words Oder line only as a general expression, which cannot be properly explained without maps.I ask my colleagues to continue the discussion.What if the foreign ministers met in September to discuss the Polish question and there was an impasse at that time, when winter came?Berlin, for example, has always received part of its fuel from Silesia. No, from Saxony, said Stalin. I replied that about forty per cent of its hard coal came from Silesia. At this point, Mr. Truman read to us a crucial passage from the Yalta Declaration: The heads of the governments of the three countries believed that Poland's eastern frontier should follow the Curzon Line, and in certain areas should be separated from five to eight kilometers to Poland's advantage.They recognize that Poland must obtain vast territorial concessions in the North and West.They felt that the National Unity Provisional Government of New Poland should be consulted in due course as to the extent of these territorial concessions, and that the final demarcation of Poland's western frontiers should and would be settled. He said it was a decision made by President Roosevelt, Stalin and me, and he fully agreed with it.Germany is now occupied by not four but five countries. Demarcating an occupied area for Poland should not have been difficult to achieve unanimous agreement, but he didn't like the way the Poles occupied it without first consulting the three powers.He understood Stalin's difficulties, and he understood mine.The important thing about the relationship is the way it is done. Stalin said: Quite right.We had agreed at Yalta to consult with the Polish government.This has been done.We can agree to their proposal, or bring them to a meeting to hear their views.We should settle the matter here, but since we cannot agree, we might as well refer it to the Council of Foreign Ministers. In Tehran, he said, Roosevelt and I advocated the frontier along the Oder to its confluence with the Donis, while he insisted on the line of the Sines.Also, Mr. Roosevelt and I intend to keep Stettin and Breslau within the German borders.Are we here to fix this, or to shelve it? He added: If the President thinks that someone is to blame, he should blame the Russians and the reality instead of blaming the Poles. Mr. Truman replied, I understand what you mean, and that is exactly what I thought. At the same time, I gave some thought to these matters, and said on the spot that we should invite the Poles to the meeting at once.Stalin and the President agreed, and we decided to issue the invitation. Therefore, at a quarter past three in the afternoon on July 24, representatives of the Polish Provisional Government headed by the President of Beirut came to my apartment on the Ring Street.I was joined by Mr. Eden and our Ambassador in Moscow, Sir Archibald Clarke Kerr, and Field Marshal Alexander. I reminded them at the outset that England was at war for the invasion of Poland.We have always been very concerned about Poland, but now it is being offered borders which it apparently wants for itself, which means that Germany will lose a quarter of the arable land it had in 1937.Eight or nine million Germans will have to emigrate. Such a large number of immigrants will not only shake the Western democracies, but also directly endanger the British occupied areas in Germany.Because we have to support the refugees who come there to seek asylum.The result would be that the Poles and Russians would have food and fuel, while we would have mouths to eat and hearths to light.We oppose such a partition, and we are convinced that it is dangerous for the Poles to push too far west, just as they once pushed too far east. I told them there was something else that upset us.If British public opinion is to be dissuaded from doubts about the Polish question, elections should be truly free and unrestricted, and all major democratic parties should have ample opportunity to participate and announce their platforms.What is the definition of a democratic party?I don't believe that only communists are democrats.It is easy to call everyone who is not a communist a fascist beast, but between these two extremes there exists a large number of strong forces who belong to neither end nor the other, and who neither intend to be communists. I don't want to be a fascist either.Poland should try its best to accommodate these moderate elements to participate in its political life, instead of criminalizing all those who do not conform to the subjective prejudices of extremists. In the current chaotic situation in Europe, anyone with power can strike at his counterpart and convict them.But the only result is the exclusion of the middle elements from political life.To be a nation has to accommodate all kinds of people.Can Poland still afford a divided country?It should strive for broad solidarity, with its Russian friends as well as with the West.For example, all members of the Christian Democratic Party, as well as the National Democratic Party, who have not actively cooperated with the enemy, should participate in the elections.We also expect newspapers and our embassies to have full freedom to observe and report on what is happening before and during the election.Only through tolerance, and sometimes even mutual forgiveness, will Poland continue to enjoy the respect and support of the Western democracies, especially the UK, which has something to give but also something to keep . Beirut argues that Britain would make a serious mistake if it entered the war on Poland's behalf and now says it does not understand its demands.None of these demands are excessive and take into account Europe's need for peace.Poland did not ask for more than it lost.Only 1.5 million Germans had to move (including those in East Prussia).All those who remained were included.The four million Poles who had moved east from the Curzon Line and the three million or so who would return from abroad would need new land to settle them, but even then Poland was not as territorial as it was before the war.It has lost the fertile arable land around Vilna, its valuable forests (it has always been short of timber), and the oil fields of Galicia.Before the war, about 800,000 Polish farm laborers often went to eastern Germany as seasonal laborers. The areas claimed by the Poles, especially Silesia, were in fact mostly Poles, despite attempts to naturalize them as Germans.These territories were historically Polish, and there is still a large Polish population among the Masurians in East Prussia. I reminded Beirut that there was no problem in assigning East Prussia to Poland west and south of Koenigsberg, but he insisted that defeated Germany lost only 18 percent of its territory, while Poland lost Twenty percent.The population of Poland before the war was so overcrowded (approximately 83 people per square kilometer) that many Poles had to emigrate.The Poles simply asked that their territorial claims be scrutinized.The line they suggested was the shortest possible line between Poland and Germany.這將使波蘭，為了它的損失和為了她對於盟國勝利的貢獻，得到公正的補償，而它相信英國人會願意讓它所受的損失得到補償。 我提醒他，直到現在，我們無法親自看到波蘭的實際情況，由於那裡是個關閉的地區。我們能不能派人到波蘭去，享有充分的行動自由以便告訴我們那邊的實況怎樣？我贊成他的國家得到充分的補償，但是我警告他，他們要求這麼多是錯誤的。 艾登先生又在那天深夜在他的寓所裡會見了波蘭人。他們接觸到許多問題。在第二天上午十點鐘我跟貝魯特單獨作了一次嚴肅的談話。 他說，戰爭為新的社會發展提供了一個機會。我問他這是否意味著波蘭將投入共產主義的懷抱，那是我所反對的，雖然這完全是波蘭人的事情。貝魯特向我保證，照他的意見，波蘭跟共產黨相去很遠。它要跟蘇聯友好並且要向蘇聯學習，但是它有它自己的傳統，因此不願抄襲蘇聯的制度，如果有人試圖用強力把它強加於他們，波蘭人可能要加以抵抗。我說，內部問題是他們自己的事情，但是會影響我們兩國之間的關係。當然有需要改革的地方，尤其在大的土地財產方面。 他答道，波蘭將在西方民主的原則上發展。它並不是小國；它位於歐洲的中心；波蘭的居民將達到二千六百萬。大國對於它的發展不能漠視，如果按照民主的路線發展，尤其是以英國為楷模，有些改革將是無可避免的。 我再一次向他強調自由選舉的重要性。如果只有一方面能提出候選人，那是沒有益處的。必須有言論自由才能使每個人把事情辯論明白，而且每個人都能選舉，像英國的做法一樣。我希望波蘭能學英國的榜樣並且引以自豪。我當盡全力來說服在國外的波蘭人，使他們在適當的時候回到本國去。 但是他的臨時政府必須鼓勵他們回去。他們必須能夠和他們的本國同胞一樣在光榮的條件之下重新開始生活。我當然對某些波蘭官員的行為感到不滿，他們主張所有回去的波蘭人都應當送西伯利亞去，而過去確有許多波蘭人被驅逐出境。 貝魯特向我保證現在沒有人被驅逐出去了。 我又說道，波蘭必須有獨立於行政之外的法院。巴爾幹各國最近的發展並不是趨於蘇維埃化而是變成警察政府。政治警察奉了政府的命令而拘捕人民。西方民主國家對此感到很遺憾。波蘭將有所改進麼？俄國秘密警察是否準備撤退？ 貝魯特答道，一般說來，全部俄國軍隊即將撤離。俄國秘密警察在波蘭不發生作用。波蘭的安全警察跟他們沒有關係，而是隸屬於波蘭政府的。現在不能再指責蘇聯試圖把這樣的協助方式強加於波蘭。戰爭既已終了，局勢已趨正常。他聲稱在選舉和民主方面，他和我的意見相同。並且向我保證，波蘭將成為歐洲最民主的國家之一。波蘭人不贊成警察制度，雖然為了彌合戰爭時期的嚴重分裂不得不採取一些特殊的措施。全體人口之中，大約百分之九十九是天主教徒。並沒有要壓迫他們的意圖，而且就一般來說，神父們是感到滿意的。 我告訴他英國不打算在波蘭取得什麼，而僅僅希望看到波蘭強大、幸福、繁榮和自由。自從雅爾塔會議以後，不曾有什麼進步，但是最近幾個星期以來，情況大有改進。現在已經有一個得到承認的波蘭政府。我希望它能使自己變得盡量地開明寬大起來，或者至少保證盡可能在選舉方面做到這一點。對於德國佔領期間的恐怖的考驗並不是人人都經得起的。強者抵抗，但是多數普通人俯首聽命。並不是所有人都能成為烈士或英雄。聰明的辦法是使所有的人都回到政治生活的主流中去。 貝魯特說，他的政府並不要阻止人民發表政治上的意見，但是他們迫切希望避免有許多小黨派。在選舉中凡是願意參加的小黨派都可盡量參加競選，但是平常只能有幾個大團體，可能不超過四個或五個。這就是目前的趨勢。波蘭的選舉甚至於比英國的選舉還要民主，而且國內的政治將越來越和諧地發展。 我答道，我們絕不要妨礙波蘭的前途，但是邊界的問題跟賠償和供應的問題糾纏在一起。已經有一大群德國人推給我們來安頓，而他們所賴以活命的肥沃土地卻被波蘭人拿去。 波蘭人的要求過多了。我們和美國人可能在推行一種政策，而俄國人是在尋求另一種政策。那將發生嚴重的後果。 我的呼籲歸於無效。我所預言的嚴重後果有待於世人去衡量。