On the situation in
Poland
[Letter submitted to Rep. Philip Crane, 5 December 1981]
Dear Mr. Crane:
In 1941, before America joined World War II, President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter in which they formulated postwar goals, which included the reinstatement of Poland in prewar boundaries.
In 1944, during the Warsaw Insurrection, Mr. Roosevelt refused to discuss with the Russians the use of their airfields in Poland in order to deliver arms to the fighting Poles (though Mr. Churchill urged him to take action).
In 1945, Messrs. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin (the last of whom is responsible for the murders in the Katyn Forest) signed the Yalta agreement, handing Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic and Balkan States, etc., over to Russian "administration." According to Mr. H.J. MacKinder's theory of geopolitics, the possession of Poland by Russia opened the door for the Russians to conquer Europe!!!
As far as I remember, President Eisenhower was the last President who raised the question of injustice done to Poland. Then there was bloodshed in Poland, then insurrections in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but the American administrations declared that those were internal Russian affairs; Russia greeted those decisions as a blessing, and crushed the insurrections.
After so many years of darkness for the countries under the Red Star, those enslaved people are seeing some hope because the present Administration finally comprehended the Russian danger to the whole world, including America, and warned Russia about severe consequences if Russian troops intervene in Poland. I am sure that this warning stopped, so far, Russia from military intervention, and thus gave the Poles the possibility to create "Solidarity."
Without a question, I greet most enthusiastically President Reagan's increase in the military budget, the firm stand taken by our Secretary of State Haig, and your action on your National Pledge of Support "Poland Will Be Free," which I received today for signature. I sign gladly, but at the same time with apprehension. I am afraid that this moral support for the Polish fight might be misinterpreted by the Polish people as a promise for active support in case Russian tanks should start to roll into Poland (as was the case during the insurrection in Hungary).
For your information, I enclose a copy of my comments "The Bitter Words of Truth," of which more than one hundred copies were mailed last year to Senators, Congressmen, etc. I received some very enthusiastic responses, but many did not answer and I explain their lack of reply as a cover for their shame (the truth was too bitter)....
I wish that your pledge drive will have the desired and hoped-for success.
Yours very truly,
Waclaw Bakierowski.
P.S. As you seem to be friendly towards Poland, and interested in Polish affairs, may I recommend that you read the book Night Never Ending, published by Avon, written by Mr. E.A. Komorowski. To my knowledge, Mr. Komorowski is the only survivor of Katyn.