6
Dec. 45
one
of the several fronts on which it will
be engaged should have been secured."
Thereafter
the Prime Minister urged the German Government
to try and resolve the difficulty without
recourse to the use of force; and he suggested
that a truce should be declared while direct
discussions between the two Governments, the
Polish and German Governments, might take place.
I quote in Prime Minister Chamberlain's
language:
"At
this moment I confess I can see no other
way to avoid a catastrophe that will
involve Europe in war. In view of the
grave consequences to humanity which may
follow from the action of their rulers,
I trust that Your Excellency will weigh
with the utmost deliberation the
considerations which I have put before
you."
On
the following day, the 23rd of August, Hitler
replied to Prime Minister Chamberlain, and that
document is TC-72, Number 60, and it becomes
GB-56. He starts off by saying that Germany has
always wanted England's friendship, and has
always done everything to get it; on the other
hand, she has some essential interests which it
is impossible for Germany to renounce. I quote
the third paragraph:
"Germany
was prepared to settle the questions of
Danzig and of the corridor by the method
of negotiation on the basis of a
proposal of truly unparalleled
magnanimity. The allegation which is
disseminated by England regarding a
German mobilization against Poland"
— we see here the complete
dishonesty of the whole business — "the
assertion of aggressive designs towards
Romania, Hungary, and so forth as well
as the so-called guarantee declarations,
which were subsequently given, had,
however, dispelled Polish inclination to
negotiate on a basis of this kind which
would have been tolerable for Germany
also.
"The unconditional
assurance given by England to Poland,
that she would render assistance to that
country in all circumstances regardless
of the causes from which a conflict
might spring, could only be interpreted
in that country as an encouragement
thenceforward to unloosen, under cover
of such a charter, a wave of appalling
terrorism against the one and a half
million German inhabitants living in
Poland."
Again
I cannot help remembering the report by the
British Ambassador, to which I just referred:
"The
atrocities which since then have been
taking place in that country are
terrible for the victims but intolerable
for a great power such as the German
Reich, which is expected to remain a
passive onlooker during these
happenings. Poland has been guilty of
numerous breaches of her obligations