6
Dec. 45
could
and should be effected by agreement
between the two countries on lines which
would include the safeguarding of
Poland's essential interests; and they
recall that in his speech of the 28th of
April, the German Chancellor recognized
the importance of these interests to
Poland.
"But, as was
stated by the Prime Minister in his
letter to the German Chancellor of the
22d of August, His Majesty's Government
consider it essential for the success of
the discussions, which would precede the
agreement, that it should be understood
beforehand that any settlement arrived
at would be guaranteed by other powers.
His Majesty's Government would be ready,
if desired, to make their contribution
to the effective operation of such a
guarantee."
I
go to the last paragraph on that page, Paragraph
6:
"His
Majesty's Government have said enough to
make their own attitude plain in the
particular matters at issue between
Germany and Poland. They trust that the
German Chancellor will not think that,
because His Majesty's Government are
scrupulous concerning their obligations
to Poland, they are not anxious to use
all their influence to assist the
achievement of a solution which may
commend itself both to Germany and to
Poland."
That,
of course, knocked the German hopes on the head.
They had failed by their tricks and their bribes
to dissuade England from observing her
obligations to Poland, and it was now only a
matter of getting out of their embarrassment as
quickly as possible and saving their face as
much as possible. The last document becomes
GB-66. And I put in also Sir Nevile Henderson's
account of that interview, TC-72, Number 75,
which becomes GB-67.
During that
interview, the only importance of it is that Sir
Nevile Henderson again emphasized the British
attitude and that they were determined in any
event to. meet their obligations to Poland. one
paragraph I would quote, which is interesting in
view of the letters that were to follow,
paragraph 10:
"In
the end I asked him two straight
questions: 'Was he willing to negotiate
directly with the Poles? and 'Was he
ready to discuss the question of an
exchange of population? He replied in
the affirmative as regards the latter,
although there I have no doubt that he
was thinking at the same time of a
rectification of frontiers. As regards
the first, he said he could not give me
an answer until after he had given the
reply of His Majesty's Government the
careful consideration which such a
document deserved. In this connection he
turned to Ribbentrop and said, 'We must
summon Field Marshal Göring to
discuss it with him.'"