6
Dec. 45
accordance,
with the general lines indicated to the
British Ambassador."
And
then, to the last but one paragraph:
"For
the rest, in making these proposals, the
German Government have never had any
intention of touching Poland's vital
interests or questioning the existence
of an independent Polish State."
These
letters really sound like the letters of some
common swindler rather than of the government of
a great nation.
"The
German Government, accordingly, in these
circumstances agree to accept the
British Government's offer of their good
offices in securing the dispatch to
Berlin of a Polish Emissary with full
powers. They count on the arrival of
this Emissary on Wednesday, the 30th
August 1939.
"The German
Government will immediately draw up
proposals for a solution acceptable to
themselves and will, if possible, place
these at the disposal of the British
Government before the arrival of the
Polish negotiator."
That
was at 7:15 in the evening of the 29th of August
and as I have explained, it allowed little time
in order to get the Polish Emissary there by
midnight the following night. That document was
GB-68.
The next document, Sir Nevile
Henderson's account of the interval, summarizes
what had taken place; and I quote particularly
Paragraph 4:
"I
remarked that this phrase" —
that is the passage about the Polish
Emissary being there by midnight the
following night — "sounded
like an ultimatum, but after some heated
remarks both Herr Hitler and Herr Von
Ribbentrop assured me that it was only
intended to stress the urgency of the
moment when the two fully mobilized
armies were standing face to face."
That
was the interview on the evening of the 29th of
August. The last document becomes GB-69.
Again
the British Government replied, and Sir Nevile
Henderson handed this reply to Ribbentrop at the
famous meeting on midnight of the 30th of August
at the time the Polish Emissary had been
expected. I need not read at length. The British
Government reciprocate the desire for improved
relations. They stress again that they cannot
sacrifice the interest of other friends in order
to obtain an improvement in the situation. They
understand, they say, that the German Government
accept the condition that the settlement should
be subject to international guarantee. They make
a reservation as to the demands that the Germans
put forward in