GalleryVyshinsky's Statement
ON MAY 6 Assistant Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyshinsky made a statement to the American and British press regarding hostile activities of the Polish Government-in-Exile.
He described how, in accordance with the military agreement of August, 1941, which provided for the formation of a Polish army on Soviet soil, the Soviet Government financed ihe Polish army, provided it with the same supplies as Red Army units in training, and restored Polish citizenship to persons of Polish nationality from Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia to facilitate its formation. By February, 1942, the Polish army reached the agreed upon strength of 73,415 men.
Then, contrary to their commitments, the Polish leaders refused to send the Polish units into battle. The Soviet Government acceded to the request of the Polish Government to evacuate the army to the Near East, and by the end of 1942, 75,491 Polish army men and 37,756 members of their families had left the U.S.S.R. Additional members of their families were later evacuated. With the withdrawal of the army, provision for further recruiting was naturally denied, and the citizenship provision invalidated.
Mr. Vyshinsky then described the cooperation of the Soviet authorities in relief measures for Polish families evacuated from districts occupied by the Germans. The Soviet Government itself advanced funds for this purpose, as well as food, and transportation facilities, and arranged for the distribution of funds and supplies from abroad. The Soviet authorities permitted the Polish Government to set up a network of representatives throughout the Soviet Union, and assisted them in the establishment ot dining rooms, children's and invalids' homes and other institutions to give relief to Polish citizens.
But members of the Polish Embassy staff and their local representatives utilized their relief functions as a cover for espionage and disruptive activities.
Vyshinsky named among those exposed and deported from the U.S.S.R. the former chief of the Polish military mission, Gen. Volikovski; the first secretaries of the Embassy, Arlet and Zalenski, and numerous other Embassy employees and agents.
In May, 1942, the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs warned the Polish Embassy of these findings, but the espionage and hostile activities continued, and accordingly on July 20, 1942, the Soviet Government informed, the Polish Government that the provisions for Polish relief representatives were withdrawn.1
| 1 | The facts are quite the opposite. The Soviets rebuffed Polish advances to accede to their demands. |
