Memorandum of Meeting at the White House

DECLASSIFIED E.O. 11652. Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or TOP SECRET Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10. 1972 By NLT-tiv NARS Date 7-23-75 April 23, 1945 Memorandum of meeting at the White House, 2:00 p.m., April 23. PRESENT: The President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Navy, Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, Admiral King, Mr. Dunn, Ambassador Harriman, General Deane, and Mr. Bohlen. The Secretary of State told the meeting that Mr. Molotov had arrived in good spirits yesterday and had had a good talk with the President yesterday evening but that at the Foreign Ministers meet- ing later great difficulties had developed over the Polish question. The continuance of the meeting this morning had produced no improve- ment and a complete deadlock had been reached on the subject of the carrying out of the Yalta agreement on Poland. The Secretary said that the truth of the matter was the Lublin or Warsaw Government was not representative of the Polish people and that it was now clear that the Soviet Government intended to try to enforce upon the United States and British Governments this puppet government of Poland and obtain its acceptance as the legal government of Poland. He said that as they all recalled at Yalta an agreement had been reached regarding the formation of a new Polish Government representa- tive of the people by means of the reorganization of the present provisional government in consultation with other Polish democratic leaders. He said it had been made plain to Mr. Molotov how seriously the United States Government regarded this matter and how much public confidence would be shaken by our failure to carry out the Crimean decision. The President said that he had told Mr. Molotov last night that he intended fully to carry out all the agreements reached by President Roosevelt at the Crimea. He added that he felt our agree- ments with the Soviet Union so far had been a one way street and that could not continue; it was now or never. He intended to go on with the plans for San Francisco and if the Russians did not wish to join us they could go to hell. The President then asked in rotation the officials present for their views. Mr. Stimson siad that this whole difficulty with the Russians over Poland was new to him and he felt it was important to find out what the Russians were driving at. He said in the big military matters the Soviet Government had kept their word and that the military authorities of the United States had come to count on it. In fact he said that they had often been better than their promise. He said it was important to find out what motives they had in mind in regard to these border countries and that their ideas of independence and democracy in areas that they regarded as vital to the Soviet Union are different from ours. Mr. Stimson