Summary of Statements Made by Members of the Polish Delegation to the Meeting of Foreign Ministers

TOP Annex I SUMMARY OF STATEMENTS MADE BY MEMBERS OF THE POLISH DELEGATION TO THE MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS, JULY 24, 1945 MR. BEIRUT said that the war had begun in Poland and that Poland had suffered enormous losses in men and material. Poland was losing 180,000 square kilometers in the east to the establishment of the new Polish frontier there. Poland considered that the new eastern frontier which had been regulated on the basis of nationality was correct but their position was that they should acquire territory in the west. They considered the matter from the security and economic points of view. They considered that the territories in the west were one unit from the economic point of view. They proposed a line running from the Baltic on the north through Swinemunde S.TRUMAN including Stettin in Poland, along the Oder River and thence along the Western Neisse River to Czechoslovakia, ARCHIVES "NATIONAL RECORDS AND is SERVICE" The territory thus included in Poland would be smaller than that which Poland had lost in the east. Under this arrange- ment the total area of Poland would be reduced from 388,000 square kilometers to 309,000 square kilometers but it would give Poland a sound economy. The population of Poland which had been 34 million would be reduced to 26 million but it would be homogeneous. A great many Germans had fled and he thought many of the other one to one-half million Germans left would be willing to leave. The population east of the Curzon Line had in- cluded many Ukrainians, White Russians and some Lithuanians. It had also included about 4 million Poles which they expected would be repatriated to Poland. The density of the population of Poland before the war was 83 persons to one square kilometer. To preserve the same density they would need to have 314,000 square kilometers but they would get only 309,000 square kilo- meters. Thus the density would increase but they would be better off from an economic point of view. If they received the territory proposed it would no longer be necessary for Poles to emigrate to the United States or Germany as was the case before the war. Thousands of Poles had formerly worked in this territory in the west, chiefly on farms. It was prejudicial to Poland that these workers gave their labor whereas their production went to others. MR. RZYMOWSKI pointed out that the war began with the attack by Germany on Poland, that Poland had been under German occupation longer than any other country, and that the manner in which the DECLASSIFIED E:O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (E) Germans Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1072 By NITHL MARS Date 4.26.76