Memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment

Political Situation in Poland Although we have no official observers in Poland, we have recently received many first-hand reports on the situation there from American Red Cross representa- tives, our liberated prisoners of war and other neutral sources. The following is. a summary of the reports re- ceived from these sources: 1. The Warsaw regime enjoys the confidence of only a very small section of the Polish population and it is able to maintain itself in power primarily because of the presence of the Red Army and the Soviet secret police, who are carrying on a campaign of intimidation and arrest- ing large numbers of persons. 2. The population is apprehensive of Soviet inten- tions, particularly because of the actions of the Soviet troops who misconducted themselves vis-a-vis the local population. 3. The peasantry is suspicious of the land reforms which they fear represents merely a first step toward col- lectivization. 4. Many Poles are fearful that the excessive demands of the Warsaw regime for the incorporation of large areas of strictly German territory in Poland, including areas eighty miles west of Breslau, will only SOW the seeds for future political difficulties. 5. While there is not much enthusiasm for the pres- ent London Government, the majority of the population hope and expect that real democratic leaders from Poland and abroad will be able to establish a truly independent government, and the vast majority look to the western powers to bring this about. 6. You are, of course, familiar with the Yalta deci- sion regarding Poland which provides for the establishment of a new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity to be composed of democratic leaders from Poland and abroad and of the difficulties which we have encountered in reach- ing agreement with the Soviet Union in regard to this matter.