Telegram from President Harry S. Truman to Prime Minister Winston Churchill

SOUAL TOP SECHED NLT-334 DECLASSIFIED by authority of s. TROHAN ARCHIVES "NATIONAL REGURDS AND TOP SECKET KOLV P.326 5 JUNE 1945 SERVIC PRIORITY Date: 2.73 FROM: OPNAV 992 104 N TO : ALUSNA, LONDON 051631Z NCR NUMBER 59, TOP SECRET AND PERSONAL, FROM THE PRESIDENT FOR PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL. The following is the message to Hopkins referred to in my No. 58. QUOTE: I am very pleased with your continued and strenuous efforts reported in your messages, of June 3 to induce Stalin to release at least some of the detained Polish political leaders before consultations begin. I feel that you should continue in the same vein in the hope that Stalin will agree to the release of the majority of these men. I fear that if Stalin does not make some concession to us on this point the otherwise favorable reaction, which will come when it is known that consultations are to begin, will be jeopardized in the eyes of a large part of American public opinion. I also fear that if the majority. of these men are not released this question is liable to be one of the principal points of discussion during at least the initial stages of the consultations rather than the real point at issue-- the creation of a new Polish Government of National Unity. If you feel it is advisable, I suggest that you also endeavor to meet Mikolajczyk's sug- gestion that Stalin release some of the held Polish political leaders rather than grant them amnesty as he first suggested. As you know the Prime Minister has also suggested that an effort be made to meet Mikolajczyk's suggestion on this point. If, however, you feel that the possibility of initiating consultations may be jeopardized by insisting on the release of some of the political - 1 -