And then she came to her main point: she said that another Polish Army might shortly be constituted on Soviet soil, which would fight side by side with the Red Army, as the Czechoslovak troops and the French airmen were already doing. This Polish Army would not be under the jurisdiction of the Polish Government in London.
What this meant was that a new Polish Army, drawn from Polish citizens in the Soviet Union, and former Polish citizens (though Wassilewska did not mention this point) would shortly be formed on Soviet soil. It now seemed likely that the point about Polish
nationality which the Russians had, for a short time, stretched in favour of the Anders Army, might now be stretched again for the benefit of the new Polish Army, and, indeed, stretched much farther.
The question as to who would replace the London Government from the point of view of authority was left vague; but, for the present, the new Polish Army would, in fact, owe its allegiance to the Soviet Government pending the formation of a real Polish Government.
Many sceptics wrongly thought that what was contemplated was merely a "token force", or even only a "gesture".
From now on, Soviet policy had two objectives—to denounce and debunk the Polish
Government in London as "unrepresentative", and to proclaim its intention of supporting those wishing to build a "free, strong, and democratic Poland". On May 6, Stalin answered the questions of Ralph Parker, the Times correspondent, as follows: Q. Does the Government of the USSR desire to see a strong independent Poland
after the defeat of Nazi Germany?
A. Unquestionably.
Q. What, in your view, should be the basis for relations between Poland and the
USSR after the war?
A. Sound good-neighbourly relations and mutual respect, or, if the Polish people
desire it, a basis of mutual aid against the Germans, the principal enemies of both the Soviet Union and Poland.
On the same day, Vyshinsky called a press conference and produced his long indictment against the London Government. He spoke in a particularly harsh and snarling manner, reminiscent of his manner as Public Prosecutor in the notorious purge trials of 1936-8.
He began by giving his account, quoted above, of the formation of the Anders army, and then went on to deal with the charges that it had been undernourished.
He argued that, owing to the Pacific War and other causes, there was a food shortage in Russia in 1942. Non-combat troops could, clearly, not be as well fed as combat troops.
As the Polish Command persisted in not wishing them to fight, they had to be regarded as such. Finally, on April 1, it was decided that the rations would be cut down to 44,000, and that those over and above that figure could leave the Soviet Union.
In March 1942, 31,488 soldiers and 12,455 members of their families were evacuated.
But while refusing to fight, said Vyshinsky, the Polish Government desired to go on mobilising new units; however, in reply to the Polish Note of June 10,1942, on the subject, the Russians refused to allow any further mobilisations. It was then that the question of total evacuation was raised, and in August 1942 a further 44,000 soldiers and 20,000 to 25,000 dependents left the country.
Thus, already in 1942, 75,491 soldiers and 37,756 members of their families left the Soviet Union.
All the assertions, he said, that the Soviet authorities prevented Polish citizens in the Soviet Union (who were "not numerous") or members of Polish soldiers' families, from leaving the country, were a lie.
Here, of course, was a sticky point. There were believed to be some 300,000 or 400,000
Polish citizens, including Jews, still in the Soviet Union. But (a) had they expressed the wish to leave for Iran, rather than wait for Poland to "open" and, (b) even if they did, and there was no means of transport, could it be said that they had been "prevented " from leaving? Further, very many of those whom the Polish Government considered Polish
citizens, were no longer Polish citizens in the eyes of the Russians. At least, not as far as joining the Anders Army was concerned—though points were, in fact going later to be
stretched in the case of the Kosciuszko and other Russian-formed divisions.
Vyshinsky partly explained the problem when he said that, in the early stages of Polish-Soviet relations in 1941, it was agreed by the Russians that Polish nationality could be regained by the Poles of Western Ukraine and Belorussia—this with a view to their joining the Anders Army.
The Polish Government did not, however, consider itself satisfied, and pressed for the cancellation of Soviet nationality for other inhabitants of Western Ukraine and
Belorussia.
Far from satisfying this claim, the Russians decided, once the Anders Army had left, that there was no longer any purpose in making an exception for the Poles, and all former Polish subjects in Western Ukraine and Belorussia, again became Soviet citizens, in terms of the original Soviet ukase of November 29, 1939. This decision was taken on January 16, 1943.
This was the subject that had been Ambassador Romer's chief concern when diplomatic
relations between Poland and the Soviet Union were broken off.
The second part of Vyshinsky's statement dealt with the large network of Polish welfare organisations, to which Romer had referred in the statement quoted above:
After referring to the twenty "agencies" the Polish Embassy had set up in the Soviet Union, ostensibly for the purpose of dealing with these welfare organisations, and
quoting numerous cases of more than "incorrect" Polish behaviour, Vyshinsky said that the Polish Embassy people, including Ambassador Kot, instead of busying themselves
with the welfare of their fellow-citizens were, in reality, engaged in espionage. Many, he said, were arrested, some expelled from the Soviet Union, and others sentenced to a
number of years' imprisonment. (It all savoured a bit of 1937!)
Soon afterwards it was learned that the Union of Polish Patriots had largely been put in charge of these schools, hospitals, et cetera.
Decision to form Polish Army in the Soviet Union
On May 9, it was officially announced that the Council of People's Commissars had
agreed to the request of the Union of Polish Patriots in the USSR concerning the
formation on Soviet soil of the Tadeusz Kosciuszko Division which would fight against the German invaders, alongside the Red Army. The statement added: "The formation of this division has already begun."
That same day, there was a great All-Slav meeting in Moscow. Greetings were sent to
Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt and Benes. Representatives from all the Slav countries were there, among them Colonel Svoboda, the Commander of the Czechoslovak unit which
had distinguished itself so well on the Russian front at the end of March; the
Metropolitan Nicholas was there in his robes and tiara; a girl who had escaped from
Dachau also spoke, and the introductory speech was made by Fadeyev, President of the Writers' Union, who said:
The Russian people are totally opposed to the thoroughly reactionary idea of Pan-
Slavism, which Russian Tsarism tried to use in its imperialist ambitions. The
Russian people are united with the other Slav peoples in their struggle against the common foe on a basis of equality and of profound respect for their freedom, and