Von Brauchitsch, von Altendorf, and von Mannstein had arrived in the city early the previous day. Ostensibly they were there for a familiarisation and goodwill visit. While they were there, General Sikorski, the Polish Prime Minister, would also visit the city in response to an invitation from Baron von Altendorf. They were due to have lunch together that day.
In an earlier telephone conversation with General Beck back in Berlin, von Brauchitsch had just heard that Nikita Khruschev had been positively identified and photographed, unveiling a Soviet monument in Dubno that morning.
The Polish Prime Minister had been pleasantly surprised when, at the very last minute, von Altendorf asked if he would mind if the German Chancellor and the Defence Minister also joined them for lunch. Sikorski had come to regard the German Foreign Minister as a good friend since their first meeting seven years earlier. The meeting that had led to Poland becoming independent again, less the part occupied by the accursed Russians!
He had met von Brauchitsch and von Mannstein several times since then, at various state occasions. They had both earned his respect. The Polish hatred of Germans had all but disappeared by 1947. Sikorski looked forward to the lunch.
The meal was in one of the rooms in the Danzig Municipal Building, which had also doubled as the de facto German Consulate in the first few years after Danzig’s incorporation into the German State in 1940. The intelligence service had thoroughly checked it for foreign listening devices. A unit of German paratroopers provided security. Sikorski also had his own loyal guards with him, and von Brauchitsch had specifically instructed his own men to respect, and indeed, to go out of their way to be friendly towards, the Poles. The Germans had greatly wronged this nation in 1939.
For the first half hour, their discussions centred on general Polish/German matters of co-operation, current affairs, and the European Alliance. Then, at a discrete nod from von Brauchitsch, von Altendorf decided it was time to change the subject. He hoped that what he was about to hear, would not spoil the Polish General’s lunch!
He decided on a formal opening. “General Sikorski, we have a very serious proposition to discuss with you today. Very serious indeed! However, before we can proceed we need your word that what is discussed here, goes no further than this table. I cannot stress how important this is. It is of vital national interest to Poland, Germany and other countries.” He waited for Sikorski’s reaction.
The surprised Polish Prime Minister recovered quickly. He hesitated only a moment. “You have my word, Baron von Altendorf. I am greatly indebted to you personally, and to the current German government, for many things. Even if I personally do not like, or if I disagree with anything you tell me today, it shall not be repeated by me.”
Von Altendorf thanked him. He then outlined, to the greatest degree he was able, what they wanted to do with the Polish armed forces, but without disclosing the reasons why. It sounded implausible even to his own ears. Sikorski would have to trust them.
Sikorski was no fool. The three people with him at the table effectively constituted the German Government, with the most powerful military in the world. He trusted them implicitly, but they were asking him was to play with fire while being soaked in gasoline!
It was several minutes before he replied.
“Gentlemen, as I indicated earlier, I, Wladyslaw Sikorski, have nothing but respect for the government that leads Germany today. Europe is indebted to you for the creation of the European Alliance. Our continent has never been so peaceful or prosperous. I find it hard to say no to what you ask, but at the same time I am very worried about saying yes. To threaten the damned Soviets could stir up a hornets nest. Stalin is a murderous madman. There is no telling how he would react to any provocation. While I am personally not afraid to fight the Russians, my country cannot stand against them. I believe it is only our Alliance membership that has restrained them so far, from invading and occupying the rest of Poland.
Is there nothing further that you are able to tell me that would convince me to take this gamble? I assure you that I would dearly love to co-operate with you, but I need to know that I would not be acting against my country’s best interest.”
His response was both reasonable and understandable. Von Brauchitsch decided to open up just a little. “Would you like the Soviets out of eastern Poland, General?” He asked quietly.
“NOW YOU ARE TALKING,” Sikorsky enthusiastically almost shouted, after he absorbed what von Brauchitsch had said. “Tell me more, please.”
“There is very little more we are able to say, unfortunately. And some things are best left unsaid. It is obvious to you that we have motives for this ‘game’ we want to play. One of the results, provided everything goes according to plan, will be the evacuation of the Soviet troops from eastern Poland and the reunification of you country.
On the other hand, should things go wrong, we have assessed the military risk to Poland, Germany, and the Alliance, and we are all in agreement that the threat of pre-emptive action by the Soviet Union is low.”
The mention of the re-unification of his country had energised Sikorski. They went over the details once more, of what was expected of him. Before he had even realised it, he was committed. He made the decision alone. His government colleagues would not question him. That way the secret was safe!
Later that evening, in the comfort of his own home, he agonised over whether he had acted wisely. But the rewards!
As secretly arranged between von Brauchitsch and Khrushchev, early the following morning the Polish Prime Minister issued a short statement condemning the new Russian monument in Dubno. He specifically used the words ‘Russian’ instead of ‘Soviet’. This was the return signal to Khrushchev that everything was in place.
Two days later the first Polish tank unit was loaded on a train bound for their eastern border. Another five days, and more than half of that country’s armoured vehicles, nearly one hundred modern German Panther and Tiger tanks in total, together with a hundred mobile artillery and rocket launchers, were engaged in military exercises close to the border with Soviet occupied Poland.
Seventy thousand soldiers practiced war games.
Overhead screamed Polish ME262 jet fighters. Let the Russians gaze jealously at these!
The previous two days had seen Soviet troop and armour reinforcements moving to the Polish border. There had also been some redeployment of troops in and around areas close to the border, as well as near the major cities of Moscow and Leningrad.
In response to the ‘unexplained’ Soviet military build-up in Eastern Poland, on Germany’s northern border, Germany felt it necessary, purely as a precautionary measure, to reinforce its troops and armour in northern Germany. Three Luftwaffe ME262 squadrons were also relocated closer to there.
The European Alliance headquarters, in terms of its standing operational protocol, issued a code four alert. This was basically an initial warning to the member countries of a low possibility attack. The highest code alert was one.
This only seemed to aggravate the situation. More soviet troops were moved closer to Poland and northern Germany. And Red Army troops were stationed within Moscow and other cities to prevent any unexpected hostile acts or subversion.
A perplexed and worried Winston Churchill called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the Polish/Russian crisis. ‘What the hell has brought all this about,’ he wondered. ‘Surely not because the damned Russians unveiled a small monument in a village only a little bigger than the actual monument itself.’