Poland in Iraq

10. Britain’s only ally

 

After the fall of France in 1940, Poland was essentially Britain’s only ally with any real armed forces at its disposal. The Dutch and Norwegian armies had already capitulated and units of the Free French Forces had only started to organise. In the meantime, standing ready to face the Germans were Polish airmen, seamen and some land forces, all numbering approximately 27,000 soldiers and officers who had been evacuated to the British Isles and Palestine.

Under these circumstances it was imperative to set the rules of the Anglo-Polish military alliance. On 5 August 1940, the Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of both countries signed an agreement in 10 Downing Street whereby “the Polish Armed Forces shall form the army of the sovereign Republic of Poland”. The Polish military units were to retain the national structure, emblems, ranks and command. For political purposes and to boost morale, the signing of the agreement was accompanied by much pomp and circumstance, with “ceremonial aspects unseen in these situations”, as recounted in his memoires by Ambassador Edward Raczyński, who had attended the negotiations. Present to witness the signing ceremony was a large part of Winston Churchill’s cabinet, with Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax and Secretaries for War, Air, Home Office and the Dominions.

 

Caption:

The signing of Anglo-Polish military alliance, seated from the left are: Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, Ambassador Edward Raczyński, Prime Minister General Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Foreign Minister August Zaleski and members of Britain’s War Cabinet Clement Attlee and Arthur Greenwood. In the background, War Secretary Anthony Eden (standing behind Sikorski) and Home Secretary John Anderson (standing behind Churchill). Secretary for Dominion Affairs Thomas Inskip stands behind FM Zaleski.

 

 

11. Point of contact in Barcelona

The war radically changed the functions and tasks of Polish honorary consulates. During the peace period, these institutions, headed by consuls who were not usually Polish citizens, did not have the status of civil servants and did not receive a fixed salary for their work, focused on economic promotion of Poland. After the outbreak of war, this task ceased to be valid. After September 1939, nearly 130 honorary consulates in the world took care primarily of refugees from Poland and looked after the local Polish diaspora.

Honorary consuls in countries on civilian and military routes of refugees from attacked Poland were faced with new tasks in a special way. Polish institutions provided incoming people with the necessary information, helped them to find shelter and transport, and protected refugees from internment camps. The most active was the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Barcelona headed by Consul Eduardo Rodón y Blasa. The post was a contact point for Polish citizens, civilians and military personnel, who between 1939 and 1942 illegally migrated from France to Spain with the intention of reaching Great Britain through Portugal. The consulate organised for them accommodation, false documents and transport to Madrid, and provided assistance to people who were arrested by the Spanish. Polish consular contract worker Wanda Morbitzer recalled: "Refugees approached Barcelona at night, so as to enter the city with the morning rush hour and find our address as soon as possible. A small cubicle of our office from the archive changed its appearance: a supply of tea, condensed milk, and rusks appeared. So too did an electric cooker, an electric shaver, an iron and hair dye for some unconditional blondes."

 

Caption below the illustration:

Consul Eduardo Rodón y Blasa and Wanda Morbitzer on the balcony of the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Barcelona (1930s)

 

 

12. War protocol

Throughout the war, the Polish government maintained active diplomatic contacts with the anti-Hitler coalition and neutral countries. The measure of commitment to cooperation was the continuation of the mission of foreign diplomatic representatives to the Polish authorities and the accreditation of new ambassadors and legates. Immediately after the formation of the Polish government in France, the pre-war ambassadors of Great Britain, France, the United States and Turkey took up their functions, and, later, also the legates of Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1940, the first four participated in numerous ceremonies related to the formation of the Polish Army in France. Their presence emphasized the international position of the Polish government and the importance allies attributed to the reconstruction of the Polish armed forces.

A whole range of diplomats began their mission also after the Polish authorities moved to London. In May 1941, credentials were presented to President Władysław Raczkiewicz by a new British ambassador, in September, after renewal of diplomatic relations with the USSR, by the ambassador of the Soviet Union, and in November, by a legate from Canada. In May 1943, the two-year dispute over the accreditation of a Vatican representative came to an end: the British government refused to grant diplomatic privileges to Italian Alfredo Pacini, who represented the Holy See during the functioning of the government of Poland in France, and only accepted the appointment of Archbishop William Godfrey, a British citizen.

 

Caption below the illustration (two photos):

The credentials of British ambassador Cecil Francis Dormer signed by King George VI.

 

 

13. Embassies, legations and consulates

Before September 1939, Poland had 10 embassies, 20 legations, 24 consulates general and 42 consulates as well as nearly 130 honorary consulates around the world. The outbreak of war, followed by the development of political events in 1939-1945, meant that the network of Polish diplomatic posts underwent significant changes. The attack of the Third Reich on Poland marked the end of the mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Berlin and 14 consular offices in Germany, while the aggression of the Soviet Union resulted in the liquidation of posts in Moscow, Kiev, Minsk and Leningrad. In the years 1939-1941, as a result of pressure from the German authorities, Polish representations’ offices in countries dominated by the Third Reich, including Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece and Finland, were closed. After the Italian war in 1940, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Rome ceased operations, and the Polish mission to the Holy See, previously located in one of the Roman palaces, had to move its headquarters to modest offices in the Vatican. In some countries of the world, Polish diplomats could, however, continue their work in their current conditions – remaining at their headquarters were embassies in London, Washington and Ankara, as well as legations in Bern, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Madrid, Mexico, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Stockholm, Cairo and Tehran.

After the resumption of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, 21 field delegations of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moscow began work. All of them ceased operations after the USSR broke off relations with Poland after the discovery of the Katyń graves in 1943. The proof of the importance of contacts with non-European countries was the elevation of the legation in Shanghai to the rank of an embassy, ​​transferred, as requested by the Chinese authorities, to the city of Chongqing, as well as the opening of embassies in Ottawa and Baghdad.

 

Caption below the illustration:

Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Chongqing in 1945.

 

 

14. Artists, writers and scholars in the diplomatic service

During the Second World War, diplomatic mission was taken up by a number of people who had not served in diplomacy before the war. The new and complicated reality called for experts whose vast knowledge and experience – not least the social contacts – were of particular importance to the Polish foreign service. Diplomatic functions were entrusted, among others, with Jerzy Giedroyć and Józef Retinger.

A publicist before the war who was affiliated with the conservative movement, Giedroyć became the secretary for Polish Ambassador to Bucharest Roger Raczyński and was involved in the assistance operations for refugees and officials evacuated from Poland in 1939. After the closure of the Embassy in November 1940, he remained in Bucharest and was head of the Polish office in the Chilean legation, which then represented Polish interests in Romania. In 1946, Giedroyć established the Literary Institute and began publishing the monthly “Kultura”, which soon became the key émigré centre for Polish political thought.

Retinger, a political advisor to Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski, became – as chargé d’affaires – the first head of mission of the reopened Polish Embassy in Moscow after diplomatic relations between Poland and the USSR had been resumed in 1941. After the war, Retinger was among the staunchest advocates of European integration and transatlantic cooperation.

The function of Consul General in Wellington, New Zealand was entrusted in 1941 with an eminent natural scientist, Professor Kazimierz Wodzicki. Artur Rubinstein, a world-renowned pianist, was also equipped with a foreign service passport in 1940 to advocate for Poland “in the realm of culture”. In 1942, the Polish Embassy in Kuybyshev also gained a new press secretary in Ksawery Pruszyński, a writer and publicist, while another renowned writer, Teodor Parnicki, served as cultural attaché first in Kuybyshev and later in the Polish Legation in Mexico.

 

Caption:

Artur Rubinstein’s foreign service passport

 

Edition: Ambassador Marek Pernal