Wedlock & Deadlock

The Russian political offensive against the Polish Government in Exile gathered power and speed. In London, the Poles dithered. With an increasingly tense air of hush-hush, the British tried hard to find an acceptable compromise. The Moscow-formed Union of Polish Patriots set up a national council in Poland which could easily and quickly become a Polish government acceptable to Moscow. For the Russians' money, the argument would then be over. But Britain and the U.S.

would then have to decide what to do about the Polish Government in Exile, which they have sheltered and recognized since the war began.

The Way In. The U.S.-British dilem ma did not hinder the Russians or alter their developing plan. Alexander Korneichuk, new Foreign Commissar of the Soviet Ukraine (TIME, Feb. 14), may handle the Polish-border question. His wife, Wanda Wasilewska, is head of the Union of Polish Patriots. Moscow radio an nounced that her first move had been to form the Polish national council, include in it members of the "Polish Peasant, Socialist and Workers" parties and "other democratic national groupings." The Poles in London were in grave danger of being dispossessed by connubial diplomacy.

British efforts to find a solution produced three things: 1) a letter from Prime Minister Churchill to Premier Stalin; 2) a reply from Premier Stalin to Prime Minister Churchill, reportedly stating a "clear and firm but not un friendly" attitude; 3) the suppression in London of a Polish-language newspaper, Wiadomosci Polskie, which had been say ing some nasty things about the Soviets.

No Compromise. Part, if not all, of Stalin's letter was presumably conveyed to the Polish Cabinet. Concerted attacks in Pravda, Izvestia, Red Star indicated its contents. Said Pravda: "The Polish emigre Government, having fascist politicians in its makeup ... is living in the phantom world of a Hitlerite mirage. ... It has completely cut itself off from the real Polish people." Obviously there had been no change in the Russian attitude that 1) it will not deal with the present Polish Government; 2) the Curzon Line in eastern Poland is an immutable demand.

The Way Out. At week's end there was vague and unofficial hope that the deadlock might be broken. The British were urging the Poles to send another note to Russia, specifically offering to accept the Curzon Line as a base for negotiations.

Moderates in the Polish Cabinet were said to be making eyes at Commissar Korneichuk's wife Wanda. One fantastic possibility : the more moderate Poles in Exile might even find a way to invite Wanda into their government.

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