Evening star., 1940-01-28

JOSEF BECh.
BY ELMER w. PETERSON,
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
BUCHAREST.-On private es-
tate north from Bucharest bald, ar
tistic Edward Smigly- -Rydz walks
endlessly in circle route through
wooded gardens with Rumanian
companions" to watch him.
In an exclusive Rumanian tuber-
culosis sanatorium tall, thin Josef
Beck spends his days on glassed-
in porch, confronted with failing
health.
In Switzerland aging 1gnace Mos
cicki is under the care of specialists
for heart disease.
So continues the life of the three
men who last September, as COM
mander in chief, foreign minister
and President, stood at the head Of
a Polish government and army that
tried in vain to block a smashing
assault by the German Army.
Forgotten Men Of Europe.
Already in the quick rush of events
in present-day Europe they have
become more or less forgotten men.
If they once symbolized national
disaster, they now represent the full
bloom of individual tragedy as well.
The Polish government carries on
in France without them.
y, f~AAI~y,a
Illness has struck at them. Per-
haps worse, they have an abundance
Of idle days in which to reflect.
For each of them the future is
bleak, uncertain.
For Marshal Smigly-Rydz the
roar of tottering, crumbling Polish
nation was especially loud.
1t was as virtual dictator of Po-
land that the shy, serious, soft
spoken Smigly-Rydz sent his divi-
sions against the German Army
only to find himself a refugee in
Rumania few weeks later, while
parts of his army were still fight
ing hopeless fight.
His Promises Failed.
From the first Poland's defeat was
a crushing blow to Smigly-Rydz.
For months he had issued chauvi-
nistic slogans to the Polish people,
along with assurances to the out
side world, that the Poles would
perish as a nation rather than yield.
The Germans lost no time in max
ing propaganda Of the fact thAt
Poiand's commander In chief had
fed his own country-while Warsaw
still fought on. Hitler himself al
legged that the Polish Army had
been sadly lacking in basic Or
ganization and strategy.
At any rate, Poland's highest
military leader was tumbled, In be-
wildering fashion, from the SOM
mand of an army Of 2,000, 900 men
to the uninspiring role of refugee,
living in q state of restricted free
dom.
Here in Rumania, Smigly-Rydz
became at once, it was reported, a
moody, untalkative recluse. BY ma
ture quiet, retiring man, in con-
trast to the role he came to play in
Poland, the shock Of the Polish dis
aster drew him further within him
self.
Life Rather Aimless Now.
For time he lived at a private
estate near Craiova, in Rumania, with
President Moscicki, but at his own
request, it was said, moved to the
former private palace of Rumania's
ex-patriarch and Prime Minister,
Miron Cristea. Here, he so far
continues a rather aimless life,
spending most of his time walking
alone in the grounds of the little
palace. An artist in his own right,
there are no indications that he is
finding comfort even in painting.
At swank tuberculosis sanato-
rum outside sBrasov, in Central Ru-
mania, Poland's former foreign min
lister, the dapper, brilliant Josef
Beck, now undergoes treatment. He
is not bed-ridden, and there is no
confirmation that he is actively suf-
fering from tuberculosis. He is
known to have suffered for years
from bronchitis.
His wife, Jadwiga Beck, who was
one of the outstanding hostesSes Of
Warsaw, famous for her parties, is
with him. In guiding Poland's for
eign policy of balance" between
Germany and Russia, Beck became
a strange, mysterious figure-now
no longer mysterious.
Differed From Smigly- -Rydx.
A few days after the war began
he could be seen driving through
Warsaw streets, apparently cheerful,
confident, in contrast to the disillu-
stoned, embittered man who came
across the Rumanian frontier one
hot September day.
An army man himself, it was said
in Warsaw that he ragged at the
news that the Polish divisions were
crumbling in the face of German
attack. There were reports that he
quarreled violently with Smigly-
Rydz over the conduct Of the war
shortly after they crossed the Ru-
manian frontier.
Nor did Beck, who had matched
diplomatic strategy with the best
brains of Europe, yield easily to cir
cumstance.
No sooner did he arrive In Ru-
mania than he began making plans
to carry on the Polish government
from Cernauti. From hotel sutf
he informed foreign diplomats tln&.
the Polish foreign Office was stin
intact. But the Rumanian author
tiles quickly intervened, made 1t
plain to Beck that he had become, as
far as Rumania was concerned, q
private citizen.
Moscicki in Switzerland.
Much less conspicuous is the
n~E.L MN DvociNavaf TNvHoon