Evening star., 1942-03-22
By BLAIR BOLLES.

Posing a test for the strength OF
Anglo American Russian relations,
Prime Minister Sikorsky of the Pol
ish governmentin-ex exile is expected
to arrive in Washington from Lon
don this week, to ask the American
Government whether it intends to
support Poland's aspirations for ma
tional reconstruction on pre-1939
lines, even if such support means a
political clash between the United
States and Russia.
Prime Minister Sikorsky has been
preceded to the United States by in
formation reaching editors of the
Polish language press in this coun-
try that the Soviet government has
recently taken up the Polish pass
ports of number Of Poles in Kuiby-
shev, jailing one, and explained the
action on grounds indicating that
Russia already assumes that a great
part of eastern Poland is in theory
permanent section of the U. S. S. r.
This delicate and embarrassing
question of Russian intentions tow
ard the. territory of her Polish ally
is to be raised here by Minister
Sikorsky in the name of the At
lantic Charter. The fact that Sir
Stafford Cripps. now on his way to
India, has publicly espoused giving
strategic frontiers" to postwar
Russia is disturbing to exile govern
ments OF countries bordering on the
Soviet-especially four in behalf Of
whose territorial integrity the
United States has publicly spoken.
Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and
Latvia
Will Visit Canada First.
Gen. Sikorsky's itinerary calls for
him to go first to Canada and then
come to Washington. The way for
his visit was paved here by Count
Edward Raczynski, the Acting For
eign Minister of the Polish govern
ment, who recently saw President
Roosevelt. Gen. Sikorsky's last trip
away from London was to Russia,
where on December the Soviet
government issued a declaration of
friendship and mutual assistance
with Poland.
The incident of the passports had
it's inception when several Polish
jews living in Kuibyshev received
word from friends in Palestine that
arrangements had been made for
them to take up residence there
about two months after the De-
cember declaration. Early in
February the group planning to
make the trip received the neces-
sary permission from the Polish con-
sulate in Kuibyshev and the British
representatives there stamped the
British visa on their Polish pass
ports.
A few days later these passports
were delivered to the Polish embassy
by the Soviet police, who explained
that since the persons who planned
to travel to Palestine were Rus
sian citizens, they could not use
Polish passports. In this explana-
ton was the nub of Russian policy,
it was said here. All the persons
who lost their passports we're from
cities which lay within the Poland
whose boundaries were recognized on
March IS, l923tthe boundaries that
remained until Germany went to
war on Poland and which the Polish
government holds remain in theory
still.
From Well Within Border.
One person was from Lwow, 80
miles west of the Soviet-Polish bor-
der as it existed before the outbreak
of the war in 1899: another from
Wilma, 100 miles west Of the border.
In the past whether this city was
Polish or Lithuanian was subject of
difference between Poland and
Lithuania. Another was from LODI.
A fourth was from Lublin, 225 miles
west of the old border. Lublin has
not been Russian since the Treaty
of Versailles. Germany kept it in
the partition of September %, 1899,
which divided Poland between the
NaZis and the Soviets.
The Lubliner, DR.. Henry Ehrlich.
deputy leader of the Polish Social
Democrat party, was imprisoned in
Kuibyshev after his passport had
been taken and he remains in
prison. Although his political party