Monday, 17 January

Dull

The Soviet Union publicised their replies with regard to the Polish Incident. The main content was as follows: 1) Poland’s proclamation did not show that they would accept the Curzon line as the principle for dissolving the Soviet-Polish border. This is tantamount to not accepting it. 2) The Soviet Government had ceased diplomatic relations with the Polish Government and they cannot negotiate with a government with whom they have no diplomatic relations. The reason for ceasing diplomatic relations with the Polish Government are that with regard to the Katyn (near Smolensk) massacre the Polish Government actively participated in the slandering hatched up by Germany, and openly harboured anti-Soviet hostility. 3) All Soviet Union walks of life assumed that the points listed above were signs that the present Polish Government did not want to be in a friendly relationship with the Soviet Union. Also with regard to the Katyn massacre the Soviet Government had already formed an investigation committee, whose work would soon be completed and the results would be announced soon. The Soviet newspapers published news yesterday which criticised Poland seriously which was further evidence that the Soviet Union was dissatisfied with the Polish reply. Unfortunately, I was right.

The Soviet Union published news in Pravda.  According to a telegram on the twelfth of January from its Cairo correspondent citing reliable sources in Greece and Yugoslavia, two important British people met the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop in a certain city in the [unclear] Peninsula. The aim of this meeting was to find out conditions relating to unilateral peace talks with Germany, and it was believed that some conclusions had been achieved. Why the Soviet Union reported this is hard to gauge. Also, whether Britain did it or not I was unable to tell. The Four Powers Declaration in Moscow has just been signed, and Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin have met in Tehran. Suddenly there is such an act of betrayal that I really suspect that those in charge of this matter in the British Government will be reprimanded by public opinion. If there is news like this, the Soviet Union can check with Britain in terms of being part of the Allies. But the Soviet Union skipped this and reported it, being no different as if saying that Britain betrayed its friends, and telling the Soviet people that Britain is not reliable, and the influence would be enormous. Probably it was because of the British attitude over the Soviet-Polish Incident. The Soviet Union thought Britain was partial to Poland. (Britain enthusiastically endorsed the Polish Declaration; I thought it was unwise earlier.), or had intention (for example wanted to use Poland to counter the Soviet Union), so used this incident to warn Britain. If that was the case I thought it seemed too much, as this action would have plenty of bad influences politically.  For example, Britain would think that the Soviet Union tried to have unilateral peace talks with Germany, therefore it issued this type of propaganda first. Then it was not impossible that Britain negotiated with Germany first. All in all, such a misunderstanding between the Soviet Union and Britain is very bad for our country. If the Allies are split because of this, then our own future could be disastrous, and world peace become hopeless. Is it true that the evil of human beings is that they have to go on slaughtering non-stop? If this is the punishment of God then I think it is too much. I reported this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the afternoon, I went to visit the Greek Ambassador, Politis. He said he hadn’t heard of the secret British-German talk of unilateral peace. He reckoned that this rumour was not handed out by the Greeks. He said that if there was such a thing, his government would definitely cable him. He also said that he has already cabled it to ask for the details. He will keep me posted. I asked him about the British broadcast saying that he was in contact with the Soviet Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Korneichuk. He said that on the western coast, which is the occupied area in Greece, the guerrilla leader of the Sedes, General Servas, is not in harmony with General Sarafis and General Despotopoula, the leaders of EAM guerrillas on the East coast.  So Prime Minister Tsouderos broadcast to urge them to cooperate in the War of Resistance. The British and American Governments formally expressed their sympathy and asked them to cooperate. The Greek Government also expressed that they wanted to have the same type of action from the Soviet Government. The Soviet Government promised as requested. Thus on the one hand, the Moscow broadcasting station announced the advice, on the other hand the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Korneichuk, gave the letter to him to hand over to the Generals. He also said the situation in Greece is not the same as Yugoslavia. Firstly, it was because in Greece there is no racial or religious difference. Secondly, Greece had been the least Communist among the European countries. This was because in 1912 Venizelos confiscated all the big land owners’ land and redistributed it to small farmers, so Greek farmers had land and become mostly conservative. Also, the development of Greek industry was mostly controlled by the government, therefore there was no chance of development by the Communist party, therefore Greece was the only one with no representatives in the Comintern.