the polish corridor (1932)

The ''Polish Corridor,, By "OBSERVER,, NEW YORK, N. Y. 1932 ' , '· (! . I · t. . , _ _ , . , ~ ,,.,,'-f_, 1 ~v The ''Polish Corridor" BY OBSERVER O N May 18, 1932, at a dinner given in honor of Ignace Jan Paderewski under the auspices of the American Polish Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Forum, and the Council on Foreign Relations, at the Hotel Astor, New York City, Mr. Paderewski pointed out that "in giving to an old Polish province the name of 'corridor,' a masterpiece of German propaganda has been achieved." "You may read in the newspapers and the magazines," declared Mr. Paderewski, "that the Polish corridor has been taken away from Germany. This is not correct. When dealing. with serious international problems, proper terms should be used-proper formally, historically, and logically. Formally, Germany took no active part and found no direct advantage in the dismemberment of Poland. This evil deed was per- formed by Prussia alone. Historically, the territory now called the 'corridor' was wrested from Poland by P.r:ussia in 1772 and remained the realm of Prussian kings for 99 years. Only after the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, still as a part of a Prussian province, it was included in the possessions of the German Empire. Is it, then, logical to draw into controversy the whole of Germany into the conflict and the controversy arising even from an act of violence perpetrated as everybody knows by Prussia, Austria, and Russia?" Thus Mr. Paderewski confirmed the well-known fact, that the territory now called the "corridor" was wrested from Poland by Prussia in 1772; yet German propaganda, working unceasingly on American territory, complains that the Polish corridor cuts "into the living flesh of Germany." Unfortunately for Poland, German arguments are more accessible to the average American citizen than the Polish point of view, for the simple reason that some twelve or fifteen million citizens of German extraction inhabit the 3 4 THE ttPOLISH CORRIDOR" territory of the United States. Many young Americans study at German universities, where they familiarize themselves with the German language and are able to read German. Consequently, very often they derive their knowledge from German sources and are apt to form biased conclusions, not consistent with the real facts. An eminent American publicist, Mr. Frank H. Simonds, a great authority on the problem of the Polish Corridor and Polish-German relations, writes as follows in his book "Can Europe Keep the Peace?" ( 1931) : "Throughout her brief post-war existence, Poland has been handicapped greatly from the inevitable tendency of the American and Anglo-Saxon world to view her through Ger- man eyes.'' ''The Germans are convinced that Poland cannot and must not survive, save in narrowly restricted circumstances. And this view they have communicated to both Anglo-Saxon peoples." Nevertheless, the Polish state has become stabilized and is so recognized by all powers, great and small, and Poland has gradually been acquiring more and more American friends, who have studied the question of the Polish Corridor and have expressed their opinion on the subject. Unfortun- ately these arguments of American experts, convincing as they are, are so scattered in various publications, that the average American has no opportunity to read them; so he persists in the biased opinions derived from the more numer- ous and more readily accessible German sources. It is obvious, however, that in fairness Americans should hear both sides, for which reason we quote from a few American authorities whose standing is such as to give weight to whatever they say: Two distinguished Harvard professors, Charles H. Has- kins and Robert H. Lord, who were territorial experts on the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, stated: "The Peace Conference did not invent the couloir (Corridor) : that already existed and is written plain on every honest linguistic map of this region:' Professor Lord further said: "Poland needs territorial access to the sea-of that there can be no question. But the Peace Conference would probably not have granted her this wish had it not been justified in THE ttPOLISH CORRIDOR', doing so on the ethnographic grounds." In fact, the Polish population in the "corridor" has an overwhelming majority of 90%, as is acknowledged by German authorities as well. Herr Loebe, former President of the Reichstag, in an article in the Lodzer Freie Presse, January 17, 1927, said plainly: "In Germany we protest against the 'corridor,' yet everyone agrees that its population is Polish." The late Archibald Cary Coolidge, an eminent American historian, says of the "corridor": "The large majority of the population of the Corridor are and wish to remain Poles." Professor H. H. Fisher, of Leland Stanford University, in his book ttAmerica and the New Poland" (1928) quotes the Polish historian St. Kozicki, Secretary-general of the Polish delegation at Versailles, as saying: uThe Americans desired that Poland should obtain neither too much nor too little, but only what belonged to her." In the face of such authorities, how does one explain the German claim? Only by understanding the German psychol- ogy after the war. We read in rrThe Rescue of Germany" by Garet Garrett, in the Saturday Evening Post, in 1932: "The fact about the Germans is that they have the feelings, the mentality and the motives of an injured race. Their sense of injury is obsessional, so deep and so ugly, as to seem a national psychosis, as it possibly is." "Germany against the world is the one thought that will unite them; and it never fails. Self-commiseration is their emotional habit.'' The same American author quotes the following selections from current German sayings: "1) The war has lasted six~een years. 2) German guilt was a lie. 3) The Treaty of Versailles is the great crime of modern history. 4) Reparations are tribute. 5) In 1917, America joined the Allies against Germany, because then her money was on that side. 6) Among nations the debtor is dear to the creditor. 7) The Hoover debt-holiday plan in 1931 was to protect two billions of American money in Germany, for now America is bound by what Germany owes her, to be Germany's political friend." 6 THE rrPOLISH CORRIDOR" We must remember that the charge of war guilt is clearly stipulated in Article 231, Part VIII, of the Treaty of Ver- sailles. This article reads: ''The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Ger- many accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been sub- jected, as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies." While Article 231 speaks for itself, it was still better ex- plained by Premier Herriot of France, who declared at the Conference of Lausanne in July 1932: "We cannot admit for a moment that F ranee or any of her allies was guilty of the war." (The New York Times, July 8th, 1932.) We know, that, at the conference of Lausanne on July 8th, 1932, Europe accomplished a reparations settlement with Germany and a final reparation agreement was reached in which German payments would be reduced to $714,000,000. ( 3,000,000,000 Reich's Marks.) In connection with this, it is interesting to quote the ''Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung," an influential German newspaper, which sees a solid achievement in freeing Ger- many's economic forces, lifting the burden from the coming generation and imposing upon the present one only one payment under specified conditions. "This, however, does not mean the end of the whole Ver- sailles dictate, but only of the tribute"-says the nveutsche Allegemeine Zeitung." (The New York Times, of July 9th, 1932.) Evident! y the world must expect some new claims from Germany, which may be nothing short of the restoration of a status-quo before the war. After these few examples one may well ask: What is the matter with present-day Germany? Has the national psy- . chosis so perverted all sound judgment that the mentality of the people became obsessional? If we look into the German claim that the "corridor" divides Germany into two parts, we find these facts, the figures being from the rrw orld Almanac" of New York, and the rrcomme1·ce Yearbook" o£ Washington, D. C. ( oo~l THE trPOLISH CORRIDOR"' 7 The estimated population of Germany is given at 64,000,000. The population of Prussia in round figures is 38,176,000, which means that the remaining 25,824,000 live in other German States, i. e., Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Baden, Thuringen, etc. Among 38,176,000 of population in Prussia are included the inhabitants of East Prussia, number- ing 2,258,324. Yet, through the voice of Prussia, Germany claims that "the rent in the East, caused by the Polish Corridor, sep- arates the Reich into two parts." · In reality it separates about 62,000,000 Reich's Germans from 2,258,000 East Prussians. Or, to be more exact, it sep- arates 35,917,676 inhabitants of Prussia, with Berlin as its capital, from 2,258,324 East Prussians, because Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemburg, Baden, Thuringen and the rest of smaller German States have very little to do with East Prussia. But who are the East Prussians? German historians have never recognized East Prussia as a country of German origin, but merely as a German colony. And a colony it remains to this day, surrounded by Polish and Lithuanian peoples. There are about 3 50,000 Poles inhabiting East Prussia at present and about 200,000 Lithuanians, which reduces the total German population in that province to about 1,700,000. We also know, that the population of Poland is over 32,000,000 at present. And now Prussia, in the name of all Germany, demands for herself a piece of real estate from Poland, inhabited by a population 90 lJo Polish. And Prussia, with its population of 38,000,000, having ports of her own in Bremen Lubeck, Hamburg, Seetin, Koenigsberg and sev- eral minor ports, demands the suppression of Poland's only outlet to the sea. In such case Poland with its 32,000,000 inhabitants would be the largest country in the world to be deprived of an access to the sea. Would it be just and logical, that for the convenience of 2,2 58,000 inhabitants of East Prussia, the HPolish Corridor" be suppressed, though originally this territory was taken away from Poland by force? Common sense leads to the conclusion, that the strength- ening of Prussia with a piece of real estate, inhabited with 8 THE uPOLISH CORRIDOR" 90% of Poles, would not benefit Germany in any way and certainly it may add only some fresh oil to the fire of na- tional psychosis. For this Prussian enterprise the Reichstag voted out of Federal funds for the German budget in 1930, a provision of over 1,700,000,000 gold marks for the strengthening of Germanism, or to be more exact, of Prussianism, in the East during five years. "How weak must be that pretended Germanism," ob- serves Mr. Paderewski, "if over $420,000,000 of borrowed money must be spent for its invigoration. There is no won- der that East Prussia is so dear to some Germans, for it is very expensive." In fact Germany would better employ this money for other purposes-to feed her 5,500,000 unem- ployed, for example. At one time certain simple souls were promising to the world a speedy return to prosperity, provided the "Corri- dor'' be given back to Prussia. At this point we may ask: Would it really provide work for the millions of unem- ployed? Would it cure the general overproduction? Would it restore to the industrial nations the huge markets of Russia, China, India, etc.? And would it reopen for a broad commerce the fron- tiers now almost everywhere closed? Every thinking reader must answer these questions in the negative. Further, we maintain that the weakening of Poland for the benefit of Prussia may not only affect the balance of power in Europe but may influence adversely the economic condition of the world. Let us quote again the American opinion of Mr. Simonds: "What is not appreciated sufficiently in America and Anglo- Saxon countries," says Mr. Simonds, "is that contemporary Poland is not only, in its physical circumstances, potentially a great power, but also that the Poles are traditionally a great people." "Unlike all the other Succession States, Poland did con- stitute a great Power over long centuries, during which it played a brilliant and even decisive role in European his- tory.'' ( ( )s' THE aPOLISH CORRIDOR" 9 nAnd although Polish liberty was extinguished by a coali- tion of three great empires (Prussia, Austria and Russia), when the events of 1918 abolished the forces which for a century and a half had restrained Polish national life, it suddenly burst forth again in all of its traditional vitality and amplitude." "Barely come to life, this Poland, by breaking the in- vasive force of Bolshevism, under the walls of Warsaw, repeated the service of Sobieski (King of Poland) to west- ern civilization, when he similarly checked the Turkish ad- vance before Vienna ( 1683) ." ''The first decade of restored national independence of Poland has, too, been marked by an extraordinary economic development. New railways have been built, old recon- structed to meet national needs, the devastation of the World War has been cleared away, and throughout the country, despite the inescapable consequences of the world wide de- pression, there has been progress little short of marvelous." ''In all respects that the eyes of the traveler can measure, Poland has already become a going concern on the economic as on the political side." And now, in the name of "fair-play," let us tell the real story of the t(Polish Corridor." THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "POLISH CORRIDOR." B y THE Treacy of Versailles the Polish province of Po- morze (Pomerania or Pomerelia), i. e., the "Corridor," was restored to Poland as it had existed before the First Par- tition. Pomorze means "land of the sea-coast" in Polish, and the very name indicates its Polish origin. At present, the province of Pomorze and the Free City of Danzig are in a position very much like that which they held before the Partitions of Poland. Danzig first appeared in history as "Gdansk" in the year 997 and from that time, together with the surrounding dis- trict of Pomorze, (''Pommern" in German) belonged to Poland for the subsequent eight centuries, until 1793, i. e., the Second Partition of Poland, except for an interval of 146 years (1308-1454) when both Danzig and Pomorze were detached from Poland by force and they passed under dom- inatioh of the Teutonic Order. (_,_)(~! 10 THE uPOLISH CORRIDOR" But who were the ttTeutonic Order?'' In 1225, Conrad, Duke of Poland, appealed to the Ger- man Order of the Virgin Mary, organized at Acre in 1191 and known as the Teutonic Order, asking that it should shed the light of the Gospel on the heathen Prussians. And who were the Prussians? The Original Prussian tribes, akin to Finns and Mon- golians, inhabited the Baltic_ toast in the region of present East Prussia. The Monk-Knights of the Teutonic Order overwhelmed and completely exterminated these original Prussian tribes, appropriated the Prussian name with the lands along the Baltic and established themselves at the mouths of the rivers Vistula and Niemen. Before 1225 not a single German lived there. Eventually the Monks became so strong that they ven- tured to invade the Polish province of Pomorze, i. e., the Corridor," captured the city of Danzig in 1308 and kept it until 1454. History relates that 10,000 Christian inhabitants of Dan- zig (Kdansk) were slaughtered by the Teutonic warring Monks. This proves conclusively that before 1308 the popu- lation of Danzig was Polish, because Teutonic Knights · would not have slaughtered 10,000 of their German com- patriots. From that date German immigration was encour- aged, Gdansk became gradually Germanized and assumed the name of Danzig. In 1410 Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the Teu- tonic Order, recovered Pomorze and in 1454 restored Dan- zig to the Polish Crown. In 1525 the Teutonic Order embraced the Protestant faith, was secularized and became vassals of Poland. On April 8, 1525, in Cracow, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albert von Hohenzollern, swore a solemn oath of allegiance to the King of Poland. After that time East Prussia was governed by Dukes, instead of Grand Masters. The Duchy of East Prussia remained a fief of the Polish Crown until 1656, when the Great Elector, Frederick Wil- liam I of Brandenburg, bought its independence by aid to Poland, then hard pressed by the Swedes. The Hohenzollerns of East Prussia were related to the Hohenzollerns, the Elec- ( ( )~I THE TRUTH ABOUT THE tt POLISH CORRIDOR" 11 tors of Brandenburg, and the two territories joined hands across the Polish provinces of Pomorze and W armia. We must remember, that the present district of the King- dom of Prussia, with its capital at Berlin, was known at that time as the Electorate of Brandenburg, but in 1701 the Electors of Brandenburg assumed Royal title' and were thereafter crowned at Koenigsberg, in East Prussia. Only after that event, the whole territory of Brandenburg and East Prussia, separated as it was by the Polish province of Pomorze, i. e., the "Corridor," assumed the name of Prussia. Thus, the name of Kingdom of Prussia is derived from the original, exterminated tribes of Prussians or Borussians. It is clear that from 1656 until 1772 the inhabitants of Brandenburg and of East Prussia, i. e., of both parts of the Kingdom of Prussia, could communicate with each other only through the Polish province of Pomorze, or the "Cor- ridor," unless they preferred to travel by sea. There were no railways and no telegraphs at that time and people trav- eled on horseback, in carriages or in sledges. This was more inconvenient than at present and the dis- tance to cover through Poland was longer, because not the whole of the former Polish province was assigned by the Treaty of Versailles co Poland, but only the central part. The fact is, that the cities of Malbork (Marienburg), El- bing and the province of W armia ( Ermeland) were not re- stored to Poland, though they had formed an integral part of the Polish Republic from the Peace Treacy of Thorn (Torun) in 1466. The map clearly shows what territories belonged to Po- land. To this day the majority of the population is Polish in the district of W armia ( Ermeland) . But this district was not allotted to Poland, being lost by the plebiscite of July 11, 1920, at a time when Poland was invaded by Bolsheviks. Thus, when East Prussia was isolated from Brandenburg by the Polish provinces of Pomorze and of W armia, the route for travelers through the Polish territory was longer and more tiresome than is the case with present railway com- munication. Nowadays the transport of goods is as cheap and efficient as before the war and travelers are undisturbed. That Germans themselves recognize the efficiency of the railroad service is shown by the statement of Dr. Holz, a [...]... (_,_)(~! 14 THE ' 'POLISH CORRIDOR" same body, the ' 'corridor, " cuts into the living flesh of Germany They say that the restored "Polish Corridor" is intolerable They speak of the "insular situation" ( insulare Lage) of East Prussia-as unique of its kind They complain of the ustifling" ( Abschniirung) of this province Is it ·really so intolerable, unique and stiiling? Let us glance at the territory of the United... 19 the ice free ports of Gdynia and Danzig on the Baltic Sea, to the Roumanian ports located on the Black Sea." All this indicates, that economic reasons are imperative for the existence of Polish ports on the Baltic, otherwise the world trade with Eastern Europe would be at the mercy of Germany As a problem of the day there remains then only the political question According to Mr Frank H Simonds, the. .. traffic of Germany across the "Corridor. " THE TRUTH ABOUT THE rr POLISH CORRIDOR" 15 3 Because the "Corridor" is the only access to the sea, possessed by the Polish State, with a population of 32,000,000 4 Because Poland must possess a sea-coast of her own If this sea-coast were taken away from Poland, Germany would exercise a veritable monopoly of the means of communication with the Continent of Europe... reasons? 1 Because the ' 'Corridor" and the City of Danzig are economically dependent on the Polish hinterland Before the war in 1913, only 2,134,607 tons of goods were loaded and unloaded through the port of Danzig Now the traffic is four times greater, exceeding the figure of 8,500,000 tons 2 Because Polish traffic of goods through the length of the "Corridor" is five times greater than the traffic of... to the Germans a symbol -the cradle of the new Prussia and the subsequent German Empire, the home of the German national rebirth." "President von Hindenburg' s estate is in this land, cut off from the main body of Germany by the Corridor, and East and West Prussia were always the home of the Junker." We suggested before a most convenient sea-route to reach the estate in East Prussia, but there is another... are further informed by the Press of recent date: ''Many Germans, i.e., Prussians, place their hope in armed conquest of the lost territory Certainly, if they are permitted to re-arm, fortresses equipped with long range guns along the two sides of the Corridor will make Polish possession illusory." There is little doubt, that constant discussion by the Press of Prussian claims for the Polish Corridor, ... "The Corridor includes the present province of Pomerelia and the Netze district, belonging to the adjoining province of Posen, that is, the territory taken by Prussia in the £rst Partition of Poland, together with the district now included in the Danzig Free State." And Professor H H Fisher of California after stating the fact that ' 'The Americans desired that Poland should obtain CONCLUSION 17 neither...12 THE rrPOLISH CORRIDOR" ,, SEA 6 Scale of miles z'S ~o ~-:-:-:-:t 1 2 3 1 Polish territory at the present time 2 Territory of the Free City of Danzig 3 Former limits of Polish Pomerania (from the Second Treaty of Torun in 1466 until the First Partition in 1772-a period of three centuries) The broken line running east and west just below Torun marks the southern boundary of the County of... than today The "Polish Corridor" and the Free City of Danzig belonged to Germany, also -the province of Posnaniathe cradle of the Polish race Yet Posnania as well as the ' 'Corridor" are claimed to be a part of German Fatherland, because three generations of Germans lived there! AlsaceLorraine had been annexed to Germany since 1871, Schlezwig since 1864 and also some Belgian territory By the Treaty... Versailles Germany returned all these territories to their rightful owners Besides, Germany had her colonies and a powerful merchant marine Would Germany try to recover the Polish provinces, and then the French, the Danish and the Belgian? And would she demand the return of her colonies from the British? Then, she may claim the restitution of her merchant marine from the Allies Of course she may recover . "fair-play," let us tell the real story of the t (Polish Corridor. " THE TRUTH ABOUT THE " ;POLISH CORRIDOR. " B y THE Treacy of Versailles the Polish province of Po- morze. greater than the traffic of Ger- many across the " ;Corridor. " THE TRUTH ABOUT THE rr POLISH CORRIDOR& quot; 15 3. Because the " ;Corridor& quot; is the only access to the sea,. restored, the Germans pretend that the (_,_)(~! 14 THE '&apos ;POLISH CORRIDOR& quot; same body, the '&apos ;corridor, " cuts into the living flesh of Ger- many. They say that the