Address by Adam Daniel Rotfeld
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
on the occasion of the official presentation
of the Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign Secretary,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have a great honour today to present – together with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw – the report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee. Today’s ceremony marks the conclusion of an important stage of its difficult and painstaking work designed to commemorate the role and contribution of Polish intelligence to the Allied victory in World War II. The Committee was established following an exchange of letters in October and November 1999 between Prime Ministers Jerzy Buzek and Tony Blair. That move was concordant with the expectations of historians in the two countries and addressed the hopes of veterans for a joint historical synthesis of World War II – a period that so closely interlinked the fates of Poles and Britons. The Committee inaugurated its work at the Cabinet Office – at the nearest vicinity of these premises – on 19 June 2000.
The present close ties between Poland and Great Britain have a solid historical foundation. The Polish-British alliance – maintained from the first day of the war until its end – significantly contributed to the Allied victory. The common struggle against Nazi totalitarianism is an important reason why the British enjoy such high esteem and affection among Poles. The brotherhood in arms initiated in wartime has not been forgotten.
In addition to their extensive involvement in direct combat, Poles also contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich with innovative technical research and highly effective intelligence work. As early as 1933, Polish mathematicians and cryptologists – Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki – broke the Enigma code.
On the eve of the war, Polish-built replicas of the Enigma found their way to France and Britain, where they were used at the National Codes Centre in Bletchley Park. Regrettably, throughout the sixty post-war years little recognition has been given to the Polish mathematicians and cryptologists. Yet the Enigma had yielded thousands of secret German documents of exceptional strategic and operational value – a treasure-trove that the Allies primarily owed to the Poles, who thus made one of their most significant contributions to the victory over Nazi Germany. Possession of the Enigma and its codes was pivotal to the victories in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Battle of El-Alamein, as well as the 1944 French and Italian campaigns.
Incredibly, for many years no one attempted to sum up the enormous input of Polish intelligence into the Allied victory. The report of the Historical Committee is the first comprehensive work on the subject. It fills a glaring gap in the history of World War II, for the first time portraying the true involvement of Poles in the war effort of the United Kingdom and the United States.
In particular, the report documents the role of Polish intelligence which worked hand-in-hand with Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service – the SIS. It is persuasively demonstrated that without the successes of the Poles and Britons on that invisible front of World War II, the struggle against Nazi Germany would have lasted much longer – claiming many more lives. In early 1941, during the Battle of the Atlantic, a Polish intelligence network operating in France supplied London with reports on German submarines sailing out of bases in Bordeaux, Brest and Le Havre. In occupied Poland, the intelligence services of the Union for Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej) and the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) collected and conveyed information on German preparations for war with the USSR. In 1942-1943, Polish intelligence was the first to report to the SIS on the German testing of the V-1 missile and other weapons at Peenemünde. According to British sources, in the years 1940-1945 the SIS received some 45 thousand intelligence reports from across Europe – and almost half of them originated from Polish sources.
Sixty years after the war those facts are at last being publicised. Thus, the Polish mathematicians, cryptologists and intelligence officers are claiming their rightful place alongside Polish pilots, soldiers and sailors whose heroic exploits have already been extensively described and are widely appreciated.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Conventional wisdom to the contrary, remembrance of World War II is very much alive among the societies of Europe. For Poland, the wartime experience still constitutes an important reference point and stimulates our striving for a free, democratic and prosperous Europe. The truth about those years and recollection of the Polish contribution to the defeat of fascism has special significance today, when attempts are being made in some countries to rewrite history.
During its works, the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee has had unprecedented access to British intelligence archives. We are grateful for that exceptional gesture by Her Majesty’s Government. The Committee discovered many previously unknown documents and much important information illustrating the diversity and scope of the Polish-British intelligence cooperation. The Polish and British experts conducted a search of archives in Britain, Poland, the US, Russia, Spain, France and Portugal. The documents they uncovered reveal that the role of Polish intelligence on the fronts of World War II had been much greater than previously thought.
Allow me, at this point, to express my sincerest thanks to the members of the Historical Committee without whose dedication this important work would not have come to fruition. I address words of particular appreciation to Ms. Daria Nałęcz, Chief Director of State Archives and Ms. Tessa Stirling, Director of the Historical and Records Division, Cabinet Office. Let me also pay tribute to the late Jan Nowak-Jeziorański – the legendary “Courier from Warsaw” – who had acted as honorary chairman of the Polish part of the Committee, supporting it with his enormous authority, knowledge and experience.
A significant contribution to the work of the Committee has been made on the British side by two well-known historians – Ms. Gill Bennet and Professor Christopher Andrew, who persistently explored the SIS files, and on the Polish side – by representatives of London’s émigré community – Professor Jan Ciechanowski, Ms. Eugenia Maresch, Mr. Andrzej Suchcitz, and also by historians and archivists from Poland: Professor Tadeusz Dubicki, Professor Andrzej Pepłoński, Doctor Andrzej Przewoźnik, Secretary of the Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom, Doctor Rafał Wnuk, Doctor Andrzej Chmielarz, Mr. Stanisław Ciechanowski, Mr. Grzegorz Dąbrowski and Mr. Andrzej Glass.
I would also like to thank all the persons and institutions who extended their all-round assistance and support to this project. Particular recognition is due to the contributions made by the staff of the National Archives, the Polish Institute, the Sikorski Museum and the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust, the Archive of New Records, the Central Military Archive, and the Piłsudski Institutes in London and New York. I also thank the US administration, the Fulbright Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington for their stipends and assistance in the examination of the rich American collections.
The research programme implemented by the Committee and particularly the dissemination of its results among the international scholarly community is of great scientific and political significance. For, the Committee’s activity will make it possible for the international community to duly appreciate and honour the contribution of Poland to the defeat of the Third Reich.
The report appears over a year after Poland’s accession to the European Union. It is a reminder that Poland and Great Britain are “old allies in the new Europe” – two nations striving together to ensure durable peace, democracy and prosperity for the continent. Working hand in hand – at the United Nations, the European Union, NATO and other regional organizations – we shall be able to attain more for peaceful integration, security, prosperity and stability of our continent, and to cope better with the challenges of globalisation.
In conclusion, allow me to express the conviction that it is too early yet to declare that finis opus coronat. The report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee – though a work of impressive volume – should be considered a beginning rather than the conclusion of endeavours to unravel all the intricacies of that important chapter in the history of Polish-British relations. The Committee should continue its work so that no act of wartime heroism is forgotten.
Thank you for your attention.