THE REPORT by Brig. Gen. Edgar Jadwin and Homer H. Johnson
AMERICAN COMMISSION TO NEGOTIATE PEACE, MISSION TO POLAND,
Paris, October 31, 1919
GENTLEMEN:
1. The mission to Poland (consisting of Mr. Henry Morgenthau, Brig. Gen. Edgar Jadwin, and Mr. Homer H. Johnson) was named for the purpose of carrying out an investigation of question touching the relations between the Jewish and non-Jewish elements in the Republic. Accompanied by its working personnel, the mission remained in Poland from July 13, 1919, to September 13, 1919, and visited the scenes of the most widely reported excesses, studied economic conditions in the local centers of production and distribution, consulted Polish statesmen and Jewish men of affairs, observed living conditions among the common people, associated with officers of the army, and, considering always the historical environment influencing the nature, aims, and disposition of the Polish Nation, endeavored to arrive at a just understanding of the present relations between the component elements of the Republic. The mission owes its thanks to Gen. Pilsudski, the chief of state, Mr. Padarewski, president of the council of ministers, and to the Polish authorities in general for the facilities contributed toward the execution of its task, and is also indebted to Mr. Hugh Gibson, American minister to Poland, for his aid. In all localities visited, the Jewish communities extended to the mission their full confidence and cooperation.
It should be borne in mind that most of the time of the mission in Poland was taken up in the examination of complaints made by or in behalf of Jewish citizens of Poland, and that the material as to excesses is largely based on ex parte statements. While it was the original intention of the mission to give the Polish Government an opportunity for detailed rebuttal, the relatively small extent of the excesses themselves, as compared with the larger elements contributing to antisemitism, and the importance of a remedy, seemed to make such rebuttal unnecessary. Within the boundaries of Congress Poland only 18 Jews lost their lives, while in the whole territory now controlled or occupied by the Polish Republic the grand total of deaths from excesses in which antisemitism was a factor has not exceeded 300.
We were able to arrive at our conclusions from the data furnished by Jewish sources, from answers to specific questions addressed to various Polish ministries, from many conferences with other Polish citizens, and from utterances in the Polish press, and believe that those sources sufficiently disclosed the nature and cause of anti-Jewish disturbances without further pro-Polish evidence.
After the return of the mission to Paris its members were unable to consult together on account of the absence of Gen. Jadwin on other duty in southern Russia. Mr. Morgenthau before leaving Paris submitted a report representing his views of the situation, and the other members, in his absence, have prepared these considerations, which while differing but slightly from Mr. Morgenthau’s, have been put in the form of a complete report as leading up to conclusions which differ from those of Mr. Morgenthau.
2. Polish opinion characterizes the traditional attitude of Poland toward the Jews as one of tolerance. When the Jews in western Europe fell prey to persecutions induced by the fresh wave of fanaticism incident to the Crusades, they migrated in large numbers to Poland as a place of refuge, where the Jewish communities received numerous special privileges, and possessed almost complete local government. This internal independence lasted until early in the nineteenth century, when it was finally so reduced as to apply to religious and educational matters only. The memory of former independence within the limits of the State plays a considerable role in the present aspirations of certain Jewish parties for autonomy with the right to receive and expend a pro rata part of State revenue. The traditional concentration of the Jews in their communities, due to the necessity of maintaining close connection with the synagogue, has given further impetus to the spirit of separatism and cleavage from the rest of the population, which aggravates the Jewish question at the moment. It is frequently alleged that even in the Middle Ages Jewish separatism, commercial competition, and acquisitiveness aroused a certain irritation among the Polish masses, which has persisted as an inherited prejudice to the present day.