Mr. ROZMAREK. Thank you, sir.

Mr. FELLOWS. I want to incorporate into the record, without objection, a report submitted by the chairman of the committee on displaced persons, Polish-American Congress, Inc.

(The report is as follows:)

THE POLISH DP's

The following statistics and documents have been obtained from the references noted and by personal observations of actual conditions existing in various DP camps throughout Europe visited by me during the summer and fall of 1946.

This brochure has been prepared with the hope that the plight of these homeless and forsaken people may be brought to light, that justice, freedom from want, and independence may finally come to those who fought with the Allies, but up to now have received treatment worse than that accorded a vanquished foe. Respectfully submitted.

IGNATIUS NURKIEWICZ,

Chairman, Committee on Polish Displaced Persons,
Polish American Congress, Inc.

DISPLACED PERSONS

(1) Who they are.

(2) Where they are.

(3) Why they are, where they are.

(4) What they want.

(5) Where they want to go.

(6) What they cost.

(7) UNRRA mistreatment.

(8) Camp organization.

(9) The Polish Union.

(10) What is the solution.

(11) Conclusion.

1. Who they are1

The Polish DP's may be divided into four groups:

First. Concentration-camp internees.-Principally children, women, and old men who were forced into concentration camps by the Germans when Poland was attacked at the outbreak of the war, or during the occupation.

Second. Labor-battalion personnel.-Principally young women, adolescent boys, and men who were forced by the German authorities to go to Germany to work in factories, mills, mines, etc.

Third. Prisoners of war.-Soldiers who were captured by the Germans when Poland was invaded by Germany and Russia.

Fourth. Home army members.—A conglomeration of all ages, both men and women, who were captured by the Germans after the Warsaw uprising.

NOTE. The above figures include 40,000 guard battalions in American zone; 1,700 garde civile in French

zone.

1 Polish American Congress, personal inspection of DP camps in Europe committee.

Of the above, 360,000 are civilians; 50,000 are PWX. The 40,000 PWX are in several camps, the largest of which is at Wentorf near Hamburg; 10,000 PWX in American zone.

The 360,000 civilians are in 200 camps in the British zone; 102 camps in the American zone; 25 camps in the French zone.

1 Survey Committee on Displaced Persons of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service.

The DP's remain in the camps firstly because they are stopped from returning to their homeland by fear of communism, and secondly, because the United Nations has too long delayed adopting and carrying out any definite policy to provide for the admitting of Polish DP's into other countries.

4. What they want

The desire of every DP, without exception, is the human desire phrased so well in the preamble to the Constitution of the United States, the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Polish DP's want a place in which to settle, raise a family, and live in peace with their neighbor.

5. Where they want to go

The Polish DP's would prefer to return to Poland, but only if Poland is free and independent with no Soviet domination and interference. Under existing conditions, however, the DP's wish to emigrate to the United States, France, Argentina, Canada, and other countries. None of the DP's wish to remain in Germany.

6. What they cost

From the records available, it is indicated that the average DP cost the people of the United States $100 per annum and unless a solution of the problem is found, most conservative estimates indicate that a period of 3 years more will be required during which this expenditure must be made. (The above $100 estimate is based upon 73 percent of UNRRA funds being supplied by the United States.)

7. UNRRA mistreatment

Sufficient blame and criticism cannot be placed upon the policies of UNRRA. By every possible means that organization which was supposed to provide aid, food, clothing, and medical supplies for the destitute of war-torn Europe has, by using those very essentials of life, threatened and coerced the Polish DP's to return to Poland. This policy was followed in spite of the fact that UNRRA had adequate knowledge that the majority of the DP's both feared and abhorred the Communist regime in Poland.

8. Camp organization

In the camps studied, at first hand, by the Polish American Congress Committee, camp organizations have been set up by the DP's themselves. Scraps of building material had been assembled to provide shelters; seeds had been planted and vegetable gardens developed; schools to instruct the young had been founded. In short, a return to the normal way of life, even under abnormal conditions, was beginning to blossom. The committee discovered that when the above conditions prevailed, the DP's were notified that they had to return to Poland or else be transferred to other camps, as the camp in which quasi-normal way of living had been established had to be abandoned. A more dastardly attempt at morale breaking has never been fostered upon any nationnot to mention an ally of the victorious nations.

9. The Polish Union

The Polish Union is an organization of all Poles in the three Western Zones of Germany.

Each DP camp in each zone has a local committee.

The local committee of each zone has a district association.

The district association of each of the three zones is named the Chief Council which is the supreme head as governing body of the Union.

10. What is the solution?

(1) The governmental agency in charge of DP's should consult with the Polish Union as to the most efficient treatment of the DP's.

(2) The governmental agency in charge of DP's should take special care to treat the DP's as allied and not like enemies in concentration camps.

(3) Idleness should be kept at a minimum by restoring to the DP's the right of organizing interior life of DP's by

(a) Encouraging gardening, sewing, craftsmanship of all kinds as well as professional training.

(b) Organizing elementary and secondary schools.

(c) Organizing professional associations and professional education

courses.

(d) Obtaining employment for Polish refugees.

(e) Organizing exhibitions, theaters, choirs, sporting events.

(f) Printing Polish books, pamphlets, newspapers, literature, etc.

(g) Assisting Polish students and promoting scouting activities.

(4) A citizens' committee should be established in the United States to aid in the repatriation of DP's and give to the DP's economic and financial assistance.

(5) Religious care and guidance should be assured to the DP's.

(6) One of the most urgent measures in that DP's should be permitted to correspond using the Polish language.

(7) The paramount need of displaced persons is for a country of permanent residence, whether it be attained through repatriation to their countries of origin, or through settlement in a new country.

CONCLUSION

The DP's of whatever country deserve preferential treatment. Most of them, physically or morally, have fought for the Allies; all have suffered deprivation

almost beyond human endurance. Poland was the first nation to fight the common enemy of democracy-the world must not forget. The solution of the Polish DP's must be found.

Many reports have been published, many surveys made, and many statistics gathered pertaining to the persons displaced by war in Europe, Eurasia, and the Orient. This brief treatise deals with the DP's of one nation-the DP's of one of the victorious Allies-the DP's of forgotten Poland.

Report on Polish schools, teachers, and students in Germany, as of Oct. 1, 1946

REPORT TO SECRETARY BYRNES ON CONDITIONS IN POLISH DISPLACED-PERSONS CAMPS IN THE AMERICAN ZONE OF OCCUPATION IN GERMANY

The Polish American Congress delegation upon completion of a 13-day inspection tour of Polish displaced-persons camps in the American zone of occupation in Germany, presented the following report to Secretary Byrnes in Paris on Friday, October 11, 1946, during a long conference in which President Charles Rozmarek, vice president I. Nurkiewicz, and editor Karol Burke participated.

CONDITIONS IN DP CAMPS UNSATISFACTORY

On September 11, 1946, the Polish American Congress delegation conferred with you at Hotel Meurice, Paris. Upon being informed that this delegation intended to visit the Poles in the displaced persons camps in the American zone of occupation in Germany, you requested us to file a brief report of our observations of the conditions prevailing there.

We spent 13 days in Germany. The conditions in the camps visited were unsatisfactory. We therefore request you to employ every available means at your disposal to correct them.

The American military authorities extended to us every courtesy. We were able to view any camp we desired. General Huebner, General Michelson, Colonel Biddle, Colonel Prather, Colonel Haroldson, Colonel Seitz, and Major Hughes were very considerate and obliging. They are fine American officers who uphold the best traditions of our American Army. Colonel Haroldson and Major Hughes accompanied us to the various camps.

Among the Poles in Germany there are two broad classes of people: the civilians and the military people.

CIVILIANS

At present, the total number of Poles of all classes is about 195,000. Among them are 160,000 deportees, political refugees, and former prisoners of war-all classified as displaced persons. The remaining 35,000 Poles are enrolled in guard companies in the service of the United States Army.

UNRRA IN UNFAVORABLE LIGHT

Lately, the conditions under which these displaced persons must live have become more unbearable. The following problems have been created by the UNRRA authorities to force repatriation.

1. The amount of food is insufficient and the quality is inferior. These Poles do not live but merely exist. The diet is the same and is not varied. The same soup is offered every day until the sight of pea soup becomes unbearable. And the housing conditions are also deplorable. We saw 13 persons-8 adults and 5 children-crowded into one room. The adults were four couples. Three of the children were in cradles. There was no partition of any kind to separate one family from the other. Hence there was no privacy.

UNWARRANTED SHIFTING OF POLES

2. The Poles live in constant fear of transfer from one camp to another. This action tends to demoralize a freedom-loving man. In many instances, these Poles made a building habitable through their work and ingenuity. Then they are suddenly uprooted, and must leave behind them their fine vegetable gardens, personal belonging, and other conveniences which they themselves had constructed.

We recommend that this constant shifting of Poles from one camp to another be discontinued.

SCHOOLS CLOSED BY UNRRA

3. The schools-both for general and technical education-should be opened. the UNRRA authorities have closed them. UNRRA wants all education to be supervised and conducted by instructors approved by representatives of the Warsaw regime. The displaced Poles are opposed to having their children taught by people whose conception of democracy is so different from theirs. We recommend that the parents have the right to approve the selection of instructors who are to teach their children.

POLISH NEWSPAPERS SUSPENDED

4. The publications of Polish newspapers has been suspended. All non-German press must procure a license from the American Military Authorities. Although UNRRA has no jurisdiction in granting licenses, nevertheless, UNRRA is opposed to the issuance of a license to any Polish newspaper whose publication is not approved by representative of the Warsaw regime. The Poles feel that they are entitled to the freedom of the press, so that they can read the other side of all issues which affect their welfare.

We recommend that the Poles be granted at least three licenses to publish newspapers in Regensburg, Munich, and Frankfurt. These licenses are to be exclusive of any number that may be granted the representatives of the Warsaw regime.

JOURNALISTS MISTREATED

5. The Polish journalists are harassed and annoyed. In June 1946 UNRRA issued orders depriving the residents of the Jornalists' Home at Eppstein of food. They based these orders upon the ground that the Polish weekly Tygodnik was in opposition to the Warsaw regime and to repatriation. Among the victims of