Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller - Old and Rare Books

Report on the Relief Accorded to Polish Citizens by the Polish Embassy in the USSR with Special Reference to Polish Citizens of Jewish Nationality. September, 1941 - April, 1943 [NOT FOR PUBLIC CIRCULATION]

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London: Printed by Geo Barber and Sons, 1943. First edition. Softcover. Quarto. 23, [1]pp. + fold-out map. Staple-bound white paper wrappers with red lettering on the front cover.

Polish citizens were first forcibly transported out of eastern Poland by the Soviets following their agreement with Nazi Germany to jointly annex and split the area of the Second Polish Republic, starting in September of 1939. However, Soviet-Polish relations drastically improved after June of 1941, with the dissolution of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and the Nazi invasion of the USSR during Operation Barbarossa. For a brief period between 1941 and 1943, the Polish government in exile re-established relations with the Soviet Union, setting up and embassy in Moscow, and as part of an amnesty deal, allowed the formation of a new Polish military force under the command of General Władysław Anders in Soviet territory, an evacuation of some Poles out of the USSR, and the establishment of an aid network to Polish refugees in Soviet territory. Relations deteriorated again after the Anders' Army had left Soviet territory and in the wake of the April 1943 discovery of the Katyn Massacre, which further drove a wedge between the two governments.

This fascinating historical report on the status of Polish refugees in the USSR, was produced by the Polish Embassy in the USSR. The report was compiled in August of 1943, in Teheran, one a number of diverse locations where a large number of Polish refugees had been transported at the time to keep them out of the way of German forces. Documented are all manner of statistics concerning the distribution of the aid to various refugee communities of Polish citizens deported or transported to the Soviet Union, and their locations. The organizations and the logistics involved in this relief efforts are thouroughly discussed. Special attention is given to the status of Polish Jews, within the broader context of these Polish nationals. Specific descriptions and a statistics relating to International Jewish support for these communities during this period is detailed. For example, p.19 documents the delivery of 675 cases of Passover Matza to 42 different locations during this period. There are numerous statistical tables throughout, and the final page includes a fold-out map, measuring a total of 15 x 9 3/4", which shows the locations of various Polish refugees scattered throughout areas of the Soviet Union, and what percentage of each community is Jewish.

Ex-library copy, with an ink stamp at the top of the front cover, as well as additional small stamps at the bottom of the interior front cover and at the bottom margins of a few other pages throughout. Wrappers with some very minor rippling, closed tears and chips to extremities. Minor rust stains near the staples. Interior clean throughout. Wrappers in very good, interior in near fine condition overall. Scarce. Protected in modern mylar. vg to near fine. Item #53769

Price: $3,500.00