IN DEFENCE OF MY COUNTRY - Jędrzej Giertych P-3, THE POLISH CORRIDOR

THE POLISH CORRIDOR

Profesor App protests against the settlement of Versailles by saying that “the Corridor’’ (he repeats this word several times) has been made a part of Poland in consequence off “Poland’s chauvinistic disregard of self- determination after World War I” and that “World War II erupted because Polish Catholics refused to honour the principle off self-determination to Danzig and the Corridor”.

He has even the temerity to appeal to Pope John Paul 11 for “justice” and “repentance” and asks “Is Poland, is a Polish Pope in a good position to press for international justice?”

Mr. App appeals to moral principles and — at a different place of his letter — speaks of “repentance” as an obligation to which the Pope should call “his chauvinist­ic fellow Poles”.

It is indeed good that a German, when speaking about Polish-German relations, speaks not only about force, but also about morality. He obviously wants to take the Corridor away from Poland. I would like to remind him that by doing this he sins against the 10th Commandment. And by approving verbatim (“Germany re-captured Danzig and the Corridor”) the Hitlerite robbery of Polish territory in 1939 and by implication a similar Prussian robbery in 1772 and Teutonic robbery in 1308 he approves the sins, committed by the German nation against the 7th Command­ment.

I would first off all like to remind him that the territory which he calls “Corridor” is historically a part of Poland and has and always had a Polish population.

I am quite sure that Prof. App is able to find in some German or general library in the U.S.A. a copy of the sixth edition of the great pre-1914 German encyclopaedia “Meyers Grosses Konversations-Lexikon”, published by the Bilbliographisches Institut of Leipzig and Vienna. I would like him to look into volume 16 of that edition oSf the encyclopaedia. It was printed in 1907. He will find in it between pages 744 and 745 a coloured map, showing the results of the January-February 1907 election to the German Parliament (Reichstag) and a list of deputies elected in all constituencies of the German Reich in that election.

He will see that the territory which can be called a “Corridor”, separating Eastern Prussia from the German Reich was in 1907 divided into four constituencies (elector­al districts): those of Neustadt (in Polish: Wejherowo), Berent (Kościerzyna), Konitz (Chojnice) and Schwetz (Świecie). In all these constituencies Polish Nationalists have been elected in 1907. On the back of the map he will find their names. They were called: Janta-Połczyński, Brejski, Kulerski and Sas-Zaworski. Beside each name the word “Pole” is duly printed.

I shall add to this the important information that in three of these four constituencies (Schwetz or Swiecie was the only exception), never, in all the elections to the Ger­man Reichstag between 1871 and 1918 (actually: in 13 elections: 187)1, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1881, 1884, 1887, 1800, 1893, 1898, 1903, 1907 and 1912) has any other deputy been elected except a Polish Nationalist. I shall also add that after all these elections, at the beginning of every new Parliament, all the Polish Nationalist deputies, in­cluding of course also those from the “Corridor”, made together a statement, protesting against the inclusion o'f Prussian Poland, i.e. of their constituencies, into the Ger­man Reich.

I publish in this booklet a photograph of the above mentioned, German map. And for clarity’s sake, also a copy of a part of that map, in black and white, made by myself, showing in black the constituencies in Prussian Poland and in Upper Silesia, in which in 1907 Polish Nationalists have been elected. I added to this, in black stripes, the constituen­cies which in 1907 elected non-Polish deputies, but which — according to a similar map, printed in 1896 in the volume XIV of the fifth edition of the same German encyclopaedia, between the pages 586 and 567 — elected Polish National­ists in the election of 1893. I also added, in red, the frontiers of the Versailles settlement, as well as the front­iers of Prussian Poland as they existed between 1815 and 1918 and the frontiers of Prussian Silesia.

Professor App in fact does not say what he considers to be the Polish Corridor. By reading his text one obtains the impression that he considers all parts of former Prussian Poland which returned after Versailles to Poland — including the city Of Poznań in which the first Polish bishopric was founded in 968 and the city of Gniezno, the first capital city Of Poland, the seat of the first Polish archbishopric founded in 1000 and until today the seat of the Primate of Poland, i.e. the Polish equivalent of the English Canterbury — to be parts of the Corridor. It will be therefore useful to consider here, on the basis of the same electoral map of 1907, not only the four constituen­cies mentioned aibove, but the whole territory in question.

This teritory — I am speaking only of the part of the former territory of Prussian Poland which was returned to Poland by the Versailles settlement — consisted of 19 constituencies. In these in the election of 1907 — 15 Polish Nationalists and 4 Germans (2 National-Liberals, 1 Con­servative and 1 member of the Reichspartei) were elected. Not a bad show Of the real will of the people.

A separate problem was Upper Silesia which was not strictly speaking a part of Prussian Poland. In the Upper Silesian territory which in consequence Of the Versailles settlement became a part of Poland, in all two and a half constituencies (Pless-Pszczyna, Kattowitz-Katowice and half of Lublinitz-Lubliniec) Polish Nationalists were elect­ed in 1907. And in two and a half more constituencies (Oppeln - Opole, Beuthen - Bytom and half of Lubliniec) Polish Nationalists have also been elected, but these con­stituencies did not come to Poland but remained under Ger­man rule till 1945.

 One should rememeber that it is very difficult to win an election under foreign rule. This is best shown on the same map of the 1907 election in Alsace-Lorraine: in the 15 constituencies in that province only 7 pro-French Alsaee- Lorrainian deputies have been elected, but besides them 8 Germans (5 members of the Catholic Centre party, 2 German Socialists and 1 member of the Reichspartei). The ruling administrative system always influences the elec­tions to some extent.

The elections show the will of the people. The ethnical character of the population is better shown by the linguist- ical statistics.

I reproduce in this booklet also a diminished replica of a map of the results of the Prussian census of 19110, drawn by a German author and published by a German publishing firm, namely by Justus Perthes in Gotha under the title “Nationalitätenkarte der östlichen Provinzen des Deutschen Reichs nach den Ergebnissen der amtlichen Volkszählung vorn Jahre 19110, entworfen von Inig. Jacob Spett”.

It shows, by communes, the Polish and German linguistic majorities in the Eastern provinces of the Ger­man Reich as it existed in 1910. One can see from this map that the “Corridor” was an almost purely Polish country, inhabited by an overwhelming majority of a Polish speaking population.

Some critiques have been put forward against this map by German propagandists between the wars, who pretended that the author of the map should have marked with different colours territories in which the peasant population speaks Cassubian, Mazurian, Varmian or Upper- Silesian. Such critique is as unjustified as an opinion would be that the inhabitants of Bavaria, WiirtemJberg and Baden do not speak German, but Bavarian, Swabian and Allemanic. It is of course true that peasant populations in Poland speak in every comer of Poland a slightly different dialect, but these dialects differ from each other and from the standard literary idiom much less than the three above mentioned dialects of the German language. The populat­ions in question are fully aware that by speaking their dialects they speak Polish. And besides, the standard Polish literary idiom is and always was the language of educated people of the territories in question, and also books, prayer books, bibles, newspapers, private corres­pondence, as well as sermons, prayers and song in church.

Eastern Pomerania — as the territory in question is actually called — is historically a Polish country. In the Dark Ages it was inhabited by Polish tribes. After the christianisation of Poland in 966 it formed uninterruptedly till 1308 either an integral part of the Polish kingdom, or a duchy or a group of duchies under the local rulers,

The above is a coloured photograph of a map from the Meyers Grosses
K on v er sa,t lens - Lexikon. Volume XVI, 1907 edition, between the pages

744-745

On pages 56-57 a fajsoimilie of the same map, in black and white
and in larger scale.

On page 58 — a list of elected deputies from the reverse of the same map. In the “Provinz W es tpreussen’ ’, “Proviniz Poeen” and “Provinz Schlesiiien” the districts where Polish deputies were elected are marked on the marigin with a waivy line.

On page 60 is the title page of the volume from which the map is taken

but under the suzereinty of the Polish king. In 1308 when it was a direct possession of the all - Polish ruler (who became king in 3.320), it has been treacherously occupied by the Teutonic Order which ruled (East­ern) Prussia and was afterwards in Teutonic hands for 146 years till 1454. About the circumstances of the Teutonic conquest I shall write later, when speaking about Gdańsk. Here I shall limit myself to saying that the Teutonic aggression was so manifestly illegal and usurpatory that it caused two lawsuits before the court of the Pope in 1320-1321 and 1339 (not counting such spontaneous inter­ventions as the one Of Pope Clement V Of 19th June 1310), terminated by the verdicts of 10th February 1321 and 15th September 1339, ordering the Teutonic Order to return Eastern Pomerania (and other territories) to Roland and to pay Poland high indemnities. These verdicts remained unfulfilled, however.

The two above mentioned lawsuits belong to the best documented ones in all the Middle Ages. The depositions of 25 witnesses in the first of them and of 126 in the second, are an invaluable source of information about medieval life, tat particularly about the brutality and cruelty of the Teutonic Order and its members and soldiers during their aggression against Poland, which has caused the 146 years of Teutonic rule in Eastern Pomerania^[1]). I am giving in this book as samples of evidence, copies of pages of a publication of 1890, in Latin, reproducing testimonies made in 1320 and 1339.

On 4th February 1454 the Polish population of Eastern Pomerania — and with it also a substantial part of Ger­man settlers who established themselves under Teutonic rule in East Pomeranian cities — rose against the Teutonic oppressors, expelled them from their country and called the king of Poland, Casimir IV, to come to East Pomerania

^[10]     The most up to date summing up of the historical evidence concerning the Polish-Teutonic conflict about Eastern Pomerania is contained in the book by Helena ChJopoeka “Procesy Polski z Zako­nem Krzyżackim w XIV wieku. Studium źródłoznawcze”. (The Law­suits between Poland and the Teutonic Order in the 14th century. A Study about sources). Poznań 1967, Historical Commission of the Poznańskie Tow. Przyjaciół Nauk, vol. XXIII, issue 1.

and accept their oath of allegiance, which he did on the 23rd May of the same year in the city of Toruń. This caused am outbreak of the 13-years war between the Teutonic Order and Poland — a manifestly “just war” from the Polish point of view — which was ended by the “Second peace of Toruń”, signed on 19th October 1466. According to that treaty Eastern Pomerania (and Varmia) returned to Poland and Teutonic Eastern Prussia became a vassal of Poland.

Eastern Pomerania remained a part of Poland for the next 306 years. It is only in the First Partition of Poland in 1772 that it was invaded and conquered by the successor of the Teutonic Order, the king of Prussia, Frederick the Great^[12]).

This German ruler himself explained very well the motives and the conditions of his aggression against the territory which Professor App and. others call now “the Polish Corridor”. Four years (before his attack against Poland he wrote in his Testament of 1768: “In Poland, our frontiers make our attack easy, 'because they surround that land by half. Who possesses the course of the Vistula and Gdańsk is more the master of the country than the king who is its ruler’’^[3]).

How clear are the ideas expressed here by the well known king of Prussia, victor in the 7-years war and destructor of Poland! The “Corridor” is indispensable for Poland for her independence; without having it, Poland is

[2]    The cities of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Toruń remained parts of Polana till the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. In Napoleonic times the southern part of Eastern Pomerania, with the cities of Toruń, Chełmno, Grudziądz and Brodnica, returned to the Polish mini-state called the Duchy of Warsaw, and Danzig became a free city under French protectorate. This situation lasted from 1807 till 1815.

[3]    It is better to give these words in the original German version. “In Polen erleichtern uns unsere Grenzen den Einmarsch, da sie dieses Land zur Hälfte einschliessen. Wer den Weichsellauf und Danzig beherrscht, ist mehr Herr des Landes als der König, der es regiert”. (Friedrich II, König von Preussen, “Die politischen Testamente”, Berlin 1922, Klassiker der Politik, Volume 5, page 223).

only nominally independent, it becomes the vassal of Prussia.

And it is very easy for Prussia to attack Poland, because the “Corridor” is so narrow and so vulnerable.

We understand now why Hitler attacked the Corridor in 11939. He did it, because he wanted to destroy Poland. And he did it because the Corridor was so narrow and so vulnerable.

And we understand also, why Professor App is now attacking the Corridor. Because he wants to destroy Poland. He expresses here the secret desires of a substantial part of the German nation, whose desire and dream is to see Poland annihilated.

One could ask, why has the Corridor been so narrow not only in the years 1919-il939, but also in the years before 1772?

In fact, previously, the access of Poland to the Baltic Sea was wide and comfortable. The corridor, with its ports of Gdańsk (Danzig) and Elbląg (Ellbing) and the Royal Polish naval base at Puck, was a direct possession of Poland. But this direct access was supplemented by several indirect accesses. In the East, Poland was for several centuries in possession of access to the sea through the territory of present day Latvia, — directly through the Port of Riga (11506-11621) and indirectly through the Polish protectorate of Courland (1561-1795, with ports of Leepaja or Liibau and Vendspils or Windau). And also of an indirect access through Eastern Prussia which was between 1466- 1657 a Polish protectorate too. (Ports of Konigsberg- Królewiec, Memel-Kłajpeda nad Pillau-Pilawa).

On the other hand, Poland could in fact use, to the West, the ports of the friendly country of Western Pomerania, and above all, Szczecin (Stettin), the great port at the mouth of the Oder. Western Pomerania originally belonged to Poland, but later became a separate Slavonic state, with a ruling house, related by blood to the oldest Polish royal house. This little state was nominally, — in the same way as some other non-Germanic states, such as Czech Bohemia, or French Burgundy and Savoy, — under the suzereinship of the German Empire, but in spite of this it was closely connected politically and commercially with Poland. But in 1637 the West Pomeranian dynasty died out and in the turmoil of the 30-years war the country became in 1648 partitioned between Brandenburgand Sweden. Aind between the years 1720 and >1814 Brandenburg- Prussia took possession of the different parts of Swedish Pomerania bit by bit and at the same time shook off in 1657 the dependence of Eastern Prussia from Poland. In this way, the wide Polish direct and indirect access to the sea became approximately since 1648 and 1657 the narrow “Polish Corridor”. And remained so, for 115 or 124 years till the First Partition of Poland in 1772. (The indirect supplementary access of Poland to the sea through the ports of Courland however continued to exist till the Third Partition of Poland in 1795).

These 115 or 124 years before Poland’s partitions, as well as the 20 years (1919-1939) between the two world wars and before the attack upon Poland by Hitler’s Ger­many have proven that the Corridor is an insecure solution of the problem of Poland’s access to the sea and that Poland, having such a corridor, was in danger of being destroyed by Germany.

Frederick the Great, Hitler and today’s Professor App and other people like him were and are of the opinion that the Corridor should be taken over by Germany and Poland should be destroyed. Also such people as Mr. Lloyd George of Britain were of that opinion — and contributed greatly by this attitude to the outbreak of the Second World War.

The destruction of the Corridor (and of Poland) is one possible solution of the problem in question. But there is also quite a different solution possible: the return to the situation of the years before 1657 or 1648 and making Poland’s access to the sea so large that it would cease to be a Corridor.

This solution was put forward by Roman Dmowski in his Memorandum of July 1917 and in his suggestions made at the Versailles conference: he wanted to extend the Corridor to the East, by making East Prussia an autonomous state loosely connected to Poland, and also by building political. and economic ties between Poland and Lithuania, by making Memel (Kłajpeda) a Lithuanian port and by giving an additional access to the sea to Poland by that port. (He also wanted to put the Western frontier of Polish Pomerania slightly further to the West).

Interrogatus, an timore etc., respondit, quod causa iustide, quia vidi quod multi de Pomorania venerunt in Brescze vulnerati et sanguinolenti.

    Discretus vir dominus Hernicus plebanus de Mylovancz¹) Wladislaviensis dyo- cesis, XX testis, propositis et tactis sanctis Dei Evangeliis iuravit secundum formam predictam, et sic iuratus et interrogatus, lecta sibi prima intentione que sic incipit: io™«. Hos Ph. etc., an vera sint que in ipsa continentur, respondit, quod vora sunt. In­terrogatus, quomodo sibi hoe constaret, respondit, quod vidi et scio, quod dominus rex Wladislaus, tunc dux, captitavit Petrum Svencz, et opida munivit, iurisdiccionem in dicta terra tamquam dominus exercuit temporalem. Ad secundam intentionem, lecta sibi per totum, que sic incipit: Item, quod illustres principes etc., an vera sint que in ipsa continentur, respondit, quod vera sunt. Interrogamus, quomodo hoc sciret, respondit, quod domini duces Primislius et Kasimirus possederunt Pomora- niam, et hoc scio quia fui in terra, edam prope ubi erat dux. Ad tertiam inten­tionem, lecta sibi per totum, que sic incipit: Item, quod magister et fratres etc., an vera sint que in ea continentur, respondit, quod sic. Interrogatus, qualiter sibi hoc constet, respondit, quod Cruciferi eiecerunt dominum regem, tunc ducem, vide­licet homines suo nomine tenentes, sicut Boguscham et alios, de castro Gdanczfc, et hoc scio, quia fui in terra predicta quando Cruciferi expugnato dicto castro Gdanczlt multos homines occiderunt, ita quod etiam canes sanguinem humanum lambebant; et unum militem de campanili ecclesie traxerunt et occiderunt, et alium, qui confiteri volebat, a confessore traxerunt, non permittentes confiteri ipsum occi­derunt, et hoc scio, quia fui ibi in terra. Interrogatus, an de hoc esset publica vox et fama, respondit, quod notorium est, quia hoc nullus ignorat in partibus illis et vicinis. Interrogatus de anno, respondit: non recordor. Interrogatus, an odio etc., respondit, quod non, sed in conscientia mea dico causa iusticie.

   Honorabilis vir magister Petrus cantor Wladislaviensis, XXI testis, propositis “'• e»¹¹»* et tactis sanctis Dei Evangeliis iuravit secundum formam predictam, et sic iuratus'“ _4isi. *" et interrogatus, lecta sibi prima intentione que sic incipit: Nos Ph. etc., utrum vera sint que in ipsa continentur, respondit, quod vera sunt. Interrogatus, quomodo sibi hoc constet, respondit: ego fui cum ducibus Cuyavie... et in comitiva regis, tunc ducis, ivi usque in Bysschow²) in metis Pomoranie et vidi, quod tunc milites occurre­runt domino Wladislao regi, tunc duci, et eum tamquam dominum receperunt; vidi etiam, quod ipse dominus Wladislaus iudicavit Pomoranos, et audivi et presens fui quod Petrus Syentze et alii nobiles resignaverunt sibi castra, que sic recepta assi­gnavit ducibus Cuyavie Primislio et Kasymiro suo nomine tenenda, qui eciarn ipsius regis nomine castra et totam Pomoraniam possederunt pacifice et quiete. Interro­gatus, an etiam predecessores domini regis fixerint in possessione Pomoranie, re­spondit, quod sic, quia rex Primislius fuit in possessione; hoc scio, quia uterinus frater meus Clemens servivit eidem regi Primislio et cum eo sepius in Pomoraniam equitavit. Ad tertiam intentionem, lecta sibi per totum, que sic incipit: Item, quod magister et fratres etc., an vera sint que in ipsa continentur, respondit, quod vera sunt. Interrogatus, quomodo sibi hoc constet, respondit: constat michi, quod ho­mines ducis Kasymiri et ipse dux Kasymirus electi per Cruciferos venerunt et nun­tiaverunt hoc duci Primislio, quod essent eiccti per machinas et balistas, et aliqui ex eis erant sagittati; hoc scio, quia fui presens quando nuntii venerant et hoc

1) Milobadz pod Tczewem. — ²) Bysowa pod Gdanskiem.

prodictam honestas vestibus suis exspoliaverunt et aliquas omnino sicut digitum in manu denudaverunt, ac cistas seu archas depositas infra dictam ecclesiam per homines dicti loci cum rebus suis ad salvandum et custodiendum ea fregerunt et res quas i invenerunt in eis secum portaverunt et rapuerunt, et interfectis sex hominibus quos ipse testis qui loquitur sepelivit, dictum opidum de Siradia cum claustro Predicato- ‘ rum et castro dicti loci igne concremaverunt et incineraverunt, ita quod nichil re­mansit in eo nisi XII tuguria et ecclesia Predicatorum et ecclesia Omnium Sanctorum dicti loci, quia totum residuum fuit crematum per eos ut dixit Interrogatus si vidit cremari per dictos Cruciferos alias villas in circuitu dicti opidi de Siradia, dixit quod non vidit si cremaverunt eas vel non, quia tantum timorem habebat et se­curus erat, quod non curabat respicere, nec sciebat ubi erat bono modo, ita turbatus erat ut dixit. Interrogatus quomodo scit quod essent Cruciferi, dixit, quia habebant crucem nigram in scutis eorum. Interrogatus, quantum tempus est, dixit, quod non recordatur. Interrogatus si prece, precio vel spe premii vel remuneracionis vel pro­missi, vel si odio, amore, timore, vel comodo vel incomodo suo vel alieno inductus vel subornatus presens dixit testimonium, dixit quod non, sed causa veritatis et quia ita vidit et veritas est, sicut superius deposuit.

XCIX Text.     Paulus monetarius, civis seu opidanus de Siradia, testis citatus, productus, iuratus et diligenter examinatus singulariter et sigillarim super XXIII articulo dato pro parte domini regis Polonie contra magistrum, commendatores et fratres Cruci­feros de Prussia sibi lecto et vulgarizato, quia super aliis articulis noluit procurator dicti domini regis quod examinaretur vel interrogaretur, sed solum super XXIII ar­ticulo, qui incipit: Item probare intendit, quod idem magister et fratres cum eodem exercitu et tempore continuato agressi opidum Siradie etc. interrogatus dixit vera esse, que in presentt articulo continentur. Interrogatus quomodo hoc scit, dixit, quia ipse testis qui loquitur, cum exercitus dictorum Cruciferorum veniret ad dictum opidum Siradie, fuit per eos vulneratus ad mortem, sed postmodum fuit portatus ad ecclesiam dicti opidi et in ea vidit, quod mulieres que fugierant ad dictam ecclesiam spoliaverunt et aliquas denudaverunt omnino sicut digitum in manu, et omnes cistas seu archas que erant in ecclesia portate per cives dicti opidi cum rebus suis fregerunt et res que erant in eis secum portaverunt. Dixit etiam, quod ecclesiam Predicato­rum ibidem spoliaverunt omnino, et cistas quas eciam reposuerant seu portaverant cives dicti opidi in dicta ecclesia Predicatorum cum rebus bonis suis fregerunt, et quitquid in eis invenerunt, rapuerunt et portaverunt secum, et mulieres eciam spo­liaverunt et denudaverunt eciam in dicta ecclesia Predicatorum. Dixit eciam, quod VI homines interfecerunt in dicto opido, quos ipse testis qui loquitur vidit mortuos, et unum vidit actu interfici qui vocabatur Szczodrak, et deinde totum opidum et castrum et aliquas domos Predicatorum igne concremaverant, ita quod nichil remansit in dicto opido, nisi XII hospicia parva et prava. Interrogatus, quomodo scit quod essent Cruciferi, respondit, quod non potuit discernere arma eorum, quia turbatus erat ex vulneribus que fecerunt sibi ct, quia erant armati. Interrogatus de aliis villis in circuitu dicti opidi dixit, quod fuerunt omnes spoliate et cremate sient po- • nitur, quia ipse testis' qui loquitur, antequam fuisset vulneratus per eos, videbat et vidit ignem et fumum in dictis villis, et postmodum fuit in loco de Chartholnpia ubi vidit, ct invenit ecclesiam crematam cum villa, et adhuc vidit quod erat ignis ubi. erat ecclesia ut dixit. Dixit eciam, quod omnibus bonis et pecoribus spoliaverunt dictas villas. Interrogatus de tempore, dixit quod est modo VIII annus, et fuit

CIV T. Frater Iolianneg Romka de Ordine Predicatorum, testis citatus, productus, juratus et diligenter examinatus singulariter et sigillarim super XXIII articulo, dato pro parte domini regis Polonie contra magistrum, commendatores et fratres Cruci- feros de Prussia, quia super aliis articulis noluit procurator dicti domini regis quod examinaretur, sed solum super XXIII articulo, qui incipit: Item probare intendit, quod idem magister et fratres cum eodem exercitu et continuato tempore agressi opidum Siradie etc. interrogatus dixit verum esse, prout in presenti articulo poni­tur. Interrogatus de causa sciencie dixit, quia ipse testis qui loquitur vidit et pre- sens fuit in dicto opido Siradie quando dicti Cruciferi venerunt et intraverunt dictum opidum Siradie, et tunc ipse testis qui loquitur fugiit ad silvam, et in silva ascen­dens unam altam arborem vidit castrum et opidum cremari per dictos Cruciferos et audivit de dicta arbore ubi stabat tumultum et clamorem, quem faciebant quando frangebant cistas civium dicti opidi et ipsius ecclesie Predicatorum, quas portaverunt dicti cives cum rebus eorum ad dictam ecclesiam in ecclesia eorumdem; et demum post recessum eorum veniens de silva ad dictum opidum et ecclesiam eorumdem, vidit et invenit cistas omnes fractas et sacristiam eorum et cellas, et equos portave­rant secum, ornamenta ecclesie et unum calicem deauratum et quitquid potuerunt invenire rapuerunt et secum portaverunt. Dixit etiam se audivisse, quod fuerunt duo homines interfecti per eos in dicto opido. Interrogatus, quot anni sunt, dixit quod

82. 82. prout melius recordatur | currit IX annus. Interrogatus, quomodo cognovit quod essent Cruciferi, dixit quod scit quod fuerunt Cruciferi, sed nescivit discernere arma eorum vel signa, quia tantum timorem habuit illo tunc, quod non curabat de signis eorum nec respicere talia. Dixit -etiam, quod est notorium omnibus illis qui fuerunt in dicto opido et locis circumvicinis; plura nescit nec aliter de contentis in dictis arti­culis. Interrogatus si prece, precio vel spe renumerationis vel promissi, vel si odio, amore, timore, vel comodo vel incomodo suo vel alieno inductus vel motus presens tulit seu dixit testimonium, dixit quod non, sed causa veritatis, et quia ita vidit et veritas est ut dixit.

cv 7. Dominus Lestko dux Wladislaviensis, litteratus et miles, testis citatus, pro­ductus, iuratus et diligenter examinatus singulariter et sigillarim super articulis datis pro parte domini regis Polonie contra magistrum, commendatores et fratres Cruci­feros de Prussia; et primo super primo articulo, qui incipit: In primis probare intendit, quod terra Culmensis etc. interrogatus dixit esse, vera que in presenti arti­culo ponuntur. Interrogatus de causa sciencie dixit, quod dux Conradus dominus illius terre Culmensis concessit eam ad tempus dictis Cruciferis, qui tunc erant, pro expu­gnatione Pruthenoruin et Lithwanorum qui erant ultra flumen Ossa, et eis expu­gnatis, debebant restituere dictam terram Culmensem dicto duci Conrado seu eius successori. Dixit etiam, quod ipse testis qui loquitur vidit et legit privilegium quod fuit factum de dicta concessione dicte terre Culmensis, quod erat sigillatum sigillo magistri generalis qui tunc erat et vocabatur Papo (sic). Dixit etiam, quod pluries vidit et tenuit dictum privilegium. Dixit eciam, quod dux Boleslaus, patruus suus de Mazovia, monstravit sibi illud privilegium, ut recordaretur quod ipsi habebant ius in dicta terra Culmensi usque ad flumen Ossa, et si non possent eam recupe­rare, quod recordarentur saltim post mortem suam ut eam recuperarent si possent. Interrogatus, quantum tempus est quod vidit et tenuit dictum privilegium, respondit quod vix sunt XX anni, et est publica vox et fama de predictis. Interrogatus quid sit vox et fama publica, respondit, quod homines sciunt et locuntur.

At present, the core of Eastern Prussia has become a part of Russia and also Lithuania became annexed by Russia.

But the Corridor can also be enlarged by being extended towards the West. This is, probably, what the great English Catholic author, Hilaire Belloc had in mind, when he said: ‘ Perhaps in the long run the Baltic will be Polish”¹*.

This is what actually happened in 1945. Germany — and Germany’s friends all over the world — did not like the Polish Corridor. And somehow Fate, or rather God’s intervention, abolished the Polish Corridor, — but not in such a way as they wished, but by extending the Polish shore far West, to the mouth of the Oder. There is no Corridor any more. There is, like before 1648 and 1657, a long Polish sea shore, there is a Poland as a territorial block, securely leaning upon the Baltic sea coast.

And now one more important consideration.

The Corridor, as it existed between 1919 and 1939, has become part of Poland, because it had a Polish popul­ation and because it was a province — not much smaller as a human community than some independent nations, such e.g. as Estonia, or Albania, — which fervently wished to be a part of Poland. The Versailles solution was based on the will of the population of the territory in question.

But the problem had and also has another aspect. The resurrection in 1939 of the same Polish Corridor which existed before 1772 not only has fulfilled the will of its population, but has also given to Poland an access to the sea. And such a large country as Poland cannot exist without access to the sea and without maritime trade. In­deed, Frederick the Great was right, when saying that whoever possesses the territory of the Corridor “is more master of the country (of Poland) than the king” (or the government) who resides in Warsaw and “is its ruler”.

13) Proceded by the words: ,,It was a close thing, whether, with the dtevetopment of the modem world, (the Baltc should not be overshadowed, dorrrmated, by Poland rather thami toy Prussia a® it is at the moment". (Hilaire Belloc “Return to the Baltic”, London 1938, Constable & Co., page 145.) And later: ”The varying fortunes of the two cultures into which Europe split after the Reformation, their struggle to have the Baltic in their hands: to leave the Balltic a Protestant or a Catholic lake”. (Ibid, page 147.)

Poland between the wars was well connected, by a good railway system and (by roads with the landmass around her. She could conduct a trade overland, in a Western direction (towards Germany), to the East (to­wards Russia) and to the South (across Czechoslovakia and Rumania to the Danube basin, to Italy, to the Black Sea and to the Mediterranean). But in fact, roughly three quarters of her foreign trade went across the Baltic Sea, by her direct access to it, the port of Gdynia, which she built on her own territory, and by her indirect access, through the port of Gdańsk, or Danzig, in the Free City of Danzig. Here are the figures of her foreign trade in the last three years of peace, in 1936, 1937 and 1938.

POLAND'S FOREIGN TRADE

We can see from the above figures that before the Second World War between 77.2 and 77.9 percent (nearly fournfifths) of Poland’s foreign trade by volume and between 62.7 and 05.8 percent (about two thirds) of Poland’s foreign trade by value went through the ports of Gdynia and Danzig, i.e. through the “Corridor”. It is obvious that without that Corridor Poland economically was not able to live.

At present, having in direct possession three large ports (Gdynia, Gdahsk-Danzig and SzczecinnStettin), and several smaller ones (Kolobrzeg-Colfoerg and other), Poland is not only politically and strategically, but also commer­cially in a much better position than she was in the years 1919-1939.

13) “Poland’s Foreign Trade, with Data on Overland and Maritime Traffic”, “Concise Statistical Yearbook of Poland”, Sep­tember 1939 - June 1941. London 1941. The Polish Ministry of In­formation. Page 73.