A stormy debate took place in the Polish National Council today when a joint interpellation was made by the two Jewish deputies and by five non-Jewish members of the Council asking for on explanation of why Polish officials, when re-broadcasting to occupied Poland the text of a speech by Premier Sikorski, omitted the phrase in which the Polish Premier pledged equal treatment for Jews in post-war Poland.
The Polish Socialist leader, Ciolkosz, and the Polish-Jewish leader, Dr. Ignacy Schwarzbart, both members of the Council, stated at today’s session that they carefully listened to the broadcast and were startled to note that the phrase in Premier Sikorski’s text reading; “Jews will fully benefit from the blessings of victory in common and on equal terms with all Polish citizens,” was amended by the broadcaster who completely omitted the words “in common and on equal terms with all Polish citizens.” The Polish Premier delivered this speech at a meeting last month in Albert Hall here called by Jewish organizations to protest against Nazi atrocities in Poland.
Replying to the interpellation, Stanislaw Stronski, Polish Minister for Propaganda, denied that such an omission was made in the broadcast beamed to Poland from a London station. Despite this denial, some of the leaders of the Polish Socialist Party and the Polish Peasant Party charged from the floor that officials of the Polish Government-in-Exile are pursuing a double-faced policy of differentiating between statements intended for the world and those broadcast to the people in Poland.
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