I Saw Poland Betrayed: an American Ambassador Reports to the American People

by Arthur Bliss Lane

"Ciechnowski reports that he was unable to see President Roosevelt"

Genres: History, Poland, Nonfiction

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

Reviews

[Anne Cupero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah politics. Such sadness for so many people for so many years. An excellent paean to the people of Poland for having to hear how much of a friend the United States was, to their betrayal by the powers that be, since Yalta and Potsdam. And here we are in 2018, still playing the shell game. And so many innocent people, harassed, put to death, unable to have free elections, unable to live as they wanted, with the tacit agreement of the US government. Kudos to Ambassador Lane for retiring and then publishing this, validating his personal feeling about what SHOULD have happened in Poland.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely captivating read - finished in two sittings. Great first hand account of Soviet negotiation tactics and American/British naivety. Important book for anyone wanting to understand how the Cold War could have been avoided.

The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

[Tomasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic first-hand relation of the times in Poland between the warsaw uprising 1944 and the falisified elections in january 1947 wchich doomed Poland into 44 years of being soviet colony (or rather formalised it).

A slight different take on the intententions of westerns countries at Yalta and Potsdam conferences then it is usually depicted in polish histography.

The book is also a good set of facts on eastern european history that are either forgoten or altered during half century of soviet propaganda.

[JW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur Bliss Lane was the American ambassador to Poland from 1944 to 1947. In this memoir he described how the United States, against his strong opposition, acquiesced in the Soviet establishment of a subservient Communist regime in that country. Roosevelt was committed to working with Stalin to both defeat Germany and build the postwar order. In his meeting with Roosevelt on November 20, 1944, Lane argued that the US, then at the height of its wartime strength, was in a position to insist on Polish independence. Roosevelt replied with annoyance, “Do you want me to go to war with Russia?” The Americans had no intention of doing so, and so had no leverage in postwar Poland.
This paperback edition was published by Western Islands, an imprint of the John Birch Society. It did not include the appendix of the original edition which contained the texts of diplomatic notes between Poland and the United States.

[Bellcap1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished, "I Saw Poland Betrayed" by Arthur Bliss Lane. It was a summary of his time as Ambassador in Poland, he resigned his position in protest. Historically speaking it is interesting, but the lessons one can draw from it are almost totally about morals, the morals of 1946. Technology has so transformed life in the intervening time that totalitarian regimes can no longer operate with the scale and latitude of the Soviet Union. I think from that perspective it is limited in its' appeal. Lane attempts to outrage the reader as if to crusade against the injustices of the cold war Russian state yet even he realizes that, short of war, the Soviets respect nothing but naked power.

[Karim Mansouri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author goes into a lot of detail on how America betrayed Poland and the American people by not standing up against the Communist USSR. America and Britain were supposed to let people have self determination in how they want to live, what government and country they want to be, America went along with the communists and allowed the communists to take whatever country that they wanted. The author explains this in his first hand knowledge as he was an ambassador to Poland.