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TRANSCRIPTION
4
Private
Diary
July 1936
--------------
A stormy fortnight - the European crisis
centred in Danzig and possibilities of all kinds
in the offing.
I think Germany came to the conclusion about
the end of May to reorient her policy. The League
was in collapse and in disarray; English prestige
had suffered through the Italian victory, which
came more quickly than military experts had
expected; and France with a Popular Front Government
faced a lot of internal difficulties. Perhaps the
first sign of its effects here was the organised
attack on an Opposition meeting, followed by
Forster's threats to take over the streets. The
ground was not particularly good in any case, but
Germany officially took a hand when a few days
afterwards, the local crisis having been settled,
the "Leipzig" Commander, under orders, omitted
to call on the League Commissioner.
Even a week before this I had been told by
von Radowitz that the day had not come when
Germany wanted to raise the Danzig question. Some
days after his return from Berlin, however, he
said to Papée at one of the "Leipzig" receptions
that he did not know anything about his Government's
plans. This was in reply to an enquiry
as to whether the "Leipzig" incident was to have
any special significance. The propaganda Ministry
in Berlin opened a fierce attack on me, beginning
with a Forster article declaring that the High
Commissioner interfered in internal affairs and
that but for the League of Nations all the Opposition
Parties here would long ago have disappeared
The article demanded revision of the Statute in so
far as the League guarantee of the Constitution
was concerned. The Poles then began to be somewhat
more concerned. Papée told me that he would
suggest to his Government his abstention from
at any rate the German Consul General's reception,
as a mark of disapproval of the German Government's
action, but this did not materialise. I was convinced
that the cruiser incident had considerable
significance. I would have in due course to
report the matter to Geneva, but I did not write
a word for three or four days and then drafted a
report which I aimed to make a model of objectivity
and restraint. I took the precaution,
however, to summarise with equal objectivity recent
events in Danzig, so that the Council might judge
if and to what extent the incident had arisen from
thos events. I gave Papée an outline of the
Report on the night of the 29th June, when I went
to ask him for permission to quote his Note
relating to attacks on Poles the previous week.
He seemed impressed with its moderation. The
following day, and before I had the Report quite
finished, an urgent telephone message from Geneva
on behalf of Eden as President of the Council,
summoned me to travel there by the quickest route.
I left within two hours, arriving at 11 p.m. on
July 1st. I was met by Walters, Stevenson and
Krabbe, etc. and whisked off for a two hours
discussion. They read my draft Report with approval.
I also had a short talk the same night
with Count Lubienski.
Language(s) of Transcription
LOCATION
Gdańsk (Poland) (54.3612, 18.5499)
Story Location
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
Language of Description
Keywords
External Web Resources
People
Albert Forster
Description: German politician (NSDAP), MdR, Gauleiter of the NSDAP and Reich Governor in Danzig
Wikidata Reference: Q704305
Ludvig Krabbe
Description: Danish diplomat
Jerzy Łubieński
Description: Acted as a representative of Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck in the Free City of Danzig
Wikidata Reference: Q111469215
STORY INFORMATION
Title
Diary 3: May 1936 - February 1937
Creator
Lester | Seán | 1888-1959
Contributor
Lester, Seán, 1888-1959
Seán Lester
Coverage
name=Twentieth century; start=1936-05-06; end=1937-02-01
Date
6 May 1936-1 February 1937
Type
Text
Rights
This collection has been digitised and made available by Dublin City University Library. Please credit Dublin City University Library when using these images, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Language
eng
Identifier
#ng45f7525
LandingPage
https://www.europeana.eu/item/707/_ng45f7525Country
Ireland
DatasetName
707__Dublin_City_University
Begin
1936-05-01
End
1937-02-28
Language
en
Created
2022-03-23T16:13:34.244Z
2022-03-23T16:14:08.313666Z
2022-03-23T16:14:08.314189Z
Story Description
Consists of unbound typed diary entries, documents and letters relating to Lester's final months as High Commissioner of the League of Nations in Danzig. Lester left Danzig on 22 December 1936 having been promoted to the position of Deputy Secretary General of the League. He took up his new appointment in Geneva on 16 January 1937. Includes document written by Lester outlining the context for the file: 'The following fragments are the only notes I have of my last six months in Danzig ... The reason they are so fragmentary ... was that the crisis in Danzig developed so quickly and in such uncertainty that I could not safely keep any record of certain matters, either in my house or my Office. For three months at any rate I was not at all sure that my house and Office might not be occupied any day by the political Police or the Storm Troopers [sic].' - Document comprising of two diary entries, the first from 6 May 1936 (pages 1-3) and the second from early July 1936 (pages 4-9) combined together as a single entry. The section from 6 May 1936 is duplicated in Diary 2: January-June 1936 in the collection [diary C1/2]. Includes diary entries (some marked 'Private Diary') from the following dates: 8, 17, [?20], 23 (two entries with this date, one titled 'Relations with Greiser'), 24, and 28 July 1936; 3, 5, 6 and 7 August 1936 (two copies); 12 September 1936; 16, 19 and 24 October 1936; 22 December 1936 and 1 February 1937. Entries were all written in Danzig apart from the final entry (1 February 1937) which was written in Geneva. Includes undated notes on Albert Forster, the Nazi Party's Gauleiter in Danzig, that was originally filed between diary entries from 24 October 1936 and 22 December 1936, and was thus possibly written during that period. Includes copy letters from Lester to Joseph Avenol, Secretary General of the League of Nations, from the following dates: 11, 14 and 24 July 1926; 1 August 1936 (two copies of two different letters from this date). Most of the letters are marked 'Personal', 'Personal and Confidential', or 'Personal; Secret'.
TRANSCRIPTION
LOCATION
DESCRIPTION
PEOPLE
STORY INFO
TUTORIAL
4
Private
Diary
July 1936
--------------
A stormy fortnight - the European crisis
centred in Danzig and possibilities of all kinds
in the offing.
I think Germany came to the conclusion about
the end of May to reorient her policy. The League
was in collapse and in disarray; English prestige
had suffered through the Italian victory, which
came more quickly than military experts had
expected; and France with a Popular Front Government
faced a lot of internal difficulties. Perhaps the
first sign of its effects here was the organised
attack on an Opposition meeting, followed by
Forster's threats to take over the streets. The
ground was not particularly good in any case, but
Germany officially took a hand when a few days
afterwards, the local crisis having been settled,
the "Leipzig" Commander, under orders, omitted
to call on the League Commissioner.
Even a week before this I had been told by
von Radowitz that the day had not come when
Germany wanted to raise the Danzig question. Some
days after his return from Berlin, however, he
said to Papée at one of the "Leipzig" receptions
that he did not know anything about his Government's
plans. This was in reply to an enquiry
as to whether the "Leipzig" incident was to have
any special significance. The propaganda Ministry
in Berlin opened a fierce attack on me, beginning
with a Forster article declaring that the High
Commissioner interfered in internal affairs and
that but for the League of Nations all the Opposition
Parties here would long ago have disappeared
The article demanded revision of the Statute in so
far as the League guarantee of the Constitution
was concerned. The Poles then began to be somewhat
more concerned. Papée told me that he would
suggest to his Government his abstention from
at any rate the German Consul General's reception,
as a mark of disapproval of the German Government's
action, but this did not materialise. I was convinced
that the cruiser incident had considerable
significance. I would have in due course to
report the matter to Geneva, but I did not write
a word for three or four days and then drafted a
report which I aimed to make a model of objectivity
and restraint. I took the precaution,
however, to summarise with equal objectivity recent
events in Danzig, so that the Council might judge
if and to what extent the incident had arisen from
thos events. I gave Papée an outline of the
Report on the night of the 29th June, when I went
to ask him for permission to quote his Note
relating to attacks on Poles the previous week.
He seemed impressed with its moderation. The
following day, and before I had the Report quite
finished, an urgent telephone message from Geneva
on behalf of Eden as President of the Council,
summoned me to travel there by the quickest route.
I left within two hours, arriving at 11 p.m. on
July 1st. I was met by Walters, Stevenson and
Krabbe, etc. and whisked off for a two hours
discussion. They read my draft Report with approval.
I also had a short talk the same night
with Count Lubienski.
- English (English)
4
Private
Diary
July 1936
--------------
A stormy fortnight - the European crisis
centred in Danzig and possibilities of all kinds
in the offing.
I think Germany came to the conclusion about
the end of May to reorient her policy. The League
was in collapse and in disarray; English prestige
had suffered through the Italian victory, which
came more quickly than military experts had
expected; and France with a Popular Front Government
faced a lot of internal difficulties. Perhaps the
first sign of its effects here was the organised
attack on an Opposition meeting, followed by
Forster's threats to take over the streets. The
ground was not particularly good in any case, but
Germany officially took a hand when a few days
afterwards, the local crisis having been settled,
the "Leipzig" Commander, under orders, omitted
to call on the League Commissioner.
Even a week before this I had been told by
von Radowitz that the day had not come when
Germany wanted to raise the Danzig question. Some
days after his return from Berlin, however, he
said to Papée at one of the "Leipzig" receptions
that he did not know anything about his Government's
plans. This was in reply to an enquiry
as to whether the "Leipzig" incident was to have
any special significance. The propaganda Ministry
in Berlin opened a fierce attack on me, beginning
with a Forster article declaring that the High
Commissioner interfered in internal affairs and
that but for the League of Nations all the Opposition
Parties here would long ago have disappeared
The article demanded revision of the Statute in so
far as the League guarantee of the Constitution
was concerned. The Poles then began to be somewhat
more concerned. Papée told me that he would
suggest to his Government his abstention from
at any rate the German Consul General's reception,
as a mark of disapproval of the German Government's
action, but this did not materialise. I was convinced
that the cruiser incident had considerable
significance. I would have in due course to
report the matter to Geneva, but I did not write
a word for three or four days and then drafted a
report which I aimed to make a model of objectivity
and restraint. I took the precaution,
however, to summarise with equal objectivity recent
events in Danzig, so that the Council might judge
if and to what extent the incident had arisen from
thos events. I gave Papée an outline of the
Report on the night of the 29th June, when I went
to ask him for permission to quote his Note
relating to attacks on Poles the previous week.
He seemed impressed with its moderation. The
following day, and before I had the Report quite
finished, an urgent telephone message from Geneva
on behalf of Eden as President of the Council,
summoned me to travel there by the quickest route.
I left within two hours, arriving at 11 p.m. on
July 1st. I was met by Walters, Stevenson and
Krabbe, etc. and whisked off for a two hours
discussion. They read my draft Report with approval.
I also had a short talk the same night
with Count Lubienski.
Language(s) of Transcription
English Translation
Transcription History
4 Private Diary July 1936 -------------- A stormy fortnight - the European crisis centred in Danzig and possibilities of all kinds in the offing. I think Germany came to the conclusion about the end of May to reorient her policy. The League was in collapse and in disarray; English prestige had suffered through the Italian victory, which came more quickly than military experts had expected; and France with a Popular Front Government faced a lot of internal difficulties. Perhaps the first sign of its effects here was the organised attack on an Opposition meeting, followed by Forster's threats to take over the streets. The ground was not particularly good in any case, but Germany officially took a hand when a few days afterwards, the local crisis having been settled, the "Leipzig" Commander, under orders, omitted to call on the League Commissioner. Even a week before this I had been told by von Radowitz that the day had not come when Germany wanted to raise the Danzig question. Some days after his return from Berlin, however, he said to Papée at one of the "Leipzig" receptions that he did not know anything about his Government's plans. This was in reply to an enquiry as to whether the "Leipzig" incident was to have any special significance. The propaganda Ministry in Berlin opened a fierce attack on me, beginning with a Forster article declaring that the High Commissioner interfered in internal affairs and that but for the League of Nations all the Opposition Parties here would long ago have disappeared The article demanded revision of the Statute in so far as the League guarantee of the Constitution was concerned. The Poles then began to be somewhat more concerned. Papée told me that he would suggest to his Government his abstention from at any rate the German Consul General's reception, as a mark of disapproval of the German Government's action, but this did not materialise. I was convinced that the cruiser incident had considerable significance. I would have in due course to report the matter to Geneva, but I did not write a word for three or four days and then drafted a report which I aimed to make a model of objectivity and restraint. I took the precaution, however, to summarise with equal objectivity recent events in Danzig, so that the Council might judge if and to what extent the incident had arisen from thos events. I gave Papée an outline of the Report on the night of the 29th June, when I went to ask him for permission to quote his Note relating to attacks on Poles the previous week. He seemed impressed with its moderation. The following day, and before I had the Report quite finished, an urgent telephone message from Geneva on behalf of Eden as President of the Council, summoned me to travel there by the quickest route. I left within two hours, arriving at 11 p.m. on July 1st. I was met by Walters, Stevenson and Krabbe, etc. and whisked off for a two hours discussion. They read my draft Report with approval. I also had a short talk the same night with Count Lubienski.
A stormy fortnight - the European crisis centred in Danzig and possibilities of all kinds in the offing. I think Germany came to the conclusion about the end of May to reorient her policy. The League was in collapse and in disarray; English prestige had suffered through the Italian victory, which came more quickly than military experts had expected; and France with a Popular Front Government faced a lot of internal difficulties. Perhaps the first sign of its effects here was the organised attack on an Opposition meeting, followed by Forster's threats to take over the streets. The ground was not particularly good in any case, but Germany officially took a hand when a few days afterwards, the local crisis having been settled, the "Leipzig" Commander, under orders, omitted to call on the League Commissioner. Even a week before this I had been told by von Radowitz that the day had not come when Germany wanted to raise the Danzig question. Some days after his return from Berlin, however, he said to Papée at one of the "Leipzig" receptions that he did not know anything about his Government's plans. This was in reply to an enquiry as to whether the "Leipzig" incident was to have any special significance. The propaganda Ministry in Berlin opened a fierce attack on me, beginning with a Forster article declaring that the High Commissioner interfered in internal affairs and that but for the League of Nations all the Opposition Parties here would long ago have disappeared The article demanded revision of the Statute in so far as the League guarantee of the Constitution was concerned. The Poles then began to be somewhat more concerned. Papée told me that he would suggest to his Government his abstention from at any rate the German Consul General's reception, as a mark of disapproval of the German Government's action, but this did not materialise. I was convinced that the cruiser incident had considerable significance. I would have in due course to report the matter to Geneva, but I did not write a word for three or four days and then drafted a report which I aimed to make a model of objectivity and restraint. I took the precaution, however, to summarise with equal objectivity recent events in Danzig, so that the Council might judge if and to what extent the incident had arisen from thos events. I gave Papée an outline of the Report on the night of the 29th June, when I went to ask him for permission to quote his Note relating to attacks on Poles the previous week. He seemed impressed with its moderation. The following day, and before I had the Report quite finished, an urgent telephone message from Geneva on behalf of Eden as President of the Council, summoned me to travel there by the quickest route. I left within two hours, arriving at 11 p.m. on July 1st. I was met by Walters, Stevenson and Krabbe, etc. and whisked off for a two hours discussion. They read my draft Report with approval. I also had a short talk the same night with Count Lubienski.
English Translation
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