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Diary 3: May 1936 - February 1937 Item 52
TRANSCRIPTION
Danzig, 12th September 1936.
I have not been writing diary notes for the
last two months, mainly because I felt it was more
dangerous than usual to have even a secret record of
some things either in my house or at the office.
There was not only the ordinary fear of spying work
from within, for some time I did not know whether or
not to expect an occupation of my Residence, etc.
The secret Council meeting held after Greiser's
outburst on 4th July showed very serious fears not
only as to the future but even as to my personal
safety and I returned to Danzig not knowing what to
expect, but feeling that it was important above all
to give no sign of any doubt or question. It may
have been partly the represenations made at Berlin
by the British, French and Polish Ambassadors or
the stiff attitude which Poland for a time took up
and their assurances of immediate military intervention
in circumstances affecting either my person
or the Statute, or a belated control by the Wilhelmstrasse
in checking the Danzig policy as expressed by
Greiser. The fear of a coup de force gradually
passed away, at any rate for the time being.
Newspaper cuttings will recall some of the
moments of tension and some of the outrageous
declarations and the gradual limitation of the objective
to the breaking of the guarantee of the League of
Nations with regard to the Constitution. Steps were
taken to reassure Poland both by Germany and Danzig
that her rights would be fully respected.
I have had one or two interesting and notable
interviews with Papée, but have not seen Greiser
nor have I met Colonel Beck since 5th July. Under
direct suggestion from the Council members I immediately
on my return from Geneva fixed the precise
machinery under which if it became necessary I would
call for Polish troops. In this also I had the idea
that the knowledge that I was ready to act and that
Poland was ready to act would have a deterrent effect
and help towards maintaining the peace for the
present at any rate. I have somewhere a record of
my last conversation with Colonel Beck on the morning
of 5th July, perhaps the most dramatic in my experience
Things developed until the middle of August
when, while the Olympic Games were going on, there
was no anticipation of any immediate danger and I
was able to take ten days leave to tour the Scandinavian
capitals. Prior to departing I had another
conversation with Papée in which he again indicated,
and more clearly than on other occasions, the
determination of Poland to maintain her position in
Danzig and if necessary to reorientate her policy
in order to do so. Shortly afterwards took place
the visit of the French Chief of Staff to Warsaw
and the return visit of General Rydz-Smigly, the
virtual dictator of Poland and successor to the old
Marshall, to France, and the renewal and strengthening
of the Franco-Polish alliance, which some responsible
newspapers directly connected with Germany's Danzig
policy, entre autre.
The Senate has given every indication of carrying
out the Berlin poliy of boycotting the High
Commissioner and the League of Nations so far as
so-called internal affairs are concerned. Letters
from me on the Constitution have not been answered
and decrees have been issued which I am certain are
against the Constitution. The Council will next
week begin a Session in which it will be faced with
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
Arthur Greiser
Description: German politician (NSDAP), MdR, Senate President of the Free City of Danzig, Reich Governor and Gauleiter of the NSDAP
Wikidata Reference: Q213826
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
Danzig, 12th September 1936.
I have not been writing diary notes for the
last two months, mainly because I felt it was more
dangerous than usual to have even a secret record of
some things either in my house or at the office.
There was not only the ordinary fear of spying work
from within, for some time I did not know whether or
not to expect an occupation of my Residence, etc.
The secret Council meeting held after Greiser's
outburst on 4th July showed very serious fears not
only as to the future but even as to my personal
safety and I returned to Danzig not knowing what to
expect, but feeling that it was important above all
to give no sign of any doubt or question. It may
have been partly the represenations made at Berlin
by the British, French and Polish Ambassadors or
the stiff attitude which Poland for a time took up
and their assurances of immediate military intervention
in circumstances affecting either my person
or the Statute, or a belated control by the Wilhelmstrasse
in checking the Danzig policy as expressed by
Greiser. The fear of a coup de force gradually
passed away, at any rate for the time being.
Newspaper cuttings will recall some of the
moments of tension and some of the outrageous
declarations and the gradual limitation of the objective
to the breaking of the guarantee of the League of
Nations with regard to the Constitution. Steps were
taken to reassure Poland both by Germany and Danzig
that her rights would be fully respected.
I have had one or two interesting and notable
interviews with Papée, but have not seen Greiser
nor have I met Colonel Beck since 5th July. Under
direct suggestion from the Council members I immediately
on my return from Geneva fixed the precise
machinery under which if it became necessary I would
call for Polish troops. In this also I had the idea
that the knowledge that I was ready to act and that
Poland was ready to act would have a deterrent effect
and help towards maintaining the peace for the
present at any rate. I have somewhere a record of
my last conversation with Colonel Beck on the morning
of 5th July, perhaps the most dramatic in my experience
Things developed until the middle of August
when, while the Olympic Games were going on, there
was no anticipation of any immediate danger and I
was able to take ten days leave to tour the Scandinavian
capitals. Prior to departing I had another
conversation with Papée in which he again indicated,
and more clearly than on other occasions, the
determination of Poland to maintain her position in
Danzig and if necessary to reorientate her policy
in order to do so. Shortly afterwards took place
the visit of the French Chief of Staff to Warsaw
and the return visit of General Rydz-Smigly, the
virtual dictator of Poland and successor to the old
Marshall, to France, and the renewal and strengthening
of the Franco-Polish alliance, which some responsible
newspapers directly connected with Germany's Danzig
policy, entre autre.
The Senate has given every indication of carrying
out the Berlin poliy of boycotting the High
Commissioner and the League of Nations so far as
so-called internal affairs are concerned. Letters
from me on the Constitution have not been answered
and decrees have been issued which I am certain are
against the Constitution. The Council will next
week begin a Session in which it will be faced with
- English (English)
Danzig, 12th September 1936.
I have not been writing diary notes for the
last two months, mainly because I felt it was more
dangerous than usual to have even a secret record of
some things either in my house or at the office.
There was not only the ordinary fear of spying work
from within, for some time I did not know whether or
not to expect an occupation of my Residence, etc.
The secret Council meeting held after Greiser's
outburst on 4th July showed very serious fears not
only as to the future but even as to my personal
safety and I returned to Danzig not knowing what to
expect, but feeling that it was important above all
to give no sign of any doubt or question. It may
have been partly the represenations made at Berlin
by the British, French and Polish Ambassadors or
the stiff attitude which Poland for a time took up
and their assurances of immediate military intervention
in circumstances affecting either my person
or the Statute, or a belated control by the Wilhelmstrasse
in checking the Danzig policy as expressed by
Greiser. The fear of a coup de force gradually
passed away, at any rate for the time being.
Newspaper cuttings will recall some of the
moments of tension and some of the outrageous
declarations and the gradual limitation of the objective
to the breaking of the guarantee of the League of
Nations with regard to the Constitution. Steps were
taken to reassure Poland both by Germany and Danzig
that her rights would be fully respected.
I have had one or two interesting and notable
interviews with Papée, but have not seen Greiser
nor have I met Colonel Beck since 5th July. Under
direct suggestion from the Council members I immediately
on my return from Geneva fixed the precise
machinery under which if it became necessary I would
call for Polish troops. In this also I had the idea
that the knowledge that I was ready to act and that
Poland was ready to act would have a deterrent effect
and help towards maintaining the peace for the
present at any rate. I have somewhere a record of
my last conversation with Colonel Beck on the morning
of 5th July, perhaps the most dramatic in my experience
Things developed until the middle of August
when, while the Olympic Games were going on, there
was no anticipation of any immediate danger and I
was able to take ten days leave to tour the Scandinavian
capitals. Prior to departing I had another
conversation with Papée in which he again indicated,
and more clearly than on other occasions, the
determination of Poland to maintain her position in
Danzig and if necessary to reorientate her policy
in order to do so. Shortly afterwards took place
the visit of the French Chief of Staff to Warsaw
and the return visit of General Rydz-Smigly, the
virtual dictator of Poland and successor to the old
Marshall, to France, and the renewal and strengthening
of the Franco-Polish alliance, which some responsible
newspapers directly connected with Germany's Danzig
policy, entre autre.
The Senate has given every indication of carrying
out the Berlin poliy of boycotting the High
Commissioner and the League of Nations so far as
so-called internal affairs are concerned. Letters
from me on the Constitution have not been answered
and decrees have been issued which I am certain are
against the Constitution. The Council will next
week begin a Session in which it will be faced with
Language(s) of Transcription
English Translation
Transcription History
Danzig, 12th September 1936. I have not been writing diary notes for the last two months, mainly because I felt it was more dangerous than usual to have even a secret record of some things either in my house or at the office. There was not only the ordinary fear of spying work from within, for some time I did not know whether or not to expect an occupation of my Residence, etc. The secret Council meeting held after Greiser's outburst on 4th July showed very serious fears not only as to the future but even as to my personal safety and I returned to Danzig not knowing what to expect, but feeling that it was important above all to give no sign of any doubt or question. It may have been partly the represenations made at Berlin by the British, French and Polish Ambassadors or the stiff attitude which Poland for a time took up and their assurances of immediate military intervention in circumstances affecting either my person or the Statute, or a belated control by the Wilhelmstrasse in checking the Danzig policy as expressed by Greiser. The fear of a coup de force gradually passed away, at any rate for the time being. Newspaper cuttings will recall some of the moments of tension and some of the outrageous declarations and the gradual limitation of the objective to the breaking of the guarantee of the League of Nations with regard to the Constitution. Steps were taken to reassure Poland both by Germany and Danzig that her rights would be fully respected. I have had one or two interesting and notable interviews with Papée, but have not seen Greiser nor have I met Colonel Beck since 5th July. Under direct suggestion from the Council members I immediately on my return from Geneva fixed the precise machinery under which if it became necessary I would call for Polish troops. In this also I had the idea that the knowledge that I was ready to act and that Poland was ready to act would have a deterrent effect and help towards maintaining the peace for the present at any rate. I have somewhere a record of my last conversation with Colonel Beck on the morning of 5th July, perhaps the most dramatic in my experience Things developed until the middle of August when, while the Olympic Games were going on, there was no anticipation of any immediate danger and I was able to take ten days leave to tour the Scandinavian capitals. Prior to departing I had another conversation with Papée in which he again indicated, and more clearly than on other occasions, the determination of Poland to maintain her position in Danzig and if necessary to reorientate her policy in order to do so. Shortly afterwards took place the visit of the French Chief of Staff to Warsaw and the return visit of General Rydz-Smigly, the virtual dictator of Poland and successor to the old Marshall, to France, and the renewal and strengthening of the Franco-Polish alliance, which some responsible newspapers directly connected with Germany's Danzig policy, entre autre. The Senate has given every indication of carrying out the Berlin poliy of boycotting the High Commissioner and the League of Nations so far as so-called internal affairs are concerned. Letters from me on the Constitution have not been answered and decrees have been issued which I am certain are against the Constitution. The Council will next week begin a Session in which it will be faced with
English Translation
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