San Francisco. Conference of the newly formed United Nations (but for now only with the countries that were soon to win the war). In Yalta, Stalin had reassured Churchill and Roosevelt that free elections would be held in Poland. For this reason, 16 Polish resistance leaders had been invited to Moscow for preparatory talks. Since then, nothing more has been heard of these 16 leaders. And the British and Americans in San Francisco don’t like it. The New Yorker writes: the Polish question hovers over the city like an unclean bird. A few days later, Soviet Minister Molotov organizes a lavish banquet. After lively celebrations (Molotov was usually colorless, nicknamed “stone ass” by his Soviet comrades, due to the long hours he spent at his desk), something extraordinary happens: Molotov announces that he can finally reveal what happened to the 16 Polish resistance leaders. They have all been arrested for activities against the Red Army. A crime that carries the death penalty. (In reality, they had already been interrogated and tortured by the secret police.) The festive atmosphere evaporates instantly. The British and Americans are first shocked, then furious. On June 21st, while the conference is still underway, the Polish prisoners will all be sentenced to death. All but two will be killed. The Cold War has just begun.
