Bios

Stephen Bonsal

American journalist, writer and diplomat, personal interpreter to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference

Henry Morgenthau

American lawyer, businessman and diplomat, chairman of the American mission investigating the situation of the Jewish minority in Poland

Background

Still from the movie. Three men leading a discussion at the table.
Discussion

The role of Americans in Poland's independence restoration

44:49 min

The film “Colonel House” and the book “Lobbyists. The Western Advocates of Polish Independence” are discussed by the author of the film Jacek Stawiski and the editor of the book Andrzej Turkowski Ph.D. The panel is moderated by Michal Przeperski Ph.D. of the Polish History Museum

About the book

In 2018–21, the KARTA Centre carried out a research project under which a two-volume publication Lobbyists. The Western Advocates for Polish Independence was created. It is a unique selection of texts by Western (mainly American) politicians, journalists, businessmen and military officers who contributed to the establishment of the Second Polish Republic. They presented a pro-Polish stance during World War I, during the Paris peace negotiations, and as part of efforts to contain the post-war crisis. The two volumes include testimonies of their activities – excerpts from their diaries and memoirs, published for the first time in Polish.

Volume I – At Versailles

collects texts from the period 1914–19, mainly related to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Edward Mandell House, a close advisor to American President Woodrow Wilson, is the key figure here.

Volume II – Reports from Poland

contains accounts by some Westerners living in or visiting Poland in the years 1918–20. Many of them were taking part in the relief efforts led by the future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover.