Ambasada Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Ankarze w latach 1939–1945

Abstract

During the outbreak of the Second World War, the Polish Embassy in Ankara was the only Polish branch of its rank in the Middle East. During this time, Ambassador Michał Sokolnicki was the head of it having the highest rank among the managers of Polish institutions in neutral countries the longest. After the outbreak of the war, and especially after the liquidation of Polish diplomatic missions in the Balkans, the role of the embassy increased significantly. In addition to standard tasks, she conducted observation of the Balkan states. It was also used as a transit station between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish Embassy in the USSR and the Republic of Poland in Tehran. With the approval of the ambassador Sokolnicki and with the knowledge of the Turkish authorities, an intelligence unit was active, which in comparison to the pre-war period has been expanded. It should be remembered that the embassy was a field in which the influence of the supporters of the pre-september government against the opponents of Sanation was clashing, which was reflected in the HR policy. In the presented article, the author outlines the creation of the Polish Embassy in Turkey and its functioning during World War II. The staff of the facility was presented, which increased in the discussed period. In addition to full-time officials, representatives of other ministries, including military in Istanbul, where they carried out tasks for other ministries. The issues of financing the facility were also outlined, both in the initial phase of the war and in the later period when there was a relative stabilization of finances. The author of the article presented the budget of the institution and its components. In addition, it also mentioned a number of problems that were faced on this level i.e. expenses flow through the embassy to help the needy as well as Poles in the USSR and the country. The institution’s officials also indicated their participation in this type of campaign, from which funds were directed to diplomats remaining without the allotment. During the war additional tasks fell on the embassy. These included an important, though short-term undertaking, which was the evacuation of Polish gold. The transit of evacuated soldiers and civilians through Turkey turned out to be a much longer process. The task was resolved thanks to the cooperation of the embassy with the consulate and the military attache. The Turks, on the other hand, remained tenacious about the admission of more Polish refugees to their territory. A great effort for the embassy was to obtain asylum for several dozen Poles, including a group of engineers and technicians. Ankara’s approval was not obtained by the ambassador to transfer the facility’s building in September 1945.