In September 1939, devoted employees of the museum at the Royal Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland, moved certain of the priceless treasures from the museum for a hurried flight to refuge from invading armies, a flight which eventually brought them to Canada for safekeeping.
2. Some of the items were returned to Poland shortly after the end of the war. Some of the remainder were eventually deposited in a branch of the Bank of Montreal in Ottawa, while the rest were first entrusted to a religious order in the Province of Quebec and subsequently transferred on Premier Duplessis’ authority to the provincial museum in Quebec City. Since neither portion was under federal control, the Canadian Government took the view from the beginning that it had no responsibility in this matter. Nonetheless the Polish Government maintained that the Canadian Government was responsible and made persistent representations, both through normal diplomatic channels and at international conferences. While disclaiming any responsibility, the Government of Canada listened carefully to the Polish representations, in the knowledge that, whoever was responsible, this was the most important and difficult problem in Canadian-Polish relations.
3. Since Gomulka’s resumption of power in 1956, Polish Government policies and actions have differed in many ways from those of the Soviet Union, and Western attitudes toward Poland, including those of Polish émigrés in the West, have gradually altered. The Canadian Government in these circumstances felt that the return of the treasures, or a part thereof, would have a beneficial effect on the domestic situation in Poland and would at the same time contribute to an improvement in Canadian-Polish relations. Thus the Government was satisfied that a settlement could be reached for the return to Poland of the several items which had been deposited in the Bank of Montreal in Ottawa. Although the Department of External Affairs was able to facilitate this settlement, it came about chiefly because a substantial portion of the Canadian Polish community had altered its earlier stern opposition and concluded that the treasures should return to Poland. This part of the treasures was handed over to representatives of the Wawel Museum who took them back to Poland in January 1959.
4. Following this partial success, the Polish Government renewed its efforts to obtain the return of that part of the collection which remained in the provincial museum in Quebec City. Representations continued to be made in familiar terms to the Canadian Government until late in August 1960 when, following a disturbing interview between Premier Lesage and the Polish Consul General in Montreal (covered more fully below), the Polish Chargé d’Affaires indicated that the Polish Government was wearying of quiet negotiation on this subject which seemed to be quite fruitless, and would shortly be forced to revert to an earlier suggestion that the problem be brought before the International Court. It was also implied that the Polish Government would raise this matter forcefully at the UNESCO General Conference, the venue of public Polish complaints in the period 1949-52.
5. After Mr. Duplessis’ death in 1959, it had generally been thought that a satisfactory settlement of this question would soon be found since his “personal” opposition to the return was assumed by everyone to have been the main obstacle. However, although it became apparent that Mr. Duplessis’ successors, Mr. Sauvé, then Mr. Barrette and Mr. Lesage, did not share Mr. Duplessis’ personal sense of responsibility for the treasures, and in fact publicly stated shortly after taking office that they wished to find a solution as quickly as possible, they were not long in realizing that the problem could not be solved so easily. Their open-mindedness on this question was not sufficient: as Mr. Lesage stated in September 1960, “the modalities for their return are not as simple as we thought they would be.” It is in the search for and finding of these “modalities” that the Department of External Affairs made its most significant contribution to the solution of this problem.
6. On the occasion of a consistory held in Rome in the autumn of 1957, Cardinal Wyszynski discussed the treasures with Cardinal Léger and apparently told him that he would welcome their return to Poland. This position was later confirmed in a letter in which Cardinal Wyszynski expressly stated that the treasures belonged to the Polish Church, and requested the assistance of the Quebec hierarchy in obtaining their return through religious channels. (The text of this letter came into the Department’s hands only in November 1960). It had been known to the Department since late in 1959 that Cardinal Wyszynski’s position on this question had advanced somewhat, and speaking from the balcony of the Archbishop’s Palace in Gneizno on April 26, 1960, the Cardinal made an important statement which confirmed this publicly. In part he said, “the bishops, meeting in plenary conference, have declared themselves in favour of these treasures being returned to the Wawel. All the belongings of the nation which constitute its property should be restored to the homeland, returned to the place for which they were meant. The treasures of the Wawel should be placed in the Wawel.” In this statement, significantly, he neither claimed that the treasures belonged to the Church nor set any conditions as to the means to be employed in accomplishing their return.
7. Although this pronouncement was given little publicity, it nevertheless became known to the Polish community in Canada and encouraged its leaders in the new position they had adopted, by a unanimous resolution of the Canadian-Polish Congress executive in November 1959, in favour of the immediate return of the treasures to the Wawel Museum. Cardinal Wyszynski’s public statement was also brought to the attention of the Polish “Executive” in London, the more significant and responsible of the two successor groups to the Polish Government-in-exile. It was later learned that this declaration had removed one of the main objections of the “Executive” to the return of the treasures from Quebec to Poland.
8. Although Cardinal Wyszynski had concluded his statement of April 26 by saying expressly that “this opinion of the episcopacy has been stated by me in a special letter addressed to the episcopacy of Quebec,” the hierarchy in Quebec did not receive a special letter, and was therefore not aware that Cardinal Wyszynski’s position as expressed in his letter to Cardinal Léger of November 1958, had evolved to the point where he would now approve of the treasures being returned to the museum and not to the Church, and through representatives of the museum instead of his own emissaries. Thus, when the Government of Quebec was considering the means by which it might solve this problem, it was faced with conflicting evidence. The Polish state claimed ownership of the treasures and had provided the Quebec Government, through the federal government, with extracts from the inventory book at the Wawel Museum showing how each item of the collection had been acquired. On the other hand, according to the latest information in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec, the treasures belonged to the Polish Church and should be returned to it.
9. In August 1960, the Polish Consul General in Montreal paid a courtesy call on the new Premier, during which he asked about the treasures. Mr. Lesage suggested that the treasures might be returned through the Polish Church and handed over to emissaries of Cardinal Wyszynski. This proposal came as a great surprise to the Polish authorities who found it utterly unacceptable, as they had been careful to ensure that this achievement would not be credited to the Polish Church. In later consultations in Ottawa, Mr. Lesage indicated that his proposal had been based on his understanding of the views of the Polish Church.
10. In order to arrange a satisfactory technical setting, the Department had earlier secured from the Polish authorities their agreement that the transfer, if accomplished, could be made to representatives of the Wawel Museum, rather than to government officials. The Poles, moreover, agreed to hold Quebec free of all responsibility for any damage or deterioration which might have occurred. This information was conveyed to the successive Premiers of Quebec. Now, however, since the chief problem seemed to be the lack of a full understanding in Quebec of the revised position of the Polish Roman Catholic hierarchy on this question, the Deputy Under-Secretary, on the Minister's instructions and in strictest confidence consulted Cardinal Léger. When the discrepancy between Cardinal Wyszynski's 1958 letter and his public statement of April, 1960 was pointed out to Cardinal Léger, he suggested that it would be helpful if our Ambassador in Warsaw could get in contact with the Cardinal and establish his present wishes.
11. On the Minister's instructions, the Canadian Ambassador in Warsaw on November 7 approached Professor Makarczyk, a senior member of the Znak Catholic parliamentary group, which has been Cardinal Wyszynski's political arm. Through this intermediary, the Ambassador sought and obtained a statement of the Cardinal's current views on the treasures problem in the form of a letter to Cardinal Léger. The Canadian Ambassador in Warsaw was informed orally of the contents of this letter: Cardinal Wyszynski continued to favour the return of the treasures; return could be effected through representatives of the Wawel Museum, and the Cardinal did not consider it necessary to have representatives of the Polish Church associated with the Wawel representatives. He indicated, however, that it would be desirable to have a representative of the Canadian Roman Catholic Church present at the handing over of the treasures to the museum representatives. The Polish authorities were aware of this intervention by the Canadian Ambassador, but raised no objection.
12. In due course Cardinal Wyszynski's letter was delivered to Cardinal Léger and it was confirmed to the Department that this letter removed any reservations the Canadian Roman Catholic hierarchy had about the treasures' return. Occasion was also taken by the Department at this time to convey Cardinal Wyszynski's views, and the hierarchy's reaction, to the Premier of Quebec.
13. Shortly afterward, the Premier of Quebec asked the Department to inform the Polish authorities that the Quebec provincial museum would be prepared to receive representatives of the Wawel Museum in Quebec City in order to effect the transfer to them of the treasures stored in the museum.
14. Late in December 1960, a delegation of experts and technicians, led by the Director of the Wawel Museum of Krakow came to Canada. Following a careful and detailed examination of the treasures, which confirmed that they had been well cared for and were in excellent condition, documents were exchanged on December 31 transferring the custody of these priceless objects to the Wawel delegation. Apart from the documents covering the transfer itself, the Polish Government gave a written undertaking to release Quebec from all responsibility in this matter. The packing was completed and the treasures began their journey home during the evening of January 2, 1961.