The Sikorski–Mayski agreement was a treaty between the Soviet Union and Polish government-in-exile that was signed in London on 30 July 1941.Stanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination, Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, page 17Jozef Garlinski Poland in the Second World War, page 109The Fate of Poles in the USSR 1939~1989 by Tomasz Piesakowski page 73 Its name is taken from its two most notable signatories: the prime minister of Poland, Władysław Sikorski, and the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ivan Mayski.
Background After signing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939,Stanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination, Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, page 4 the Soviets invaded Poland and took part in its dismemberment. The Soviet authorities declared Poland to be nonexistent, and all former Polish citizens from the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were treated as Soviet citizens. That resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of approximately 2 million Polish citizens (including a quarter of a million prisoners-of-war and 1.5 million deportees) by the NKVD and other Soviet authorities.
Negotiations When the international situation changed in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began to seek help from other countries opposing Nazi Germany. Strongly encouraged by British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, Sikorski on 5 July 1941 opened negotiations with the Soviet ambassador to London, Ivan Mayski, to re-establish diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union. Sikorski was the architect of the agreement reached by both governments that was signed on 30 July 1941. A further military alliance was signed in Moscow on 14 August 1941.Jozef Garlinski Poland in the Second World War, page 117Stanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination, Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, page 18 Later that year, Sikorski went to Moscow with a diplomatic missionStanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination, Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, page 23 (including the future Polish ambassador to Moscow, Stanisław Kot, and the chief of the Polish Military Mission in the Soviet Union, General Zygmunt Szyszko-Bohusz).
Provisions Stalin agreed to declare all previous pacts that he had with Nazi Germany null and void, to invalidate the September 1939 partition of Poland and to release tens of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war held in Soviet camps. Pursuant to an agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and Stalin, the Soviets granted amnesty to many Polish citizens on 12 August 1941,The Fate of Poles in the USSR 1939~1989 by Tomasz Piesakowski page 77Stanislaw Mikolajczyk The Pattern of Soviet Domination, Sampson Low, Marston & Co 1948, page 19 from whom a 40,000-strong army (Anders Army, later known as the Polish II Corps) was formed under General Władysław Anders. The whereabouts of thousands more Polish officers, however, would remain unknown for two more years and weigh heavily on subsequent Polish-Soviet relations.
See also Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union Polish contribution to World War II
References
External links Text of the treaty
Polish-Soviet Union Agreements: July 30, 1941