Count Jerszy Potocki, Polish Envoy, Expresses Hope for Homeland's Future

His Excellency, Count Jerszy Potocki, Polish Ambassador to the United States, addressed an audience of over 300 people yesterday afternoon at Emerson D on the ultimate causes of Poland's present condition.

Tracing his homeland's past history, the distinguished diplomat declared, "Poland is not a country invented by the makers of the Treaty of Versailles."

Goes Back to 1333

He went as far back as 1333, to the reign of Casimir the Great, who devoted his entire life to domestic reforms and intellectual pursuits, to prove that the people of Poland, "like any other European nation, have established for themselves the right to freedom and independence, a right which the Poles have never relinquished and will always continue to uphold."

This talk by Count Potocki, who is still the officially recognized ambassador from his non-existent homeland, was the first in a series of Polish culture programs, sponsored by the Slavic Circle.

Other speakers will include Michael Karpovich, associate professor of History, Francis J. Whitfield, Slavic expert, and Antoni Gronovicz, Polish poet.

Poland Ruined by Last War

"Poland emerged from the World War a runied nation," Count Potocki said. Its problem was to change a battlefield into a well-run and firmly established country. Taking the problem of education as an example of Polish progress, the Polish Ambassador told how illiteracy had been reduced from 40% to 18%, with educational facilities provided for everyone of school age.

He explained the details of the starting of the present war,--how Hitler suddenly found unbearable a non-aggression pact with Poland, which three months before had been publicly solidified by a speech in Warsaw of German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Count Potocki continued: "Like Germany, Soviet Russia was bound by a non-aggression agreement with Poland. Like Germany, she broke her solemnly pledged obligation."