Władysław Studnicki
Władysław Gizbert-Studnicki was born on 15 November 1867 in Dünaburg, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (current Latvia), into a Polish szlachta family of the Kresy region.
However, unhappy about the pro-Russian program of the nationalists, deserted them and in 1904 wrote a book From Socialism to Nationalism, in which he explained reasons for the change in his ideals.
He authored a number of books, among them Political System of Europe and Poland (1935), A Question of Czechoslovakia and Polish Raison d’Etat (1938) and, finally Facing the Oncoming Second World War (1939) in which he correctly assessed and anticipated the events of the conflict.
Studnicki correctly predicted the Anschluss and the collapse of Czechoslovakia, but in his opinion, stated in 1939, the annexation of Trans-Olza into Poland was an inadequate reward for not allowing the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to pass through Polish territory.
In a manner similar to National Democracy politicians, Studnicki espoused the view that Jews were "parasites on the healthy branch of the Polish tree".
[2] His work Sprawa polsko-zydowska was filled with anti-Semitic idioms, and advocated for the emigration of 100,000 Jewish Poles per annum with the goal of "dejudaization of Poland" in thirty years.
[3] In March 1939 Studnicki wrote in Słowo that German occupation of Czechoslovakia was a mistake, as it provoked anti-German feelings among Poles, and worsened Poland's geostrategic situation.
On 13 April 1939, he wrote a letter to Minister Józef Beck, warning that acceptance of British guarantees meant catastrophe for Poland.
He correctly predicted that the victory of Western Allies would draw Poland into the Soviet sphere of influence, loss of her independence and eastern territories.
Studnicki proposed that the Free City of Danzig should be handed over to the Third Reich, in exchange he expected the lease of the port of Liepāja in Latvia and German agreement of a Polish protectorate of independent Slovakia.
And we are the weaker enemy in this case (...) Poland should pledge neutrality, renounce the alliance with Britain and move its army eastwards, to protect the Soviet border".
Studnicki claimed that Poland should promote the notion of "armed neutrality", as her priority should be not to allow the Red Army to enter Polish territory.
To avoid this, Poland should hand Danzig over to Germany and agree to the construction of an extraterritorial highway and rail line through the Polish Corridor.
During the war Władysław Studnicki, whose pro-German stance was well known to German authorities, frequently intervened in support of arrested and executed Polish activists.
Polish Army, in cooperation with the Wehrmacht, was to seize the territories west of the Dniepr river, while Germans were to march further east, to the Caucasus.
Studnicki remained in Pawiak Prison until August 1942, when he was released due to poor health and efforts of both Maurycy Stanisław Potocki and the Hungarian ambassador.
Several contemporary Polish historians, such as Jerzy Łojek, Andrzej Piskozub, and Paweł Wieczorkiewicz have stated that Studnicki was right back in the summer of 1939.
