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>One of every ten people in Poland (total population: 35,000,000) is Jewish. The reactionary, white-collar Endeks (National Democratic Party) have tried to persuade the Government to adopt Nazi tactics of persecution. The Jews, who live for the most part in ghettos and who persistently wear the black coats, beards, yamilkes (skullcaps) and haircuts the Tsars forced on them many years ago, have not had a happy time in Poland. Nevertheless, Poland's Zionists last week declared that 3,500,000 Jews "wait in full preparedness" to do their part in defending the country.
>Another sore minority in Poland are the 4,500,000 Ukrainians in the South East. As recently as last April young Polish roughs were beating Ukrainian ringleaders with sticks and iron bars, wrecking their shops and buildings, on the grounds that, plotting revolt, they had hid munitions in churches, machine guns in homes. At that time Ukrainian politicians were said to be itching to throw off Polish shackles even if it meant taking on German ones. But last week Undo (Ukrainian National Democratic Union) declared that Ukrainians would fight beside, not against, Poles.
>No minority, but the sorest lot of all, are Poland's peasants. There are 20,000,000 of them, 5,000.000 of whom are continually unemployed. Few can read, some in Galicia do not know that the Emperor Franz Joseph is dead and that they are no longer Austrian subjects. To them salt is like gold dust, bread like caviar. But last week peasant boys were stolidly shuffling to mobilization centres, farmers were sending their only horses to bolster the country's cavalry-minded army.
The bitterest grudges, the most grinding poverty, the strongest loves were forgotten last week. Poles are phlegmatic. Poland's suicide rate, the lowest in Europe, is nine per 100,000 compared with 13 in Britain, 29 in Germany. As last week wore on, as the nerves of the rest of the world unraveled like rope-ends, only one complaint was to be heard in Poland: What are they waiting for? Isn't it clear that compromise is out of the question? Why do they not begin? Soon enough of the questions were answered:
M-Day. Early one afternoon a large crowd of common workmen walked briskly through the streets of Warsaw, stopping beside clear spaces on walls every few paces, slopping paste on the walls, spreading out four posters which spelled one word: WAR. One ordered general mobilization (all able-bodied men between 21 and 40), another the prompt delivery of all motor vehicles, bicycles and horses to the State, a third prohibited the sale of alcoholic drinks. The fourth, picturing marching men, guns, tanks, planes and the handsome profile of Poland's Commander-in-Chief Marshal Edward Smigly-Rydz, declared: "Force must be met with force."
A few said, "As we expected"; a few shouted, "Long live Smigly-Rydz!" but most just read and walked on. Since most reserves had already been called up, the decree was only a signal: the button had been pressed.