Henryk Leon Strasburger (27 May 1887 – 2 May 1951) was a Polish economist, general commissioner in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk) and delegate to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. He was also a member of the Polish government in exile during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', he was among the earliest and most outspoken of

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

to recognise the menace of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to his country. His warning was clear in his book ''The Case of Danzig'', published some months before the outbreak of war.

Early years

He was born on 25 May 1887 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, to Juljan Teofil Strasburger (half-brother of Eduard Adolf Strasburger) and Marja (Julia Maria) Simmler, daughter of Joseph Simmler. Their ancestors were of German ethnics which had assimilated into Polish people. His schooling was at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

universities.

Career

From 1916 to 1918, he was the director of the Polish Industrial Association. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Strasburger was a member of the first Polish

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, as undersecretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from 1918 to 1923, as well as holding the position of undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1923. He was a member of the Polish peace delegation at Riga in 1921, and a delegate to the

in 1923 and 1924. He conducted commercial treaty negotiations with Italy, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Finland, Belgium, and Japan. He then joined the Polish Foreign Office, and from 1924 to 1932 he was general commissioner (commissariat) of the Polish Republic (''Komisarz Generalny Rzeczpospoltej Polskiej''), responsible for the liaison between the Senate and the Polish government in the Free City of Danzig. He resigned in 1932 and was replaced by Dr.

Kazimierz Papée Dr. Kazimierz Papée (sometimes Anglicized Casimir, January 10, 1889 - January 19, 1979) was the ambassador from Poland to the Holy See from 1939 to 1958, during and after World War II. Due to the Nazi invasion of Poland months after Papée's appoi ...

. This was an unusual move that drew international attention since it seemed to mark an important change in Polish policy towards Danzig, as the supposedly ''free city'' was becoming a centre for Berlin Nationalist activities. Strasburger had been allowed a free hand in dealing with Danzig authorities, and during his first few years in office had had success in improving Danzig-Polish relations, but difficulties increased in his last two years in office, caused by the new Nationalist Senate of the free city, which became a stronghold of the German Nationalists and Hitlerites. The Senate became increasingly hostile towards Poland, and after a public dispute in 1931 between Strasburger and the president of Danzig, Dr. Ernst Ziehm, Strasburger offered his resignation but it was not accepted. When he tried again to resign in 1932, the Polish government decided that Danzig-Polish policies would be made in Warsaw, not in Danzig. From 1932 to 1939, he was the president of the Central Organisation of Polish Industries. After the 1939

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

, Strasburger became part of the Polish government in exile. From 1939 to 1942 he was the Polish

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, Industry and Commerce in the Sikorski government. In 1942, he was the individual who announced to the world in New York City that over one million Polish Jews had been killed. In 1943, he became the Minister in the Middle East.
Following the war he made the choice of serving the Warsaw government controlled by the Communists, as ambassador to Great Britain in 1945 and 1946. He broke with this government in 1949 and stayed in London with his wife and children. He died on 2 May 1951, in London, while still in exile.

Family

Around 1926, he married Olga Dunin (1902–1972), daughter of Rodryg Dunin. They had two children, Henryk and Teresa.

Writing

* "German Designs on Pomerania; An Analysis of Germany's Revisionistic Policy", 1934, Torun, The Baltic institute * "The Core of a Continent: Problems of Central and Eastern Europe", 1943, Philadelphia, The American Academy of Political and Social Science * ''The Case of Danzig'', 1936 * ''Foreign Trade in the Service of National Economy'', 1939

References

*
Fifth Session of the Assembly

* (Polish

* ''

'', 13 February 1942
"Poland to Exercise a Firmer Hand in Danzig; Policy Seen in Naming of New Commissioner"
* ''The New York Times'', 28 November 1942
"Poland in Appeal on Nazi Outrages"
* ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', 30 November 1942
"Little Men, What Now?"
* ''The New York Times'', 28 November 1942
"Finance Minister Strasburger, on Visit Here, Says Germans' Killings Total 1,400,000"
* ''The New York Times'', 4 May 1951,
"Dr. H. Strasburger, Polish ex-envoy, 63; Ambassador to London, 1944 to 1946, Dies There in Exile – Warned of Hitler Menace"
* ''

International Who's Who ''The International Who's Who'' is a Who's Who series of reference books of notable people worldwide that has been published annually since 1935. History The first edition was published in 1935 by Europa Publications. The eighth edition (1943-4 ...

'', 1945–1946 ("Strasburger, Henryk", LL.D), p. 843

External links

Family tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strasburger, Henryk 1887 births 1951 deaths Writers from Warsaw Politicians from Warsaw Polish people of German descent People from Warsaw Governorate Ambassadors of Poland to the United Kingdom Finance Ministers of Poland Polish male writers Polish people of World War II Polish exiles Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom National University of Kharkiv alumni