material help which was so sorely needed by the people of that country.   
Beginning in October 1939, official representations were made to the Government  
of the Reich with a view to securing passage into Poland of the relief at the  
disposition of the Holy See. The replies of the German Govermnent to these and  
to repeated subsequent representations were dilatory and evasive. An endeavor  
was then made to send money to the distressed Poles in order that they might   
be in a position to help themselves, but the restrictions imposed and the  
unfavorable rate of exchange offered were such as to justify the fear that by  
this means only a small proportion of effective aid would ultimately reach its  
destination. When it finally became evident that it was not the purpose of the  
German Government to permit the Holy See, in its own name, to minister to the  
needs of these people in their tragic plight, there remained no recourse but   
to look elsewhere for means of arriving at the desired end.
 
     
 
 
Accordingly when information reached the Holy See that the German Government  
had agreed to allow the American "Commission for Polish Relief" to send supplies  
into Poland and to station representatives there for the purpose of supervising  
the distribution of these supplies to the civilian population, the Holy See   
saw in this permission a possible channel for communicating its own relief to  
the Poles. It is true that at the same time it was reported reliably from Berlin  
that the German authorities, while authorizing the representatives of the  
"Commission for Polish Relief" to remain at Warsaw to receive the