diary shows: The Slovaks warned him that their Jewish citizens
were hoping that Hungary would annex parts of their country.
Göring assured the Slovak visitors that throwing in their lot
with Germany was the only sure way of keeping the Hungarians
at bay.
Still tinkering with his Grand Solution, on October he
invited the Polish ambassador out to Carinhall. His diary shows
that he again hinted at a deal with Poland. Józef Lipski, who
confirmed the date from his own diary, was later astonished to
hear that Göring had kept such a detailed record.
Lipski, October . Discussion of Poland’s intentions.
[We must] maintain contact, avoid misunderstand-
ings. Obstacle is the Carpatho-Ukraine [the eastern
tip of Czecho-Slovakia, bordering on Poland, Roma-
nia, and Hungary]. Poland interested but not as a ter-
ritorial matter. Poland is afraid that Communist trou-
bles might take root there. The region inclines toward
Hungary. Should be a bridge for settlement of the
Greater Ukraine issue. There was and is a Communist
center established there for subverting the Balkans
and Poland. Such a hotbed of Ukrainian intransigence
is very disturbing for Poland; it might exacerbate the
Ukrainian problem in Poland. Poland’s wish is there-
fore that this region go to Hungary, so that it can be
brought under control.It is worth quoting such diary entries if only because they show
both the extraordinary complexities induced by Europe’s ill-
fitting frontiers in the winter of – and the far-flung inter-
ests of Field Marshal Göring. “I protested,” he records on one
page, “about the treatment of Germans in Poland [and insisted
on a] strict warning from Warsaw that Germans are to be well
treated.” And on another page he shows his economic interest in
the German film industry as an export earner. “Great shortfall