Galerie

 

On 20 February, the Polish government made an appeal to the President of the League of Nations in Geneva. They asked the League to nullify the decision of the High Commissioner of February 2nd. The Council of the League of Nations decided on March 13 to allow the Permanent Court of Internat ional Justice at The Hague, a department of the League of Nations, decide in this matter. On 16 May, after a series of sessions in which both parties presented their points of view, the Hague Court decided: “(1) that there is not in force any decision of General Haking which decides in the manner stated in paragraph 18 of the present High Commissioner’s decision of Februa ry 2nd, 1925, or otherwise, the points regarding the Polish postal service; (2) that within the port: (a) the Polish postal service is entitled to set up letter boxes and collect and deliver postal matter outside its premises in the Heveliusplatz, and is not restricted to operations which can be performed entirely within the premises; (b) the use of the said service is open to the public and is not confined to Polish authorities and officials.”


The Council of the League of Nations accepted the decision of the Permanent Court of Justice and decided to appoint a special committee to describe the extent of the Polish postal service in the Freie Stadt Danzig, that was restricted to the “Danzig harbor” accordi ng to Article 29 of the Convention made bet ween Poland and Danzig in Paris on 9 Nov ember 1920. It will be clear that Poland wanted this “harbor area” to be as large as possible, while Danzig wanted to restrict this area to only waterways and the banks.

After a few sessions in Danzig, where Poland and Danzig clarified their points of view, the committee struck the golden mean:

On a map of the Freie Stadt Danzig, they drew the so-called Grüne Linie. This Green Line enclosed the waterways and the area of the city that was important for Polish trade. The Polish postal service was restricted to this area. Within this space, the Polish post was allowed to hang mail boxes any place they wanted. The advice of the committee was accepted by the Council of the League on 19 September 1925.

 
Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 83 - April - May - June - 1994, Page 9.