In 1944 anxious Polish ethnic leaders formed the Polish American Congress, an umbrella organization of twenty thousand Polish fraternal lodges, parishes,cultural associations, sports and youth groups, veterans' posts, newspapers, and fraternal insurance companies. The Congress dedicated itself to winning American support for a free and independent Poland within its prewar boundaries, which included the half of Poland which Stalin had annexed. The call for the founding convention stated that, “the Congress will declare the wholehearted cooperation of support of Americans of Polish descent of the declarations of our President pertaining to the Four Freedoms and the Atlantic Charter, that nations, large or small, might exist by themselves free of all interference and aggression.”
Polish voters were among the New Deal's most loyal constituencies, with many Polish districts habitually turning in 70 percent or better Democratic majorities. Any disquiet that might reduce these majorities was was a major political problem. During the 1944 presidential campaign, Roosevelt held two highly publicized meetings with the Polish American Congress, one in the White House and one in Chicago. The president promised the anxious Poles that the Atlantic Charter would be upheld and, though refusing top formally commit himself on the question of Poland's borders, he held his Washington meeting in front of a huge wall map of Poland showing its prewar boundaries. Based on these meetings, Charles Rozmarek, head of the Polish American Congress, endorsed Roosevelt for reelection In the 1944 election Polish precincts turned in their usual overwhelming Democratic majorities. While these assurances served Roosevelt's and the Democratic party's short-term political purpose, they were not fulfilled.
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