ABSTRACT
Joseph Retinger was one of the most fascinating figures involved in international relations during the 20th century. Joseph Retinger was born in 1888, the son of a prominent Polish family in Cracow, Galicia. Galicia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but Retinger was raised as a Polish patriot and educated as a cosmopolitan European. As soon as Sikorski became head of the Polish government-in-exile, he named Retinger his diplomatic counselor. In early 1941, Sikorski and Retinger initiated regular meetings with representatives of several other small European powers to discuss future cooperation. In the summer of 1948, Retinger and Duncan Sandys had traveled to New York City to gain US backing for the new movement. Retinger believed that the European Movement (EM) had moved too strongly in this direction and was unhappy to witness the weakening of the movement's national councils in Great Britain and Scandinavia.
