Office of the Historian

740.00119 EW/6–2745: Telegram

No. 360
The Representative on the Allied Commission on Reparations (Pauley) to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force (Eisenhower)1
top secret
Moscow, June 27, 1945—9 p.m.

For General Eisenhower from Pauley.

The President has approved as requisite to effective coordination my recommendation that matters of restitution or the transfer of property as restitution shall be made subject to the approval of the Allied Commission on Reparations. The President has also approved my recommendation that Gen Eisenhower first present for my approval as theater rep on the Allied Commission on Reparations any contemplated removals of property for the purpose of restitution from the Amer controlled regions in Germany and Austria. The President desires howeve[r] that the required coordination between reparations and restitution shall not act to retard unnecessarily (1) the withdrawal from Germany in the form of restitution or any other form of supplies badly needed by Allied Nations for their economic reconstruction or (2) the return of works of art to those nations from which they were taken.

The President suggests that in order to achieve effective coordination and prompt decisions I assign a rep to Gen Eisenhower authorized to act on these matters as presented by him.

In accordance with the President’s request Mr Frank Adams of my staff who is now in Frankfurt is hereby designated as my rep to Gen Eisenhower and authorized to take prompt action on such specific cases of the foregoing character as may be presented by Gen Eisenhower.

In carrying out the duties hereby assigned my rep will be guided as follows:

1.
Approve the return of works of art only to the govt of an Allied Nation and not to private persons and only if evidence submitted to my rep conclusively establishes identity of particular works of art. Prior to each and every delivery of an art object to any Allied Nation a proper statement shall be sent to the appropriate national authorities to the effect that the value of the art object returned may or may not be included in the final reparations accounting for such nation depending upon policies to be determined by the Allied Commission on Reparations and the circumstances and conditions under which each particular art object was taken or removed.
2.
In order to avoid abuses by and unwarranted preferences to particular nations and private interests no withdrawals of supplies or [Page 515] property in the form of restitution in kind shall be approved. Withdrawals of supplies or property from Germany by Allied Nations for their economic reconstruction may be approved provided the proper authorities in the receiving nation are notified in advance that the question of whether any or all of the supplies or property delivered shall be deemed to be reparations restitution or exports for which payment must be made in acceptable currencies remains to be determined by the Allied Commission on Reparations and that the acceptance of the supplies or property by the govt of the receiving nation constitutes an agreement of such govt to the foregoing condition.
3.
In order that proper future accounting may be made both in the case of art objects and in the case of property and supplies, accurate and detailed descriptions and records of all such objects property or supplies delivered or withdrawn shall be kept and maintained and copies forwarded to me immediately. Also in the case of art objects detailed records and sworn statements shall be required showing all of the conditions and circumstances under which such objects were acquired or removed by the Germans.

I have every confidence in the care which I know Gen Eisenhower and his staff will exercise in the withdrawal or delivery from Germany of any art objects, property or supplies. I am most anxious that our policies and records shall be so clearly defined and maintained that no possible question of consistency may arise in our forthcoming reparations negotiations.

Pursuant to instructions received from the President, I have sent the preceding wire to Captain Faigle and Mr Frank Adams as my representatives in Frankfurt.

  1. Printed from the text repeated to the Acting Secretary of State as telegram No. 2298.↩