740.00119 EW/7–1845: Telegram
No. 1096
The Director of the Office of
Financial and Development Policy (Collado) to the Acting
Chief of the Division of Financial Affairs (Reinstein) and the Acting
Chief of the Division of Economic Security Controls
(Oliver)1
Victory 77. To Acting SecState Washington for Reinstein and Oliver from Collado.
The Soviets have touched on subject of Italian reparations (ref Lubin’s telegram to Kindleberger2). My tentative view is no reparation claim against Germany3 and no current or productive capital goods payments by Italy.
We should allow restitution from Germany limited to works of art, et cetera, and should require restitution by Italy of such articles. Perhaps we should allow some token deliveries to Greece and Ethiopia. [Page 1089] Presumably Latin American and other nations will satisfy claims for ship sinkings, et cetera, by holding on to Italian external assets.
What are your views on U. S. position on this point, and your comments on entire Italian reparations and restitution problem?
Send immediately background information on Italy’s relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction needs, her overseas assets, her shipping position, et cetera. Also background material on our attitude and actions with respect to Finnish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Rumanian reparations, none of which was included in my papers.
- Sent to the Acting Secretary of State over the signature of Byrnes.↩
- See document No. 1094.↩
- i. e., by Italy.↩