Office of the Historian

Pauley Files

No. 966
Proposal by the United States Delegation1

[Babelsberg,] July 31, 1945.

Restatement of United States Proposal on German Reparations

1.
Reparations claims of Russia and Poland to be satisfied from the Russian zone plus
(a)
25% of such industrial capital equipment as is determined is not necessary for a peace economy and should be removed from the Ruhr on condition that there would be exchanged an equivalent value in food, coal, potash, zinc, timber, clay products and oil products, to be made available to us by the Soviets.
[Page [Map 4]] [Page []] [Page 927]
(b)
An additional 15% of such industrial capital equipment as is determined unnecessary for a peace economy should be transferred from the Ruhr to the Soviet government without payment or exchange of any kind in return.
2.
Removals of capital equipment in accordance with Paragraph 1. above shall be completed by May 10, 1947. Commodities shipped in exchange under (a) above shall be completed not later than May 10, 1951.
3.
For purposes of the above agreement the Ruhr is defined in accordance with the attached map.2
4.
The determination of the amount and character of the industrial capital equipment unnecessary for a peace economy and therefore available for reparation would be made by the Allied Commission on Reparations with France added working in consultation with the Control Council subject to the final approval of the zone commander in the zone from which the equipment is to be removed. Further details shall be determined by the Allied Commission on Reparations with France added.
  1. This may have been the paper before the Eleventh Plenary Meeting, July 31. See ante, p. 512. For a subsequent modification of this paper, see document No. 980.↩
  2. Facing p. 926.↩