Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Berlin Crisis, 1958–1959, Volume VIII

501. Telegram From Secretary of State Herter to the Department of State⁰

Geneva, August 4, 1959, 2 p.m.

Cahto 204. Eyes only Ambassador. Herewith (1) our translation of letter from Adenauer to Secretary delivered by Von Brentano July 31, and (2) Secretary’s reply to Adenauer handed Von Brentano Aug 3:

1. Begin text

Dear Mr. Herter: Federal Minister Lemmer has officially reported to me the conversation which you had with him in the presence of Mayor Amrehn during your visit to Berlin.¹ From his description of this conversation I am forced to assume that you are not correctly informed about my position on the question of reunification. To make this position clear I am accordingly making the following remarks.

In the Soviet view, as has become clear recently in the statements of the all-powerful leader Khrushchev, any liberation of the Germans in the Soviet Zone from Soviet hegemony is as little likely at the present time through political means as is the liberation of the population of the satellite states from the same regime. The Soviet Union would approve the reunification of the Federal Republic and the Soviet Zone in the foreseeable future only under conditions which would insure the dominance of communism in West Germany. Such a reunification I refuse; since through it the seventeen million Germans in the Soviet Zone would not be helped and since the fifty million Germans who have been free up to the present would be enslaved, merely to comply with a formalistic conception of reunification. It would be evidence of lack of understanding of the character of a totalitarian regime if one were to suppose that, through linking a communistic with a democratic system in a single state, a mere equilibrium of forces could be achieved. Even under better conditions, to name just a few examples, the democratic systems in the Baltic States or in Czechoslovakia, could not endure, although the overwhelming majority of the populations was not communist. I must therefore maintain my reserve against all proposals which in order to achieve reunification would endanger freedom. I therefore also reject the “German plan” of the SPD² and similar proposals. Only when the free West through its policies has achieved a condition under which the Soviet Union no longer regards the Soviet Zone of Germany as an important strong-point in the conflict between the East and the West and therefore abandons the maintenance of the Communist system in the Soviet Zone, will reunification and freedom become a political possibility. Under such conditions, in my view, reunification must be achieved as quickly as possible without regard to the internal political consequences which would result or to the economic sacrifices which might be involved for the population of the present Federal Republic.

You told me when taking over your office that you would like to have develop between you and me the same official and friendly relationships that existed between John Foster Dulles and me. This is also my wish. The relationships between Mr. Dulles and myself rested upon fullest mutual frankness and truthfulness. I believe that my frank explanation should dispel any lack of clarity about my position and should serve to deepen our relationship. With this motive in mind I send you the present letter. Signed Adenauer.

End text.

[Here follows the text of Secretary Herter’s August 3 reply to Chancellor Adenauer. The reply is printed as Document 505.]

Herter

0. Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Secret; Niact. Repeated to Bonn. A copy of the German text, classified top secret, is ibid., Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1402.
1. See Document 478.
2. See footnote 3, Document 254.