File No. 763.72111M72/6
The Minister in Switzerland ( Stovall) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6 p.m.]
678. Wolff official despatch announces that auxiliary cruiser Moewe has returned to a German port with 592 prisoners. These prisoners constitute remainder of crews from ships sunk by Moewe, part of which reached Germany on Yarrowdale.
I suggest that steps be taken immediately through appropriate Spanish diplomatic channels to ascertain if any Americans are among these 592 men and, if so, that permission be granted for them to leave Germany at once. In this connection please see my telegrams regarding treatment in Germany accorded crews from Yarrowdale.1 All Yarrowdale men testified that alleged quarantine was German pretext for their detention as no contagious diseases had developed among them.
- Not printed.↩