Office of the Historian

550.S1/613

The Under Secretary of State (Phillips) to President Roosevelt

Washington, April 4, 1933.

My Dear Mr. President: The accompanying telegram16 from Mr. Norman Davis presents a somewhat puzzling situation. In brief, he proposes to leave Friday night for Berlin, spending Saturday and Sunday there. He finds that it is difficult to size up the situation as regards disarmament without learning the attitude of the present Government in this connection, as well as their attitude about the Economic Conference. He asks that we cable an expression of our views today.

I attach a brief memorandum containing the reasons in favor of Mr. Davis’ trip to Berlin and the reasons against it. My personal inclination would be for him to delay his visit to Berlin, inasmuch as it would be very difficult to overcome the presumption that he was going to discuss the Jewish situation.17 In fact, the Jewish organizations have been pressing the Department from the beginning to send Mr. Davis to Berlin.

May I ask you to be so kind as to let me know your wishes today?

Faithfully yours,

William Phillips
[Enclosure]
Reasons in Favor of Mr. Davis’ Trip to Berlin Reasons Against
1.
Germany holds the key to Disarmament, and to the political problems involved in treaty revision.
2.
Her position has been one of aggravation and threat.
3.
Mr. Davis, as a disinterested outsider, might well be able to exert a quieting influence, and discourage any action which might precipitate a crisis.
4.
As Mr. Davis has never yet visited Berlin, there have been signs of resentment, which may be accentuated if he now declines von Neurath’s invitation, and thus diminish his eventual influence.
1.
His visit would be generally construed as bearing upon the Jewish situation.
2.
It would be difficult for him to avoid discussing the problem, with possible embarrassment either in this country, in Germany, or both.
3.
It might not be advisable for a special representative of President Roosevelt to be entertained by the present German Government.
4.
It seems doubtful whether von Neurath will remain long as Foreign Minister.
  1. Supra.↩
  2. For correspondence relating to the persecution of Jews in Germany, see vol. ii, pp. 320 ff.↩