760C.62/652: Telegram
The Chargé in Germany (Kirk) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 22—2:16 p.m.]
540. Department’s 223, June 13, 6 p.m. and my 485, June 13, 4 p.m.58 A member of the Polish Embassy today stated that while a good many thousand Poles had received formal deportation orders to leave Germany by July 31 the deportees were in almost all cases dependents of the Polish Jews expelled last November and that Poland therefore had no grounds for formal objection in these cases since it had agreed to admit them to Poland by July of this year. He said that aside from these dependents of previous deportees there has been reported only about 20 orders of expulsion of Polish Jews recognized by the Polish Government as still enjoying Polish citizenship.
On the other hand the informant said there had been at least 2000 orders of expulsion of Jews who at one time were recognized as Polish citizens but who in the last 9 or 10 months had been expatriated by the Polish Government. He said that the Germans had tried to induce Poland to admit some of these “stateless” Jews but that the Polish Government had peremptorily refused on the basis that there was a tacit understanding in connection with the convention signed by the two Governments on the occasion of the mass deportations of last November to the effect that because at that time Poland had admitted many Jews who the Polish Government maintained had lost their Polish citizenship, no objections would be raised by the German Government to future action of the Polish Government in expatriating those Jews remaining in Germany who at one time had possessed Polish passports.
He said that as a result of a recent survey the Polish Embassy in Berlin was inclined to reduce its estimates of 30,000 Jews in Germany who at present or formerly were Polish citizens. At the present time the Embassy thought there were about 10,000 dependents of previously deported Polish Jews, some 2000 more Jews who were still recognized as Polish citizens and 11,000 or 12,000 “stateless” Jews who at [Page 126] one time had held or claimed Polish citizenship making a total of 23,000 or 24,000 in all. A month ago the Embassy estimated that some 25,000 Jews of Polish origin had been deported or emigrated from greater Germany during the preceding 12 months. On the basis of later information they now believe that some 31,000 or 32,000 have left Germany.
Cipher text to London, to Pell by mail.
- Latter telegram not printed.↩