840.48 Refugees/1617: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 18—2:40 p.m.]
706. From Pell. Winterton held a meeting this morning which Emerson, I and others attended with leaders of the Jewish community in Germany who said that they had been sent to London by the Gestapo, The burden of their message was that unless the Intergovernmental [Page 111] Committee took immediate steps to find openings, either in places of refuge or settlement, for substantial numbers of involuntary emigrants, and unless “world Jewry” set up the private corporation, the German authorities would return to the shock tactics which were so successful in ridding Germany of Jews in the past. The group from Berlin brought with them a document laying down how many Jews each member of the Intergovernmental Committee should take annually over a period of 3 years and begged Winterton to accept as the Committee’s this or a similar plan and to place it in the hands of the German authorities at once if a further brutal attack on the Jewish community in Germany were to be prevented.
Winterton replied that certainly the British Government, and he was sure, the Committee, did not propose to have the German police dictate what it was and was not to do. The Committee had shown great liberality and patience in dealing with the German authorities. It was doing everything in its power to find places of refuge and settlement for refugees from Germany and he had reason to believe that the interested financial people who were setting up the private corporation were doing everything to arrange for financing this emigration. The Committee could not be asked to do the impossible.
There was a limit to the absorption of immigrants, whatever their race or religion, beyond which it was dangerous to go and it should be understood by the German authorities that the outside governments would not exceed this limit. The result of the shock tactics adopted by the German authorities in the past had been to render the Committee’s task extremely difficult. A repetition of these tactics would have the result of making the Committee’s task impossible. Doors everywhere would be firmly closed to this enforced emigration and no money would be forthcoming under the shadow of a threat.
Winterton then reminded the delegation that the German authorities had indicated an intention of doing a great many things such as retraining intending emigrants, setting up a central Jewish organization in Germany and so on and had done none of them. Many of the Governments participating in the Committee were restless. Despite this, however, he was not prepared as yet to doubt the good faith of the German authorities with whom we were dealing and was ready to proceed in this matter pari passu.
Israel who spoke for the Berlin group replied that there could be no doubt of the sincerity of Goering and Wohlthat in this matter but they were fighting a losing battle. He said that when Chancellor Hitler received Wohlthat recently to hear his report on the progress of the conversations the Chancellor let it be understood that he was not impressed and refused to allow Wohlthat to go ahead with the [Page 112] publication of his decrees until the Committee should have made a better showing.
The delegation was obviously distressed by the reception accorded it by Winterton but was somewhat consoled by the fact that Winterton asked Emerson and me to examine with them their plan. This we shall do tomorrow morning although we have made it plain that the United States is in no position to commit the participating governments to any plan of future action. [Pell.]