740.00115 European War 1939/6927
The Secretary of State to the Swiss Chargé (Feer)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of Switzerland in charge of German interests and acknowledges the receipt of the Legation’s note no. VIII–F–1 of June 23, 1943 referring to the Department’s note of April 3, 1943 respecting the proposed repatriation of officials and assimilated categories of nationals of the United States and of other American republics, who were removed by the German Government from French to German territory, in exchange for persons of equivalent status in the United States and in the other American republics concerned.
The German Government’s counterproposal deviates from the principle of its proposal as set forth in the Swiss Legation’s note of February 23 and the communication made by the Department of [Page 100] State on April 3 in that it makes new and far-reaching demands involving large numbers of German civilians in the United States and in certain of the other American republics having no similar status and whose inclusion in the exchange has at no time been envisaged by the Government of the United States.
As the Swiss Legation in charge of German interests is aware, the Government of the United States is prepared to give consideration to requests made by the other American republics for safe conducts for German women and children, and in appropriate cases other German nationals, whom those republics are willing to repatriate as a result of direct negotiations which they have conducted with the German Government. In this connection the Government of the United States has already given its safe conduct for those German nationals who by separate agreements between the Governments concerned are being repatriated from Chile and Brazil in exchange for nationals of those countries.
When the German Government first indicated its desire to broaden the scope of the official exchange, the Government of the United States made an earnest attempt to reach an agreement by offering a reasonable compromise contained in its reply of April 3. The German Government, instead of accepting that compromise in the light in which it was offered, has seen fit to broaden its demands still further to include all manner of persons whose repatriation is entirely outside the scope of an exchange of diplomatic and consular officials and assimilated personnel.
In the circumstances, the United States Government can only reiterate its willingness to conduct an exchange on the basis of the very generous provisions of its note of April 3.