862.01/498a: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)
A–34. The following is sent as background material which may be helpful to you in observing and evaluating the “Free German” movement in your area.
This movement has made its appearance in many places. The first Committee was organized in Mexico City in 1942, and has been very active among the Germans of the western hemisphere.34 It has branches or active supporters in most of the important centers of German population, except Argentina and Chile, where the rival group “Das Andere Deutschland” has stood out against it, and in the United States, where its influence has been inhibited from a variety of causes. Even in the United States, it has had covert support from [Page 603] an organization of American citizens, “The German-American Emergency Conference”, headed by the late Dr. Kurt Rosenfeld, former left-wing politician.
The leaders of the Mexico City group are Ludwig Renn and Paul Merker, both Communists, and other active members are Bodo Uhse, Bruno Frei, Egon Erwin Kisch, Otto Katz, Georg Stibi, and Anna Seghers, most of whom are Communists. A monthly publication, Freies Dewtschland, appears to have a wide circulation, and publishes articles of good quality by Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Lion Feuchtwanger, Franz Werfel, Oscar Maria Graf, and many other well-known writers, although these persons are not necessarily Communists, or even Communist sympathizers. The whole movement is known to have connections in Moscow as evidenced by postal intercepts and other information.
The facts of the formation of the National Committee of Free Germany in Moscow on July 12, 1943, are too well-known to require repetition. The only political figures in the group are Communists, who will presumably dominate it. This development has undoubtedly been supported by the Soviet Government as a means of psychological warfare, and possibly also as a means of exercising pressure on the United States and Great Britain. To an indeterminate degree, it may be a reflection of the Soviet attitude towards the future of Germany. Its suggestion that Germany will be allowed to retain an army after Hitler is overthrown, and the formation of the German Officers’ Union, represent a play to win over the German armed forces.
Subsequently, on September 24, 1943, there was formed a Committee of Free Germany in London. This event received a good deal of publicity, but the number of persons supporting it seems to be small. The leading spirits appear to be Dr. Robert Kuczynski, Wilhelm Koenen, Karl Becker, and Hans Fladung, all Communists. Other participants are Dr. Karl Rawitsky and Frau Adele Schreiber, Social-Democrats, and Dr. August Weber of the former State Party. The Social-Democrats are not outstanding, and they participated over the vigorous opposition of their own party and trade union groups. Press accounts state that the organization was prompted and inspired by the establishment of the Moscow Committee. The group received no encouragement or support from the British Government and such early strength as it had seems to have been somewhat weakened by events.
Reports from Bern indicate that a National Committee of Free Germany has been established in Switzerland, though its organizers are not yet known. Two issues of a clandestine publication called Freies Deutschland have appeared in Switzerland to date, in which the “Committee” claims affiliation with the Moscow group. The editors [Page 604] of this publication are rumored to be Wolfgang Langhof and Reinhold Stekel.
Stockholm has reported that attempts are being made to form a Committee of Free Germany in Sweden, but that approaches made by German Communists to German Social-Democrats have borne no fruit thus far. A committee appears actually to have been formed, but no public announcement has been made to date. The membership is believed to include Max Hodann as President and Walter Steitz, Alfred Peyser, and Paul Peschke. Not all are Communists, but the movement is entirely of Communist inspiration.
In the United States, a similar attempt is under way. There are in this country very few German Communists, certainly none of any stature. The current proposal appears to stem from Paul Hagen (Karl Frank) who is Research Director of the American Friends of German Freedom. Hagen was originally a Communist, but left the Party some years ago, and founded a small group called “Neu Beginnen”. His constant aim seems to have been to bring together the extreme Left, i.e., the Communists, and the moderate Left, the Social-Democrats. So far, he has had no success. In his present effort, he is actively aided by General Julius Deutsch, the Austrian Social-Democrat, who is more or less of a Pan-German. All approaches by Hagen and Deutsch to the numerous German Social-Democrats here have been rebuffed.
These Committees, wherever formed or projected, show the same pattern of Communist inspiration, and all of them more or less openly acknowledge the leadership of the Moscow group. They have failed to win any important support among German Social-Democrats or other moderate Democratic elements, although the gaining of such support or cooperation is not to be excluded as a future possibility. The Social-Democratic elements in the United States, and to a lesser extent in England, Sweden, and Switzerland show some signs of preparation for forming their own organization in conjunction with elements more to the Center.
The Department is following all these developments closely. While the Department is anxious to activate all anti-Nazi Germans, it does not believe, on the one hand, that the groups thus far formed are dependably democratic and aim at the same goals as the United States, nor, on the other hand, does it wish to encourage anything in the nature of a rival group which might create a rift in our good relations with Russia.
The attitude of the Soviet Union towards the future of Germany, as shown at the Moscow Conference, seemed to indicate a distinct shift away from the “Free German” committees. However, it is perhaps too early to judge the final effect of the Moscow Conference on [Page 605] the various Committees outlined above. The Committee at Moscow has received little publicity since the Conference. It is logical to suppose that the decisions reached at Moscow will weaken the position and influence of the Committee there, and of the German Officers’ Union, except as purely propaganda organizations.35 It is believed that they can scarcely continue to hold out to the German Army the hope for its reconstitution after Hitler’s overthrow. The Department will be particularly interested to be kept informed of the degree to which the various “Free German” Committees are affected by the declarations issued at Moscow and the spirit of cooperation developed by the three Powers there.
Please continue to report all developments with the foregoing in mind.
- See memorandum of May 19, by Mr. Charles E. Bohlen of the Division of European Affairs, p. 530.↩
- Ambassador Harriman stated to President Roosevelt in a telegram of November 5 (ante, p. 589) that he has been convinced that “any public references coming from Moscow or from the Free Germany Committee showing friendliness to the German people is just propaganda to weaken German resistance.”↩