740.0011 European War 1939/7–2644
Miss K. Isabel Poate,
Attaché in the British Embassy, to Mr. Fletcher
Warren, Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of
State (Berle)
Washington, 26 July,
1944.
Dear Mr. Warren: I enclose herein paraphrases of
telegrams71 exchanged
between His Majesty’s Ambassador at Madrid72 and the Foreign Office in London. His Majesty’s
Ambassador at Madrid has, as you will notice, been instructed to consult his
United States colleague, so no doubt you will have heard of this further
approach, but you may nevertheless be interested to have these telegrams for
your files.
Yours sincerely,
[Enclosure]
Text of Telegram From the Foreign Office to Madrid,
Dated July 20th, 1944
These proposals have just been made public both here and in the United
States and have been exposed as blackmail.73 Further,
we have secret evidence which we are conveying to the United States
Government that the Nazi authorities are using Jews in order to make
contact with British and American authorities as a cover for peace
proposals with the obvious motive of dividing His Majesty’s Government
and United States Government from the Soviet Government whose suspicions
the Nazi authorities desire to arouse. In these circumstances His
Majesty’s Government, who at once informed the Soviet Government of
German and Hungarian approach are proposing to the United States
Government to refuse to have anything to do with these “proposals” and
there would in our opinion be every objection to Dr. Schwartz74 or to anybody
else making contact with
[Page 538]
the
German Authorities. But Dr. Schwartz is an American citizen and you
should discuss the matter at once with your United States colleague
informing him of all the foregoing and asking him whether he agrees or
will submit the point to his Government. If the Germans or Hungarians,
who are credited with having made offers to the International Red Cross
in regard to exit permits for refugees, who possess visas for other
countries, are serious, they can easily pursue their schemes without
involving Allied citizens. We are in consultation with the United States
Government and Jewish Agency about the reported Hungarian intentions. In
the meantime, it is essential especially in the interests of our
relations with Moscow that no suspicions should be aroused that Allied
persons are negotiating with the enemy.
