840.48 Refugees/8–3144
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith copies of letters85 exchanged between myself and Mr. Eden regarding the recent joint declaration issued by the American and British Governments accepting the offer of the Hungarian Government with respect to the emigration and treatment of Jews.
My letter to Mr. Eden, acknowledging the limitations on British capacity to accommodate refugees and British reliance on the United States to assume its fair share of the burden, was made at the suggestion of the Foreign Office in order to obtain the War Cabinet’s approval of the joint declaration as subsequently issued. It was believed that sufficient authority existed to make this acknowledgment since assurance had already been given unilaterally by the United States Government to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and prior to any parallel action on the part of the British, that the United States would take measures for the care of all Jews permitted to migrate from Hungary to United Nations or neutral territory, and that it would find havens of refuge for such persons. (Department’s telegram No. 6408 of August 12, midnight, and previous.) In view of this commitment on our part to assume all of the burden, if necessary, it was felt that there would be no objection to assuring the British that we would bear a “fair share” of it.
This obligation to assume a “fair share” was limited to the Hungarian proposal only, and with respect to the refugee problem in general there is no outstanding obligation in relation to this letter.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩