862B.49/7–2753
No. 209
Chancellor Adenauer to
President Eisenhower1
My Dear Mr. President: I express to you my sincere thanks for your letter of July 25 [23]2 which was conveyed to me by Ambassador Conant. Your deep understanding of the German situation and your warm sympathy, especially for my countrymen in the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany, have filled me with gladness and thankfullness. The German public has also welcomed with grateful approval the contents of your letter. At a meeting in Dortmund yesterday, at which I read your letter, the more than 20,000 listeners accorded your words spirited and hearty applause.
I believe that I can say that I find myself in complete agreement with every thought you have expressed. I also know that you are in accord with me that the urgent problem of reunification requires a speedy clarification in a four-power conference such as was called for by the Washington resolutions of the three Foreign Ministers of July 13.3
The Federal Government and the German people, whose most ardent wish is the reunification of Germany in freedom and in the frame of a free and united Europe, consider themselves fortunate to know, in you, Mr. President, such an understanding friend, and in the American people such a staunch support.
With best wishes for your personal well-being, I am yours devoted,
- Transmitted in telegram 416 from Bonn. A copy was delivered to the White House on July 28.↩
- Document 207.↩
- Presumably a reference to the communiqué of the Tripartite Foreign Ministers meeting held at Washington, July 10–14; for text, see vol. v, Part 2, p. 1703.↩