262.84A41/4–2252
No. 423
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the President1
Subject:
- Israeli Claims Against Germany
With respect to the request of Mr. Jacob Blaustein that you issue a statement requesting expeditious handling of the Jewish material claims against Germany, I would suggest that a statement from you at this time would be inappropriate. I have every reason to believe that Chancellor Adenauer is conscientious in his efforts to reach a satisfactory settlement with the State of Israel and the non-Israeli Jewish claimants in the matter of affording compensation to the Jewish victims of Nazi persecution.
The German Government is fully aware that the United States considers the German people to have incurred an inescapable moral obligation to make material amends to the victims of Nazi persecution, and that this obligation, unless discharged, will stand as a major obstacle to the acceptance of the German nation by the free peoples of the world. The German Government has also been informed that the conclusion of a satisfactory agreement in the present negotiations would be a source of gratification to the United States. Mr. McCloy has reaffirmed these views personally to Chancellor Adenauer on recent occasions. The Department has likewise communicated these views to the Ambassador of Israel and to the representatives of the non-Israeli Jewish claimants.
The negotiations at the Hague have now reached a critical stage. The Federal Government has postulated that the settlement with Israel and the non-Israeli Jewish claimants must be brought within the limits of German capacity to meet its external obligations, and therefore must be related to other responsibilities assumed by the Federal Government, particularly those being considered by the International Conference on German Debts which has been meeting in London with Ambassador Warren Lee Pierson as the United States representative. The Debt Conference is now in recess and is scheduled to reconvene May 19th. The Germans have invited the Israeli negotiators to meet again at the Hague, a month later, on June 19th.
The Israeli negotiators, and the representatives of Jewish organizations associated with Israel at the Hague, are concerned with the political situation in Israel, which makes it urgent that the Hague talks rapidly reach a successful conclusion. They are also concerned that the Germans are attempting to maneuver the pre-war creditors into the position of opposing a satisfactory settlement of the Jewish claim. They feel that the deferral of the Hague talks may be a tactical move in this direction.
The Department supports the desire of the negotiators on the Israeli side to keep the Hague talks disentangled from the London discussions on the German pre-war commercial debt. On the other hand, the United States is not a party to the Hague discussions and it would not appear appropriate for the United States to intervene [Page 919] in the current negotiations. There is a danger that a public statement on our part might raise hopes on the part of the Federal Government and the Israeli Government that the United States would be willing indirectly to finance the settlement of the German obligations.
I, therefore, recommend that you do not make a public statement at this time. Instead, I believe that we should privately express to the Federal Government our hopes that the negotiations will reach a successful conclusion, and our recommendation that the talks at the Hague reconvene at the earliest practicable date, preferably at the same time as the London meeting, rather than a month later. I propose to send a message to Mr. McCloy asking him to take such action. I suggest that Mr. Blaustein be advised of this action as being the proper course to be followed at the present time.
- This
memorandum was sent in response to a memorandum of Apr. 11 by
President Truman to Secretary
Acheson which reads as
follows:
“One of my good friends, Jacob Blaustein, who was on a Committee which has to do with claims for Israel from Germany, asked me if I wouldn’t issue a statement on the subject asking for expedition in handling these claims. I’ll appreciate it if you will look into it and see if a statement would be in order.
“Mr. Blaustein told me that Chancellor Adenauer is anxious to cooperate but needs a little push.” (262.84A41/4–1152)
The Committee referred to was the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. On Apr. 15, the President sent the Secretary a copy of a letter of Apr. 11 he had received from Blaustein on the same subject. (262.84A41/4–1552)
↩