107. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the German Ambassador (Krekeler), Washington, May 12, 19571
In conversation with the German Ambassador I said that I felt that the conversations about the Stinnes Company which we had at Bonn on Saturday2 had not left the position very clear because this item only came up as we were moving from the drawing room to the lunch room. I said that I had since discussed the matter with the Attorney General and that he had not felt that it was practical to postpone the sale for a matter of months because of the SEC registration conditions, but that I did feel that the Germans should take advantage of the unique opportunity now offered them to buy in the property themselves. The Ambassador said that there was some problem of money because of the necessity of taking care of some American interests.
I said that I thought that this financing could no doubt be arranged through New York investment banks. I mentioned that a tentative approach on this subject had been made to Lazards. The Ambassador said that he would advise his Government that they should send over to New York promptly someone with authority to organize a purchase group. I said I thought this was the best way to proceed.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Memoranda of Conversation. Confidential; Personal and Private. Drafted by Dulles. According to the source text, the conversation took place in the evening at Eleanor Dulles’ residence.↩
- See Document 105.↩