Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Central and Southeastern Europe, Volume XXVI

177. Memorandum of a Conversation, Berlin, February 5, 1956, 11 p.m.¹

Berlin, February 5, 1956, 11 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Conversation during Under Secretary’s Visit to Berlin²

PARTICIPANTS

• Mr. Jacob Kaiser, Minister for All-German Affairs
• The Under Secretary of State, Herbert Hoover, Jr.
• Ambassador Conant
• Mr. Sailer

Minister Kaiser said that he is deeply disturbed by the constant flow of refugees from the Soviet Zone. Mr. Kaiser would prefer to have active anti-communists stay in the Soviet Zone and maintain some sort of passive resistance to Pankow’s regime. Mr. Kaiser claimed that Moscow and Pankow disagree on refugee problem; Moscow allegedly favors settling people from various nations under Soviet control in Soviet Zone of Germany to take the place of the Germans fleeing to the West, whereas Pankow would prefer to keep its German subjects. According to Mr. Kaiser, the Federal Government can keep anti-communists in the Soviet Zone if Bonn does everything in its power to keep alive the hope of reunification.

Minister Kaiser stated that Pankow tells peasants who received land from the estates of the former East German nobility, that in case of reunification on the terms of the Bonn Government, the big estates will be given back to the former owners and the peasants will lose their land. Minister Kaiser would like the Federal Government to state clearly that it does not intend to reestablish the old estates in the East.

Mr. Kaiser said that in 1945 American troops could have walked into Berlin without any loss of lives. If they had done so, many of the present problems could have been avoided.

Minister Kaiser stated that he was opposed to permitting the Soviets to send an ambassador to Bonn and that he had warned Chancellor Adenauer against such a move.

Under Secretary Hoover also had conversations with Neumann (SPD), Lemmer (CDU), and Acting Mayor Amrehn which turned mostly on the coalition crisis in Berlin. Neumann and Lemmer assured the Under Secretary that the current crisis will be settled and that West Berlin will have a stable government.

1. Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199, Germany. Confidential. Drafted by William J. Sailer of the U.S. Information Agency on February 17. The source text indicates the conversation took place at Ambassador Conant’s residence.
2. Hoover visited Berlin to represent the United States at the tenth anniversary celebration of Radio in the American Sector (RIAS) and to dedicate the Herbert Hoover School in the Wedding District. For texts of his remarks on these two occasions, see Department of State Bulletin, February 13, 1956, pp. 242–246. Regarding his stay in Bonn before the trip to Berlin, see Documents 44 ff. A briefing book prepared for the visit is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 649.