Office of the Historian

87. Memorandum From Helmut Sonnenfeldt of the National Security Council Staff to the Presidentʼs Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1

Washington, May 20, 1971.

SUBJECT

  • Czechs Press for Return of Nazi-looted Gold

Czech President Svoboda, in a reply to the Presidentʼs letter transmitting the Foreign Policy Report,2 obliquely urged that we return the Czech gold taken by the Nazis and held by a tripartite commission since the end of the war. Ambassador Rohal told State3 he would be able to deliver any message about the gold when he returns on May 24 for the Czech Party Congress. State will advise Rohal that it is not an appropriate time to take up this issue.

The question of the return of the Czech gold has been a perennial. We have not disputed that the gold rightfully belongs to Czechoslovakia, but we have linked its return with Czech willingness to resolve the outstanding financial claims against the Czech Government arising from the nationalization actions in the 1948–49 period. These claims have been assessed by the US Claims Commission at about $113 million; [Page 223] the value of the gold is about $20 million. In the mid-60ʼs, there was some movement on the claims question (the Czechs offered some 16¢ per dollar claim), but the matter was never resolved.

The Czechs have never accepted our linkage of the claims and the gold, though they have suggested over the years that they might be more forthcoming on the claims question once we had granted them MFN and returned the gold. It is not clear why the Czechs have now raised the gold issue in this way. It may simply have been a pro forma exercise. Or, they may believe that recent Congressional actions on the Fino Amendment and on MFN for Romania may indicate that the day is coming closer when they will have MFN in hand. If this is so, they may be anticipating that the gold/claims problems may be closer to resolution.

The memorandum from State containing the correspondence with Svoboda is at Tab A.4 There is no action you have to take, unless you wish to see us take an initiative. I personally think it is premature. Maybe if, as I suspect, some Russian troops get pulled out of Czechoslovakia, it may be worth looking at this issue.

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 672, Country Files—Europe, Czechoslovakia, Vol. II 01 Feb 70—. Confidential. Sent for information. Kissinger initialed the memorandum to indicate he had seen it.↩
  2. Copies of the Presidentʼs March 3 letter and Svobodaʼs May 6 reply are ibid. For the text of the “Second Annual Report to the Congress on United States Foreign Policy, February 25, 1971,” see Public Papers: Nixon, 1971, pp. 219–345.↩
  3. Reported in a May 13 letter from Eliot to Kissinger. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 672, Country Files—Europe, Czechoslovakia, Vol. II, 01 Feb 70—).↩
  4. Attached but not printed.↩