Office of the Historian

840.4016/10–1545: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State

Paris, October 15, 1945—6 p.m.
[Received 10:10 p.m.]

6050. Dept’s 4613, October 3. Dejean46 informs me that he hopes shortly to have a definite reply concerning the evacuation of Germans from Austria. He said that immediately after I brought this matter to Bidault’s47 attention on October 5 telegrams were sent to Generals Koenig and Béthouart48 requesting their views and asking for an estimate of the number of Germans who would be transferred into the French zone as a result of this evacuation. Koenig and Béthouart are now in Paris and Dejean says this question will be discussed with them “in the next day or two and believes a favorable reply will be forthcoming”.49

Sent Dept as 6050, repeated London 755, Moscow 366, Berlin 163, Vienna 22.

Caffery

[For documentation regarding the transfer of German populations from Czechoslovakia as related to the question of the withdrawal of United States military forces from Czechoslovakia, see telegram S–28266, October 17, 1945, from the Commanding General, United States Forces, European Theater, to the Chief of Staff, United States Army, and memorandum by the United States Political Adviser for Germany to the Commanding General, United States Forces, European Theater, dated October 16, 1945, volume IV, pages 498 and 499, respectively.]

  1. Maurice Dejean, Director General in charge of political affairs in the French Foreign Ministry.↩
  2. Georges Bidault, French Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩
  3. Général d’Armée Marie Emile Bethouart, Commanding General of French Forces in Austria and French Military Commissioner for Austria.↩
  4. Apparently there was no further report from Paris on this subject.↩