Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, European Advisory Commission, Austria, Germany, Volume III

740.00119 E.W./10–1145

The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Gallman) to the Secretary of State

London, October 11, 1945—4 p.m.
[Received 5:25 p.m.]

10619. From Reinstein. Reference paragraph 11 Embtel 1055 of Oct 9.⁴² Following is statement of views of UK Govt on reparation labor sent to me informally by Waley under cover of letter dated Oct. 8.

“(a) Any Allied country holding German prisoners of war should be entitled to use them for any of the types of work laid down in the Geneva Convention.⁴³

“(b) If an Allied country has not enough prisoners of war in their hands to meet their demands it can request another Ally to transfer some of its prisoners. But in that case the transferring country would be entitled to lay down conditions on the kind of work that the prisoners might do.

“(c) If an Allied country still finds it impossible to meet its demands for reparation labor from prisoners of war from any source the possibility of enrolling German civilian labor and the conditions under which such enrollment should take place should be discussed with the Allied Control Council for Germany.

“(d) The question of international supervision of the conditions of work of reparation labor will not arise until civilian labor is enrolled.”

Copy of letter has also been sent to De Seynes.

With reference to paragraph (b) Waley informs me that British would require undertaking from any country to which they transferred POWs that labor would not be used in enterprises competitive with British.

Sent to Dept as 10619, repeated to Moscow as 350, Paris 158, USPolAd Berlin as 197. [Reinstein.]

Gallman

42. Not printed.
43. Reference is to the international convention relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War, signed at Geneva, July 27, 1929; for text, see Foreign Relations, 1929, vol. i, p. 336.