840.4016/12–1545: Telegram
The Representative in Hungary ( Schoenfeld ) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 24—8:36 p.m.]
1106. ForMin has handed me note63 on negotiations in Prague as referred to in tel 1060 December 10. Note gave details similar to those in mytels 1060 and 1063,64 December 10. It stated also that since no concessions to assure legal economic and personal security of Hungarians in Czecho could be obtained pending settlement of whole program Hung delegation could not consent to agreement on basis of concessions promised to be granted by Czech Government. Furthermore it could not concur even temporarily in a settlement which penalized Hungarians in Czecho collectively without moral or legal [Page 950] ground, merely on racial grounds aimed at their removal. These were the very Hitlerite ideals against which war was waged.
However since agreement for an exchange of populations on voluntary basis might be possible, Hung delegation proposed committees operating exchange should have international character and comprise besides representatives of two interested countries those of three Allies and requests for Government to nominate delegation should an agreement for exchange of populations be concluded.
Hungarian Government also requested US Government to support Hung attitude which was directed to bring about removal all Czech discriminative measures depriving Hungarians of rights simultaneous with agreement relating to exchange of populations which might possibly be concluded pending definite settlement of fate of entire minority.
Full text by despatch.65
Sent Department; repeated Moscow as 133; London as 70 and Praha as 36.
- For text of the note of December 11, 1945, from Foreign Minister Gyöngyösi to Schoenfeld, see Hungary and the Conference of Paris, vol. ii, pp. 50–53. Identical notes were sent to the Soviet Minister and the British Chargé of Mission.↩
- Latter telegram not printed.↩
- Despatch 731, December 20, from Budapest, not printed.↩