Office of the Historian

740.00114A European War 1939/310: Telegram

The Minister in Switzerland (Harrison) to the Secretary of State

Bern, April 6, 1943.
[Received April 6—10:03 p.m.]

2154. American interests—Japan. Department’s 632, March 15.40 Swiss Legation Tokyo telegraphs March 27 representations Japanese Government until present without reply. Gorgé adds nevertheless has again intervened Foreign Office. States received continually copies telegrams Japanese Prisoner of War Information Bureau to Intercroixrouge containing prisoners of war. There lists carefully checked, copied and names approximate 32,000 prisoners of war and 5,700 civilian internees of countries represented by Switzerland.41

Harrison
  1. Not printed; it requested that the Swiss Government ask expedition of a reply from Japan as to whether it would furnish complete lists of internment and prisoner-of-war camps where American nationals were held, indicating the numbers in, and giving the exact location of, each camp (740.00114A European War 1939/64a Supp.).↩

  2. In telegram No. 3174, May 24 (740.00114A Pacific War/474), the Minister in Switzerland reported that prior to May 16 about 200 to 300 names of prisoners of war had been communicated to Mr. Gorgé daily and that the number had since increased.

    In a memorandum of July 2 (740.00114A Pacific War/493), the Assistant Chief of the Special Division (Gufler) stated that the War Department had informed him several times recently that the lists were now coming through regularly from Japan and that they desired to make no further protests in this connection.

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