548.D1/156
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Bingham)
Sir: The Department has been informed by the Consulate at Geneva, Switzerland, that the Office of the High Commission for Refugees (Jewish and others) coming from Germany, is to be transferred from its present seat at Lausanne, Switzerland, to London, during the month of October, 1934. The Department has hitherto conducted its correspondence with the High Commission through the medium of [Page 316] the Consulate in Geneva, the latter acting merely as the transmitting agency. After the transfer takes place the Department desires that correspondence addressed to it by the High Commission be transmitted through the London Embassy. The Department, on the other hand, will forward to you for transmittal to the High Commission such communications as it may have occasion to address to that Organization.
The Consul at Geneva has been instructed regarding the new arrangement and has been requested to notify you, as well as the Department, of the precise date on which the transfer of the Office of the High Commission will take place.
For your information, the High Commission for Refugees (Jewish and others) coming from Germany, was set up on October 12, 1933, by the Council of the League of Nations, pursuant to a resolution passed by the Assembly of the League of Nations, to deal with the economic, financial and social problems arising through the departure of a large number of persons, Jews and others, from Germany. Though the High Commission was set up by the League of Nations it became, upon its creation, an autonomous organization without responsibility to the League. The United States, among a number of other countries, accepted membership on the Governing Body of the High Commission and appointed as its representative thereon Professor Joseph Perkins Chamberlain of Columbia University.
Very truly yours,