504.418B1/217
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instruction No. 464 of August 2, 1935 (File No. 504.418B1/), with regard to the Roerich Pact, which was “initiated by the Roerich Museum in the United States and which has for its object the universal adoption of a flag, already designed and generally known, in order thereby to preserve in any time of danger all nationally and privately owned immovable monuments which form the cultural treasure of peoples.”
This proposal, having been duly referred to the Foreign Office by word of mouth, was answered in the same manner. The opinion requested is not very enthusiastic. It is to the effect that the German Government is disposed to treat legal questions of this class arising from war conditions, as a whole and not individually (the German statement was to the effect that it did not view with special favor the creation of “kriegsrechtliche Einzelfragen”), especially as this matter formed part of a question settled in principle by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
It is considered that Article 27 of the Hague Convention in regard to land warfare offered a suitable basis for developing the thesis contemplated by the Roerich proposal. The 1907 version of this Article reads as follows:
“In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes.
“It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.”
Greater uniformity of action would also be guaranteed in the opinion of the Foreign Office were the initiative in such matters to be taken [Page 509] by the Dutch or Swiss Governments (the latter presumably in view of the Red Cross Convention11). The Belgian Government had considered holding a conference in this connection in the summer of 1935 but had withdrawn the invitations precisely on account of the foregoing consideration.
The technical details were also not very happily (nicht besonders glücklich) phrased.
Finally, the German Government would also like to know the attitude of other leading countries in regard to this matter.
Respectfully yours,
- International Red Cross Convention concluded July 6, 1906, Foreign Relations, 1906, pt. 2, p. 1559; Convention signed at Geneva July 27, 1929, ibid., 1929, vol. i, p. 321.↩