840.48 Refugees/847: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 25—5:30 p.m.]
1244. From Rublee. Information has come to me in the last week that the British Government, independently of the Intergovernmental Committee, was seeking to give, in the Dominions and colonies, special preference to victims of the transfer of the Sudeten areas from Czechoslovakia to Germany.43 Accordingly when Winterton came to my office to discuss various questions with me late last week, I pointed out this situation to him and observed that it would have an unfortunate effect on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee if these persons from Sudetenland were given special treatment.
Winterton agreed. He said that he had raised the question with the Prime Minister and in the Cabinet and he hoped that his objections would be heeded.
Pell was requested to go this afternoon to the Foreign Office where he was handed the text of a communication which Winterton, as Chairman, proposes to circulate to the governments participating in the Intergovernmental Committee “after consultation with the Director”. Pell was asked to show me this document and to report any observations which I might wish to make before tomorrow afternoon since the matter was urgent.
This memorandum refers to the persons coming within the scope of the activity of the Intergovernmental Committee as defined in paragraph 8 of the Evian resolution.44
It continues as follows:
“The transfer of the Sudeten areas from Czechoslovakia in Germany has led to an extension of the problem of involuntary emigration from Germany. A number of persons are likely to wish to leave the transferred [Page 804] areas by reason of the treatment to which they are subjected on political, religious or racial grounds, while others have already taken temporary refuge in Czechoslovakia for a similar reason. Of these involuntary emigrants, those who are of German or Jewish origin are in precisely the same position as involuntary emigrants from Germany and Austria.
It is desirable on grounds of equity that no individuals or groups should be placed either in a more or a less favourable position than other individuals or groups who desire to emigrate as a result of the action of the same government. It is therefore proposed that the involuntary emigrants of German or Jewish origin from the areas formerly included in the Czechoslovak State and now transferred to Germany should be assimilated to other involuntary emigrants from Germany or Austria and should be regarded as coming within the scope of the activity of the Intergovernmental Committee.
The Director will circulate to the members of the Committee such particulars as he is able to obtain of the number and type of involuntary emigrants who have been or may be created by the transfer of the Sudeten areas to Germany, as well as of the conditions in which these persons are able to emigrate. The Director will also be glad to receive any information on these points with which members of the Committee may be in a position to furnish him.”
In reading over the document I note first off that it differentiates between Germans and Jews, a practice which has been consistently avoided throughout the work of the Intergovernmental Committee. In this connection the official at the Foreign Office explained that there was a possibility of placing non-Jewish emigrants in certain British Dominions where it would not be possible to send any more Jews. They therefore attached considerable importance to this point. Obviously if this tendency were to be encouraged my task would be made virtually impossible since other governments of countries of settlement, notably those in Latin America, would immediately express preference to receive non-Jewish immigrants and no place would be left open for Jews who constitute the major portion of involuntary emigrants.
My second observation is that under the terms of this memorandum I, as Director, am required to make a special investigation of the situation of Sudeten refugees. In this connection the official said that an investigator would be sent to the spot who would report to Winterton not only in his capacity as a member of the British Government but as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee as well. In other words the Committee will assume responsibility for the Sudeten refugees, a task which the League Commissioner is legally prevented from undertaking because the League so far has not recognized the cession of the Sudetenland by Czechoslovakia to Germany.
[Page 805]There are two possible explanations of the memorandum. The first is that the British Government is attempting to shove off its responsibilities for these victims of the Sudeten transfer upon the Intergovernmental Committee with the intention of doing little for them. The second is that the British intend to make a real effort to help these people and to use their influence with the Dominions to that end and have been persuaded by Winterton to make this effort through the Intergovernmental Committee. Even if the latter explanation is correct we fear that the result will be discrimination as between the Jew and the non-Jew within the class of the Sudeten refugees and discrimination in favor of the Sudeten refugees as against the general category of German and Austrian refugees.
In any case, I shall study the document further and request more time before I make my observations in reply to the British. I should appreciate your immediate comments. [Rublee.]