740.00119 European War 1939/82: Telegram
The Chargé in Germany (Kirk) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 13—11:30 a.m.]
1704. I learn from a Dutch journalist with a reputation for reliability that last week certain apparently authorized German personages approached Colijn, former Premier of the Netherlands, with the request that the Netherlands Government propose its good offices for mediation between Germany and Great Britain. My informant states that after consultation with the Queen it was decided that the Netherlands Government would be willing to propose its good offices provided that it was specifically called upon to do so. The journalist asserted that he was summoned to The Hague and was sent back to Berlin with authority from the Netherlands Foreign Office to sound out German officials in Goering’s entourage and to intimate to them the readiness of the Netherlands Government to propose its good offices under the condition mentioned above. The Dutch journalist states that this informal manner of communication was apparently chosen in view of the unofficial nature of the initial German approach to Colijn. The journalist says that he communicated yesterday to an official associated with Goering the intimation referred to above.