840.48 Refugees/1319: Telegram
The Chargé in Germany ( Gilbert ) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 20—12:45 p.m.]
46. From Rublee. Embassy’s 45, January 20, 1 p.m., paragraph 2.20 I was informed officially over the telephone this morning that Dr. Schacht21 had been relieved of his functions and that as a consequence he would be unable to continue the conversations or even to see me again. In reply I expressed my deep regret.
For your background information, until this wholly unexpected development the discussions were progressing satisfactorily. I had a further meeting with Schacht last night when he gave me the considered views of the interministerial meeting which was held the previous day. It was agreed that we should make a draft memorandum of the points of the German proposal as we understood them and that this should be considered in further meetings which were scheduled to take place this morning and this afternoon. The program as presented by Schacht and tentatively approved in the interministerial conference represented a hardening of the German position on several points. I must say that Schacht defended the German position vigorously and made it quite plain to me that what he was presenting to me was a statement of the program which the German Government intended to put into effect unilaterally. He was stating fully this program to me merely as a courtesy in order that the outside governments might determine what course they might pursue in handling the emigration from Germany.
I am in consultation with our Embassy and the British Embassy and will satisfy myself that there is no intention on the German part to continue the discussion through some other channel before I leave Berlin. In any event I shall leave Berlin tomorrow and proceed to Paris for consultation with Winterton and Taylor in advance of the officers’ meeting on Monday. [Rublee.]