125.0056/33b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in the Netherlands (Gordon)
77. Your 168, May 11, 1 p.m.39 We naturally leave all decisions regarding protection and welfare to your discretion in the present situation, knowing that the safety of American officials and that of their families is a paramount consideration with you as it is with us. From this distance it looks as though the time might have arrived when it would be advisable to concentrate in one place the wives and children of all American officials and other Americans, if practicable, as it is easier to identify and obtain respect for one location than it is for many. As soon as conditions warrant, please work out arrangements for the evacuation of the families of American officials whose duties cause them to remain at their posts to such places outside the theater of hostilities as may seem safest, as for instance Switzerland.
- Not printed.↩