811.2222 (1940)/133

The German Chargé ( Thomsen ) to the Secretary of State

[Translation]

III J, Chic. 60

The German Chargé d’Affaires has the honor to refer to the note to His Excellency, the Secretary of State of the United States of November 25, 1940 (III T. E. 1344), in which he had requested that the [Page 565] authorities in the United States entrusted with the induction of men liable to military service be instructed that on the basis of Article VI of the German-American Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights of December 8, 1923, German citizens with permanent residence in the United States who have declared their intention of acquiring American citizenship can be inducted into American military service by compulsion only in case of a war between the United States and a third state, and only then if such persons do not leave the territory of the United States within 60 days after the declaration of war.

As shown by reports from the German Consulates General in New York and Chicago, several German citizens who are holders of the so-called first papers have in the meantime received orders to report; however, their protests under Article 6 of the German-American Treaty of Friendship have been refused by the Local Boards. The German Chargé d’Affaires has the honor to call attention in particular to the case of Kurt Trampusch, a citizen of the Reich, who was refused permission to leave the United States by Chicago City Board 148. Mr. Trampusch already had a Japanese visa and a steamship ticket for beginning the trip to Germany on January 8, 1941. According to the enclosure, an appeal was taken on December 31, 1940 to Board of Appeal No. 7, Selective Service System, Chicago, from the decision of Chicago City Board 148.

On the ground of the above facts, the German Chargé d’Affaires hereby again requests that the local boards entrusted with the induction of persons liable to military service in the United States be provided immediately with the necessary instructions.