124.68/70
The Chargé in Greece (Reed) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 21.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that on June 27th Doctor Georg Vogel, Secretary of the German Legation, now known as the Office of the German Plenipotentiary in Greece, called on me about noon and notified me that he had been directed by the German Government to inform me that, in view of the fact that the American Government [Page 749] does not maintain official relations with the “present Greek Government”, the German Government could not see any raison d’être for the continued presence of an American diplomatic mission in Athens, and as the consular functions of the Mission would in any case terminate after July 15th,28 the German Government requested, after consultation with the Italian Plenipotentiary, that this Legation be closed and that its American personnel leave Greek territory by July 15th.
Dr. Vogel stated that the foregoing was the official communication which he had come to make, but he added that the closing of this Legation simultaneously with the closing of the American consular offices in Axis-controlled territory had been decided upon because of what he described as “the regrettable tension in the present relations between the American and German Governments”. He also said that this would probably be his last official contact with this Legation, as the German Plenipotentiary in Greece had turned over his administrative activities, as far as they concerned the foreign Missions, to the Italian Plenipotentiary as of June 25th. He said that all arrangements for the closing of the Legation and the departure of the American personnel should be made with the Office of the Italian Plenipotentiary.
Dr. Vogel also referred to the position of the American Consulate in Salonika (which, according to my information, had not yet been officially notified that it must close). He said that he had just received instructions to “repeat” to the American Consul at Salonika the instructions which he had received that that office must be closed and its American personnel leave Greek territory not later than July 15th. He said that he himself was not aware if or how the Consulate had received an official notice up to the present, as, if given, it had not come through the Office of the German Plenipotentiary in Athens. He was sending that same day to the German Consul General in Salonika a copy of the instructions which he had received, with instructions to notify Mr. Johnson to close his Consulate. With respect to the evacuation of the American officers in Salonika, he said that, as Salonika would remain under German control, the German authorities would arrange for their departure via Sofia, which in any case he thought would be more convenient than for them to join the Legation in Athens or to try to reach Albania and cross the Adriatic to Italy.
In leaving, Dr. Vogel expressed his personal regret for this situation and assured me that he was always at the disposal of this Legation for any assistance or information which he might be in a position to give. I thanked him for the courtesy and consideration which he had constantly shown to this Legation during the difficult period of the preceding two months.
[Page 750]That same day I called on Signor Venturing the ranking officer at the Office of the Italian Plenipotentiary during the absence of the Plenipotentiary, who was in Rome. He confirmed that the decision of the German Government to close this Legation had been taken after consultation with the Office of the Italian Plenipotentiary. He suggested that this Mission proceed to Rome and make arrangements for its further transportation after consultation with the American Embassy there. Upon learning the number of persons (20) who would be leaving with this Mission, he said that the best procedure would presumably be for them to travel from Athens to Rome by Italian plane, and that the Italian Government would arrange for a ship to carry their trunks and the bags which could not go by plane from Piraeus to Brindisi, from where they would be forwarded by rail to Rome.
Neither the German nor Italian representatives were in a position to inform me whether or not the American Government had been notified of the action taken by the German Government and I received the impression that such notification had not been made. After discussion with Dr. Vogel, I therefore sent a telegram dated June 27th to the Department29 through the German Plenipotentiary’s Office and our Embassy in Berlin. He stated that he would simultaneously telegraph his Government recommending that it inform the American Government. As no indication had been received on June 30th, either by radio or through the press, that the Department was aware of the steps taken by the German Plenipotentiary’s Office, I sent another telegram30 in the same terms, through the Office of the Italian Plenipotentiary, to the American Embassy at Rome for forwarding to the Department.
In view of the short time before this Legation must leave Greece, the American Government property is being moved, without specific authorization, from the present office quarters and from the residence of Minister MacVeagh to the buildings of the American School of Classical Studies, in accordance with the plan previously approved by the Minister and reported to the Department in this Legation’s telegram No. 302 of May 7, 1941.31
Following the receipt of the notification from the German authorities, I immediately informed the landlord of the building in which the office quarters are situated that I proposed to terminate the contract for the office quarters three months from the first of July, in accordance with paragraph 4 of the lease contract. I also informed him that if he desired to rent the premises to other occupants before October 1st, I [Page 751] should be glad to discuss an arrangement for the termination of the contract at an earlier date by mutual agreement. The Office of the German Plenipotentiary has since informed me that it desires to take over all of the quarters now occupied by the American Legation, and it is believed that an arrangement can be reached with the landlord for the termination of the Legation’s contract well before October 1st.
Respectfully yours,