740.0011 European War 1939/11247: Telegram
The Consul General at Beirut (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 24—2:38 p.m.]
161. I received only today radio bulletin containing the President’s statement of May 15th.72 As it had not been published locally and I have frequently found the High Commissioner very badly informed regarding American affairs I have quoted the text in a letter to him marked personal and added:
“In view of the great friendship which has for over a century and a half existed between France and the United States of America—a friendship the continuation of which you and I ardently desire as necessary for the salvation of civilization—I beg Your Excellency once more to pause before you take any steps that will inevitably create a situation the Government and people of the United States would deeply deplore.
The French people better than any others know that the strongest forces in the history of the human race have always been spiritual forces. Every Frenchman as does every American knows in his heart that Nazism corrupts and degrades everything it touches. Our two nations would therefore never understand or forgive us if we of this generation deliberately and gratuitously turned over to the Axis any portion of France’s immortal heritage.”
Repeated to Vichy.
- See telegram No. 411, May 15, 1941, to the Ambassador in France, vol. ii, p. 171.↩