740.00114 European War 1939/2200: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland ( Harrison )

1400. Your 529, February 12, Department’s 717, March 20 and your despatch no. 2096, February 13.7 Request the Swiss Government to communicate the following matters to the Italian Government with [Page 29] reference to the Italian Foreign Office’s note verbale 31/01511 of January 22, 1942. Numbers refer to numbered sections of the Italian Foreign Office’s note under reference.

2. Geneva Prisoners of War Convention.

Article 14. The American Government reserves the right for the repatriation, in accordance with the provisions of Article 12 of the Geneva Red Cross Convention, of medical personnel and chaplains but agrees that pending such repatriation, doctors, medical orderlies and chaplains shall, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4, Article 14, be used reciprocally for the care of their compatriots in prisoners of war camps.

The American Government assents to the proposal of the Italian Government that the provisions of Article 14 for the furnishing of temporary prosthetic equipment and for medical care shall be applied exactly as written.

Article 21. The proposals of the Italian Government with regard to Article 21 are still under study. A further communication with regard to them will be addressed to the Italian Government.

Article 23.

(a) The American Government suggests that the value of exchange applicable to the points which follow should be 20 lire to one dollar U.S.A.

(b) The American Government proposes that there be substituted for the rates of pay provided for under Article 23 the following rates of pay:

First or second lieutenants, chief warrant officers, warrant officers in the Army; lieutenants, junior grade, ensigns, chief warrant officers, warrant officers in the Navy; first and second lieutenants, chief warrant officers, warrant officers in the Marine Corps; and similar grades in the United States Coast Guard and United States Public Health Service, to include corresponding ranks for the Italian armed forces, to receive $20 a month or 400 lire.

Captains in the Army, Lieutenants in the Navy, Captains in the Marine Corps, and similar ranks in the United States Coast Guard and United States Public Health Service, to include corresponding ranks for the Italian armed forces, to receive $30 a month or 600 lire.

Majors and upwards in the Army, Lieutenant Commanders and upwards in the Navy, Majors and upwards in the Marine Corps, and similar ranks in the United States Coast Guard and United States Public Health Service, to include corresponding ranks for the Italian armed forces, to receive $40 a month or 800 lire.

It is suggested that the remaining sums due on the pay accounts of all officer prisoners of war be paid by the Government of origin as an allotment to the family of the prisoner of war.

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(c) The money allowances provided for under (b) shall be in addition to rations to be distributed at the prisoners of war camps, the cost of which shall be borne by the detaining power.

(d) The American Government proposes that payment in Italian lire or its equivalent in dollars be on a basis of 8 cents American money per diem for non-commissioned officers and 5 cents American money per diem for all other enlisted personnel, no distinction being made in this connection between American white and colored soldiers.

(e) All payments suggested above shall be paid in full, it being understood that the authorities of the country of origin shall pay sums due to their nationals, over and above the amount specified, to the dependents or legal representatives of the nationals in their country of origin.

Article 24 The American Government accepts the proposal of the Italian Government that prisoners of war be not allowed to receive negotiable money and that they should be allowed to spend for their needs only a special monetary substitute issued by the commander of the camp.

Article 27. The American Government proposes that the money allowances provided for enlisted personnel set forth above under Article 23 point (b) continue to be paid to such personnel, even though injured, during the complete period of injury with no deductions of any kind, and in addition thereto during the period of injury 50 per cent of the rate of wage paid for the work being performed at the time of injury, these payments being in lieu of compensation.

The American Government accepts the proposal of the Italian Government that each Government should regulate, according to its own laws, the question of allowances to be granted to their own nationals, when they shall have returned from imprisonment, for injuries occurring during imprisonment, and agrees that a proper certificate attesting to the nature and the circumstances of the injuries shall be issued for each victim of an industrial accident.

Article 34. The Italian Government’s proposal that work of tailors, shoemakers, barbers, and laundrymen, shall be considered as exceeding the ordinary work of the camp and shall be remunerated under a special scale is still under consideration by the appropriate American authorities.

The American Government accepts the Italian Government’s proposal that the scale of payment for labor performed outside of camps shall be 10 lire per day for skilled workers and 7 lire a day for unskilled workers or its equivalent in dollars, this payment to be in addition to food, lodging and clothing.

Article 36. The American Government proposes that instead of one letter and one card per week, each prisoner of war be permitted to write two letters and one card per week, this being the amount of outgoing [Page 31] correspondence now allowed by the American authorities to Italian civilian internees in the United States. The proposal that there shall be no restrictions regarding the persons to whom prisoners of war may address letters is accepted, except as to that part of the proposal which permits correspondence between related prisoners of war and internees held in different camps, to which the American Government agrees only to the extent that relationship can be satisfactorily established.

Article 68. The American Government accepts the proposal of the Italian Government regarding the adoption of the model agreement annexed to the Convention with the change suggested regarding repatriation rather than hospitalization in neutral countries.

The American Government also accepts the proposal of the Italian Government to extend the benefit of repatriation to those military persons interned in third countries who meet the conditions provided in letters (a) and (b) of the model agreement.

Article 69. The Italian Government’s proposal with regard to Article 69 is accepted.

Article 76. The Italian Government’s proposal is accepted by the American Government subject to a change in the second sentence to provide that if the fellow soldiers of the dead shall desire to pay special honors, the “difference in” not the “greater part of” the costs shall be at their expense.

Article 77. The prisoners of war and civilian internees Information Bureau in the Office of the Provost Marshal General of the United States is already transmitting information regarding Italian citizens held in custody in the United States to the Central Information Bureau of the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva and the appropriate protecting Power. This office is also charged with furnishing information about prisoners of war. The American Government proposes that articles for use of prisoners be forwarded through ordinary mail channels, when available, and through the facilities made available by the International Red Cross Committee.

3. Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and the Sick of Armies in the Field.

Article 12. The American Government proposes that medical officers, chaplains, and officers attached to the administration of sanitary establishments be paid in accordance with the proposal made under the heading 2. Prisoners of War Convention, Article 23, above, and that the pay allowance be in addition to maintenance in the case of all such officers, as well as in the case of all enlisted men. With reference to the further Italian proposals, it is proposed and suggested as follows:

(a)
The American Government agrees that medical or religious personnel shall be used for the care of their own compatriots but reserves the right of such personnel to repatriation under the provisions [Page 32] of Article 12. It desires that only those members of the medical or religious personnel who voluntarily relinquish their right of repatriation should be retained after a way is opened for their return and military exigencies permit.
(b)
The American Government agrees to the Italian Government’s proposals under (b), (c), and (d) of this heading.

4. Additional proposals for the regulation of the following questions on a basis of reciprocity:

(a)
Tobacco. The American Government agrees to this proposal.
(b)
The American Government does not agree to the proposal that a separate mess be established for non-commissioned officer prisoners of war.

Hull
  1. Despatch No. 2096 not printed.