740.0011 EW/8–843
The British Ambassador (Halifax) to the Secretary of State
most secret
Washington, August 8th,
1943.
Dear Mr. Hull, I send you herewith a copy
of a telegram received from Mr. Eden on August 7th about the
proposal to make Rome an open city.
Yours very sincerely,
[Enclosure—Telegram]
The British Foreign Secretary (Eden) to the British Ambassador in the United
States (Halifax)
The Apostolic delegate1 handed to Sir A. Cadogan on August 4th an
aide-mémoire in which he recalled
that the Holy See had suggested to the new Italian Government
that Rome should be declared and effectively made, an open city.
The Italian Government had replied on July 31st that it had been
decided to declare Rome an open city. They therefore desired to
know what essential conditions must be fulfilled in order that
such a declaration could be recognised by the Allied
nations.
- 2.
- Sir A. Cadogan said that we had already heard of this
proposal through the United States Government,2 and
that it was under discussion. He reminded the Archbishop
that the proposal had already been put forward recently but
no solution had been found. There did not seem to be any
fresh elements in the situation which would make it any
easier to find a solution now. The Archbishop observed that
the question had been raised when Mussolini was in power.
Sir A. Cadogan replied that he did not see how fact that a
different régime was in power in any way affected the
sanctity of the city of Rome. But the matter was being
examined and the Archbishop would be informed of our
decision eventually.
- 3.
- We are taking no action on this approach.
