740.00116 European War 1939/1135: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 26—8:49 p.m.]
7373. The informal meeting of the members of the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes mentioned in the last paragraph of Embassy’s 7238, October 21, met this afternoon at the Law Courts and was presided over by Sir Cecil Hurst. At my request Allison25 sat in as an observer. While there was considerable discussion about the exact purpose and functions of the Commission and just what the scope of its activities should be, there was no attempt made to reach a final decision in view of the unofficial character of the meeting. It was stressed by Sir Cecil Hurst that until it had been decided whether or not the Soviet Government was to be represented and until the United States representative arrived26 it would be impossible to hold official meetings. However, it was the consensus of those present that much useful preliminary work could be accomplished in an informal manner and it was decided that another meeting should be held in the near future, the exact date to be determined by Sir Cecil later. A small sub-committee was appointed to draw up a paper outlining the broad lines on which the Commission should get to work and this paper will be considered at the next informal meeting. It was also agreed generally that each of the Governments represented should be requested to inform the Commission of what it may already be doing or have done in the matter of collecting information with regard to war crimes. It was stated that in the United Kingdom this work was being carried on by the Department of the Treasury Solicitor. A record of this meeting is being prepared and upon its receipt a copy will be forwarded to the Department.27