Office of the Historian

711.94114 Mail/34: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)

Washington, December 7, 1943—7 p.m.

1357. It appears from the Embassy’s 1915 of November 11 that the Soviet Foreign Office may not be fully informed of the status of the exchange of prisoner of war and civilian internee mail between the United States and Japan. The following information is supplied for use by the Embassy in further discussions in effort to obtain the consent of the Soviet authorities to shipments of prisoner of war and civilian internee mail from United States West Coast ports to Vladivostok for onward transmission to Japan.

1.
As noted in the Department’s 726 of August 20 ordinary postal correspondence (not parcels or bulk relief supplies) of prisoners of war and civilian internees held respectively by the United States and Japan has been exchanged since the outbreak of war by various routes. Agreement covering this exchange is embodied in the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention of 1929 which United States and Japan have mutually agreed to apply to civilian internees as well as to prisoners of war.
2.
Prisoner of war mail has been exchanged between New York and Tokyo via Intercross22 in Geneva which uses Basel, Istanbul, Tiflis, and Siberia route which is now open according to Intercross. Prisoner of war and civilian internee mails of the United States and Japan have also been exchanged at Lourenço Marques and Mormugão in connection with civilian exchange operations.
3.
According to Intercross mail to Japan via Tiflis apparently has not been accumulating in the Soviet Union but has been reaching Japan (your 1915 of November 11). The precise route used by Soviet postal authorities as forwarding intermediary for this mail is not known.
4.
The willingness of the Soviet postal administration in early June to provide an intermediary service for prisoner of war and civilian internee mail to Japan (Department’s 617 of July 28) suggests that at that time the Soviet postal authorities had in mind a method for its onward transmission to Japan and that this mail would not accumulate in Soviet ports.
5.
The American authorities desire to obtain the consent of the Soviet authorities to the shipment of prisoner of war and civilian internee mail to Japan from United States West Coast ports via Vladivostok in order to expedite the transmission of this mail. Geneva, Tiflis, Siberia route consumes 4 to 8 months.
6.
The transmission of prisoner of war and civilian internee mail should not be confused with the transmission of parcels and relief supplies, intended for Allied prisoners of war in Japanese custody, from United States West Coast ports to Vladivostok for retention there until final arrangements for their onward transmission to Japan shall have been worked out between the United States and Japanese Governments. Efforts to arrive at an agreement with the Japanese concerning the onward transmission of these supplies, as noted in the Department’s 959 of October 2, are continuing.
7.
Foreign Office may be informed that United States Government accords full reciprocity in regard to receipt of parcels and mail by Japanese nationals in United States custody. Mail and parcels which have been sent from Japan to the United States have been and will continue to be distributed to addressees as expeditiously as possible subject to usual security regulations. The opening of a channel of transmission through Vladivostok would serve to speed the exchange of mail and parcels addressed both to Japanese and American nationals in custody of the adverse party.
8.
The representative of the Soviet Purchasing Commission in the United States at Portland, Oregon, has informed the United States postal authorities that prisoner of war and civilian internee mail cannot be accepted on Soviet vessels from Portland to Vladivostok without [Page 828] special authority from the Soviet Embassy in Washington. In view of your efforts Department has not approached Soviet Embassy.
Hull
  1. International Red Cross.↩