Foreign Relations of the United States, Conference at Quebec, 1944

Roosevelt Papers

Draft by Prime Minister Churchill ¹

Draft of a Suggested Telegram To Be Sent by the President and the Prime Minister to Marshal Stalin ²

1. In the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers before Teheran, the Prime Minister of Great Britain submitted a draft proposing the local punishment of war criminals in the countries and, if possible, at the scenes where their atrocities had been committed.³ With some small amendments⁴ this document was approved and has been published to the world with general acceptance and approval.⁵ This document however did not attempt to deal with the cases of the major war criminals “whose offences have no particular geographical localization”. This matter was touched on in conversation at Teheran without any definite conclusion being reached.⁶ It has now become important for us to reach agreement about the treatment of these major criminals. Would you consider whether a list could not be prepared of say 50 to 100 persons whose responsibilities for directing or impelling the whole process of crime and atrocity is established by the fact of their holding certain high offices? Such a list would not of course be exhaustive. New names could be added at any time. It is proposed that these persons should be declared, on the authority of the United Nations, to be world outlaws and that upon any of them falling into Allied hands the Allies will “decide how they are to be disposed of and the execution of this decision will be carried out immediately”. Or alternatively, “the nearest General Officer will convene a Court for the sole purpose of establishing their identity, and when this has been done will have them shot within one hour without reference to higher authority”.

2. It would seem that the method of trial, conviction and judicial sentence is quite inappropriate for notorious ringleaders such as Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Goebbels and Ribbentrop. Apart from the formidable difficulties of constituting the Court, formulating the charge and assembling the evidence, the question of their fate is a political and not a judicial one. It could not rest with judges however eminent or learned to decide finally a matter like this which is of the widest and most vital public policy. The decision must be “the joint decision of the Governments of the Allies”. This in fact was expressed in the Moscow Declaration.

3. There would seem to be advantages in publishing a list of names. At the present time, Hitler and his leading associates know that their fate will be sealed when the German Army and people cease to resist. It therefore costs them nothing to go on giving orders to fight to the last man, die in the last ditch, etc. As long as they can persuade the German people to do this, they continue to live on the fat of the land and have exalted employments. They represent themselves and the German people as sharing the same rights and fate. Once however their names are published and they are isolated, the mass of the German people will infer rightly that there is a difference between these major criminals and themselves. A divergence of interests between the notorious leaders and their dupes will become apparent. This may lead to undermining the authority of the doomed leaders and to setting their own people against them, and thus may help the break up of Germany.

4. We should be very glad to have your views upon this proposal at your earliest convenience. It is of course without prejudice to the great mass of German war criminals who will be handed over for the judgment of the countries where their crimes have been committed.

17.9.44.⁷

1. Cf. the agreed minute on war criminals which Roosevelt had initialed at Quebec on September 15, 1944, ante, p. 467, and a memorandum on this subject by Lord Simon dated September 4, 1944, ante, p. 91.
2. This message was never sent to Stalin. On October 22, 1944, following conferences which Churchill had had with Stalin at Moscow, Churchill informed Roosevelt: “… I do not wish to press the memo I gave you which you said you would have examined by the State Department. Kindly therefore treat it as withdrawn.” See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945, p. 400.
3. See Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. i, pp. 556–557.
4. See ibid., p. 768, fn. 21.
5. See ibid., pp. 768–769.
6. See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943, p. 554.
7. This draft was typed on the Prime Minister’s stationery, bearing the address “10, Downing Street, Whitehall”, in preparation for Churchill’s conversations with Roosevelt at Hyde Park.