740.00119 EAC/10–2444
The Secretary of State to
the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
No. 4665
Washington, October 24,
1944.
The Secretary of State encloses herewith a copy of a letter received from
the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a copy of its enclosure consisting of
comments on the United States draft of proclamations and general orders
for Germany.24
[Page 366]
These comments, prepared by the Working Security Committee, have now been
approved by the Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and are
submitted to the Ambassador for his guidance.
[Enclosure]
The Joint Chiefs of
Staff to the Secretary of
State
25
Washington, 20 October,
1944.
My Dear Mr. Secretary: The Joint Chiefs of
Staff have reviewed the United States draft of proclamations and
general orders (Germany) prepared by the United States Advisers,
European Advisory Commission. They have also examined the appended
comments thereon prepared by the Working Security Committee.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a military point of view, concur with
the comments of the Working Security Committee and with the proposal
to transmit them to the United States Representative on the European
Advisory Commission.
Sincerely yours,
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
William D. Leahy
,
Admiral, U.S. Navy,
Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy
[Subenclosure]
Comments by the Working Security Committee on
Draft of Proclamations and General Orders
- 1.
- In the proclamations and general orders there are numerous
references to the Unconditional Surrender Instrument. It should
be agreed by the three governments that, in the event there is
not a formal signing of this instrument, the terms thereof will
nevertheless be implemented.
- 2.
- With respect to the proclamations, it is believed that the
substance of Proclamations 1 and 2 could well be incorporated
into a single proclamation subject to the following alterations:
[Page 367]
-
a.
- The opening paragraph of the proclamation should read:
“The undersigned Allied Representatives, acting
on behalf of their respective governments and in
the interests of the United Nations, hereby assume
supreme legislative, judicial and executive
authority and power over all of Germany.”
- This paragraph is believed to be desirable in that as
presently drafted neither proclamation specifically
provides for assumption of these powers.
-
b.
- Paragraph 3 of Proclamation No. 2. Paragraph 3 is
susceptible to construction by the Germans that they
will be permitted to carry on their own administration
to a greater extent than intended. It would seem
desirable to recast this paragraph in the light of
J.C.S. 1067, particularly paragraph 1 of Appendix “C” of
that document.
-
c.
- It is believed that an early proclamation published to
the Germans should outline to them the system of
government under which they will be initially
controlled, including a description of the zones of
occupation.
- 3.
- As to the general orders, it has been our view that those
orders should not be utilized for the purpose of formulating
policies, but rather to implement the surrender terms and the
policies agreed upon as set forth in recommendations prepared by
the European Advisory Commission. It is further believed that
the drafting of the general orders to carry out the
recommendations, being a function of the commander concerned,
might for the sake of uniformity be accomplished at a working
military level such as in the Control Council nucleus in order
not to consume the time of the commission with detailed
planning. Whatever may be the decision of the European Advisory
Commission in this matter, our general observations on the
orders as submitted are:
-
a.
- The reference in the preamble of each order to the
provisions of paragraph 12 (b) of
the surrender instrument should be eliminated. It is our
belief that orders issued to the Germans should not be
based on the Unconditional Surrender or on any
particular paragraph of the surrender instrument,
particularly in view of the fact that general orders
will be required following the defeat of Germany,
whether or not a surrender instrument has been
signed.
-
b.
- It is our view that orders issued to the German people
should be direct and specific, i.e., they should order
the Germans to do certain specific things or
specifically prohibit certain activities on their part.
Many of the paragraphs of the general orders as
submitted are not of this character and should,
therefore, in our opinion, be modified or eliminated.
Examples are paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 4, General
Order No. 1 wherein it is indicated that we plan to take
certain action, but no direct and specific action is
taken. An order on a particular subject should not be
issued until the occupational authorities are ready to
take specific action. It will be extremely difficult to
punish Germans for violations of orders unless they are
direct and clear-cut. Other examples are: General Order
No. 1, subparagraphs
[Page 368]
(b) and
(c) of paragraph 8, Article 7
and subparagraphs (a) and (c) of paragraph 14, Article 10;
General Order No. 2, Article 8; General Order No. 3,
paragraph 11, Article 5. These paragraphs appear to
serve no useful purpose, but would disclose our future
plans and would enable the Germans to take such measures
as might be within their power to prevent the later
accomplishment of our purposes. Another reason why it
would seem desirable to avoid publicizing a future
course of action is that, in the light of developing
conditions, it may prove necessary to alter the proposed
action before it is made effective.
-
c.
- References to the German Government and German High
Command, such as are included in paragraph 11, Article
9, General Order No. 1, should be eliminated because
such references might imply a continuance in power of
the German Government and German High Command. The
phrase “German authorities” as used elsewhere in the
document would appear to be preferable.
-
d.
- Throughout the general orders are included paragraphs
which seem to have been included merely for the purpose
of stating the authority and powers possessed by the
occupation authorities. It is our view that all such
provisions should be eliminated from the general orders.
Any powers which we may possess in Germany will be
derived either (1) from the surrender instrument itself,
or (2) from the total defeat of Germany by our armed
forces, and we do not believe that any attempt should be
made to define these powers in general orders.
- 4.
- In the preparation of proclamations and orders you will
doubtless wish to bear in mind the proclamations and orders
which may from time to time have been issued by the Supreme
Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet High
Command, insofar as the latter proclamations and orders are not
inconsistent with the current United States views.
- 5.
- All proclamations and general orders should be signed by the
military commanders of the occupying forces as supreme
commanders of their respective forces.
[Here follow suggestions for changes in the texts of a number of
articles in the draft orders.]
