103.918/12–144
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Strategic Services (Donovan) to President Roosevelt 37
Our office in Sweden has raised for immediate decision a question which will arise with increasing frequency in connection with those of German nationality who work for us behind German lines. We are asked specifically what we are prepared to do in their behalf in regard to offering firm guarantees of protection and post-armistice privileges to Germans whom we recruit and who work loyally for our organization. Among these privileges would be permission for entry into the United States after the war, the placing of their earnings on deposit in an American bank and the like. We shall, of course, institute appropriate controls.
On this we will need authority which only you can give.
At this moment we have certain German nationals working for us within Germany at great risks.
- This document was transmitted to the Secretary of State along with a memorandum from President Roosevelt asking what he thought of it. On December 1, 1944, a copy had already been sent to Mr. Dunn, Director of the Office of European Affairs, with the suggestion that the Secretary of State would be interested in it.↩