840.48 Refugees/6079a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Turkey (Steinhardt)
440. The following constitutes WRB Cable no. 36. Deportation of Jews from Hungary and Hungarian controlled areas has begun and 24,000 deported from Sub-Carpatho-Russia to date, in addition to general deportation of Polish refugees whose names are known to Hungarian police, is information reported to American Embassy London by London representatives of Jewish Agency Palestine. Our diplomatic missions at London and Moscow are being asked to try to have broadcasts in appropriate languages from their respective countries beamed on Germany and German-satellite countries send warnings to the military and civilian personnel of such countries that they will be held personally responsible by the United Nations for their actions and any deaths resulting from such deportation. Moscow has been asked to request Russian Foreign Office to use its influence on the satellite governments and populations by all means possible to cause their resistance to German demands for the deportation and persecution of minority groups under control of the satellites. Similar warnings are being carried by OWI20 transmitters.
The Vatican is being approached relative to applying pressure on satellites, especially Hungary.
London and Moscow have been sent the essence of your 794 of May 2.21 Your efforts to have Turkish authorities admit refugees from Balkans with or without visas will continue it is hoped. You may desire to invite attention of Foreign Office officials to fact they have reportedly admitted large numbers of persons from Greece without visas, if not already used in your approaches, and if, in your discretion, it would not prejudice established movement of refugees from that quarter. Further reported by Embassy London that Jewish Agency has informed its London representatives that all but 30 Jews have been released of the large group arrested in Budapest for their activity in assisting escape of Jewish refugees from Hungary and other areas. Trials of remaining 30 about to begin. Furnishing by the Jewish Agency of all available details regarding these 30 persons either through its Ankara representatives or his office has been asked of the American Consul General, Jerusalem.22 Should you deem action [Page 1044] favorable upon receipt of information, kindly request Simond23 to communicate with Cretzianu24 and refer to assurances given by latter in his conversation of March 29 as reported in your 581 of March 30, paragraph no. 2.25 The Board is not unmindful of release of majority of persons charged with assisting Jews to escape. It hopes however for release of the 30 detained persons and the granting to them of all possible opportunities to leave [for?] Rumania.26
- Office of War Information.↩
- Not printed; Ambassador Steinhardt reported that the Turkish Consul at Budapest had informed the Foreign Ministry that every Jew who entered the Turkish Consulate in Budapest for the purpose of applying for a Turkish visa had been arrested as soon as he left and transported to an unknown destination (840.48 Refugees/5876).↩
- The Jewish Agency for Palestine subsequently reported that the number of persons still under arrest had been reduced to 12 or 15.↩
- Gilbert Simond, representative of the International Red Cross.↩
- Alexander Cretzianu, Rumanian Minister to Turkey.↩
- Not printed.↩
- In telegram 1786 of May 23 to Bern (repeated on the same date to Lisbon, Madrid, Ankara, Stockholm, and Vatican City), this Government’s grave concern was expressed, and American Missions were asked to request the authorities of the various governments to which they were accredited to obtain as soon as possible information from their Missions in Budapest concerning the treatment of Jews in Hungary (840.48 Refugees/6112b).↩