740.00116 EW/10–344
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Aide-Mémoire
Ref: 152/154/44
His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has, in consultation with the British Resident Minister Central Mediterranean, and His Majesty’s Ambassador at Rome, been considering the best method of approach to the Allied Governments represented on the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes with a view to secure their concurrence in the proposal—put forward in Embassy Note No. 153 of March 15, 1944 and agreed to by the State Department in their note of June 3, 1944 (740.00116 European War 1939/1419)—that the terms of reference of the War Crimes Commission should be extended to include German war crimes against Italians, and that His Majesty’s Government and the United States Government should act for the Italian Government in transmitting to the War Crimes Commission information relating to these crimes.
- 2.
- Mr. Macmillan has suggested that the agency acting for the Italian Government in this matter should be the Allied Commission in Italy, and that the evidence of German war crimes against Italians should be communicated to the War Crimes Commission through the Supreme Chiefs of Staff by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean, as the President of the Allied Commission.
- 3.
- Sir Noel Charles has agreed with this proposal and has suggested that the whole matter might, in the first instance, be laid before the Advisory Council for Italy for discussion.
- 4.
- Mr. Eden agrees with these views and thinks that the discussion of the
matter by the Advisory Council would provide the best means of
surmounting the two chief difficulties which arise;
- (a)
- the attitude of the Greek, Yugoslav and French authorities, and
- (b)
- the interest of the Soviet Government in the matter.
- 5.
- As regards (a), the attitude of these three authorities towards the extension of the terms of reference of the War Crimes Commission to enable that body to deal with German war crimes against Italians, is thought to have been influenced—in May last when this matter was discussed in the Commission—by the fact that the Commission had made virtually no progress in considering crimes committed by Italians against nationals of the United Nations; this lack of progress being due to the failure of the National Authorities concerned to forward any number of cases of this nature to the Commission. Reports that Mr. Eden has recently received from His Majesty’s Representatives with the French Committee for National Liberation and the Greek and Yugoslav Governments, suggest however that some progress is now being made by these authorities with the preparation of cases of Italian crimes against their nationals. Mr. Eden feels, therefore, that, at least in the case of the Greek and Yugoslav Governments, it is unlikely that serious objection would now be raised to the proposal that the War Crimes Commission should deal with German crimes against Italians. A discussion of the proposal in the Advisory Council would, however, give these authorities an opportunity of airing their views, if they wished to do so.
- 6.
- As regards (b) above, Mr. Eden thinks that a preliminary discussion of this matter in the Advisory Council for Italy would give the Soviet Government, who are legitimately interested in anything affecting the Italian Government’s status but are not represented on the War Crimes Commission, an opportunity for expressing their views on the proposal.
- 7.
- If the United States Government agree with the foregoing suggestions, Mr. Eden hopes that the Department of State will find it possible to send suitable instructions to the United States representative on the Advisory Council.
- 8.
- Sir Noel Charles has been instructed to keep in touch with Mr. Kirk,2 so that he may concert with his United States colleague about raising this matter in the Advisory Council as soon as the latter has received his instructions from Washington.
- Alexander C. Kirk, American Representative on the Advisory Council for Italy.↩