740.00116 E.W./11–2844
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Aide-Mémoire
Ref: 152/221/44
The United States and British political officers at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force have reported to the State Department and the Foreign Office that the First United States Army have captured a member of the S.S. Deathshead Division who is believed to have information about the persons responsible for German atrocities at a concentration camp at Lublin and at other camps. These political officers have requested a decision of policy regarding the method of handling such prisoners of war and in particular whether representatives of other Governments such as the Soviet and Polish Governments should be given access to prisoners in question through a local Court of Enquiry or through the United Nations War Crimes Commission.
- 2.
- The view of the Foreign Office is that Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force should be asked to ensure that this prisoner is properly identified and all pertinent information about him carefully recorded. Special care should be taken to see that he does not escape or is not inadvertently released and he should if necessary be segregated from the other prisoners. He should be fully examined by the Anglo-American Supreme Court and full records of the results of the investigation should be kept at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force for communication through the usual channels to the National Offices (sic) Allied Governments. There is, in the view of the Foreign Office, no reason why the United Nations War Crimes Commission should be associated with the examination which is primarily a matter for the Allied Military authorities acting in conjunction with the National Offices (sic) of Allied Governments concerned.
- 3.
- The Foreign Office would see no objection to officers of Allied Governments represented upon the War Crimes Commission being allowed to conduct an examination themselves in cases where evidence is likely to be forthcoming of crimes against their own nationals, or on their territory, provided United States or British officers are present in order to see that no improper means are employed. In the present case the Foreign Office consider it would be appropriate that the Polish military authorities should be given an opportunity of interrogating the prisoner.
- 4.
- To the Foreign Office it seems that the Soviet Government are in a different position since they are not represented upon the United Nations War Crimes Commission and have followed their own independent procedure in dealing with war crimes. The grant of facilities [Page 1395] to the Soviet authorities to examine prisoners of war in British or American hands would also raise the question of reciprocal facilities for the examination by representatives of the Western Allies of prisoners of war captured by the Russians. The Soviet authorities might claim an interest in the present case, since Lublin was liberated by the Russian armies and the atrocities committed at the Majdamek Concentration Camp there have already been investigated by an extraordinary Commission set up jointly by the Soviet Government and the Polish National Committee. Nevertheless for reasons referred to above the Foreign Office consider it would be preferable not to raise the question of separate interrogation by the Soviet authorities but to confine action to communicating to the Russians at a later stage any information produced by Anglo-United States investigations which seemed likely to be of interest to them.
- 5.
- The Foreign Office would be glad to learn the views of the Department of State in regard to the despatch of instructions on the foregoing lines to the United States and British Political Officers at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force.