Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, General, Volume I

740.00119 EAC/97

Memorandum by the Representative of the Soviet Union to the European Advisory Commission ( Gousev )¹

E.A.C. (44) 9 (Revise)

London , 18 February, 1944.

Terms of Surrender for Germany

In accordance with the decision of the European Advisory Commission of the 14th January, 1944, I submit the attached document “Terms of Surrender for Germany” for the consideration of the Commission.

F[edor] G[ousev]

[Annex]

Draft Terms of Surrender for Germany, Submitted to the Commission by the Representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The German Government and the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces, recognising the complete defeat of Germany in the war criminally begun by her against the United Nations, announce the unconditional surrender of Germany, and request the cessation of hostilities against her.

On this basis the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, of the United Kingdom, and of the United States of America, hereinafter called “The Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies”, call upon the German Government and the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces to sign the following terms of unconditional surrender:—

1. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany, at . . . . . . hours Central European time shall cease hostilities against the United Nations on land, at sea, and in the air in all theatres of war.

2. The land, air, anti-aircraft and naval forces of Germany, and formations and units of the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo,² stationed at the front inside the frontiers of Germany as they were on the 1st January, 1938, shall immediately and completely disarm, handing over their arms and all equipment to the local command of the Allied forces, and the personnel of all these formations and units shall be declared prisoners of war, pending further decisions.

In the same manner the armed forces of Germany which are outside her territories, shall be disarmed and declared prisoners of war.

For the maintenance of internal order in Germany, at the discretion of the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, a certain number of detachments of the civil police may be retained temporarily, armed with small arms.

3. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany shall forthwith:—

a). Hand over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, without exception, all prisoners of war belonging to the armed forces of the United Nations at present in their power, with full lists of these persons and with notification of the places of detention of all prisoners of war both in Germany itself and in territories occupied by her, so that they may be repatriated to their own countries.

b). Provide the prisoners of war handed over, pending their repatriation to their own countries, with adequate food, clothing and money in accordance with their rank or the official positions they held, and provide sick and wounded prisoners of war with the necessary medical care.

c). Hand over camps and places of detention of the above mentioned prisoners of war to the control of the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies.

4. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany shall immediately hand over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, in the manner determined by them, all interned or forcibly removed nationals of the United Nations, with full lists of these persons and details of the places where they are detained both in Germany itself and in the territories occupied by her; provide the persons handed over, pending their repatriation to their own countries, with sufficient food, clothing, accommodation and medical care, and also carry out all requirements which the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies may present in the future in connection with the fulfilment of the above-mentioned obligations of Germany.

5. From the moment when hostilities cease it is prohibited for German military or civil aircraft of all types and descriptions, wherever they may be, and likewise aircraft of the Allies of Germany in Germany itself or in territories temporarily occupied by her, to leave the ground without special permission of the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies.

All aircraft and aviation repair shops to be handed over with all their equipment to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies in accordance with the procedure and at the times laid down by them.

The transfer of aircraft to the flag of any other Power whatsoever is forbidden.

6. The Supreme Command of Germany shall hand over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, in accordance with the procedure and at the times determined by the latter, all permanent and temporary aerodromes (on land or sea) wherever they may be, with all their equipment, stores of all kinds, all transport vehicles and means of communication.

7. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany shall hand over in the manner and at the times determined by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies all plans of anti-aircraft defence, all anti-aircraft artillery and machine guns, all their aircraft, barrage balloons, means of communication, appliances and means of location of aircraft, appliances for direction of fighters, etc.

8. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany immediately after the signature of the present Instrument, shall issue orders to all warships (surface or submarine), auxiliary naval craft, vessels of the mercantile marine, and also to aircraft of the German Naval Air Service, wherever these ships, vessels or aircraft may be at the time of signature of the present Instrument, to return immediately to ports and bases to be specified by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies.

9. All warships of all classes, auxiliary craft, and vessels for special purposes, and also vessels of the mercantile marine designated by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, afloat, under repair, or under construction, and also aircraft of the Naval Air Service which are in German ports or bases at the time of signature of the present Instrument or in ports and bases of countries occupied by Germany, shall be disarmed, deprived of all means of radio communication and handed over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies in the manner, and at the times and places, indicated by them.

The transfer of German ships and vessels, and also the transfer of ships and vessels seized by Germany, to the flag of any other Power is prohibited.

10. All ships and vessels of the United Nations which are at the disposal of Germany at the time of signature of the present Instrument are to be returned at the dates, and to the ports or bases, specified by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies.

11. The German Supreme Command, within a period of 24 hours from the time of signature of the present Instrument, shall present to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies full information regarding its armed forces, regarding formations and units of the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo and particulars of all fortresses, fortified areas and minefields wherever they are situated, and of the safety lanes through them.

12. The Supreme Command of Germany shall carry out, at the times fixed by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, the work of sweeping all navigational channels rendered dangerous by mines and areas of safe navigation together with the reinstatement of all aids to navigation.

13. The personnel of the German Armed Forces, and of the formations and units of the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo which are at the fronts at the time of the signature of the present Instrument, and are declared prisoners of war after disarmament, shall be stationed at such places and in such manner as may be determined by each Allied Commander-in-Chief on his own front.

The remaining personnel of the German Armed Forces, and of formations and units of the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo which are in countries allied to Germany, occupied by Germany, or in the interior of Germany itself, shall remain at their present stations and shall be maintained in the manner prescribed by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies.

14. The Government and Supreme Command of Germany shall, at the demand of the representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, provide all facilities for the movement of allied troops on the railways, roads and other land communications, or by sea, river or air.

15. In order to carry out the disarmament of the German Armed Forces, and of formations and units of the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo, the following zones of occupation are hereby established between the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

a). The territory of Germany, including East Prussia, situated to the east of a line drawn through the town of Heiligenhafen (Exclusive) along the western shore of the Mecklenburg Bay to the town of Lübeck (Exclusive); thence along the western administrative frontier of Mecklenburg to the River Elbe; thence upstream along this river to the administrative frontier of the Prussian province of Altmark; thence along the eastern frontier of the province of Brunswick; thence to the western administrative frontier of Anhalt; thence along the western administrative frontier of the Prussian province of Saxony and of the province of Thuringia to where it meets the Bavarian frontier; thence eastwards along the northern frontier of Bavaria to the Czechoslovak frontier at the town of Hoff; shall be occupied by the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with the exception of the special system of occupation for the territory mentioned under sub-paragraph (d) below.

b). The territory of Germany situated to the west of the line defined in sub-paragraph (a) above, bounded on the south by a line drawn from the point where the western administrative frontier of the province of Thuringia meets the administrative frontiers of Bavaria; thence westwards along the northern administrative frontier of Bavaria to the river Main; thence along this river to the point where it joins the river Rhine; thence along the northern frontier to the province of Westmark; shall be occupied by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.

c). All the remaining territory of Western Germany situated to the south of the line defined in subparagraph (b) above shall be occupied by the armed forces of the United States of America.

d). There shall be established around Berlin a 10/15 kilometer zone which shall be occupied jointly by the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

e). The territories of Austria shall be occupied jointly by the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

16. The Supreme Command of Germany shall hand over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, in the manner and at the times determined by these Representatives, all such storage depots (whether fixed, mobile or in transit), arms, munitions, fuel, other war material, foodstuffs, clothing and other equipment, repair shops of all kinds, naval ports and bases as are at the disposal of the German Armed Forces.

17. The Supreme Command of Germany shall hand over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, in the manner and at the times determined by these Representatives, all research institutions, drawing and planning offices, laboratories, testing stations, and ranges, factories and industrial undertakings, together with all records, technical data, patents, plans and inventions belonging to the military, naval or air Departments.

18. All permanent and temporary land and coast fortifications, fortresses, fortified areas and lines in good order, together with all their equipment, arms, means of communication, munitions of all kinds, explosives, stores of all kinds, installations, repair equipment, plans and drawings of the said fortifications, shall be handed over to the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies, in the manner and at the times determined by these Representatives. In order to ensure unobstructed and safe approach to these fortifications, the Supreme Command of Germany shall place detachments of unarmed technical troops at the disposal of the above mentioned Representatives.

19. From the time of signature of the present Instrument, all German radio transmission, telegraph and telephone communications both inside Germany and in the districts temporarily occupied by her, shall cease pending the institution of control by the Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies over all means of communication in Germany, and over censorship of broadcasting, the Press and public performances of all kinds.

20. The Representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allies will present additional requirements on political, economic, military and all other questions connected with the surrender of Germany; and the German Government and the German Supreme Command undertake to carry out these requirements unconditionally.

Data and year . . . . . town . . . . . . . . . . . . hours (Central European Time).
By authority of the Government of the U.S.S.R.,
Representative of the Supreme Command of the U.S.S.R.
(Signature)
By authority of the German Government,
(Signature)
By authority of H. M. Government in the United Kingdom,
Representative of the Supreme Command of the United Kingdom.
(Signature)
By authority of the German Supreme Command,
(Signature)
By authority of the Government of the United States of America,
Representative of the Supreme Command of the United States of America.
(Signature)

1. Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in the United Kingdom in his despatch 14015, February 21. The memorandum was originally circulated in the European Advisory Commission by the Soviet Representative on February 15, The English text was designated as E.A.C. (44) 9, dated February 16, before undergoing minor revisions and being circulated in the final form printed here. Copy of E.A.C. (44) 9 was transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in the United Kingdom in his despatch 13945. February 17.
2. Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police).