740.00119 Control (Germany)/3–2245
Report of the Subcommittee of the Informal Policy
Committee on Germany
[Washington,] March 22, 1945.
The Sub-committee has agreed upon the following interpretive paragraphs
of the Presidential directive of March 10, 1945:
- “1. The Inter-Allied Military Government shall be
established in Germany pursuant to the international
agreement on control machinery for Germany and the
principles stated in the instrument of unconditional
surrender.
- “2. Every effort shall be made to reach agreement in the
Control Council on matters of policy. The authority of the
Control Council shall be paramount throughout Germany and
its agreed policies shall be determinative throughout the
zones. The respective zone commanders, in the exercise of
their authority shall act subject to such agreed policies,
shall see that such agreed policies are carried out within
their respective zones, and in the absence of agreed
policies, shall exercise their authority in a manner
consistent with the principles set out herein.
- “3. The Control Council, in those matters as to which it
may determine central administration to be desirable, may
use or provide central administrative machinery and agencies
which shall have such powers, exercise such functions and
use such channels of communication as the Control Council
may direct. Subject to any agreed policies of the Control
Council all persons and administrative agencies acting
within the zones shall perform their duties under the
supervision of the zone commander. The Control Council and
the zone commanders, respectively, subject to agreed
policies of the Control Council may make use of such Germans
and such administrative agencies staffed by Germans as they
may deem necessary within their respective spheres of
authority but no Germans or administrative agencies shall be
employed except in accordance with the policies for the
purge of Nazism set forth below.”
The following final paragraph to paragraph 3 was submitted by the
Treasury representative for discussion—it was not definitely adopted by
the Sub-Committee for recommendation to the Committee:
“Subject to such decisions as may be reached by the Control
Council on the desirability of using centralized
instrumentalities, military administration shall be directed
toward the promotion of the decentralization of the political
structure of Germany and to this end local, municipal and
regional organs shall be strengthened to the extent
possible.”
