711.94114A/8–2345
The Minister in Switzerland (Harrison) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 30.]
The American Minister at Bern has the honor to refer to the Department’s telegram No. 1925 of May 29—8 p.m.,33 concerning the treatment of American prisoners of war in Japan.
The Legation has now received a note dated August 21, from the Swiss Foreign Office which is based upon a telegram from the Swiss Legation at Tokyo. According to the note the Japanese Foreign Office immediately undertook an investigation on this subject which revealed that American prisoners of war do not labor under the conditions set forth in the Department’s telegram under reference. The Japanese Foreign Office expresses a desire to ascertain the source of the information on which the Department’s telegram was based.
[Page 397]The Swiss Legation adds that it has noted the contents of the Department’s telegram No. 2396 of July 26—8 p.m.,34 but that it does not have the intention of communicating this to the Japanese Government.