701.6294/5–3146
The Political Adviser in Japan (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State
No. 441
[Received June 25.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose78 a report concerning Eugen Ott, former Major General in the German Army and German Ambassador to Japan, prepared by two former members of the German Secret Intelligence Service, together with a forwarding communication dated April 2, 1946 from the 441st Counter-intelligence Corps Detachment from which it appears that reasonable credibility may be placed in the report.
Summary of Report. As a major in the German Army, Eugen Ott was ordered to Japan in 1933 and attached to an artillery regiment at Nagoya. Thorough knowledge of Japan, close friendship with Frankfurter Zeitung correspondent Richard Sorge, and good connections with the Japanese military were the obvious reasons for Ott’s appointment as Military Attaché in Tokyo in 1934. Between 1934 and 1936 Ott was active in promoting closer German-Japanese relations and to prepare the Anti-Comintern Pact, concluded on November 27, 1936.79 Ott’s part in the conclusion of this pact led to his appointment [Page 433] as Ambassador to Tokyo, on the recommendation of Hillman (Chief of the Nazi Party in Japan) to Bohle (Head of the Foreign Section of the Nazi Party in Berlin) who personally advised Hitler to appoint Ott to succeed Ambassador Dircksen.80 In 1938 Ott visited Berlin and was made a member of the Nazi Party by Hitler personally.
It is not clear when Hitler gave orders to forge the Tri-Partite Pact, but the project had been under negotiations since 1938. Prime Minister Hiranuma81 was unsuccessful in overcoming objections from the pro-American and pro-British political circles, as well as the Navy’s reluctance. Reports from Japan, however, encouraged the Germans to redouble their efforts and Ott was an outstanding figure in the negotiations which followed after the outbreak of war in Europe. Ott especially cultivated friendships with Prince Kanin,82 Generals Minami,83 Araki,84 Itagaki,85 and Mazaki86 and with members of the German Section of the General Staff. Despite tremendous difficulties in overcoming opposition in highest Japanese circles, considerable groundwork had been laid by July, 1940. Ribbentrop’s87 personal representative Stahmer88 arrived in Japan early in September 1940, but it was apparent that the last stages in the negotiations had already been reached. Stahmer’s efforts in concluding the pact were limited to 17 days—from September 9–10 when, accompanied by Ott, he held his first conversation with Matsuoka,89 until September 27 when the pact was announced. Although announced as a “stabilizing factor,” the pact was instrumental in strengthening the aspirations of the Japanese Army and the Nazi Party.
In April 1941 Matsuoka returned to Japan after having concluded the neutrality pact with Soviet Russia. After the outbreak of the German-Soviet War, Matsuoka saw Ott many times but was uneasy partly because he felt that Stalin had cheated him. Despite talk of a [Page 434] pincers-movement against Russia, with the Japanese Navy attacking Vladivostok, the plan fell through because of opposition from the Japanese Navy, Prince Konoye, and the imminence of the Pacific War.
Hitler was worried about the Japanese-American negotiations then being carried on and Ott, on May 19, 1941, requested Matsuoka to furnish full information. Ott expressed objections to these negotiations and requested that Japan obtain a guarantee from the United States not to intervene in the war, that Germany be allowed to participate in the negotiations, and that full information be given Germany.
Early in 1941 Meisinger, a powerful Gestapo man, arrived in Japan and took up residence with Ott. Sorge was also living with the Ott family and was their intimate friend and one of Ott’s chief advisors. Sorge was arrested as a Communist spy, but both Ott and Meisinger tried by all means to have him released. The Japanese police became more and more disgusted with their attitude until finally Ott and Meisinger dropped Sorge completely although they were personally deeply involved. A telegram from “Manchukuo” to Berlin revealed Meisinger’s double-dealing and nearly wrecked the entire Gestapo system in the Far East. Meisinger, in agreement with Ott, then furnished to the Japanese a report which revealed that Sorge had been a member of the Communist Party in Germany, that he had participated in Comintern sessions in Moscow before 1934, and other charges. Ott’s position became untenable and finally his recall was requested by the Japanese Government. Ott, however, was kept on the German Foreign Office rolls, and retained his rank, title, and salary. The new Ambassador, Stahmer, arrived in Japan on January 28, 1943 but Ott continued to maintain his residence at the German Embassy. Ott subsequently made a tour of the southern area and continued having conferences with high Japanese. No longer desired in Japan, Ott in May 1943 arrived in Peking where he took residence in a house provided by Tojo. End of Summary.
Respectfully yours,
- Enclosures not printed.↩
- Signed at Berlin, November 25, 1936, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. ii, p. 153. For secret additional agreement signed at the same time, see Department of State, Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945, Series D (1937–1945), vol. i, p. 734, footnote 2a.↩
- Herbert van Dirksen, transferred as Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1938.↩
- Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma, Japanese Prime Minister, January 5–August 28, 1939.↩
- Field Marshal Prince Kotohito Kanin-no-Miya, Chief of the Japanese General State, December 1931–October 1940.↩
- Gen. Jiro Minami, Japanese War Minister, April–December 1931; commander in chief of Kwantung Army in Manchuria, 1934–36; Governor General of Korea, 1936–42.↩
- Gen. Baron Sadao Araki, Japanese War Minister, December 1931–January 1934; Minister of Education, May 1938–August 1939.↩
- Gen. Seishiro Itagaki, Japanese War Minister, May 1938–August 1939; Chief of Staff of Japanese Army in China, September 1939; commander in chief in Korea, 1941–45; commanding at Singapore, 1945.↩
- Gen. Jinsaburo Masaki, Japanese Inspector-General of Military Education, 1933–36.↩
- Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1938–45.↩
- Heinrich Georg Stahmer, German Ambassador to the Japanese-sponsored regime at Nanking, October 1941, and Ambassador in Japan, 1943.↩
- Yosuke Matsuoka, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, July 22, 1940–July 16, 1941.↩