I have been instructed by the assembly to present the enclosed
memorandum supplementing the resolution of October 8, 1946.
I must add that, in view of the great importance for the assembly of
all questions concerning reparations from Germany and in view of the
special knowledge that has been acquired by the members of the
assembly in the field of technical and administrative problems
concerning these reparations, the assembly has instructed the
President of the Agency and myself to consider ourselves as being at
the disposal of the Council of Foreign Ministers in case the Council
should desire to receive further information concerning questions
arising from the enclosed memorandum.38
[Annex]
Memorandum From the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency to the Council of Foreign Ministers
I. Basic Aim of the Paris Agreement on
Reparations
The Inter-Allied Reparations Agency was created by the Paris
Agreement on Reparations of January 14, 1946.39 The aim of this agreement, signed by eighteen
governments, was to secure a just distribution among the
countries which signed this agreement of the assets declared
subject to reparations from the western zones of Germany in
accordance with the Potsdam Declaration.
II. Basis for Reparations
The powers which signed the Potsdam Declaration agreed to
establish a general policy regarding reparations and the
elimination of the war industry potential of Germany which,
while leaving sufficient resources to enable the German people
to subsist without outside aid, will force Germany to compensate
to the greatest possible extent for the losses and sufferings
caused by her to the United Nations and to meet the
responsibilities which the German people cannot evade.
III. Importance of Including Industrial
Capital Equipment in Reparations
The Potsdam Declaration considers the deliveries of industrial
capital equipment as one form of reparations. The real value of
this type of reparations for countries receiving reparations
depends to a considerable degree on the speed with which they
are made available and delivered, and on the speed with which
factories are dismantled. The countries represented at the Paris
Conference and at present members of the Inter-Allied
Reparations Agency therefore especially hoped that speedy
large-scale deliveries of this kind of reparations would
constitute a rapid and considerable form of help for restoration
of the economy of those countries whose industry was subjected
to destruction, deterioration and disorganization as a result of
the war with Germany.
IV. Industrial Capital Equipment Subject to
Reparations to Date
The rate of delivery of reparations from Germany in the form of
industrial capital equipment has been extremely slow, and the
amount [Page 393] received has
been very small. Furthermore, the member governments of this
Agency have not received information as to the general volume of
capital equipment to be delivered by Germany, and as a
consequence thereof they have not been able to determine to what
extent they can count on this type of reparations in the
formulation of plans for the rebuilding of their economic
structure.
Up to the present time, the Allied Powers have left the
Inter-Allied Reparations Agency only the following lists of
industrial capital equipment:
-
a.
- Up to May 28, 1946, 71 plants distributed in
accordance with the Potsdam Declaration, which provides
for advance supplies of industrial capital equipment
until the establishment of an over-all amount of
equipment subject to withdrawal from Germany.
-
b.
- In November 1946, general purpose lathes from 51 war
plants.
-
c.
- In November 1946, general purpose lathes and equipment
to a value of 75 million reichsmarks, from the British
zone.
-
d.
- In December 1946, general purpose lathes and equipment
to a value of 15 million reichsmarks from the French
zone.
Of the 122 plants indicated in a and b, it has been impossible to date to
distribute the equipment of 30 thereof among the member
governments of the Agency, since the corresponding inventories
have not been received from the Allied Control Authorities. The
items mentioned in c and d are still in the process of being
identified by the corresponding zonal authorities.
Furthermore, only a small part of the equipment distributed to
date by the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency among the member
governments of the Agency has been furnished by it.
It is expected that the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency will soon
conclude the distribution among member governments of the Agency
of all usable industrial capital equipment given the Agency and
for which inventories have been received. This amount of
equipment is not only small in itself but is also insignificant
as aid in the restoration of the economies of the countries
concerned.
V. Effect on the Paris Agreement of the
Present Situation With Respect to Reparations
The percentage quotas of Governments which signed the Paris
Agreements, the primary aim of which was to guarantee an
equitable distribution of all German assets subject to
reparations, were established after a detailed statistical study
of the war effort and losses of each country; furthermore, the
assumption that the amount of industrial capital equipment
included in reparations would be significant [Page 394] was likewise taken into
consideration. The problem of effecting an equitable
distribution of reparations in accordance with such percentage
quotas, taking into account the small amount of industrial
capital equipment made available to date, is already becoming
most difficult. If the industrial capital equipment in Germany
should not be made available in large amounts, it will be
impossible to carry out some of the important decisions of the
Paris Convention in their present form as planned.
