862.00/12–647: Telegram
The Acting Political Adviser for Germany (Chase) to the Secretary of State
3679. While no more successful than that reported mytel 3646 November 29,96 in attracting non-Communist organizations, SED Peoples Congress, opening 6th, has apparently received support from appreciable number non-Communist individuals in western Germany, mostly people of no prominence.
FDGB directing committees, Soviet zone and Berlin, have elected delegates. Trade union executives of bizonia have refused. CDU Soviet zone executive December 2 decided not to participate but left door open for individual members, especially those having “other functions”, to participate. CDU declared Congress will have no real all-German or non-partisan character. Some Soviet zone CDU officials have announced acceptance, probably under pressure. LDP Soviet zone executive accepted December 1 with proviso that one-sided political exploitation of action be avoided and that LDP be given [Page 902] representation in planning committee. Berlin university student council voted to refuse participation.
At secret SED planning meeting December 4 Pieck declared telegrams from western zones showed that attendance will be surprisingly large and heterogeneous. Reliable source in position to know confirms this though apparently western delegates will be “little people”.
Statement by Pieck and other private SED utterances furnish clue to motives Congress. SED never expected organized non-Communist support, therefore intended show that SED only true defender German interests and that non-Communist leaders are anti-national. Congress in attempt to split masses from non-Communist leadership, reminiscent of pre-Hitler “united front from below”. SED propaganda for Congress is massive, concentrating on German unity, and has provoked considerable counter-propaganda in non-Communist press, thereby keeping issue before public. Slogan of German unity and national representation has been SED mainstay repeated over and over again since party’s birth April 1946 and is hard to answer. Further motive is probably to regain support by SED membership, which has recently fallen away markedly. At SED executive meeting, Berlin, November 15–16, representatives from Soviet zone and western zones (Dahlem, Pieck, Koenen, Karsten, Gundelach, Sperling) reported trend and emphasized something must be done. How much popular support People’s Congress can mobilize impossible state yet.
Pieck stated December 4 secret meeting that presidium of 60 will be elected at Congress and will, in turn, elect permanent executive presidium of 10. Latter will probably be made up of one representative each of SED, CDU, LDP, SPD (possibly), FDGB, PDJ, Kulturbund, Frauenbund, Consumer Cooperatives, and one other front organization. Plan published December 6 Tagesspiegel.
Pieck further stated favorable reaction from west led to scheduling trips there about December 12: Ulbricht and Ebert to Bremen; Gniffke, Dahlem, Merker, Kaethe Kern to Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Nuremberg. Munich for press conference. Dept and CFM delegation may wish to comment on desirability permitting these trips.97
Repeated London for Murphy 437 copies by pouch to Bremen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich.
- Not printed; it reported that the Communist leadership of the Socialist Unity Party had invited democratic political parties, trade unions, peasant organizations, and others to join in a “German Peoples Congress” to be held in Berlin on December 6 and 7 for the purpose of electing a delegation to go to the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in London. The telegram further reported that the principal non-Communist German parties were having nothing to do with the Congress which was unlikely to represent more than a fragment of the German populace (862.00/11–2947).↩
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Telegram 2440, December 9, to Berlin, not printed, replied as follows:
↩“View here is that trips mentioned in last paragraph urtel 3679 Dec 6 are undesirable during CFM and should be stalled since their main purpose presumably is to seek further Western German support for SED Peoples Congress in order to create appearance that Peoples Congress is ‘representative’ of all Germany.” (862.00/12–647).