760C.6215/1–3147

The Department of State to the British Embassy

secret

Memorandum

With reference to the British Embassy’s memorandum of January 31, 194739 relative to the Polish-German frontier, the Department of State has under study at the present time the attitude which the United States Government will adopt on this question. The United States Government is, of course, obligated under the Berlin Agreement to support the cession of Königsberg and the adjacent areas of East Prussia to the USSR. The United States Government is also committed to territorial compensation for Poland. However, the extent of this compensation to Poland is still under consideration, and it is therefore not possible to indicate at this time what the United States Government is prepared to accept as the permanent Polish-German frontier. The United States Government is inclined, however, to the view that in the interest of the recovery of Europe as a whole the German territory transferred to Poland shall be limited to an area which Poland can be expected to utilize fully within a reasonable period of time.

  1. Ante, p. 149.