740.62114/1–1647: Telegram
The Ambassador in France ( Caffery ) to the Secretary of State
us urgent
210. Following is translation of a note Blum1 signed immediately upon his return from London about noon today which he has just sent me by hand:
(Begin translation). I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency’s memorandum which you delivered to my predecessor [Page 624] on December 3 last,2 concerning the repatriation of the German prisoners of war who have been transferred from the American Army to the French Army.
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The French Government desires to inform the Government of the United States that it fully appreciates the statements made in the above-mentioned memorandum and according to which there is a close connection between the problem of the release of the German prisoners of war and the present economic situation in France.
In this respect, the American Government’s offer to facilitate recruiting, in the American zone of Germany, of volunteers for work in France is very much appreciated. The French Government is convinced that this offer will enable it to lessen the material difficulties which the release and repatriation of the German prisoners of war will inevitably entail for French economy. Moreover, the American Government is fully aware of these difficulties since it has of its own accord—and the French Government keenly appreciates this gesture—postponed the date on which it considers the prisoners captured by its armies and transferred to France should be released. However, the French Government believes it advisable to recall very briefly its vital necessity to have recourse to German labor and the importance to French national production of the contribution of the prisoners of war.
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Because 720,000 French workers were sent to Germany as forced laborers under the “Service de Travail Obligatoire,” because 1,500,000 French prisoners of war were kept in the Reich for 5 years, and because of the forced labor required of political deportees, French labor has suffered a decrease in numbers which, taking into account only the dead and the totally unemployable, represents more than 500,000 persons, to this figure must also be added several hundreds of thousands of persons partially unfit to work whose contribution to French economy can be only a very limited one. These losses, the result of the German action against France, have up to now been compensated for by the labor of the prisoners of war, of whom 220,000 make an indispensable contribution to national agriculture; nearly 150,000 work in various branches of industry, in transportation, on public works and on reconstruction; and 56,000 mine 20 percent of the French coal production. (44,000 as miners in the coal mines, and 14,500 working above ground. Moreover, German prisoners of war are employed in the iron mines and the potassium mines, etc.)
At a time when France is suffering a considerable reduction in its supplies of coal from the Ruhr, when it is obliged to content itself with coal imports from abroad which are less than 50 percent of the coal imports in 1938, when it must do without the labor of tens of thousands of workers of Slav origin, principally miners, who have requested their repatriation and whose departure, followed by that of the German prisoners, would result in a decrease of 25 percent in France’s national coal production, the contribution of the German prisoners to its economy, chiefly in connection with the crucial problem of coal, assumes an absolutely vital importance.
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- With a view to reconciling its desire to meet the request of the American Government and the necessities of French economy, the [Page 625] French Government intends, with the consent of the United States, to offer, in particular to the German prisoners transferred by the American command and who remain under French control, the choice of being repatriated to Germany or of remaining in France as voluntary workers benefiting from a status very similar to that of French workers. With a view to guaranteeing to the American Government that no pressure will be exercised on the German prisoners in question and that these prisoners will enjoy complete freedom of choice in this respect, the French Government intends to invite the International Committee of the Red Cross to designate representatives who will be members of the commissions entrusted with offering the option described above to the prisoners entitled to be released. This measure should enable a considerable number of these prisoners to be released very rapidly under conditions in entire conformity with respect for the individual—and sooner than the date determined by the American Government for the release of the prisoners which it transferred to France.
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The repatriation of prisoners who do not volunteer for work in France obviously gives rise to questions of various sorts, and particularly of transportation, which, because of the shortage of French coal production, can be solved only with great difficulty. In fact, this shortage has already obliged the French Government to reduce by 22 percent train travel on French railways at a time when freight trains are required to transport additional goods because of the decrease or the cessation of canal transportation, due to the winter.
Furthermore, agreements must necessarily be concluded with the various zones in Germany from which the prisoners came originally, for the repatriation to those zones of those who do not volunteer for work in France.
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- In order to determine as soon as possible the terms of settlement of the prisoners of war problem and to conclude the resulting agreements, a French technical delegation has been instructed to be prepared to meet an American technical delegation, either at Frankfurt or at Paris. The French Government would greatly appreciate learning the date on which the negotiations can begin. (End translation)
Blum had very considerable difficulty even with his own Socialist Ministries (particularly Industrial Production, National Economy, Labor and Reconstruction) to get them to agree to foregoing note. The delay in our receiving this note was caused largely by the fact that the above-mentioned Ministries presented two previous drafts (which were shown to me in confidence) which were most unsatisfactory from our point of view. He signed this note in the brief period between his arrival in Paris about noon and his departure for Versailles for the presidential elections at 2 o’clock this afternoon, in the knowledge that if he did not do so, the whole question would have to be reexamined when the new government is finally formed, and a less satisfactory reply might be forthcoming. The official who brought the note said Blum had requested him to tell me in confidence that he (Blum) had done his level best to produce a satisfactory reply for us.