740.62114/3–1347: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
1116. Following is French text of communiqué released this afternoon by French FonOff on agreement on repatriation and liberation of PWs:1
“communiqué to the press
March 13, 1947
The American Government requested in a memorandum of December 3, 1946 that the German prisoners of war transferred by the United States to France and still remaining at the present time under French control be repatriated at the latest by October 1, next.
There are at the present time 630,000 German prisoners of war under French control of whom, in addition to the 450,000 transferred by the United States, 180,000 were captured by the French forces.
Of the total of 630,000 prisoners, more than 500,000 are at present employed in the French economy, including 55,000 in the coal mines, 210,000 in agriculture, and the remainder in the various branches of French industry (metallurgy, transportation, construction, etc. …).
Calling attention to the fact that the departure from here on October 1 of a total of 450,000 men would be a disaster particularly in French agriculture and coal mines where the prisoners, in the latter economic group, are extracting 20 percent of French coal production, the French Government has requested that the Americans permit the system of liberation on the spot (options) on the same basis as that for repatriation.
On those bases, the American and French negotiators have agreed to the following system:
- a)
- The option will be offered to all the German prisoners with the exception of certain special categories. A period of three months will be granted to the prisoners to whom the option is offered to declare themselves for or against such option.
- b)
- If they declare themselves opposed, the non-volunteers will remain prisoners and will be repatriated following an established schedule, taking into consideration a certain number of priorities. [Page 630] The repatriation will be made in the beginning at the rate of 20,000 men per month at the minimum.
- c)
- Volunteers for work in France will, on the contrary, be given a work contract to the maximum limit of 25,000 men a month. It is a question of a “text” which will enable the French Government, after a few weeks, to find out whether the prisoners converted to workers and furnished with contracts are still working in France or not.
- d)
- At the end of the period of several weeks indicated above, the two delegations will meet again to take stock of the experiment and to examine the rate of liberation on the spot and of repatriation.
The Agreement provides the American Government with all the necessary assurances with regard to the absolute freedom of choice of the prisoners which will be controlled by the International Committee of the Red Cross which has the full confidence of Washington and Paris.
The two delegations have studied during several meetings the problem of the transfer of wages which German voluntary work in France presents. The French delegation has agreed on this point to give full liberty to German workers who will themselves decide concerning the percentage of their wages which they will relinquish in francs to obtain payments in marks for their families in Germany. To the agreement [garbled] prisoners of war is attached a memorandum concerning the technical terms of the repatriation. This memorandum indicates in particular that the French Government will furnish to the United States the complete statement of the difference between the number of German prisoners of war transferred by the United States to France in 1945 and that of the prisoners who still remain at the present time under French control.
A list of names of the prisoners making up this difference will be furnished.
The two delegations have completed a draft agreement relating to the recruitment of displaced persons in the American zone of Germany. Within a short time, a third agreement relating to the recruitment of free German workers will be completed. The agreement relating to displaced persons and the agreement relating to the recruitment of free German workers for France will be signed simultaneously.”
- For text of the American press release on the same date regarding the agreement, see Department of State Bulletin, March 23, 1947, p. 539. For text of Memorandum of Understanding on Repatriation and Liberation of Prisoners of War, dated at Paris, March 11 and 13, 1947, see Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 2405; United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST), vol. 3 (pt. 1), p. 445.↩