Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The British Commonwealth; Europe, Volume III

761.62/10–247

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas (Saltzman)

confidential

Washington, October 2, 1947.

Participants:	Charles E. Saltzman-Chairman
	John D. Hickerson
	Llewellyn E. Thompson1
	Joseph C. Satterthwaite2
	Dean Rusk
	Fritz Oppenheimer3
	Francis Russell
	C. V. Hulick4

The first meeting of the Committee on publication of the Molotov-Ribbentrop papers was held in Mr. Saltzman’s office at 3:00 p. m., October 2nd.

Mr. Russell described the progress made by his office in assembling the material and the possible methods of publication. He stated that it would take one month to complete the translation and annotation of these papers and that if the Government Printing Office facilities were used it would require another two months. However, if necessary, much faster service could be arranged through the staff of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate. It was agreed that all the important 1939–1940 Russo-German papers should be published.

Mr. Hickerson stated that, in his opinion, these papers should not be published prior to the ending of the CFM Conference, or approximately December 15th.⁵ He felt that publication prior to that time would seriously embarrass the U.S. Delegation at the General Assembly of the United Nations and the Secretary of State at the CFM Conference.⁶ Mr. Satterthwaite said that Mr. Henderson was suddenly called out of town and was unable to attend the meeting. He said that Mr. Henderson told him that he thought the papers might be published in approximately two or three weeks and that he did not see any strong-reason for withholding publication beyond that time. Mr. Rusk supported the view of Mr. Hickerson and raised the question as to whether the publication of these papers at any time would be embarrassing due to the Soviet practice of violent and vituperative retaliation. Mr. Russell stated that a member of his staff had made a detailed examination of the greater portion of these papers and felt that no real embarrassment would be involved.

Mr. Oppenheimer raised the question as to what instructions would be given to the German press and pointed out that existing regulations prohibited the German press from publishing comments which would tend to alienate the Allied Powers. Accordingly, he felt that if the German press published these papers and made any editorial comment that the Soviet member of the ACC would immediately demand that the German editors involved be punished. Mr. Hickerson replied that he felt that we should instruct the German press that extracts of the papers or the papers themselves might be reproduced without editorial comment and that our representative on the ACC be forewarned to resist any attempts on the part of the Soviets to demand punishment. He also pointed out that the Soviets were not observing the provisions of these regulations in their own zone. There was general agreement that no instructions be given to the German press regarding the re-publication of these papers but that our representative on the ACC be advised beforehand and be instructed to resist any attempt on the part of the Soviets to demand punishment for action taken by the German press.

The Chairman authorized Mr. Rusk to informally obtain the views of Mr. Herschel Johnson⁷ as to the effect of the publication during the current Assembly of the United Nations. The Chairman requested Mr. Satterthwaite to convey Mr. Hickerson’s views to Mr. Henderson upon his return and find out if Mr. Henderson agrees to withholding publication until approximately December 15th.

It was agreed that a memorandum would be prepared recommending to the Secretary action to be taken and pointing out that it would be necessary to obtain approval from the British prior to publication.

Charles E. Saltzman

1. Chief, Division of Eastern European Affairs.
2. Deputy Director, Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs.
3. Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser for German–Austrian Affairs.
4. Charles V. Hulick, Executive Assistant, Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas.
5. For documentation on the meeting at London of the Council of Foreign Ministers, November 25–December 16, 1947, see vol. ii, pp. 676 ff.
6. For documentation on the regular session of the General Assembly at New York, September 16–November 29, 1947, see volume i .
7. United States Representative at the second session of the United Nations General Assembly.