USIA files, lot 56 D 581, “Notes on McCarthy Hearing”
The Administrator of the United States International Information Administration (Johnson) to the Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations of the United States Senate (McCarthy)1
My Dear Senator McCarthy: I have read with interest your letter of April 17, 1953,2 and want to assure you that I have instructed my staff to give your Committee the fullest cooperation in obtaining information which may have a bearing upon the present investigation. If books by Communist and pro-Communist authors have been placed upon the shelves of our Information Centers overseas with subversive intent, then I am most anxious to identify the guilty parties and institute appropriate action. I shall of course work closely with Mr. Lourie and his associates in this matter.
The situation with respect to the case you mention is somewhat complicated. The printed catalogue of the Amerika Haus collection (1950) indicates that three Heym titles, number of copies unspecified, were on German and Austrian shelves at that time. Two of these (see attached summary)3 appear to have been acquired as gifts or by transfer from Army surplus troop libraries. The third, a collected German edition of poems, was probably acquired from German sources. There is no record of International Information Administration purchases of any of the foregoing.
Outside Germany and Austria, our records show that there are eighteen copies of three different works by Heym on the shelves of sixteen libraries. One title (three copies) appears to have been acquired locally, since International Information Administration Washington does not purchase translations published abroad. A second title (one copy) appears to be an Army surplus item.
As you know, on March 17, 1953, we ordered the removal of all works by Communists from USIS libraries. Pursuant to that order, on April 16, the High Commissioner’s office in Bonn instructed all regional offices in Germany to remove works by Heym. A similar order was issued by this office on April 23 to the other sixteen posts involved.
All of this does not go to the point of who put the books on the shelves in the first place. I believe you will agree, however, that because of the many reorganizations which this program has undergone [Page 1709] and the variety of sources from which books are acquired, it is no simple matter to determine personal responsibility. I am having a thorough analysis made, however, with the view of determining those individuals who were responsible for the book selections. In the meantime, please be assured of my continuing desire to cooperate.
Sincerely yours,