No. 177
Editorial Note
Chancellor Adenauer, his daughter, and various officials of the Federal Republic of Germany arrived in New York on April 6. The following day they flew to Washington for 3 days of talks with representatives of the United States Government. On April 10 they departed for an 8-day tour of the United States including stops in San Francisco, Carmel, Chicago, New York, and Boston. On April 17 they flew to Canada before returning to Bonn on the following day.
In preparation for the Chancellor’s visit the Department of State created an interdepartmental group, whose secretary was Christopher Van Hollen, to draft papers for the several topics which might be considered during the meetings with the Chancellor. The papers that were prepared for consideration by the interdepartmental group were designated GPT–D and are numbered 1–17. They deal with the EDC, contractual relations, a German defense contribution, Berlin, refugees, economic questions, war criminals, civilian defense, the estimate of the Soviet position following Stalin’s [Page 425] death, German unity, the cultural convention, a draft communiqué, and a draft Presidential statement. A set of these papers is in 762A.00/4–653 and in Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CF 142A.
The documentation that follows presents the records of all those meetings with the Chancellor or officials of the Federal Republic during the time that they were in Washington. There is no indication in the files of the Department of State that official talks took place at any other time during the Chancellor’s visit. For the Chancellor’s account of his visit, see Adenauer, Memoirs, pages 438–456. For a record of the speeches which Adenauer made during his visit to America, see Konrad Adenauer, Journey to America, Washington, Press Office of the German Diplomatic Mission, 1953.
Two reports of the Chancellor’s visit to Canada have been identified in Department of State files. The first was transmitted in despatch 1071 from Ottawa, April 21. (762A.13/4–2153) The second, which is substantially the same as the first, is in a memorandum of conversation by G. Hayden Raynor, director of the Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs, dated May 11. (762A.13/5–1153)