Office of the Historian

762A.00/6–453

No. 193
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy Director of the Bureau of German Affairs (Lewis)1

secret
Washington, June 4, 1953.

Subject: Visit of Mr. Herbert Blankenhorn with Secretary Smith, June 4, 11:00 a.m.

  • Participants: Under Secretary Smith
  • Mr. Herbert Blankenhorn, Chief of Division of Political Affairs, German Foreign Office
  • Mr. Geoffrey W. Lewis, GER

Mr. Herbert Blankenhorn, personal representative of Chancellor Adenauer, came in today by appointment to see the Under Secretary. He told General Smith of the letter from the Chancellor to the President which he had brought and a copy of which he had left with the Secretary.2 This letter reaffirms the Chancellor’s steadfast support of the integration of Germany with Western Europe and of the EDC. It also sets forth the Chancellor’s convictions as to the position which should be taken on the German question in any three-Power or four-Power conference. This position is very close to our own. Mr. Blankenhorn made clear the Chancellor’s hope that close liaison would be maintained with him in the event of a discussion on Germany in any great Power meeting.

Mr. Blankenhorn also said that he had been asked by the Chancellor to urge strongly that the US take action in two fields which would assist the Chancellor in the forthcoming election campaign. The Chancellor asked that Mr. Conant be given the title of Ambassador and that the Germans be permitted to have an Ambassador in Washington. The Chancellor also said that it was most important to him that some action be taken in connection with the war criminals problem which would, at least in part, put into effect the provisions of the Contractual Arrangements for a mixed clemency board. The Chancellor realized the difficulties the French would find in taking any Tripartite action in these fields but hoped that the US would be able to do something unilaterally in its Zone.

General Smith said he welcomed this expression of the Chancellor’s views and was pleased that the positions of the US and the Federal Republic were so close with respect to the problem of German unification. General Smith assured Mr. Blankenhorn that the US would do whatever it could to help the Chancellor in the matter of the Ambassadors and the war criminals. We were in fact attempting actively to work something out. He thought that certainly Mr. Conant could be given the added title of Ambassador. He assured Mr. Blankenhorn that we were keenly aware of the Chancellor’s problems in connection with the forthcoming election campaign and would take what steps we could to help.

  1. This conversation took place at 11 a.m. Copies of this memorandum were sent to S/S and EUR.↩
  2. Document 189.↩