762B.00/6–2553
No. 716
Chancellor Adenauer to
President Eisenhower
1
The people of the east sector of Berlin and of the East Zone have despite the use of Soviet troops and tanks risen up unarmed against the regime of terror and force and demanded their rights of freedom. Many have had to pay for their bravery and courage with their lives. Nothing shows more clearly than the outcry of these tormented people how intolerable the conditions in this area of Central Europe are. I should like to appeal to you urgently, Mr. President, in accordance with the resolution of June 10 of the German Bundestag,2 of which the American Government was notified, to do everything in your power in order that these conditions may be done away with, the human rights which have been violated may be restored, and the entire German people may be given back the unity and freedom which alone guarantee a lasting peaceful development in Europe.
- The source text is a copy of a translation of a letter transmitted from Bonn in telegram 2235, June 21. A marginal note on a covering memorandum from Kitchen to Hopkins, dated June 25, indicates that the translated letter was delivered to the White House on June 25.↩
- For the Bundestag resolution of June 10, see Papers and Documents, pp. 117–118.↩