Secretary’s Letters, lot 56 D 459, “F–G

No. 723
Memorandum by the Director of the Bureau of German Affairs (Riddleberger) to the Secretary of State1

confidential

Subject:

  • Proposal to Offer Food to East Germans

With reference to your memorandum of June 30,2 concerning a proposal to have the United States Government offer food to the [Page 1610] East Germans, the following is the present status of this suggestion:

1.
At a meeting of the Psychological Strategy Board on Wednesday, July 1, (at which General Smith was present) a proposal that such an initiative be undertaken, advanced by Mr. Allen Dulles, was informally approved in principle.3 GER has been instructed to coordinate exploratory work in the Department and interdepartmentally.
2.
GER has requested our authorities in Germany to provide views and information. Replies are expected by Monday, July 6.
3.
An interdepartmental meeting was held today in GER with representatives of interested agencies and bureaus of the Department. General agreement was reached on basic aspects of the proposal and an initial report is being submitted to the Undersecretary on the results of this meeting, which recommends that formal approval be given to the project by the Psychological Strategy Board, and that GER be charged with coordination with agencies concerned and within the Department.4

  1. Drafted by Montenegro.
  2. This memorandum noted that Dulles had been asked at a news conference if “thought had been given to offering food to residents of East Berlin” and had requested that GER explore the idea. (862B.49/6–3053)
  3. A record of this meeting is in PSB files, lot 62 D 333, “Record of Meeting”.
  4. The report is printed as Document 725. For a record of the discussion of the proposal by the PSB, July 8, see Document 726.