763.00/7–2852
No. 812
Memorandum of Conversation, by the
Director of the Office of Western European Affairs (Byington)1
Participants:
- Austrian Embassy—Dr. Wilfried Platzer, Dr. Ernst Lemberger, and Mr. Hans Thalberg
- WE—Mr. Byington
- WE—Mr. Allen
- WE—Mr. Hilton
- L/GER—Mr. Land
Subject:
- Press Release on the Austrian Nazi Amnesty Legislation
Dr. Platzer came in at 11:15 a.m. in response to the Department’s request to receive the Department’s statement setting forth its position on the Austrian Nazi amnesty legislation. A copy of the statement given Dr. Platzer is attached.2 He was informed that the statement would be given to the press at twelve o’clock noon, for release at 7:00 p.m., EDT, Monday, July 28.
I regretted the necessity of issuing the statement and commented that the statement was necessary because of the action taken by the Austrian Government in passing this legislation prior to taking appropriate action to restore the rights of the victims of Nazi persecution. The action already taken in favor of implicated Nazis was therefore discriminatory and created a difficult situation by favoring implicated Nazis over those who had suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
The Austrian representatives expressed regret that this statement was to be released to the press, pointing out that this matter had not received wide comment in the press. It was their feeling that the issuance of this statement would provoke considerable comment on this problem. They also pointed out that such comment on the internal legislation of another Government was not usual in diplomatic relations. In the case of Austria this action appeared to raise doubts as to its sovereign status and therefore to be contrary to the policy of the U.S. in support of Austrian sovereignty. They thought that it would be much better if the U.S. High Commissioner were to carry out the policy of the U.S. by vetoing the legislation rather than to stimulate unfavorable press reaction by this means.
In response the Austrian representatives were informed that, as pointed out in the statement, the action taken by the Austrian parliament is discriminatory against U.S. interests and it is not therefore, unusual for the Department to protest this action and to make its position clear to the American public. Moreover, if the legislation is to be vetoed, it is desirable that both American and Austrian public opinion be informed of the views of this Government in order that the reasons for a veto may be understood. They were also told that this statement would not be necessary if the discriminatory situation had not been created by action of the Austrian [Page 1774] Government and that the problem could therefore be solved through action by the Austrian Government.