Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Berlin Crisis, 1959–1960; Germany; Austria, Volume IX

271. Telegram From the Military Liaison Mission at Berlin to the Department of State⁰

Berlin, June 16, 1958, 3:40 p.m.

161540Z June (Army Message). To Department of State and Department of Defense signed McQuail.

Meeting between Col. McQuail, Major McCrory and Mr. Otto Winzer, Deputy Foreign Minister of GDR at Foreign Ministry, in East Berlin from 1205 to 1240 hours, 16 June 1958.

American officers arrived at Foreign Ministry at precisely 1200 hours. No representatives of press or photographers were in evidence. Officers were met at entrance to Foreign Ministry by an assistant, who escorted them to a waiting room, which is outside the Deputy Foreign Minister’s office. After a brief wait for the Minister, American officers were ushered into the same room as they were at previous conference on 14 June,¹ and were seated at the same conference table. Also present were an East German interpreter and recorder. The latter took more complete notes than he did at previous conference, but still did not appear to be taking a verbatim account. Conversations follow:

Col. McQuail: May I say, Mr. Minister, as I did last time, that I am Col. McQuail, Chief of the US Military Liaison Mission to the CINC, group of Soviet forces in Germany, and that having been introduced by an officer from General Zakharov’s office, I am here to request speedy return of military personnel and helicopter, and am authorized to sign necessary documents to accomplish this. I hereby respectfully request that we receive the personnel and helicopter as soon as can be arranged.

Mr. Winzer: But, may I ask the question Colonel, if with your superiors, you have discussed the opinion of ours about the personnel and helicopter?

McQuail: I have reported in full on the meeting held Saturday and have received permission to return to this meeting with full authority.

Winzer: You should not think about my stubborn attitude, but on whose authority?

McQuail: On Gen. Hodes’ authority. He has informed his superiors, and the authorities in Washington are fully informed of my presence here and my authorization to make the request for the return of personnel and equipment.

Winzer: If it is up to us, the nine men can be delivered tomorrow morning at 0900 hours at the frontier, under the condition that we come to an agreement that is signed not by a representative of the CINC of your Army, but from an authorized representative of the government. And I keep it open who will be this representative—whether it be an Army officer, or a member of the diplomatic corps. There are two reasons for this, which I explained at the first meeting. There is no basis in international law for agreement between us and your high command. First, there is no agreement between the Government of the US of America and the German Democratic Republic about the movement of troops in Europe. Second, we can’t go back to the time of the occupying system. Colonel, to make it clear that we are ready to settle the matter in the quickest way, I hand to you a draft of an agreement² for the signature of the authorized representative of your government and ourselves for the return of the personnel and helicopter. In the draft we put Wednesday morning, but it can be tomorrow morning. I don’t know how to go on now. Could you look at the draft and tell us your opinion. It is in German and it may be necessary to translate. (I examined documents, which were easy to translate, but was not sure at this point if I would be able to take copies with me. Thus I played for time by asking for an interpretation into English so that Major McCrory could get down some notes. The interpreter made a good oral translation. Shortly after he began we were told we could take copies. In the interpretation the interpreter did not translate the German word bevollmachtigen as plenipotentiary as the State Department representative in Berlin did. The German interpreter used words “authorized representative.” As soon as I glanced at the document I realized I could not sign it and so did not even display General Hodes’ letter.)³

McQuail: Would you please so I may be sure. (Translation of document followed.)

Winzer: Our experts think it better if an American specialist is present when the loading of the helicopter occurs so that no harm or damage will happen to it. It is so large. Such an expert could come here to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and be taken to the loading point. The helicopter was somewhat damaged when it landed in the trees. The question which remains is only that the Minister cannot sign an agreement with Colonel McQuail only on the basis that he represents the United States Army, but only if he is a representative of the United States of America. This agreement can be signed anytime today or tomorrow.

McQuail: Would early Wednesday morning be suitable? (I suggested Wednesday since Tuesday is the fifth anniversary of the East Berlin uprising. I thought it would be bad to confer on that day with possibility of unfavorable reaction of West Germans.)

Winzer: Yes.

McQuail: At what hour?

Winzer: 1000 hours.

McQuail: Fine. I would like to say we thank the Deputy Minister for his kindness in receiving the box for transmittal to our personnel. I hope that they are enjoying the contents.

Winzer: The box is on the way. Saturday afternoon all offices were closed, but now it is on the way.

McQuail: Would it be possible for me to visit the personnel in company with one of your officials?

Winzer: It is necessary to consult first, but we think it better if we can settle the matter very soon. If we can bring them to the frontier point soon, it is better.

McQuail: Yes, but it would be nice to say hello to them and give them messages from their wives.

Winzer: But, they will get the box today and see that you are bothering about them. We are interested in settling the affair very quickly, but so far there are no relations between the GDR and a representative of the Government of the United States of America. We are not interested in establishing relations with the United States Army. This is not such a big thing that it cannot be settled in this way. If you come to us on Wednesday morning it can happen that the time has to be changed slightly because the personnel have to be brought by bus from their present location to the frontier. I do not want to create a misunderstanding on this. I hope that we can settle today.

McQuail: I hoped so too, but I do not have authorization to sign this document without further consultation.

Winzer: It remains then to hand our draft to your superiors or if you wish we can translate.

McQuail: We can translate. Thank you.

[Here follow two pages of details on an East German press conference following the meeting.]

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 762B.5411/6–1658. Secret; Niact. Sent to CINCUSAREUR and repeated to Bonn, USCINCEUR, and the Departments of the Army, Defense, and State. The source text is the Department of State copy.
1. See Document 270.
2. A copy of this three-article agreement was transmitted in telegram 1353 from Berlin, June 16. (Department of State, Central Files, 762B.5411/6–1658)
3. A copy of this letter was transmitted in SX 4633 from Heidelberg, June 15. (Ibid., 762B.5411/6–1558)