5/4/2002 Translation from the French done by W.Kaschner
HEAD OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
OFFICE OF GENERAL STAFF
OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
4th Section PARIS, October 11, 1945
No. 1934 DN/4
General of the Army JUIN
Chief of the Office of General Staff of the National Defense
To
General JOHN T. LEWIS,
Head of the USFET Mission in France
Subject: Prisoners of War
Reference: Your note of October 1, 1945
I. – By your note of October 1, 1945 you informed me of the fears entertained by the Commanding General of the American Armed Forces in Europe concerning the state of the German prisoners of war held in French hands, and you indicated to me the steps which seemed to you necessary to take in order to remedy that situation.
II. – If, in the interest of humane concerns, the American authorities claim to retain a moral responsibility concerning the prisoners of war transferred by the American Army to the French Authorities, the French Government equally has the firm determination to see that the German prisoners of war which are found in its hands are treated according to the rules established by the Geneva Convention. France has suffered too much in the past two wars not to understand that any inhuman treatment of prisoners of which she has charge would be contrary to the moral principals of which she has never ceased to example, as well as to the establishment of a lasting peace in Europe which remains the basic concern of the Government of the Republic.
III. – It is unfortunately true that large numbers of prisoners of war presently in French hands are in a state of health such that they are unable to work. This situation is in particular the consequence of the conditions in which the prisoners were found when they were transferred by the American authorities to the French authorities. It has been made the subject of numerous communications, written as well as oral, between the French and American services with competence in the matter.
I take only as one example the recent transfer of 166,000 prisoners of war which were transferred to France when the French zone of occupation was enlarged. Two-thirds of those prisoners of war were incapable of working as a consequence of their very deficient physical state.
I am extracting the following lines from a report dated August 5, 1945, addressed to the Supreme General Commander of the French troupes of occupation:
“Certain individuals (more than a hundred) which were shown to me at the HECHSTEIN camp even now present such a malnourished physical appearance as to make them resemble the most emaciated internees from BUCHENWALD and from DACHAU. The prisoners are living in makeshift shelters, sometimes even in holes dug in the ground. The prisoners’ only clothing is in bad shape and their allocation of blankets is no more than one per head.”
IV. – The French Government has not heretofore been concerned with trying to find out which authorities are burdened with the responsibility for the situation which it has to face up to: it is confining itself to putting into effect the means of remedying that situation.
a) – At the September 22 Franco-American conference, the conclusions of which have been incorporated into a Franco-American agreement signed on September 24, the French representatives requested and obtained agreement that henceforth Franco-American medical Commissions would jointly examine the prisoners at the time of their transfer, in order that we would not be delivered men incapable of working.
b) – The French authorities had specifically requested at the June 30 meeting that the German economy, or failing that, the American economy, assume a portion of the burden of provisioning the prisoners in French hands. That request has not been able to be satisfied. Nonetheless the French Government has decided that the rations supplied the German prisoners of war would be (except for wine and coffee) the same as those provided Frenchmen carrying out the same work. A September 1 circular has again renewed the peremptory instructions on that subject.
In fact, the German prisoners now receive the same rations as the French population. As a result, we have been able to determine a perceptible improvement in the physical condition of the prisoners since they were delivered into French hands. Moreover, the International Red Cross has the means to carry out the necessary verification. The issue of provisioning can therefore be considered as basically resolved by the measures referred to in the preceding paragraph, which the French Government has just decided to apply. It goes without saying that any assistance, over and above that, which the American authorities might provide in this regard would further ameliorate the situation.
c) – In another connection, the question of clothing continues to concern the French authorities in the most serious way. At the September 22 meeting the French representatives, with the greatest possible emphasis, directed the attention of the American authorities to the gravity of the situation which would result for the prisoners of war should they be equipped with insufficient clothing and blankets at the onset of winter.
It was therefore formally stipulated in the September 24 Franco-American agreement that “The prisoners to be transferred for reconstruction work outside of Germany will be provided by the American authorities with clothing consisting of under-clothes, outer garments, shoes, one or two blankets and an overcoat in good condition.”
The French Government is in the course of verifying that the deficiency in clothing of the prisoners of war presently in French hands is only the result of insufficient outfit which they possessed at the time of their capture by the French Army or of their transfer to the French authorities and that at no time, other than in exceptional cases which resulted in sanctions, has any confiscation taken place for the benefit of the French economy and the detriment of the prisoners in our hands.
A special meeting of the principal ministries concerned, including General KOENIG, called and held with General de GAULLE presiding, has decided that the French authorities of occupation in Germany would immediately organize a collection of clothing and blankets in the French Zone, set up a parcel post system between the families of prisoners of war in the French Zone and its prisoners in France, and endeavor by every means within their power to have the responsible American and British Generals put comparable measures into operation as soon as possible. In this regard I would be very grateful if you would please remind the American General in command of the American zone of occupation the urgent need which calls for the immediate organization of these measures.
d) – Our humane concerns and the desire not to burden the French economy with prisoners who are sick or incapable of working have led us to accelerate to the maximum their return to Germany. A plan of evacuation, which is to be carried out within the briefest delay, and in any case before the arrival of hard winter, provides for the total repatriation of all unemployables who are found in our hands. The French Government is pleased to give a positive response to the proposal by which the American authorities have decided to immediately retake the burden for these unemployables.
I am not in a position to immediately indicate to you with precision the numbers which will be effected by this transfer. Moreover, it seems to me premature to count on the number of 200,000 referred to in your communication of October1.
V. – The French Government is astonished at the information contained in your communication of September 29, according to which all transfers of German prisoners to France would be here and now suspended.
That decision appears even more surprising in light of the fact that in the course of the negotiations which took place on September 22 between the French and American authorities the various difficulties referred to above were discussed and commented on at length. Practical solutions have been arrived at and one of the basic articles of the agreement signed on September 24 provides that the American authorities will not only continue, in accordance with their undertaking, to deliver the 600,000 men who remain to be transferred into French hands but will moreover take all necessary measures to endeavor to deliver us an additional 500,000. Under these circumstances, the French Government requests that the General commanding the USFET in FRANCE, taking into account the preceding information, the provisions of the Franco-American agreement of September 24, and the higher requirements of French reconstruction, would please reconsider that decision, to which the French government can in no way subscribe.
Signed: JUIN
A true copy: Lt-Colonel MORAILLON
Head of the 4th Section
Signed: MORAILLON
