840.48 Refugees/2552

Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Pell) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)

Mr. Welles: After the meeting69 I arranged a luncheon which included M. Van Zeeland, McDonald, Warren, Hart and Mr. Coulon (who is M. Berenger’s alternate on the Intergovernmental Committee).

Mr. Coulon explained in some detail the extent of the present problem in France. He said that most if not all the German and Jewish refugees from Paris have been successful in reaching unoccupied territory. Most of these were in hiding because of the fear that [Page 235] the Pétain Government would, under the Armistice agreement,70 turn them over to the Germans. There were however many thousands of the less prominent Jewish and German refugees who were living openly in Marseilles and in the South of France. Most of the Spanish refugees had been drafted into French industry and with the collapse they had made their way for the most part to the unoccupied districts and were wandering loose at the present moment. Many non-Spanish refugees, notably Belgian and Dutch and former Austrians, were making their way to Spanish territory and of course a great many had arrived in Portugal. Mr. Coulon said that the hardship was very great and that the problem, from the standpoint of the French Government, was desperate. Mr. Coulon said that most of the old civil service, notably in the Ministry of the Interior, was intact and he was certain that the subordinate officers, despite the change of regime, would facilitate the task, to the best of their ability, of those wishing to help the refugees.

Mr. van Zeeland confirmed Mr. Coulon’s information and said that time was of the essence of the situation. It was a moment for action not talk.

Mr. McDonald told Mr. van Zeeland of the meeting with the Acting Secretary and the decision to entrust the President’s Advisory Committee with the responsibility of submitting names of political refugees to the Department. Mr. McDonald observed that Mr. Warren could not do this work single-handed and wondered if Mr. van Zeeland could be helpful in this respect. Mr. van Zeeland said that he would take the matter up immediately with his board and he was sure that funds would be forthcoming for the employment of a staff to support Mr. Warren.

After further consideration of the problem it was decided that Mr. van Zeeland would concentrate his efforts on blue-printing the situation as to the numbers of refugees, the means of transportation and the possible places of refuge outside of Europe. He would consult Mr. Basil Harris71 and others on the question of transportation at once.

  1. Presumably meeting of the President’s Advisory Committee.
  2. Armistice Between France and Germany, signed June 22, 1940; for text, see Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918–1945, series D, vol. ix, document No. 523, p. 671.
  3. Member of President’s Advisory Committee; vice president, International Mercantile Marine Co.