A nouvelle Angleterre Europe nouvelle !
par Maurice Schumann
…
U.S. State Department (July 28, 1945)
761.94/7-2145: Telegram
The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Japanese Ambassador in the Soviet Union
[Tokyo,] July 28, 1945 — 10:45 a.m.
[Translation]
Secret
urgent
952
Re my telegram No. 944
-
The position taken by the Soviet Union in connection with the Potsdam joint declaration made by Great Britain, the United States, and Chungking will henceforth have a bearing on our planning and will be a very important problem. When we consider that details of every conference (Quebec, Cairo, etc.) held by the above three countries have been supplied to the Soviet Union, it is not difficult to imagine that the Soviet Union will have detailed knowledge of the recent joint declaration.
-
However, we have been awaiting the Soviet reply regarding the dispatch of the special envoy and we cannot help but have doubts that there may be some connection between the new joint declaration and our request. Is there no connection at all between the new joint declaration and the above-mentioned request? Also, did or did not the Soviet Government inform England and the United States of our above-mentioned request? And what steps will the Soviet side take against the Japanese Empire from now on? These questions will all remain of interest to our side.
-
For the time being, countermeasures against the joint declaration will be decided after we receive and study the Soviet reply to our request. Thus, Mr. Ambassador, keeping this in mind, meet with Molotov without delay, and at the beginning make our aims clearly understood as described in our outgoing telegrams. Also, on that occasion, endeavor to find out the Soviet Union’s attitude regarding the joint declaration.
Press Conference Statement by Prime Minister Suzuki
[Tokyo, July 28, 1945]
[Translation — Extracts]
Premier Suzuki, at his press conference held at his Official Residence at 3 p.m. July 28, which lasted about an hour, answered questions on various government policies taken at this decisive stage of the war and expressed strong conviction of sure Japanese victory.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Question): “What is the Premier’s view regarding the Joint Proclamation by the three countries?”
(Answer): “I believe the Joint Proclamation by the three countries is nothing but a rehash of the Cairo Declaration. As for the Government, it does not find any important value in it, and there is no other recourse but to ignore it entirely2 and resolutely fight for the successful conclusion of this war.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Clayton-Mikolajczyk conversation, 2:30 p.m.
| Present | ||
|---|---|---|
| United States | Poland | |
| Mr. Clayton | Deputy Prime Minister Mikołajczyk | |
| Mr. Harriman | Mr. Modzelewski | |
| Mr. Collado | Mr. Minc | |
| Mr. Despres | Mr. Rajchman | |
| Mr. Bergson | Mr. Zebrowski |
Memorandum by the Polish Deputy Prime Minister
July 28, 1945
[Translation]
Economic Conference with the American Delegation Held on July 28, 1945
(Present on our side: Messrs. Mikołajczyk, Mine, Modzelewski, Rajchman; on the American side: Clayton, Harriman, Bergson, and two experts.)
Minister Minc proposes to present a brief exposition for orientation purposes about our economy.
Agriculture: With regard to grain, we shall manage to make ends meet this year, however difficult it may be. On the other hand, the question of livestock presents very serious difficulties. The number of cattle was reduced to 25% as compared with the prewar period; the number of horses is even below 20% of the prewar figures. As to food, we should expect a certain unsteady balance in the supply of grain. We have a catastrophic deficit in the supply of meat and fats. We shall have a certain small surplus of potatoes and sugar. That is the situation in the entire area which is actually under Polish administrative control.
With regard to forests, we have suffered serious losses. It was principally the Germans, and partly also armies in transit, who depleted the forests to such an extent that for 16 years we shall not be able to do any substantial lumbering.
Mr. Harriman points out that the armies had to build bridges. Then he asks about the situation in Poland before the war with regard to lumber.
Minister Minc explains that Poland exported lumber, and now it will have to import it to cover the requirements of the reconstruction of the country. We shall have considerable difficulties in rural reconstruction; there is a shortage of industrial wood, beams for mining, and cellulose for the manufacture of paper and artificial fibers.
This picture represents the prospects for one year. It is to be assumed that there will be a balance in the supply of grains in the following year, but the problem of meat and fats is going to be a protracted affair.
Industry: We are reaching 50% of the prewar production within old boundaries. As far as coal is concerned, the daily production amounts to 81,000 tons according to data received in the past two days. That is the production in the entire area, including the western territories, with the exception of the Waldenburg coal basin, where the production amounts to from 7,000 to 8,000 tons daily. The production figures for German Silesia are: February – 40,500 tons; March – 92,000; April – 123,000; May – 258,000; June – 473,000. The number of workers in that territory was: February – 3,900; March – 6,900; April – 20,000; May – 21,000; June – 25,500. I point out that all workers employed there are Poles. In December we expect a monthly production of 3,750,000 tons, so that the monthly average for the five-month period up to December will be around 3 million. During those five months we expect a total production of 15 million tons.
Mr. Clayton asks whether it will be possible to export any of that amount.
Mr. Minc explains: During those five months Poland will need 6,250,000 tons. To cover export contracts to all countries, i.e., to Russia, Sweden, and those countries with which we are negotiating (Denmark, Finland, Rumania, and Norway), we shall need 5,500,000 tons. If we add the domestic requirements to the export obligations, we get the figure of 11,750,000 tons. That figure is incomplete, because it does not include reserves, which amount to 1,500,000 tons. The total coal balance sheet is therefore 16,500,000 less the requirements of 11,750,000. Our coal production is limited by (1) insufficient food supply for the miners and the resulting difficulties in hiring labor; (2) shortage of young people in the coal-mining industry (the average age of coal miners is over 45 years); and (3) transportation, shortage of freight cars and locomotives, shortage of motor vehicles, which is felt even more acutely because of the shortage of horses that were used before the war.
Mr. Clayton, in connection with the age of coal miners, asks about the decrease in productivity.
Mr. Minc says that, in spite of all, productivity is increasing. In previous months it was 0.4, and in the first ten days of June it was 0.84. These figures do not represent the actual productivity, because the productivity below surface is not very different from the prewar productivity. It is due to the disproportion in individual qualifications between miners working on the surface and those working in the mines.
The 4 to 5 million tons which we have available for export can be used only if we get additional transportation. At present the supply must be considered available only at the mines.
Mr. Clayton asks what the price of coal would be f.o.b. Gdynia or Danzig in dollars.
Mr. Minc: On the basis of Swedish contracts, $8.42 per ton.
Mr. Clayton asks whether the decrease in the productivity of the miners affects the quality of the coal.
Mr. Minc replies to this that the grading of the coal is very accurate.
Mr. Harriman asks whether the widening of railroad tracks makes transportation more difficult.
Mr. Minc says that, on the contrary, it makes it easier. The broad-gauge Breslau-Katowice-Kraków railroad line can transport coal to Russia on wide Russian freight cars. On the other hand, railroad lines running to the seashore have normal gauge. The broad-gauge line which was revamped by the Russians has lines of both gauges, and it can be easily shifted to normal gauge. Since we have only a few freight cars of our own, and the wide freight cars can carry more, we find ourselves in the paradoxical situation where we are in no hurry to rebuild the tracks and return to the normal gauge.
Mr. Clayton asks whether the present condition of the Polish transportation system warrants a discussion about exporting the surplus of coal.
Mr. Minc explains that the railroad lines do warrant it, but that the railroad rolling stock does not.
Mr. Clayton expresses his doubts as to whether the situation will permit an increase in coal production.
Mr. Minc points out that if we cannot export the surplus coal because of the lack of transportation, then we can use it in Poland in view of the fact that the internal consumption figures were determined rather modestly, and that we can use it especially for industrial purposes. Transportation for internal purposes should be sufficient, since the distances are short and industrial establishments are located within a radius of 150 to 200 kilometers.
Mr. Harriman: Are the port installations for loading coal in Gdynia and in Danzig in good condition?
Mr. Minc: The loading capacity before the war was 40,000 tons daily. Today it has decreased to 4,000 tons in both ports. We expect, however, that it will increase to from 16,000 to 17,000 tons by the middle of August. At present our cranes are destroyed, and not all power plants are working. The situation would improve considerably if the number of our ports were increased. Stettin is important, especially since the ports of Gleiwitz and Cosel are now active. We have more barges than before the war. There is also the port of Elbing, which can load from 10,000 to 15,000 tons daily provided we make minor investments. But Elbing can be used only for cabotage to Riga, Tallin, possibly to Denmark, to the Soviet Union, and to ports in southern Sweden during certain seasons of the year. The port of Elbing is rather shallow.
Mr. Harriman: How many freight cars would Poland need to export the 5 million surplus [tons]? Is it true that Poland is to receive freight cars from Sweden?
Mr. Minc: We are to receive 1,600 freight cars of 20-ton capacity. Whether we need freight cars for transportation depends on the destination.
Mr. Clayton: To the nearest port.
Mr. Minc: Have you considered transporting coal by railroad through western Europe?
Mr. Clayton: Unfortunately, nobody in Europe has a sufficient number of freight cars today.
Mr. Minc: Given the present condition of the railroads, we would have to figure 7 days to Danzig one way, which means 14 days both ways – in other words, 14,000 to 16,000 freight cars. If we calculated the figures through the whole year, we could reduce them by some 20%, because then we could organize the railroad transportation appropriately. I also point out that with regard to transportation to the west by railroad we are limited only by the number of freight cars, while with regard to ports we have to take into consideration the loading capacity of the ports, not counting the tonnage of the ships.
Mr. Harriman: Do you have enough locomotives? Could you get more locomotives and freight cars from Sweden?
Mr. Minc: Sweden says that we cannot.
Mr. Bergson: Are there freight cars from Germany in the rolling stock used in Poland?
Mr. Minc: Only in transit to Russia. We do not have any such freight cars.
Mr. Harriman: How many of your freight cars are damaged?
Mr. Minc: We have a certain percentage of incapacitated freight cars. The proportion is not much higher than before the war. The trouble is that we do not have the means to make repairs.
Mr. Clayton: How much coal could Poland produce in 1946 if it had means of transportation at its disposal?
Mr. Minc: The total production would be around 5 million tons a month. Of that total we could export from 2½ to 3 million.
Mr. Clayton: That would be 30,000 [30 million] yearly.
Mr. Minc: At least.
Mr. Clayton: Quite a considerable amount for export.
Mr. Minc: We say in Poland that coal is our foreign exchange.
Mr. Clayton: Is coal perhaps the most important item of Polish export?
Mr. Minc: It is the first item, but not the only one. Other important items are zinc and cement. In June we produced 21,000 tons of zinc ore, 3,501 tons of zinc concentrate, and 4,300 tons of zinc. These figures represent 35% of our capacity, and they apply to the Polish territory as of 1939. With regard to the new territories, zinc is found only on the very border, and the quantity is small. From August 1945 through December 1946, we shall have 40,000 tons of refined zinc according to estimates of our export capacity. In addition, we have a rare metal – cadmium. In the same period, between August 1945 and December 1946, we shall have at our disposal for export purposes 200 to 300 tons of cadmium, 7 million tons of coke, 350,000 tons of cement, 160,000 tons of steel and iron (the total production of steel and iron within the boundaries of the old Poland amounts to 40,000 tons a month). The production capacity of Upper Silesia before the war was 100,000 tons a month.
Mr. Harriman: Is the synthetic rubber industry greatly damaged?
Mr. Minc: It is destroyed in Silesia. In Poland it did not exist at all.
Mr. Bergson: Has Poland yet sold any steel and iron?
Mr. Minc: I am not informed as to how much has been sold.
Other export items are: glass panes for windows, ½ million meters; soda, 50,000 tons. Then there are various small items, which together can bring in a large amount of money, but it would take a long time to discuss them.
Mr. Harriman: How is your textile industry?
Mr. Minc: In December the industry worked at full capacity of the looms.
Mr. Clayton: What about the raw material?
Mr. Minc: Our supply is secure. The Soviet Union has a large quantity of cotton. On the other hand, we are very short of wool. The output of the looms represents about 60% of the prewar production. The Germans destroyed the textile industry to a great extent.
Mr. Clayton: I am amazed that you can import cotton from Russia, because Russia itself had to import cotton before the war.
Mr. Minc: The Soviet Union imported a certain amount of cotton before the war, but they did not use up the cotton during the war.
Mr. Harriman: They received a large amount of ready-made clothing through lend-lease. And how is the problem of footwear in Poland?
Mr. Minc: That is the darkest spot in the picture of our industry. We do not have leather and we do not have tannin. Our tanneries are undamaged and we have a labor force, but because of the shortage of raw material we have the largest deficit in this respect. I can see clearly today how to provide clothing for the people in Poland, but I do not know how to get footwear for them. We do not have rubber to use as a substitute. In some cases it affects us very painfully. In industry, where shoes wear out fast – for example, in coal mining and in those industries where acids are used in production – workers go around half barefooted.
Mr. Clayton refers to our requirements as regards farm machinery, factory equipment, trucks, etc., as well as raw material.
Mr. Minc reads an import program for the period from August 1945 to December 1946, not including UNRRA or long-term investments, and not specifying from which country the material is to be imported:
The approximate value of imports will be 380 million dollars (not including long-term investments on credit). The problem is to maintain current production and to satisfy the elementary needs of the economy and reconstruction.
| Rubber | 8,000 tons | Transmission belts | 60 tons |
| Automobile tires and other tires | 5,500 tons | Wool | 20,000 tons |
| Woolen rags | 15,000 tons | Cotton | 60,000 to 70,000 tons |
| Scrap iron | 300,000 tons | Copper | 30,000 tons |
| Aluminum | 2,500 tons | Nickel | 1,000 tons |
| Gasoline | 100,000 tons |
Foodstuffs: Meat – 100,000 tons; fish – 50,000 tons; butter – 20,000 tons; lard – [blank]; fat back – 20,000 tons
As for machinery, we must import steam boilers and parts, combustion motors, motorcycle and automobile engines, traction engines, water and steam turbines, pumps and springs, hydraulic presses, ventilators, wood lathes and metal lathes, moulding machines for foundries, textile machinery, sewing machines, road steam-rollers, excavators, and crushing machines, in a total amount of from 30 to 35 million dollars. River boats, dredges, and barges, and tugboats (not including seagoing vessels) in the sum of 10 to 15 million dollars. Potassium salts, 750,000 tons. Agricultural implements in the sum of from 10 to 15 million dollars, including tractors, of which we shall need about 5,000.
The imports indicated above represent the most indispensable needs, which should be covered by normal foreign trade, through our exports and credit in goods.
Mr. Minc, in answer to Mr. Harriman, explains that we shall have difficulties with regard to lumber for only eight or nine months and that in spite of these difficulties we intend to cover our needs through local production. We have made important experiments in that respect by replacing wood with cement, for example, in the production of railroad ties.
Mr. Clayton: Has not a large part of Polish exports been earmarked for the Soviet Union?
Mr. Minc: Our agreement with the Soviet Union is effective until January 1, 1946. As to the coal for export, the figure which I gave is free of any obligations.
Mr. Clayton: I do not see here capital investments for the construction of plants, railroads, ports, water-supply systems, sewage systems, etc.
Mr. Minc: Our foreign relations in the field of economics are divided into three parts: (1) trade; (2) assistance; (3) credit. I speak only about trade and credit.
Mr. Bergson: How much of the figure of 380 million dollars is to be covered by exports?
Mr. Minc: About 50%, and the rest by credits for about five years.
Mr. Clayton: And should the long-term credit cover only investments?
Mr. Minc: With regard to the normal trade turnover, we expect that the exports will increase, mainly with regard to coal and textiles. On the other hand, we figure that credit for reconstruction will be considerably higher. Furthermore, we have every reason to expect reparations.
Mr. Harriman: I suppose that after these 18 months the imports will decrease and the exports will increase.
Mr. Minc: Our imports will not decrease, but they will be covered by our exports in a higher proportion.
740.00119 Potsdam/7-2845
U.S. Delegation Memorandum
[Babelsberg,] July 28, 1945
Subject: POLISH ECONOMIC POSITION, NECESSARY IMPORTS, AVAILABLE EXPORTS AND CREDIT REQUIREMENTS FOR RECONSTRUCTION
(Mr. Clayton presiding for the U.S.; speaker for the Poles, Mr. Minc, Ministry of Industry.)
1. Agriculture
A grain balance can be realized with some hardship in the year 1945-46. The livestock position, however, is bad, with cattle numbers at 25% of the 1939 level and the number of horses below 20% of prewar. Thus the meat and fat position is catastrophic. A small surplus of potatoes and sugar is expected. In the harvest year 1946-47 grain supplies are expected to increase. The meat and fat position will continue to be difficult. Reference is to the entire area currently administered by the Polish Government.
2. Lumber
While Poland was a pre-war exporter of lumber, cuttings now would have to be stopped for 16 years to restore reserves to normal. There will be shortages of timber for industrial purposes, e.g. in the coal mines and for the production of cellulose, and reconstruction generally will be limited.
3. Industry Generally
In the area of 1939 Poland, industry is operating at 50% of pre-war levels. In December 1944 the textile industry was worked at the capacity of available spindles, which was 60% of pre-war in old Poland. Raw cotton supplies are adequate under the trade agreement with Russia. There is a wool deficit. In the case of shoes, there is a serious deficiency due to the lack of raw materials, including tannery materials. The tanneries are intact.
4. Coal
Currently the daily output is 18,000 tons including output of German Upper Silesian mines but excluding the output of the Walden-burg area, which is about 7,000-8,000 tons. Production and employment in the German Upper Silesian mines has been as follows in the past five months:
| Production Thousands of Tons | Miners Employed | |
|---|---|---|
| February | 40.5 | 3,900 |
| March | 92.0 | 6,900 |
| April | 123.0 | 20,300 |
| May | 258.0 | 21,000 |
| June | 473.0 | 25,500 |
All the miners employed are Poles.
The total output including the output in German Upper Silesian mines, which was 1,860,000 in June, is expected to be 3,750,000 in December. The total production in the five months ending with December is expected to be 15,000,000 tons. Domestic consumption in the same period will be 6,250,000, while export commitments, which actually have been made or are expected to be made to the Soviet Union, Sweden, be a balance available for export over and above these commitments amounting to about 5,000,000 tons in the last five months of 1945. Stocks currently are 1.5 million tons. Coal export prices at the port of Danzig, as fixed in existing export commitments, average 8.42.
The surplus referred to above will be available at the pits. However, the transport situation is extremely tight. Unless additional transport facilities are available, it will not be possible to move this surplus to ports for export. The domestic consumption of 6,250,000 tons is a minimum, and the total will be increased if it is not possible to export the calculated surplus. Transport requirements to move the coal to local industrial users are small as compared with requirements to move the coal to ports of export.
To move the 5,000,000 tons of the calculated surplus in the next five months to, say, the port of Danzig, 14-16,000 additional railway cars would be required. Sixteen hundred 20-ton cars will be received from Sweden. Locomotives are not in as short supply as cars. No cars are currently being received from Germany. The percentage of “sick” cars is about the same as before the war.
The combined daily handling capacity at the ports of Danzig and Gdynia is now about 4,000 tons as compared with 30,000 pre-war. By the middle of August it is expected that 16-17,000 tons can be handled daily. If more transport facilities were available additional harbors would be accessible. By the summer of 1946 it is expected that the total output of coal will rise to 5 million tons monthly and that there will be an export surplus of 2½-3 million tons.
5. Other Exports Available, over and above those committed under trade agreements
a. Zinc – In the area of old Poland in June 1945, there was a surplus available for export for [of?] 21,000 tons of zinc ore, 3,500 of zinc concentrates, and 4,300 tons of zinc. Some additional supplies are available from German Upper Silesia. For the 18-month period, August 1945 through December 1946, 40,000 tons of zinc will be available for export, almost entirely from the area of old Poland (that is, old Poland west of the Curzon line).
b. Cement – For the same 18-month period, there will be a surplus available for export of 350,000 tons.
c. For the same 18-month period, there will be surpluses available for export of 200 to 300 tons of cadmium, 7,000,000 tons of coke, a half million meters of glass, and 50,000 tons of soda. These figures refer to the area of old Poland west of the Curzon line. For the entire area currently administered by the Poles, there will be a potential export surplus of 160,000 tons of iron and steel.
6. Import Requirements, other than capital goods for reconstruction, and not including supplies to be obtained from UNRRA
$380,000,000 of imports will be required in the 18-month period, August 1945 through December 1946. Among the requirements are:
| Tons | |
|---|---|
| Rubber | 8,000 |
| Industrial belting | 60 |
| Tires and tubes | 5,500 |
| Wool | 20,000 |
| Wool Waste | 15,000 |
| Cotton | 60-70,000 |
| Scrap iron | 300,000 |
| Copper | 30,000 |
| Aluminum | 2,500 |
| Nickel | 1,000 |
| Petrol | 100,000 |
| Meat, including: canned | 100,000 |
| Fish, including canned | 50,000 |
| Butter | 20,000 |
| Lard | 20,000 |
| Bacon | 20.000 |
| Potassium salts, nitrates | 750,000 |
Machinery imports of $35,000,000 are required, including steam boilers, combustion engines, locomotives, turbines, pumps and compressors, wood working, metal working, molding machinery, pneumatic drills, textile and sewing machinery, milling machinery, road construction machinery, excavators and crushers.
Ships of all types, including barges and tugs but excluding ocean going types, will be required to the amount of $15,000,000.
Agricultural machinery also will be needed, including 5,000 tractors, to the amount of $10-15,000,000; and 1,000 autos and 10,000 trucks. All the above imports are additional to future imports, the purchases of which have already been arranged.
7. Credit Requirements
Of the total imports of $380,000,000 referred to above, about 50% can be paid for with expected exports. Thus $190,000,000 credits would be required to purchase the balance. It is desired that such credits be for a period of about five years.
The imports of $380,000,000 do not include imports of capital goods required for long-term reconstruction purposes. These requirements are estimated at $500,000,000 over a period of six to seven years. Long-term credits are desired to finance these imports.
The above credit requirements are additional to any aid received from reparations.
761.94/7-2145: Telegram
The Japanese Ambassador in the Soviet Union to the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs
Moscow, July 28, 1945 — 3:25 p.m.
[Translation]
Secret
urgent
1476
Re your telegram No. 944
-
Your above telegram (repeat telegram received on the 28th and decoding completed) and my telegrams numbered 1449, 1450, and 1458 crossed each other on the way. In the meantime Attlee, the newly appointed Prime Minister, returned to Potsdam on the same day and is reported to have joined the conference immediately. Thus, item No. 1 of your telegram is now out of the question. Even if we did make a request, there is no possibility that the Soviet side would agree to my visit, which would only result in exposing our uneasy emotion and would be of no benefit to us.
-
Item No. 2 of your telegram stated that a request will first be made to the Soviet Union for its good offices, and, should the Soviet Government react coldly, that there is no other choice but to consider some other course or method. Praising or criticizing the Soviet Union will be regarded by them as being done to suit our convenience, and in view of the various circumstances the attitude mentioned above appears to lack applicability.
-
According to item No. 3 of your telegram, a United States spokesman has hinted that unconditional surrender still stands; however, should Japan accept surrender immediately, in reality the terms may be mollified. What the spokesman said is only natural and after considering these circumstances I presented my opinion in telegram No. 1427.
I have no way of knowing the extent of the authority given to Captain Zacharias in his broadcast. His word, however, that Japan shall receive the benefit of the Atlantic Charter is in contradiction to the attitude taken by England and the United States when they rejected German participation under the said Charter prior to her surrender. Also, I find no reason why such attitude will be relaxed for present-day Japan when the same was not done at that time. Also, according to your opinion, you are not opposed to the restoration of peace based on the said Charter, Can this be interpreted to mean that the Imperial Government has already accepted demilitarization? Then, if this is the case, the question is, why did Japan not notify the Soviet Government of acceptance of demilitarization when Japan first asked to send the special envoy? In the same way, the question will arise regarding prior recognition of independence for Korea.
-
Although the BBC announced that the Prime Minister made a statement to the effect that the Japanese Government will “ignore” the July 26 tripartite declaration against Japan,6 we have not received any official telegram to this effect. Also, regardless of whether it is intended to ignore the above declaration, it was not reported through general information media. The tripartite declaration is an official expression of their will and not only does it supersede the above-mentioned statement of Captain Zacharias but in reality there is some difference on important points. (According to this declaration, it is interpreted that Japan’s territory shall be limited to Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Hokkaido, and the United States will reserve the right to occupy Okinawa even though the declaration did not substantiate this.)
-
Your telegram No. 893 mentioned sending the special envoy only. Telegram No. 931 clearly indicates seeking the good offices of the Soviet Government. Also, in your telegram No. 944, you have asked me to make it clear that the dispatch of the special envoy to the Soviet Union is to enable Stalin to acquire the position of advocate of world peace. This, to our sorrow, gives the impression that we are giving out our aims piecemeal. With regard to your comment that you have considered the possibility that the Soviet side might react coldly toward our request and that Japan may have to consider other ways and means, I feel embarrassed, since I am unable to understand what was meant by “other ways and means.”
-
All things considered, as mentioned in my telegram No. 1450, I am awaiting a reply from the Soviet side. If there is no reply all day on the 30th (Monday), I am inclined to press for a reply immediately.
-
Shortly after this telegram was drafted your telegram No. 952 arrived. With reference to the third item, please understand that the meeting with Molotov will [not?] take place as mentioned in the first item of this telegram unless a special, concrete, and definite proposal for termination of the war is presented by the Imperial Government of Japan.
811.79661/7-2845: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union to the Ambassador in France
Moscow, July 28, 1945 — 5 p.m.
Secret
[259]
Question raised in your 214 July 26 of possible courier route to and from Moscow via Berlin and Paris is one which has preoccupied this mission for some time, since Tehran service is definitely unsatisfactory and no other regular air facilities are yet available. (Sent Paris 259 rptd Frankfurt for Harriman 37, rptd Dept 2702)
On June 29 Ambassador Harriman discussed with Vyshinski project of regular facilities for our passengers and mail via Berlin whereby Soviet and American airlines would connect at Berlin. Vyshinski seemed to think that this would be possible and that administrative and technical details could be promptly worked out. On July 7 Ambassador wrote Vyshinski specifically requesting his cooperation in speedy conclusion of arrangements for this service.
On July 11 Vyshinski replied by referring to a previous conversation of June 15 in which, he stated, he had drawn attention to fact that while considerable improvement had been made in air facilities on that route and while he recognized importance of matter question could not be considered sufficiently advanced for detailed consideration. He stated that he would communicate further as soon as further instructions were received from the Soviet Govt.
Ambassador Harriman left soon afterward for Berlin, and I have not heard anything further from Russians in his absence. I have no information as to whether subject has been discussed with Russians at Berlin. Meanwhile, Russians continue to take individual American passengers from here over this route when it pleases them to do so and to refuse to take them in other cases.
It would, of course, be helpful if American aircraft could travel as far as Warsaw. I believe, however, that any proposal for regular entry of American aircraft to Poland may encounter strong opposition in certain Russian quarters.
KENNAN
The Pittsburgh Press (July 28, 1945)
B-25 hits Empire State; at least 13 die in building
Army pilot lost in fog; upper part becomes a blazing inferno
Billowing smoke and flame pour from the tower of the Empire State Building immediately after it was hit by a low-flying B-25 bomber today. The flames shot 300 feet in the air when the bomber smashed into the tower.
NEW YORK (UP) – A B-25 bomber crashed and exploded in the 78th floor of the Empire State Building today and the upper part of the tallest building in the world instantly became a blazing inferno for hundreds of office workers perched 1,000 feet above the street.
The plane was lost in a fog when it struck. It broke into a giant, spectacular burst of flame. The explosion rocked Midtown Manhattan.
Nearly four hours after the disaster. the death toll was in doubt. A police captain in the building said at 1:30 p.m. that 13 bodies had been found in the structure – 11 on the 79th floor, one on the 78th and one on the 72nd. Earlier, Police Headquarters said 19 had been killed.
Many of the bodies were so mangled that it may be days before the death list is completed. Of the 13 bodies, 12 were unidentified.
Flames raged out of control in six floors of the 102-story building for 40 minutes. Three elevators fell from the 80th floor to the ground. Glass and debris rained into the street.
The plane struck the north side of the building, penetrated a wing of the floor, destroyed everything in its path and went out the south wing of the building. Part of it landed on the roof of the 12-story Waldorf Building on 33rd Street.
Six of the dead were reported to be soldiers, some presumably members of the plane’s crew of five.
Only the fact that it was Saturday morning, when many offices are closed, prevented a far greater disaster.
The 78th floor was unoccupied. On the 79th floor, occupied by offices of the War Relief Service of the National Catholic Welfare Council, several persons were killed.
Nine bodies were reported found on the 79th floor. Three bodies were taken from two of the fallen elevators. The third was empty.
An enormous crowd gathered in the street and the largest amount of firefighting apparatus ever assembled in New York City was rushed out in four fire alarms.
Glass and debris continued to shower down for almost an hour.
Plane wreckage in street following the crash of a B-25 bomber into the side of the Empire State Building. Cpl. Harry A. Berger of the Bronx stands beside the wreckage straining to watch smoke and flames pouring from the giant structure. Base of the building is shown in the background.
The 34th Street foyer of the building was converted into an emergency receiving station.
Bellevue Hospital sent all available doctors, nurses and disaster equipment.
First reporters to fight their way up past the smoke-clouded 69th floor found the cowling of the plane still stuck to the side of the building. The point where the plane struck was near a bank of 10 elevators. All floors from the 69th to the 79th were littered with debris.
About 20 feet inside the window nearest where the plane struck lay one of the B-25s engines and half a propeller. A fragment of a propeller was imbedded in a wall.
Office windows were shattered 10 floors up and 10 floors below the 78th story. A stream of firemen, police, priests, doctors and nurses moved up and down the stairs. Six charred bodies lay in and near the Catholic Welfare offices.
Mayor F. H. LaGuardia, quickly at the scene, inspected the 78th floor and said: “It was just an oven.”
He said the plane was “flying too low.” City regulations forbid flying fewer than 5,000 feet over the city, he said.
Witnesses said the plane zoomed down Fifth Avenue, apparently in trouble.
Nanette Morrison, typist in the office of Carl Byor Associates publicists, was gazing out the window as the plane approached. Not realizing her peril at first, she leaned from the window and started to wave to the crew members, she said.
The Army said the bomber left Bedford, Massachusetts, on “contact flying regulations.” A control tower operator at the field said the ceiling was 1,100 feet over Manhattan at 9:50 a.m., the time of the crash.
The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall and on foggy days its peak usually is obscured.
One of the first dead to be identified was Paul Deering, 40, a reporter for The Buffalo Courier-Express. Mr. Deering’s body was recovered from a window ledge on the 72nd floor, and police believed he died trying to escape from an upper floor.
Roofs of several nearby buildings were set afire by the spray of blazing gasoline from the plane.
An enormous throng rushed to the scene and all available firefighting apparatus in the city was called.
Fog, at times closing in to 500 feet of the ground, blotted out the view of fire from the street at times.
Despite the fire, the lower floors of the building were not evacuated and heads could be seen protruding from windows up to the 20th floor.
Army Public Relations officers said the plane was en route from Bedford to LaGuardia Field. It was reported to have attempted to land at LaGuardia and to have turned and headed for Newark when low visibility prevented a landing here.
The first flash of flames swept through seven stories of the building, from the 79th to 86th floors.
Army Lt. Aubrey B. Condit, a pilot, was on the 55th floor of the building when the crash came. He said the plane that struck the tower was a B-25 Billy Mitchell bomber, which carried a crew of three.
Thousands of workers and residents in the Midtown area rushed to windows of surrounding buildings to watch the spectacular fire and the scurry of hundreds of firemen, and white-coated ambulance physicians in the street.
The crash came like a peal of thunder, and many of those who heard it dismissed it as such. The morning had been heavy with humidity and the skies were overcast.
When a mass of flames spewed out from the tower, observers first believed lightning had struck the building. Then reports flashed from the stricken skyscraper that a bomber had rammed the east side of the tower, exploded, and bounced off in flames to the roof of the old Waldorf Building.
At 10:30, the tower was still blazing, and firemen found a large tire from the plane on the Waldorf Building roof.
William Yates, elevator operator in the building, said he saw the plane blown back from the tower after it crashed. Yates was returning to the building from a barber shop.
The pilot was flying by contact with the ground rather than by instrument, although visibility over Manhattan was only about 500 feet.
Police and fire lines were formed several blocks from the building, and pedestrians elbowed and shoved on the edges, trying to force their way closer to the scene.
Ellen Lowe of Floral Park, New York, who works for the Catholic Welfare Council, said:
It was hell on earth. I was typing. Suddenly there was a blast and our whole office burst into flames. This was followed by thick, acrid smoke. We ran to the windows and hung out to get some air. As we did that. we saw smoke pouring out of the 76th floor. We prayed that the wind would divert the smoke and it did. occasionally, but once in a while, great blasts of it would come up to our floor.
A girl elevator operator was blown out of her elevator on the 75th floor and taken to the office of the Air Cargo Transport Corp. for treatment. The skin was literally peeled from her face.
Mayor LaGuardia said the bodies of the plane crew may have been destroyed, mangled or thrown from the building by the tremendous force of the crash.
Office windows were shattered 10 floors above and 10 floors below the 78th story. From the 76th floor up, stairways were a tangled mass of firehose.
Army, Navy and FBI officials rushed to investigate.
1 Like
Plane pierces skyscraper, wing falls block away
By Stanley Lomax
NEW YORK (UP) – I shouted: “climb fool, climb.”
A second later I saw the plane crash into the Empire State Building with a force that drove the engine and the cockpit into the skyscraper and sent out a tower of flame 100 feet wide and 100 feet high.
I was driving to work when I heard the roar of the plane’s engines. I looked up, and then I knew it would crash. It was an Army plane a B-25, obviously in trouble. Its course was straight down Fifth Avenue, and the pilot must have known when I saw the plane that he would hit the building. He pulled up a little, but not enough, and the plane crashed.
It hit at the 78th floor, where there’s a recess in the building, just below the observation tower. The left wing catapulted up into the fog and then over toward Madison Avenue, one block east.
The plane just hung there for about five minutes. As soon as it struck, with a crash like thunder in a nightmare, the entire floor where it hit burst into the same golden, blinding flames as the plane had done. It was as though someone had thrown a switch.
Then the floor above flamed up within 30 seconds. It was all so quick.
The cockpit of the plane was drive so deep into the building that the pilot and his crew must have been burned to death within an instant.
It was all like a hideous dream, maybe because the fog made it seem unreal. Not more than 100 feet above the plane, the fog hugged the tower and little wisps of it reached down, like they were trying to cover the tragedy.
Then the fire department got there. They must have come within two minutes after the crash. Twenty trucks roared down Fifth Avenue.
Office workers flee
By that time the flames were covering three or four floors, it seemed. Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe the flames or the tears I couldn’t stop made me a little crazy.
The office workers poured out of the Empire State Building, as many as could escape I’ve never seen such frightened people. I knew what they were thinking. I’d thought about it myself, plenty of times.
What if a bomb ever hit the Empire State? Well, now I know.
1 Like
Plane blast blows girl from elevator, across hall
‘Not surprised at crash,’ declares eyewitness on 75th floor
By James W. Irwin
The author of the following dispatch is president of the James W. Irwin Co. management consultants.
NEW YORK (UP) – At about 10 a.m. today I was sitting alone in my office on the 75th floor of the Empire State Building.
Outside the windows there was a dense fog.
The roar of airplanes going overhead is a familiar sound to those of us who have offices in this giant structure.
But this morning I heard one coming that seemed to be headed right my way.
I ran into the hall as the roar increased. Just as I hit the hall the plane struck.
Blows girl across hall
A girl elevator operator had just opened the door of the elevator shaft on my floor. The blast blew her all the way across the hall.
She is in the next office as I dictate this to the United Press. No first aid has reached us as yet. We are isolated.
There are at least 11 other casualties on this floor alone, mostly women, some of them badly burned.
I am told that the plane struck the building several floors above my office. That would be hard to tell from here. The halls are still so full of fumes that we are afraid to use the stairs.
Not surprised at crash
The screaming and general hubbub up here is so terrific that I can hardly hear over the telephone, but now things are quieting down.
All of my windows are gone and the hallways are littered with glass.
I don’t want to claim too much, but I must say that I am not too surprised at what has happened. We hear these planes all the time and frequently they sound like they are coming awfully close.
Fortunately the building was not too full of tenants this morning because so many people take Saturday off. I don’t know what happened to the people on the floor where the plane struck.
Office shattered
This was a variable foggy morning. Sometimes I could see other buildings in the neighborhood and then the fog would close in and I couldn’t see anything. That is the way it was when I heard the plane roaring in. It was spitting rain.
Now at 10:30 I can hear noises from the street below. Glass seems to be falling continually.
Returning to my office after the blast, I saw how lucky it was that I got out into the hall. I would have been full of splintered glass if I’d been in here when it hit.
Firemen pant up stairs
Now, at 10:35, the first firemen have reached us on the 75th floor. They came panting up the stairs and said anybody who was able could start walking down the 75 flights. They said the fumes were clearing out.
There is no question about what side of the building the plane hit. My office is on the Northside (Uptown side) and it hit right above me.
On a later call to the UP offices, Mr. Irwin said that in addition to hearing the approaching plane he could actually see it hurtling through the fog and rain.
“That’s why I ducked,” he said.
After the firemen got up here, they began carrying people out, or at least helping them down the emergency stairways. People coming down from up above seemed dazed and couldn’t tell much about what had happened. All they wanted was to get to the street.
1 Like
Chinese capture Kweilin air base
CHUNGKING, China (UP) – The Chinese communiqué tonight reported that Kweilin, the former great American air base city in Kwangsi Province, has been recaptured by Chinese forces.
The reoccupation of the city was completed at 10 p.m. yesterday, the communiqué reported, by troops under the command of Gen. Tang En-po.
Jap forces were reported fleeing to the northeast with Chinese in hot pursuit in hope of annihilating the Japs.