Secretary of State Washington-->FDR,Memorandum 09/25/44

                   THE SECRETARY OF STATE                   
 
 
                         WASHINGTON                         
 
 
September 25, 1944
 
 
                                                            
                MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT                
 
 
 Referring to your memorandum of September 15 from Quebec on the
postwar treatment of Germany which received the agreement of the Prime
Minister and yourself, it occurs to me that several steps should be
considered in connection with the adoption of the policy which will be
carried out in Germany after its surrender or collapse.
 
 
        It would seem highly advisable to have the firm agreement of
the Governments of Great Britain and the Soviet Union to the policy to
be adopted as we have thus far acted on the basis that every action
followed with respect to Germany, particularly in the post-hostilities
period, would be on an agreed tripartite basis.  It has been our
understanding that the Soviet Government has also acted on this general
assumption, and of course the European Advisory Commission, established
by the Moscow Conference, was set up for the purpose of working out the
problems of the treatment of Germany. We must realize that the adoption
of any other basis of procedure would enormously increase the
difficulties and responsibilities not only of our soldiers in the
immediate military occupational period but also of our officials in the
control period following.
 
 
       Our information up to the present has been to the effect that
the British Government no doubt has ideas of its own with respect to
the application of economic controls to Germany, and we have not yet
had any indication that the British Government would be in favor of
complete eradication of German industrial productive capacity in the
Ruhr and Saar. We have no idea as yet what the Soviet Government has in
mind.  Would it not be well at this time for the State Department to
sound out the British and Russian views on the treatment of German
industry either through the European Advisory Commission or otherwise?
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