Memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, Latest Opinion Trends in the United States

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E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or E DECLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL Dept. NLT-DS. MARS Date 6.26.75 of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972 By June 2, 1945 LATEST OPINION TRENDS IN U.S.A. Special Report on Attitudes Toward Germany During April and May, the attitude of the American public toward Germany and the German people has hardened in a number of important respects-- according to surveys made by the Princeton Office of Public Opinion Research. Increasingly, the American people-- 1. Regard the German people as well a.s the German Government as having been our "enemy"; 2. Are less willing to continue food ration- ing in order to help Germans buy enough food to maintain health; 3. Are more desirous of trying to make Germany pay for our cost of the war. At the same time, a majority still feels that: 4. Germany will be unable to pay us the cost 3. of the war within 25 years; ARCHIV CANATIONAL SERVICE" RECORDS ES AND: 5. Our Government should help get German peace-time industries going again. The German People The present high point in the American disposition to include the German people in the concept of *chief enemy* follows earlier rises which were registered during