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    "label": "Memorandum from Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachments",
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    "title": "Memorandum from Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachments",
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    "ocrText": "-4-\nNow shortly before the bitter end and before his death\nHitler has shown himself once more and in spite of his very\npoor state of health in his old ingenious way He has with\nextraordinary clearness quite detached from the events of the\nday, the war situation and the political combinations given me\nan extensive survey of the coming developments of world politics,\nas he saw it. He has in an almost prophetic way pointed out the\ndecisive importance, which in this century of the formation of\nlarge combined political areas (grossraumgestaltung) must be\nattached to English-German relations and herewith also to the\nrelations with the present enemies the U.S.A., Soviet Union,\nFrance etc. He said, what after this lost war could be contributed\nby the German side, to establish a stable balance of power between\nthe big political areas, in order that not again and irresistably\nnew war catastrophes would come over Europe, over the British\nEmpire and over the whole world.\nWe spoke of Russia and the Fuehrer mentioned the gigantic\ndisplay of power of the Soviet Union and its doctrines and in\nthis connection he repeatedly referred to the creation of the\nRed Army by Stalin and called this a grandiose\" deed. And he\nII\nfurther said, that \"in spite of the divergencies in the Weltauf-\nfassung\" Germany simply had to come to a good relationship with\nSoviet Russia, as both people had to live side by side on the\nlong run. We also spoke of Japan, for whom the access to vital\nraw materials was barred and who had to fight a heavy war for\nit today. We also spoke at length of the U.S.A. Hitler regretted\nthe war with America, because we had no possible divergencies\nwith this big nation. We had always regretted this war from\nthe beginning and have done everything we could to prevent it\neven when our ships were being attacked. The Fuehrer said, that\ngood and lasting relations to the U.S.A. absolutely had to be\nfound. Both people Japan and U.S.A. would have to play their\npart in the balance of power and in the collaboration of the\nworld. But always again during that conversation the Fuehrer\ncame back to the question of the English-German relations in\nthe frame of the European politics with the other powers France,\nItaly and of this balance of power in the world. It was one\nof the most harmonious conversations I had had with the Fuehrer\n3.\nORATIONAL\nfor a long time and I was in entire agreement with all his views,\nARCHIVES\nas I had for a. long time at various occasions been proposing\nis\nnegociations to finish the bloodshed on such a basis of agreement\nbetween all nations. But all tentatives never materialized.\nSirs, you have won the war and you hold all power in\nyour hands. May I, as the last foreign minister of a defeated\nnation -and as a man, who in spite of all bitterness of war and\nof all untruths about his alleged antagonism or \"hatred\" of\nEngland, has always considered England as his second home and\nwho has always wanted the English-Ger alliance just as much\nas the Fuehrer himself, point out this:\nAn enormous to me not comprehensible wave of hatred\nea\nis at present overwhelming the defeat German nation. When\nEngland at a time was in a. difficult position, when it was after\nall within the possibility that England might not win this war,\nit was in summer 1940 at headquarters of the western front, the\nFuehrer spoke to me of the coming peace with Great Britain,\n\"a peace, which - as he said - must never in any way violate\nEngland's prestige and esteem in the world\" and \"with the English-\nGerman peace a full alliance for life and death should be found\nbetween the two great nations.\" Only restitution of one or two\nof the German colonies should be agreed upon as a just German\nclaim. That was all and I fully agreed with the Fuehrer. In\ncomparison with this today concentration camps are taken as the\ncause of a very serious campaign against the German people. With\nregards to the fact that everything what is to-day said about\nthis subject by a German is at once taken up by publicity it is\ndifficult for me to say anything at all on this question. But\nin/-"
}