OS History - Baltic - Foreign Policy

Dear Party Comrade Hess: My office has just received a telephone call which is recorded in the following minute:

"SS-Gruppenfuhrer Rediess of Konigsberg communicates the following by telephone:

"On February 3, 1939 Gauleiter Koch[2] summoned the leader of the Memel Germans, Dr. Neumann, as well as Consul General v. Saucken, and the head of the Gestapo office in Tilsit, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Graefe, and told the three he had received orders from the Filhrer to explain to them that political developments in the Memel Territory could not continue in their present form and must be stopped at once. Dr. Neumann was threatened with being shot in the event of disobedience. In this connection Gauleiter Koch held the Berlin offices, particularly the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, responsible for the latest developments within the SA.'"

In the interest of pursuing a clear-cut policy on Memel, I take the liberty first of all of pointing out that it is a complete distortion of the facts for the Berlin offices to be held responsible for developments in the SA matter in Memel. As you yourself know, it is precisely these conditions that were brought about through the intervention of East Prussian Party officials over the head of Dr. Neumann and without the knowledge of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle. Everything possible was done from Berlin to avoid ambiguity and further developments of this kind.

It is extremely detrimental to our policy in the Memel Territory, however, to have Dr. Neumann receive orders from various offices. Up to now Dr. Neumann has kept entirely within the scope of the instructions the Fuhrer has given him. These instructions, as you know, were different from the orders now given by Gauleiter Koch. Please find out whether such a directive was given. If so, please inform my office in order that a uniform policy on Memel may be pursued.

Dr. Neumann will be in Berlin on Tuesday, February 7, and expects to receive from me explicit instructions for his further conduct.

Foreign Relations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. (Внешняя Политика Литвы, Латвии и Эстонии.)

German-Baltic relations. (Германо-Прибалтийские отношения.)