7   PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE, 1919, VOLUME V


Appendix III
Letter From  Herr Brockdorff-Rantzamu to M. Clemeiweau on the
Subject of Prisoners of War
(Translation)                       GERMAN PEAcE DELEGATION,
VERuILu.s, 10 May, 1919.
Sm: The German Delegation has noted with satisfaction that the
Draft Treaty handed to it recognises the principle that the Repatri-
ation of German Prisoners of War and German Interned Civilians is
to be effected with the greatest possible rapidity.
It is in accordance with the opinion of the German Peace Delegation
that the task of settling the details of execution of that Repatriation
should be entrusted to a Special Commission. Direct conversations
between the Commissions pretty well of all the Belligerent States in
regard to Prisoners have been shown to be the best means of solving
the difficulties, and it ought to be all the easier at the present moment
to clear up by early discussion in a Commission any divergencies of
view or doubts in regard to certain points. The German Peace Dele-
gation, bearing in mind the difference of jurisdiction in the various
countries concerned, is of opinion, for instance, that it is indispensable
for Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians, who have been detained
for offences other than those against discipline, to be repatriated un-
conditionally. Germany has recognised this same principle as regards
the Prisoners of War and Interned Civilians of the Allied and
Associated Powers detained in Germany. In the view of the German
Peace Delegation, certain alleviations should, as a matter of course
and for reasons of equity, be agreed in favour of Prisoners of War
and Interned Civilians for the period which will elapse until their
final departure.
The German Peace Delegation has, moreover, been compelled to note
that the arrangements contemplated are favourable only to the Allied
and Associated Governments, for instance, so far as concerns the
restoration of private property, the search for persons who have dis-
appeared and the care to be taken of graves. The German Peace
Delegation presumes that, for questions such as these, complete
reciprocity may be required for general reasons of humanity.
Because of the great technical difficulty of repatriating Prisoners
of War and Interned Civilians, especially in view of the shortage of
tonnage and the lack of coal, the greatest importance should be at-
tached to finding a solution of all preliminary questions before the
despatch of the repatriated Prisoners and Interned Civilians actually
begins. For that reason, the German Peace Delegation proposes that
the Commission should start its deliberation forthwith, separately
from all other questions. The explanation of this proposal lies, firstly


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