Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Research Services at the National Archives at College Park, MD.
There is no document in the National Archives entitled the “Red House Report.” There is, however, a SHAEF intelligence report that mentions a late 1944 meeting that took place at the Hotel Rotes Haus [Red House] in Strasbourg, France, that has become known colloquially as the “Red House Report.”
On November 7, 1944, the SHAEF G-2 Economic Section prepared a 3-page report on a meeting of German industrialists and military officials in the Hotel Rotes Haus in Strasbourg, France. In that meeting they discussed plans for engaging “in underground activity after Germany’s defeat” and the transfer of funds to neutral countries. The report was numbered EW-Pa 128.
Twenty days later, on November 27, the Economic Warfare Division of the U.S. embassy in London sent a typescript copy of the report to the Department of State as one of its “Economic Warfare (Safehaven) Series” of reports for use by the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA). The Department of State further distributed copies of the despatch and its enclosure to several other agencies and U.S. embassies overseas. The despatch and its enclosure, both as clear and bright today as the day they were typed, were indexed to the Department of State’s central files with the file designation for the general file on monetary system, coinage, currency, and mint (“800.515”). Markings on the document indicate that it was declassified no later than 1991 but more likely in the early 1970s.
This is the first page of the report:
“Safehaven” refers to the program established in late 1944, after it became clear that the Germans were attempting to move assets abroad in the face of imminent defeat. The aim of the program was to collect information about “enemy investments and plans, and the activities of persons which could be employed as a means of preserving the enemy’s economic, political and military potential abroad after the cessation of hostilities.”
On December 1, 1944, the Economic Intelligence Officer of the Economic Warfare Division in the U.S. embassy in London sent another copy of the SHAEF report to the Department of State along with copies for the G-2 Section in the War Department and the Economic Warfare Division of the Department of Justice as one of its “Economic Warfare (Intelligence) Series” of reports. The embassy made direct distribution to the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA), the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) offices in Washington and London, the U.S. Control Commission, and the European Advisory Committee and the Department distributed copies of the despatch and its enclosure to several other agencies. This copy was a printed and included a pre-printed cover note attached to other reports, too, that indicated the report had “been duplicated and given wider circulation because its contents are believed significant and of general interest to agencies concerned with the post-hostilities situation in Europe.” The dispatch with its enclosure, still bright and clear, was placed in the Department of State central files with the file number for the economic warfare intelligence reports from the embassy in London (“740.00112 Intelligence”). This document was declassified in 1972.
This is the first page of the report:
Aside from the physical format – typescript versus printed copy- the only difference between the two versions of the report is the description of the source. The first version of the report describes that as an “Agent of French Deuxieme Bureau, recommended by Commandant Zindel. This agent is regarded as reliable and has worked for the French on German problems since 1916. He was in close contact with the Germans, particularly industrialists, during the occupation of France and he visited Germany as late as August, 1944.” In the second version of the report, the source is described simply as a “French governmental employee with close connections with German industry. Believed reliable and experienced.”
Over the past few years, SHAEF report EW-Pa 128 has drawn an exaggerated and growing amount of attention, almost all tracing back to a work of fiction that used the report as the germ of its plot. In the final analysis, however, there is nothing special or extraordinary about this particular report. It is not a singular smoking gun about German plans and efforts to move assets abroad as World War II came to an end. Rather, it is part and parcel of the large volume of reporting about that subject. As the earlier establishment of the Safehaven program shows, the Allies were well aware of those efforts and were already collecting information about it.
Sources: U.S. Embassy London to the Department of State, Despatch No. 19489, Nov 27, 1944, file 800.515/11-2744; U.S. Embassy London to the Department of State, Despatch No 19602, Dec 1, 1944, file 740.00112 (INTELLIGENCE)/12-144; 1940-44 Central Decimal File (NAID 302021), RG 59, General Records of the Department of State
Another copy of Despatch 19,602 and its enclosure is filed in the records of the Military Intelligence Division. See Entry NM-84 79: Publications Files (“P File”), 1940–1945 (NAID 1557240), under Economic Warfare/Intelligence/Series No. 1636, RG 165: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs.
For more information about Safehaven, see Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, General: Economic and Social Matters, Volume II and Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, General: Political and Economic Matters, Volume II.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the National Archives and Records Administration or any other agency of the U.S. Government.