GERMANY: Scarcely Believable

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Belatedly last week the German Foreign Office came out with a 3,000-word reply to the famed and bestselling, 195-page British Blue Book on the origins of World War II (TIME, Oct. 2). Its chief point:

"For those who know how to read, this English collection of documents is really a unique and positive proof of England's unquestioned will to war. . . . That the goal of [British Foreign Secretary Viscount] Halifax and his helper, the British Warsaw Ambassador [Sir Howard] Kennard, consisted of keeping the Poles from entering into serious negotiations with Germans is fully and completely confirmed by the English Blue Book. It appears scarcely believable, but it is nevertheless true.

"England wanted war against Germany. . . . The only reason why Poland was unwilling to reach a reasonable understanding with us was because she felt herself secure as a result of the British guarantee. ..."

Key document of the British Blue Book which places the war guilt on Germany is the British message to Germany on Aug. 28, three days before the invasion, saying that definite Polish consent to negotiate was at hand. That message, said the German Foreign Office, "was a sheer lie."

In London the British Foreign Office promptly placed on view the cablegram from Sir Howard Kennard to Viscount Halifax on which the latter based his assurance to Germany. Wired British Ambassador Sir Howard: "Colonel Josef Beck, Polish Foreign Minister, most grateful for the proposed reply to Herr Hitler, authorizes His Majesty's Government to inform German Government that Poland is ready to enter at once into direct discussion with Germany."