§ 48. Mr. Grimondasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the official communication received by Her Majesty's Embassy in Bonn from the Federal German Government on the forced collectivation in Eastern Germany.
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreYes. Her Majesty's Government have received from the Federal German Government a Note drawing their attention to the forced collectivisation of farmers, and also of craftsmen and small traders, in the 5W Soviet Zone of Germany. A description of this collectivisation campaign, together with documentary evidence, is contained in the White Book published by the Federal Government who are preparing an English translation of it.
I am grateful for this occasion to express Her Majesty's Government's sympathy with the victims of these oppressive collectivisation measures. They have brought about a great increase in the flow of refugees into West Berlin and the Federal Republic and we are witnessing a further tragic consequence of the inability of the Germans in the Soviet Zone to elect a Government of their own choice.