17. The Germans considered Kennedy an ally in London
While Kennedy served as Ambassador, and before Germany declared war on Great Britain, he met several times with the German Ambassador to Great Britain, Herbert von Dirksen. Following the war, captured documents included letters written by von Dirksen to the State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry, Ernst Freiherr von Weizsacker. Von Dirksen reported to his superior that Kennedy understood what he (von Dirksen) called “the Jewish question”. According to von Dirksen, the Ambassador was more concerned with the manner in which the Germans were dealing with the issue, which gained negative public attention.
Von Dirksen quoted Kennedy in one letter as having said, “The President was not anti-German, but desired friendly relations with Germany”. Kennedy reportedly told the German Ambassador that the president’s advisors and others who had visited Germany were “afraid of the Jews and did not dare say anything good about Germany” (referring to Jewish influence in the American press, government, and finance). Kennedy also told von Dirksen that public opinion in the United States was largely shaped by the east coast press, and “that it was strongly influenced by the Jews”.