740.00119 E.W./10–2144: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kennan) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 22—8:55 a.m.]
4029. [To Caserta:] Reurtel 59, October 19.17 For your information with respect to the mission of General Hall18 in Bulgaria, Ambassador Harriman wrote to Molotov on September 26, at the request of General Deane,19 setting forth the purpose and composition of this mission and stating that General Deane had requested the Soviet military authorities to assist General Hall’s party in order that they might complete their work promptly and return to their proper station. On [Page 471] September 30, the Ambassador received a reply from Vyshinski stating that instructions had been issued to the Soviet Command in Sofia to assist General Hall’s group in fulfilling its mission.20 On October 15, when it was learned that no steps had been taken to assist General Hall in carrying out his work, the Ambassador again wrote to Vyshinski calling attention to this and reminding him that our military authorities were most anxious that this investigation be conducted as soon as possible.
No reply having been received to this last communication, I called on Vyshinski this evening at General Deane’s request, in order to find out what the trouble was. Vyshinski was unable to make any statement on the subject other than that he had communicated to the Soviet military authorities the substance of the Ambassador’s last letter. He undertook to let me know as soon as he could obtain further information.
Incidentally, Vyshinski called me back this evening to complain of a delay in the consideration of the Bulgarian armistice terms in EAC and to ask me to do what I could to expedite action there. (An account of this interview is going forward in my next following message.) It is not impossible, in the light of general Soviet practice, that these two matters are connected and that he wished to intimate that they preferred not to grant us utilities such as those sought by General Hall’s mission until they could be sure that we would approve the proposed terms, which would in effect recognize Soviet primacy in Bulgaria in the armistice period.
General Deane also addressed another letter to the Soviet General Staff today asking for compliance with the instructions which Vyshinski said in his letter of September 30 had been issued.
Sent to AmPolAd, Caserta, repeated to Department as No. 4029.
- Not printed.↩
- Brig. Gen. William E. Hall, commanding 15th Air Force, Mediterranean Theater, since September. General Hall’s mission was to investigate atrocity cases involving Bulgarians.↩
- Maj. Gen. John R. Deane, Chief, U.S. Military Mission in the Soviet Union.↩
- The mission reached Bulgaria on October 4.↩