871.00/4–2245: Telegram
The American Representative in Rumania (Berry) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 23—3:25 p.m.]
295. Last evening the King asked me to come and see him. He said he wished to tell me of some of the thoughts running through his mind.
[Page 537]The King began the conversation by saying he had signed the war criminal decree law Friday night68 (reference my telegrams 242 of April 3, 9 p.m.69 and 251 of April 7, 9 p.m.70 He said he had signed only after fighting a 3 weeks’ battle with the Government during which time he succeeded in eliminating from the text of the law the most objectionable features.71 The chief improvements he obtained in the recast text are: The death penalty is authorized in the case of war criminals only, the right of appeal from a people’s court to a regularly constituted court is permitted; article 18, which gave people’s courts power to try persons accused of disturbing the present political order, is entirely eliminated; and finally the validity of the law runs only to September 1.
The King told me he was convinced that Ana Pauker and the more radical members of the Rumanian Communist Party were out to discredit and then eliminate him. He said that lately they inaugurated a whispering campaign urging the return of his father.72 Of course they have no use for Carol but Carol would be more easily discredited and hence more easily eliminated than he. The King said he was bombarded by requests from the Communist members of the Government to perform unconstitutional acts. In a single day Patrascanu73 had presented for signature two unconstitutional decree laws, and Teo-hari Georgeseu,74 two more. The King felt that such draft laws were [Page 538] presented as a maneuver in order to build up evidence that he was not responsive to the public. Moreover after studying the texts of all the laws recently presented by Communist Ministers he has come to the conclusion that they had not been drafted by these men and, perhaps by a member of the executive committee of their party.
As his relations with the Rumanian Communists have deteriorated the King said his relations with the Russian officials have improved recently. General Susaikov, dropping his glum and foreboding manner, invited him to visit a Russian air field. There he was wined, dined and toasted in an atmosphere of good fellowship. When asked if he would enjoy seeing a film, the best local cinema was emptied for his and his mother’s comfort. General Susaikov yesterday at a palace luncheon arose seven times and proposed toasts to the King and the Rumanian nation. On the same occasion the Queen was assured that the resources of the Soviet Union were at their command. The King contrasted this sudden shift from austerity to friendliness toward him with the attitude of the Russians toward Rumania. He said that the Russians were making larger and harsher demands under articles 10, 11 and 12 of the armistice. He told me that Russian troops which had withdrawn from certain sections of Rumania had stripped the land of every valuable before leaving, even dismantling the Rumanian wooden barracks they had used and taking door and window frames from the stone barracks.
The King concluded his conversation by saying that he hoped the Great Powers soon would take some action in the spirit of Yalta concerning Rumania. He said that he suspected America had lost all interest in Rumania and Yalta. If there is to be action he said, it must now be initiated from the outside as the Rumanian problem, since the Vishinsky government was imposed, is no longer an internal problem but an international problem. He stated that as the country’s economic and financial situation were rapidly deteriorating, action must be taken in the next few weeks or the opportunity for action will have definitely passed.
Fortunately yesterday I received Deptel 190, April 19, 10 p.m.75 and I was able to assure the King that far from having lost interest in Rumania, we were desirous of engaging in talk, with our Allies in order to fulfill their responsibilities we had taken. I consider that I was justified in adding that, while appreciating the difficulties of the King’s position, it was gratifying to hear directly from him now [how?] he is working for the preservation of democratic processes in Rumania, thereby fulfilling the responsibilities which his people expect of him. Although the King seemed to take courage from these
[Page 539]words, we must admit to ourselves that the encouragement that comes from words expressed in Bucharest at a time when action is desired in Moscow forms but a fragile bulwark for resisting the pressure of powerful groups.
Repeated to Moscow as No. 87.
- April 20.↩
- Not printed; it reported that the King had refused to sign various decrees presented to him by Government Ministers including measures for the confiscation of rural properties, the prohibition of the carrying of firearms, and the arrest and trial of war criminals; persons near the King were convinced that these decrees were patently unconstitutional and were being presented to the King as the opening steps of a Communist-originated constitutional crisis (871.00B/4–345).↩
- Not printed; it reported that various persons near the King had visited Berry and sought to ascertain whether there had been any results from the American request to the Soviet Government for consultation on Rumanian problems; the King was reported by these visitors as unable much longer to delay decrees presented to him for signature (871.00/4–745).↩
- Despatch 273, April 30, from Bucharest, reported, inter alia, that the King’s advisers realized that if the King signed the war criminal decree in the form presented he might be signing the death warrants of many men of sincere democratic sympathies whose sole fault would lie in being considered political opponents of the Groza regime (740.00116 E.W./4–3045).↩
- Former King Carol II of Rumania was, at this time, in exile in Brazil. A report of Carol’s possible return to Rumania had already reached the Department. Telegram 92, January 14, 1 p.m., from Lisbon, reported that Archduke Otto of Austria had informed the American Chargé that he, Otto, had shown Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Salazar a copy of an agreement drawn up in Mexico City between Soviet Ambassador Oumansky and King Carol according to which Carol promised “to be amenable” in return for Soviet assistance in his restoration (871.001 Carol II/1–1445). A copy of this telegram was sent to President Roosevelt by the Secretary of State on January 17.↩
- Lucretiu Patrascanu, Rumanian Minister of Justice and a leader in the Rumanian Communist Party.↩
- Rumanian Minister of Interior and a leader in the Rumanian Communist Party.↩
- See footnote 64, p. 533.↩