871.00/11–1645: Telegram
The American Representative in Rumania (Berry) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 19—8:25 a.m.]
892. Mytel 865, November 922 and 873, November 10.23 General Schuyler’s urgent request on the 8th for a special meeting of the [Page 626] ACC being unanswered the questions which he raised were considered at yesterday’s regular meeting.
General Susaikov said that he would not agree to the appointment of a Tripartite Board to establish the facts surrounding the events of the 8th as (1) that would be an infringement of Rumanian sovereignty area and (2) the Russian High Command not the ACC was responsible for order within the country. General Susaikov was equally unable to agree to General Schuyler’s request that a Board of Inquiry be appointed to investigate the third degree methods used by the Secret Police of [on?] children, women and men brought to the Interior Ministry. Please see General Schuyler’s cable M–220724 for a full report of this meeting.
In reviewing objectively all the facts I have been able to assemble upon the demonstration of the 8th I wish now to supplement the sentence in my telegram 863 of November 8 reading “These shootings occurred after a cordon of the police had cut off approximately 150 persons and taken them into the Interior Ministry under arrest”.
Appears that one group of the crowd as reported was cut off and taken into the Ministry, that another group provoked by this action of the Rumanian authorities made a rush towards the Ministry and that soldiers replied to this rush with shots. Not being able to reach the Ministry building the crowd showed its anger by tearing from the wooden fence before the Ministry which was covered with government-printed posters, all printed matter. As the local Communists may make a point of this “attack” against a public building I submit this supplementary information with the explanation of the provocation for the “attack”. The Soviet authorities have already used the incident, as some of the posters boasted of Soviet-Rumanian friendship to label the demonstration “anti-Soviet”. The next move which is already hinted would be to say the demonstration was created and sustained by the Anglo-Americans.
This is 892, repeated Moscow as 2691, London as 100.
- Not printed; it reported, inter alia, that General Schuyler had twice written to General Susaikov asking that a special meeting of the Allied Control Commission be convoked to consider an inquiry into the November 8 demonstration (871.00/11–945).↩
- Not printed; it reported that General Susaikov had called an Allied Control Commission meeting on November 10 to hear the reports of Admiral Stevenson and General Schuyler on the November 8 demonstration. After General Susaikov, who appeared to be open-minded, had heard the reports, he said he had not made up his own mind but would call a Commission meeting on November 12 in order to inform the other Commission members of his opinion. (871.00/1045) Actually this meeting was not held.↩
- Not printed.↩