311.6121 Gorin, M. N./15
Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European (Henderson)
Mr. Oumansky, the Soviet Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, called me up this morning by telephone from New York City and told me the following:
- (a)
- He had received a telephone call from Mr. Gorin in prison this morning and Mr. Gorin had informed him that he was confined in a cell with two other persons and was compelled to sleep on the floor since no cot was available.
- (b)
- At Mr. Oumansky’s request the Soviet vice consul, Mr. Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanoushkin, had left New York for Los Angeles by airplane and would arrive in Los Angeles this afternoon. It would be appreciated if the State Department would arrange for Mr. Ivanoushkin to have a talk with Mr. Gorin as soon as possible after his arrival.
- (c)
- After glancing at the morning newspapers he had observed that the Government was more generous in the communications which [Page 728] it had given to the press regarding the case than the State Department had been to him on the preceding day. He wanted an appointment with me tomorrow in order that I might give him more details regarding the charges made against Mr. Gorin.
I asked Mr. Oumansky if his request that Mr. Ivanoushkin be permitted to see Mr. Gorin was based on the exchange of notes which took place on November 16, 1933 between the President of the United States and Mr. Litvinov.62 Mr. Oumansky apparently hesitated before replying to my question and I therefore pointed out that it might be difficult for the State Department to endeavor to arrange for such an interview except on the basis of those notes. Mr. Oumansky thereupon answered my question in the affirmative, stating that his request was based upon the agreement entered into between the United States and the Soviet Government by virtue of the exchange of notes. I said that I would be glad to take the matter up at once and at his request agreed to call him back and inform him regarding the procedure which vice consul Ivanoushkin should follow upon arriving in Los Angeles.
With respect to the State Department furnishing him with further information about the case I told Mr. Oumansky that since there would be a Soviet vice consul observing the proceedings in Los Angeles, since all proceedings would be open, and since the vice consul would have the same opportunity as anyone else to see the records, it seemed to me that the Soviet Embassy would find it advantageous to obtain its information regarding developments in the case direct from Los Angeles rather than through the State Department. I emphasized the fact that although the State Department was interested in seeing that Mr. Gorin obtained justice just as it would be interested in seeing that any other foreigner was given a fair trial, it could not undertake to keep him informed day by day regarding developments in the case. Mr. Oumansky said that in any event he would like to talk with me tomorrow and that he hoped I would be able to give him fuller details regarding the matter.
Subsequent to my conversation with Mr. Oumansky I telephoned Mr. Tamm of the FBI63 and informed him that vice consul Ivanoushkin would arrive this afternoon in Los Angeles, and that the vice consul desired to have a conference as soon as possible with Mr. Gorin. I said that in view of the existence of an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Government according to which Soviet consular officers would be permitted without delay to visit Soviet nationals in prison I hoped that arrangements could be made whereby Mr. Ivanoushkin could visit Mr. Gorin shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles. Mr. Tamm replied that the case was in the [Page 729] hands of the United States District Attorney in Los Angeles64 and that he felt sure that if the District Attorney were apprised of the facts he would permit the visit to take place. He added that he would immediately telephone the federal District Attorney, informing him of the expected arrival of vice consul Ivanoushkin and of the agreement between the American and Soviet Governments and suggest that a visit be arranged.
I told Mr. Tamm that I may be compelled to discuss this case with him from time to time and I wanted him to understand that if I did so it was not because the State Department wanted to bring any pressure upon the Department of Justice or that it desired in any way to hamper the carrying out of Justice. I pointed out that if the office of the federal District Attorney did not desire Mr. Gorin to carry on uncensored conversations with the vice consul there could be no objection to an American official being present during the vice consul’s visits and that it could be stipulated that the conversations should be in the English language, which, I believed, both Mr. Gorin and Mr. Ivanoushkin could speak. I added that I would inform Mr. Oumansky that vice consul Ivanoushkin should call upon the United States District Attorney in Los Angeles immediately upon his arrival in that city if he desired to arrange a conference with Mr. Gorin.
I gave this information to Mr. Oumansky by telephone a few minutes later.