311.6121 Gorin, M. N./42¼
Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Henderson) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
Mr. Welles: When Mr. Henderson informed Mr. Oumansky late yesterday afternoon that you would see him on Monday,29 Mr. Oumansky said that it was extremely important that he see you at once since the Gorin case could not wait. Gorin was supposed to go to prison yesterday and had been allowed only a couple of days grace by the authorities. After he has once begun to serve his sentence only a pardon can get him out before the completion of his sentence. The [Page 937] Ambassador said that the matter was really terribly important and that if anything was to be done it must be accomplished before the week-end. Mr. Henderson told him that he would report the conversation to you; that you were already deeply interested in the matter; that the Department was doing just as much with regard to Gorin as it could correctly do; and that he did not believe that another conversation with you before Monday could therefore result in any increase in the efforts of the Department. The Ambassador said that he could state with assurance that if it could be found possible to release Gorin and to allow him to leave the country he would be able to accomplish something on behalf of some of those American citizens in trouble in the Soviet Union, particularly Mrs. [Miss] Pyk (it will be recalled that she is condemned to death).
In view of the urgency of the matter and since the release of Gorin may facilitate our efforts to assist American citizens detained in the Soviet Union in the present as well as the future you may care to make a somewhat stronger statement to the Attorney General30 than that suggested yesterday. Perhaps you might care to go as far as to say something like this:
Mr. Balch of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice has informally asked for the views of the Department of State with regard to a proposal which has been made that Michael Gorin, a Soviet citizen and former Chief of Intourist in Los Angeles who has been convicted of espionage, be released on probation upon the recommendation of the United States Attorney at Los Angeles and with the approval of the Department of Justice, provided he leaves the United States at once.
We are not in a position to request that Mr. Gorin be released since we are not acquainted with all that his release might connote and we do not desire in any way to interfere with the carrying out of justice. We feel, nevertheless, that we should go so far as to state that in our belief the release of Mr. Gorin just now under the conditions set forth above would facilitate the American Government in solving certain international problems of a rather pressing nature. In fact it might strengthen our efforts to save the life of an American citizen in the Soviet Union who is sentenced to death.
In so far as Mr. Gorin personally is concerned, we are inclined to the belief that in view of his carelessness in permitting incriminating documents to fall into the hands of the American authorities, he will receive after his return to the Soviet Union punishment at least as severe as the serving of his full sentence in the United States.
It is our hope that the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney in Los Angeles can make a decision in this regard today since, according to our understanding, he must otherwise begin at once to serve his sentence and can thereafter be released only by a Presidential pardon.
[Page 938]It may be added that in our opinion the conviction of Gorin and the upholding of the decision by the United States Supreme Court have already served the purpose of notifying the Soviet Government that the United States authorities will not tolerate the carrying on of espionage activities by Soviet agents in this country. In view of the energy with which the Department of Justice has pushed the case to a successful conclusion it is not believed that the release of Gorin now under the conditions expressed can be considered by the Soviet Government as a disposition on our part to temporize in matters relating to espionage.