Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1941, General, The Soviet Union, Volume I

361.1121/21: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, July 16, 1941—7 p.m.
[Received July 16—5:40 p.m.]

1365. Department’s July 15.⁴

1. The Soviet authorities have shown a disposition recently to cooperate with us by effecting the release from detention of certain American citizens and in granting them and other American citizens and families of American citizens permission to leave the Soviet Union (to the extent that such individuals are still under their control). Accordingly, and as the time element is now of the utmost importance, I recommend that the charges against Ovakimian be dropped immediately. I fear that further delay in this case may cause a cessation of this cooperation. There is in fact some reason for believing that the failure to follow up Mrs. Habicht’s release by effecting her renunciation of Soviet citizenship may be due to our lack of reciprocity thus far.⁵

2. The cases in which the Embassy has requested the release and departure of American citizens and families of American citizens are those listed in the Department’s 863, July 2, 6 p.m. They are the only ones pressed by the Embassy in which difficulty has been encountered and not yet overcome.

3. On receipt of the Department’s telegram under reference I inquired of the British Ambassador⁶ as to whether permission has as yet been given to the British Military Mission and the British Military Attachés to visit the front and was told that it has not, despite repeated requests.

4. I have received no reply to my inquiry as to whether the Soviet authorities are agreeable to the mutual removal of travel restrictions.

Umanski’s statement to the Department on July 10 that the Soviet military authorities had informed our Military Attachés in Moscow that they were being granted full facilities to proceed to the front is not in accordance with the facts. His statement to the Secretary of the Navy on July 14 that the Soviet Government had agreed to the appointment of naval observers at Vladivostok is at variance with Lozovski’s statement to me on July 13⁷ that the matter was still under consideration nor is his statement to the Department that “Devenis has been found” borne out by an inquiry made of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs this afternoon in response to which I was informed that not only does the Commissariat have no knowledge of Devenis’ whereabouts but it has sent no word about him to Umanski. I am consequently inclined to suspect that Umanski’s assertions merely reflect his expectations regarding the action his Government will eventually take toward meeting the request of the Department and the Embassy [and] were made for the purpose of hastening action by the Department in respect of matters in which he is interested.

Steinhardt

4. See paragraph 3, telegram No. 899, July 15, 10 p.m., p. 900.
5. Mrs. Habicht was released on the night of July 11, 1941. Ambassador Steinhardt reported in telegram No. 1383, July 21, that the Habicht family and Mrs. Magidov left Moscow on July 20 for the United States (381.1121/23).
6. Sir Stafford Cripps.
7. See telegram No. 1348, July 13, 4 p.m., from the Ambassador in the Soviet Union, p. 898. Ambassador Steinhardt had been informed of Umansky’s statements of July 10 and 14 in the Departments telegram No. 899, July 15, 10 p.m., p. 900.