860H.00/1421⅛
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
The Soviet Ambassador33 called to see me this afternoon. The Ambassador read to me a memorandum which he had compiled as a result of our conversation of yesterday, setting forth certain alleged facts with regard to reciprocal assistance which was going on between [Page 822] the forces in Yugoslavia under the command of General Mihajlović and the Italian Fascist forces.
According to this memorandum the following instances were cited by the Soviet Government in its recent official communication to the Yugoslav Minister in Moscow:
On March 2 at Vizygrad, Italian troops were defeated by Partizan forces and the latter captured part of the staff of General Nedić as well as 120 Chetnik prisoners. Correspondence seized at that time showed clearly that cooperation was going on between General Mihajlović and the Italian leaders.
On March 27 near Vanitch, the 56th Italian Regiment was defeated by Partizan forces and this Regiment had Chetniks as guides.
Again in April in the vicinity of Novo-Bazar in a fight between Italians and Partizans, the Chetniks were fighting on the side of the Italians and the same situation obtained in an encounter at Nichić.
On May 13 at Mosta, Chetnik troops under the command of Stauchić were fighting on the side of the Italians near the Albanian frontier.
Definite information was obtained by the Soviet Government that General Mihajlović was cooperating with the Italian forces in Herzgovina, mobilizing Chetniks against the Partizans.
Finally, it was claimed that in Herzgovina, General Mihajlović had issued an appeal to the Serbs in Bosnia to fight on the side of the Italians against the Partizans.
I thanked the Ambassador for the information he had given me which I said would be carefully considered by the Department. I concluded by reiterating what I had said to the Ambassador yesterday, namely, that it seemed to me in the highest interests of our two governments that Yugoslav forces should not be fighting each other nor assisting the enemy against the other but should be united in fighting the enemy and that it was to be hoped that some way might be found in which this result could be obtained.
- Maxim Maximovich Litvinov.↩