Office of the Historian

860N.01/93: Telegram

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

Moscow, July 23, 1943—noon.
[Received 8:29 p.m.]

927. Soviet press for July 22 carried extensive accounts of a meeting of the Presidia of the Supreme Soviets and Soviets of People’s Commissars of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian S.S. Republics dedicated to the third anniversary of the pronouncement of Soviet power in the Baltic States.41 Greetings were extended to Stalin which read in part as follows: The people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania swear to you our father and friend, leader and teacher that they are ready for any sacrifice and will not lay down their arms until the last Hitlerite is destroyed in our Soviet fatherland. Messages were also sent to the people of the Baltic States recalling the benefits of the year under Soviet rule and urging the various classes of the population to revolt, commit sabotage and struggle against the German invaders.

Standley
  1. In telegram No. 916, July 22, 8 a.m., Ambassador Standley reported upon a spate of articles then appearing in the Soviet press, remarking that they “reiterate in the most forceful terms yet noticed in the Soviet press the Soviet contention that the Baltic States were and will be integral parts of the Soviet Union.” (860N.01/92) Near the end of the year, in telegram No. 2321, December 24, 10 a.m., the Embassy commented upon an article written by Justas Paleckis, President of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, which appeared in issue No. 14 (December 15, 1943) of War and the Working Class: “The unusually sharp and at times violent tone of this article, together with the fact that the Soviet press has recently published a number of accounts of pro-Soviet meetings in the United States among Americans of Baltic origin, is probably preparation for the moment, which may not be far off, when the Soviet armies reach the Baltic countries. The Soviet Government presumably anticipating certain difficulties before world opinion over this question is therefore re-emphasizing the Soviet position on the Baltic States and is laying down in advance the propaganda line to deal with any critics of its policy.” (860N.01/98)↩