874.01/12–544: Telegram
The American Representative in Bulgaria (Barnes) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 6—2:34 p.m.]
10. The divergence of views inherent in the present government of the Zveno, the Agrarians, the Socialists and the Communists is beginning to break through the obscurity of the Fatherland Front that has somewhat shrouded it from general view thus far.
Yesterday’s press announced a decision by the Government to reintegrate into the army officers and men who since the September revolution have been charged with aiding and abetting past governments in “Fascist” acts.
Last night the Communists announced over the radio that no member of their party had participated in a council of ministers that had decided to open the army door to suspected officers and men, that while such officers and men might now join the colors to establish their future good faith, it should not fall to the province of any minister to determine the effect of such service with respect to crimes committed in support of previous Fascist governments, a matter to be resolved only by the People’s Court in connection with arrests [Page 498] effected under the authority of the Minister of Interior. This statement carried the endorsement of Yugov, Minister of Interior and a leader of the Communist Party. Yesterday’s version of the “decision” stated that the Minister of War, the Zveno leader Veltchev, should determine who might be reintegrated and thereby afforded the opportunity to escape the consequences of their Fascist crimes. This morning it was announced in the Zvet’s press that the decision envisaged only junior officers and men and no one charged with grave crimes against the interests of Bulgaria, and that only those wounded in future engagements with the enemy or decorated in action would escape the consequences of their pasts, wile those who merely acquit themselves honorably in battle would gain no more than the right to a minimum penalty under the law. Who will give way, or is Bulgaria about to be launched on the road that Greece is bouncing along? These are questions that are in the minds of many people here today. All recognize that the decision probably lies with Russia. Will the Russians point out to the Communists that even the Soviets back in the early days of their history reintegrated many imperialist officers or will they support the Communists in this first open disagreement with the Government in which they take part? The answer is not self-evident. The Russians still play their cards close to the chest. Soviet inclinations seem usually to be revealed by action, not by straws in the wind. It does, however, seem logical to assume that at the present moment when Bulgaria is being used by Russia for important troop movements to the west the Soviet High Command would abhor disorder in the country.