811.0444/90
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Eastern European Affairs (Bohlen)
Mr. Bazykin, First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy, called this afternoon and left the attached aide-mémoire79 concerning the recent decision of Surrogate’s Court of the State [County] of New York in regard to inheritance cases of Soviet citizens in which the Court is charged with exercising discrimination against such citizens.
[Page 881]In addition to the request contained in the last paragraph of the aide-mémoire he asked that the Department of State communicate as official information received from the Soviet Embassy in Washington the statement on page 3 that the right to inheritance of personal property of citizens of the USSR is protected by the Soviet Constitution (Article 10) and that in the Soviet Union there exists neither complete nor partial confiscation of inheritance and that the heirs are guaranteed the full possession of inherited property and such use of it as they may desire.
I told Mr. Bazykin I would refer this matter to the appropriate officials of the Department and that the Ambassador would be informed what action if any the Department could take in the premises.
- Infra. ↩