Office of the Historian
  1. Home
  2. Historical Documents
  3. Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, The Conference of Berlin (The Potsdam Conference), 1945, Volume II
  4. Truman–Stalin conversation, 7:30 p.m.

Truman–Stalin conversation, 7:30 p.m.1

1. This conversation took place at the Cecilienhof Palace immediately after the adjournment of the Eighth Plenary Meeting.

Present
United States2 Soviet Union
President Truman Generalissimo Stalin
Mr. Pavlov2
  1. Byrnes (All in One Lifetime, p. 300) mentions Bohlen’s presence as Truman’s interpreter at this conversation, and, in a conference which Department of State historians had with Truman and members of his staff on January 24, 1956, Truman supplied the information that both Bohlen and a Soviet interpreter were present at this conversation. In a conversation with a Department of State historian on January 26, 1960, however, Bohlen stated categorically that Truman walked over to Stalin alone, in order to give the conversation a more casual flavor, and that Pavlov did the interpreting.↩
  2. Byrnes (All in One Lifetime, p. 300) mentions Bohlen’s presence as Truman’s interpreter at this conversation, and, in a conference which Department of State historians had with Truman and members of his staff on January 24, 1956, Truman supplied the information that both Bohlen and a Soviet interpreter were present at this conversation. In a conversation with a Department of State historian on January 26, 1960, however, Bohlen stated categorically that Truman walked over to Stalin alone, in order to give the conversation a more casual flavor, and that Pavlov did the interpreting.↩