860F.01/11–845: Telegram
The Ambassador in Czechoslovakia (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 10—12:25 p.m.]
546. I have conveyed to President Beneš the substance of Dept’s 357 of November 2, which, as the result of garbles in transmission, was not decipherable until November 7. Beneš expressed his keen satisfaction with the message sent by President Truman to Stalin and requested me to transmit his thanks to the President. He then said that only an hour before my visit Gen. Svoboda, Minister for National Defense, had informed him that Gen. Zhadov,97 Commander of the Soviet forces in Praha, had notified him that he had received instructions to begin the withdrawal of his forces from Czechoslovakia immediately and to complete the same within 3 weeks. At the same time, Gen Zhadov had requested that transportation be provided for 40,000 troops.
Later in the day at a reception at the Soviet Embassy Gen. Zhadov requested me to make an appointment for him with Gen. Harmon “to say goodbye as I am leaving Czechoslovakia with my forces within the next 2 or 3 weeks”
On telephoning to Gen. Harmon’s headquarters I was informed that he had left Czechoslovakia for about 10 days. Gen. Barnett,98 [Page 508] who is temporarily in command, informed me that he had received no instructions from the War Dept or Third Army Headquarters concerning the withdrawal of American forces from Czechoslovakia.
While I assume the Dept will not wish to give publicity to President Truman’s initiative in this matter until the Soviet forces have been withdrawn from Czechoslovakia, as to do so might prejudice the withdrawal, I suggest that as soon as the withdrawal has been completed suitable publicity would be desirable lest the Communists in Czechoslovakia claim full credit for having brought about the withdrawal not only of the Soviet forces but of ours as well. In this connection the Dept will recall that the Communists in Czechoslovakia have given the credit to the Soviet Government for the Potsdam declaration with respect to the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia and have endeavored to create the impression that the Americans have been responsible for failure to implement the declaration.