861.20211/3–2746
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Eastern European Affairs (Durbrow)
Mr. Garanin, Second Secretary of the Soviet Embassy, called at his request and stated that he had been authorized by Mr. Novikov, the Minister Counselor of the Embassy, to request that the Soviet Embassy be officially informed of the motives and reasons for the arrest of Lieutenant Nicolai Gregorovich Redin.67
Mr. Garanin stated that he wished this information on the basis of a State Department release on this subject. I explained that the release of [on] the arrest of Lieutenant Redin had not been made by the State Department but by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is the competent authority in such matters. I told Mr. Garanin that I would take this matter up with the appropriate American officials in order to obtain a reply to his request.
In this connection it is pertinent to point out that while the Soviet Government has not lived up to the commitment, it is provided in letters exchanged between the President and Mr. Litvinov dated November 13 [16], 1933, in part, as follows:
“Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to adopt the necessary measures to inform the consul of the other Party as soon as possible [Page 727] whenever a national of the country which he represents is arrested in his district …
“The Consul shall be notified either by a communication from the person arrested or by the authorities themselves direct. Such communications shall be made within a period not exceeding seven times twenty-four hours, and in large towns, including capitals of districts, within a period not exceeding three times twenty-four hours.”
The exchange of letters also provides that consular representatives may visit the nationals of their country under arrest. Copies of these letters are attached.68
In view of these provisions it is believed that we should give official notification to the Soviet Embassy regarding the arrest of Lieutenant Redin and, if it is thought advisable, inform the Soviet Consul General in San Francisco, in whose district it is believed the arrest took place. Since the Embassy has asked for the reasons for the arrest, it is also believed that at least a summary explanation on this point should be given.
I promised Mr. Garanin that I would endeavor to obtain official notification regarding the arrest, as he had requested.
- Nikolay Grigoryevich Redin, a Lieutenant in the Navy of the Soviet Union, had entered the United States on July 26, 1942, through San Francisco. He had come to serve with the Government Purchasing Commission of the Soviet Union in the United States. He had become the chief of the Routing and Liaison Section of this Commission in Seattle, Washington, and at this time was in temporary charge of the entire Commission there. The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice had for some time been observing his activities in seeking documents relating to United States naval vessels under construction on the Pacific coast, and blue prints of United States radar and fire control apparatus, in return for which he had made cash payments. At 5:55 p.m., on March 26, 1946, in Portland, Oregon, Redin was arrested.↩
- For texts of letters exchanged between President Roosevelt and Maxim Maximovich Litvinov, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, dated November 16, 1933, see Foreign Relations, The Soviet Union, 1933–1939, pp. 33–34.↩