Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Eastern Europe; The Soviet Union, Volume IV

361.1115/10–448

The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kohler) to the Secretary of State

confidential
No. 718

Moscow, October 4, 1948.

The Chargé d’Affaires ad interim has the honor, with reference to the Department’s telegram No. 1130 of September 17, 1948¹ directing the Embassy to submit material regarding the problem of American citizens unable to depart from the Soviet Union and to previous correspondence on this subject, to submit the following report in explanation of the Embassy’s desire to delay for a period of two months the submission of such material.²

In his letter of March 29, 1948, the Ambassador presented to Mr. Vyshinski, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R., 13 cases involving 23 American citizens who, despite their Soviet documentation as stateless persons or as foreigners, had been unable to depart from the Soviet Union. In view of their documentation, their cases appeared to be excellent and the Embassy’s telegram No. 1318 of July 14, 1948 to the Department, in which it was recommended that the Secretary of State approach the Soviet Ambassador in Washington regarding these American citizens, was based on this premise. However, since the Embassy’s telegram of July 14, the policy of the Soviet Government has changed significantly in connection with these cases and many earlier decisions of the local Soviet authorities regarding the documentation of these American citizens have been reversed. In some cases, the action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been based on alleged fraud on the part of the individual in obtaining his documentation as a stateless person or as a foreigner. In other cases it has been stated that the individuals involved acquired citizenship of the U.S.S.R. by virtue of the fact that they were citizens of states subsequently incorporated in whole or in part into the Soviet Union and received the status of Soviet citizens in accordance with the decrees which made all citizens of these areas citizens of the Soviet Union. In this manner, of the 23 persons included in the Ambassador’s letter of March 29, 12 have since been declared to be Soviet citizens, thus placing them in the status of dual nationals.

The Embassy believes that the Soviet Government’s action on some of these cases can be contested effectively and, even though many of the remaining persons may be declared Soviet citizens, it is felt that, in the majority of such cases, it will be possible to refute or even to forestall the claims of the Soviet Government by the presentation of further evidence. The Soviet Government’s new policy makes it necessary, however, to review as thoroughly as possible all of these citizenship cases in order to be absolutely sure of our ground before taking up the subject with the Soviet Ambassador in Washington.

[At this place three paragraphs have been left out in which technical details on a number of individual cases are discussed. Since sufficient time had not been possessed to make a thoroughly documented presentation, the Embassy requested another delay before sending completed briefs on these, and several special cases, to the Department.]

The Embassy believes that an approach by the Department to the Soviet Ambassador in Washington in regard to those cases in which, despite the assertions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the contrary, the available evidence indicates that the individuals concerned are American citizens without the status of dual nationals will be well-warranted and may have some chance of success in effecting their repatriation. This conclusion is strengthened by the recent decision of the Soviet Government to grant an exit visa to Jeanette Stillman Brown. Although there are several interpretations which may be placed on the Soviet Government’s action on this case, it would appear to indicate that there is at least some possibility of repatriating a person who can be clearly proved either to have had no citizenship other than American or to have lost any other citizenship which at one time he may have possessed.

In view of the manner in which the Soviet Government has reacted to the discussion regarding the Soviet wives of foreign citizens which is currently under consideration in the General Assembly,³ the Embassy now believes that it would be advisable to avoid publicizing any representations to the Soviet Ambassador while the matter is under examination by the Soviet Government. The vigorous Soviet reaction to the airing of the question of the Soviet wives, both officially in the General Assembly and indirectly through published letters from several of the Soviet wives of British and American husbands, has stressed the exploitation of this problem for anti-Soviet propaganda and underlines the characteristic unwillingness of the Soviet Government to admit an error or retract a policy once such decision or policy has become the subject of public controversy. In the event the problem here under consideration is similarly publicized, it is felt such action might destroy the possibility—however slight this possibility now appears—of favorable action on the part of the Soviet Government. As soon as the attitude of the Soviet Government has been made evident, there could then, in the probable event of an unfavorable reaction, be no objection or alternative to according the matter the fullest possible publicity.

The Embassy has not considered in this despatch the cases of persons whose status as dual nationals is clear and indisputable. As of September 28, 1948, the Embassy has received authority from the Department to document 268 such persons for direct travel to the United States when they are granted permission from the Soviet authorities to depart from the U.S.S.R. The overwhelming majority of these persons acquired Soviet citizenship involuntarily on the basis of their status as citizens of a third country, part or all of whose territory has been incorporated into the U.S.S.R.

Although the Embassy believes it would be preferable first to exhaust all possibilities of repatriating those persons unable to depart from the Soviet Union who do not have the status of dual nationals, it is probable that, at some future date, the Department will wish to undertake representations regarding the general subject of the treatment of US-Soviet dual nationals in the U.S.S.R. (see Embassy’s airgram No. 645 of July 2, 1948⁴). An approach on this subject, while having, at least in the foreseeable future, little practical effect in facilitating the actual repatriation of dual nationals, would clearly be of worth in further educating public opinion regarding the U.S.S.R. Such an approach, if properly publicized and contrasted with the American policy of freely permitting the departure of any persons desiring to establish residence in other nations, would have the value of emphasizing before world opinion the Soviet policy of prohibiting the emigration of Soviet citizens regardless of the compelling reasons for such emigration or the manner in which Soviet citizenship was acquired.

1. Not printed.
2. The Chargé, Foy D. Kohler, had declared in telegram 2074 from Moscow on September 21 that this desired delay was advisable so that the Embassy could study the latest Soviet policy and to enable it to “collect further data necessitated by recent Soviet actions.” (361.1115/9–2148)
3. See footnote 3, p. 902.
4. Not printed.