Editorial Note
On June 16 the three Western Commandants sent a letter to General Kvashnin regarding the settlement of the Berlin railroad strike. They sought written or public assurance by the Soviet Military Administration authenticating the Reichsbahn offer of 60 percent payment in Western marks and barring reprisals against strikers returning to work.
In his reply, June 20, General Kvashnin reviewed the history of the strike, including his conversation with General Howley on June 10, [Page 850] and reiterated his feeling that the strike was strictly a German matter. He ended his reply by stating:
“Even today I am prepared to repeat the same things I told you during our conversation on June 10, namely: ‘As the Chief of the Transport Division of SMA, I never had and do hot have any doubts that the Reichsbahndirektion will live up to all the conditions which are mentioned in its agreement with the Railroad Trade Union.’
It is well known that the Berlin Reichsbahndirektion is already fulfilling this agreement and in particular as of June 1 it pays all the railroad employees who are not participating in this strike 60 percent of their wages in Westmarks.”
The texts of the two letters were transmitted from Berlin in telegrams 940, June 16, and 981, June 22, not printed (740.00119 Control (Germany)/6–1649 and 2249). For a summary of the letters, see Howley, Berlin Command, pages 268–269.