Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, Eastern Europe; The Soviet Union, Volume V

London Embassy Files: 233 Field, H.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Thompson) to the First Secretary and Consul General at the Embassy in the United Kingdom (Bailey)¹

personal and confidential

Washington, [undated.]

Dear Jock: As you know, Mrs. Hermann Field has called at the Embassy several times concerning the disappearance in Poland on August 22, 1949 of her husband, an American architect employed by Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In order that Mrs. Field may be made thoroughly aware of the efforts of this Government to obtain the release of her husband, I suggest that she be called to the Embassy for the purpose of informing her confidentially of all our actions in this matter. It would be helpful if you might talk with her personally when she makes this visit. I believe that the following chronology may be of value in this connection.

August 26. On the basis of information received from Mrs. Field, Embassy London requested Embassy Warsaw to investigate a report that Field had failed to arrive in Praha via a Czechoslovak Airlines (CSA) plane on which he was scheduled to depart from Warsaw on August 22.

August 26–September 2. Original flight manifest examined by Embassy official in Warsaw listed Hermann Field as departing Warsaw August 22 on CSA flight OK563 at 6:20 p. m. Polish Security Police official assured Embassy official that Field’s name would not be on signed list had he not been on aircraft at take-off.

September 12. Embassy Praha reported² that thorough investigation indicated Field did not arrive in Praha and that his name had been cancelled by stewardess when it was learned that he was not on the plane.

September 13. On instructions from the Department,³ Embassy Warsaw presented formal note to Polish Foreign Office regarding whereabouts of Field and inquiring whether he actually departed from Poland. The note also asked about the existence of official records other than manifests, such as customs and immigration records. Foreign Office replied that case would be investigated immediately and a report made.

September 16. In answer to oral inquiry by Embassy [in Warsaw] official, Foreign Office official stated that while investigation not yet completed, Field had not been arrested or taken into custody by Polish authorities.

September 17. On instructions from Department,⁴ Embassy [in Warsaw] inquired orally whether Field had been detained or otherwise prevented from boarding plane by Polish customs authorities, Security Police, or other agents of Polish Government, or agents of any other government. Embassy also expressed this Government’s concern at Field’s disappearance and requested a prompt report. Reply was received that no information yet available but that Embassy would be informed immediately when something was learned.⁵

September 22. Chargé Lyon⁶ called at the Polish Foreign Office and emphasized the growing interest of the American press in this case.⁷ Lyon was informed that “as far as the Polish authorities have beer able to ascertain” Field was not in Poland, that he had passed through airport customs, that he was in no jail in Poland, that he had not been taken into custody by the Security Police, the Military Police, or other agents of Polish Government, or agents of any other government. Lyon was told that the investigation was continuing.⁸

September 23. Lyon telephoned the Foreign Office for “definite information on Field” for transmittal to the press. He was told that no further information was available but that it was hoped a definite answer/to the Embassy’s inquiries would be forthcoming in the near future.⁹

September 24. Lyon called at the Foreign Office where he was told that they had nothing new to report. The Foreign Office official said he was “really mystified” and promised a definite reply would be forthcoming.¹⁰

September 27. Lyon informed Foreign Office official that Department desired an immediate answer to inquiries regarding Field. Since no definite answer was given, Lyon requested appointment with Acting-Foreign Minister the following day.¹¹

September 28. [Polish] Acting Foreign Minister¹² stated he had no information. He said he was aware of the Department’s desire for an immediate answer which would be forthcoming as soon as the investigating authorities provided it.¹³

October 10. Acting on Department’s instruction of October 7,¹⁴ Legation Budapest asked Foreign Office whether Field was in Hungary at that time or whether he was there recently.

October 12. Chargé Lyon made further inquiries of Polish Foreign Office and was told there was nothing new on the case.

October 14. In answer to inquiry by Warsaw Embassy official, Foreign Office replied there was nothing new to report.

October 14.^14a On instruction of Department, Embassy Praha addressed formal note to Foreign Office asking whether Field was then in Czechoslovakia or whether he has been there recently.

October 20. Legation Vienna informed Department that there was no record of Field having been in Austria.

October 20. Polish Foreign Office official stated in reply to request by Embassy Secretary that there was no further information on the case.

October 25. American Legation officer in Budapest was told informally by Foreign Office official that none of the Fields were or had been in Hungary within the previous three months.

October 24. Czechoslovak Foreign Office informed Embassy by formal note¹⁵ that they had no knowledge of Field having made a stay in Czechoslovakia. Ministry stated that appropriate authorities had undertaken to trace the missing Fields.¹⁶

October 29. On instructions from the Department, Embassy Warsaw delivered formal note¹⁷ to the Foreign Office rejecting the Polish view that Polish authorities were unable to learn whether Field had been arrested or detained in Poland. The note insisted that the Embassy be informed of any charges against Field, that a representative of the Embassy be permitted to visit him and that he be given legal counsel of his own choosing.¹⁸

November 18. I called Polish Ambassador Winiewicz to the Department to express our concern about lack of information in the Field case. He informed me that Field was not in Poland, a statement which he retracted a few days later, stating then that the investigation had not been completed. The Ambassador promised to inform the Foreign Office of our concern.¹⁹

November 25. Ambassador Gallman called on the Acting Foreign Minister of Poland who said that the investigation had not been completed and that we would be informed immediately when information was available.²⁰

November 30. Pursuant to Embassy request, Czechoslovak Foreign Office stated informally that it was certain none of the Fields were in Czechoslovakia and that the Foreign Office would endeavor to expedite a reply to our formal inquiry.²¹

December 13. Legation Budapest received note from Hungarian Foreign Office stating that none of the Fields had been in Hungary since May 1.

December 16. On instructions from the Department,²² Embassy Warsaw delivered to the Foreign Office a formal note pointing out the increasing concern of the United States Government and its people about failure of Polish Government to provide information of substance concerning the whereabouts of Field. Stating that this Government was seriously concerned for the welfare and safety of American citizens travelling to Poland, the note requested that the Polish Government promptly report the actual facts thus far determined by the investigation which was said to be continuing.²³

To summarize, this case was taken up at Warsaw twice with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs personally, by Lyon as Chargé d’Affaires on September 28 and by Ambassador Gallman on November 25 and on ten other occasions with officials of the Foreign Office from September 15 to October 20. Two Embassy notes were delivered on September 13 and December 16. The Polish Ambassador in Washington was called to the Department about the matter on November 18, and an approach was made on several occasions to other officials of the Polish Embassy here.

The United States Government has made similar efforts to ascertain from the Czechoslovak authorities the whereabouts of Noel Field, the brother of Hermann, and his wife Herta. Noel was last seen at Praha on May 12 and Herta on August 23. The replies of the Czechoslovak Government to our inquiries have been no more satisfactory than those of the Polish Government with respect to Hermann Field.

It would be appreciated if you would convey fully to Mrs. Field the concern which the Department has felt from the beginning about the disappearance of Hermann Field and other members of the Field family. She may be assured that this Government is continuing to press the Polish and Czechoslovak Governments for any information which would assist the United States in the protection of these American citizens. You may also wish to point out, as we have done here in conversations with Dr. Elise Field Doob, a sister of Hermann and Noel, that the Department has been faced with a dilemma in dealing with this matter. An approach insufficiently forceful might produce no positive results yet extreme steps might prejudice the possibility of any satisfactory action by the Polish or Czechoslovak authorities.

Sincerely yours,

Tommy

1. The source text, the signed copy received in London, bears the handwritten notation: “date? Dec. 1949”. Following his signature, Thompson had written the greeting “Happy New Year”. Telegram 345, January 20, 1950, from London, not printed, reported that the information contained in this letter together with some supplementary information telegraphed to the Embassy on January 6, had been communicated to Mrs. Hermann Field during the second week of January.

   In the annotations that follow, citations are provided for the principle messages summarized in this letter. Some additional documentary identifications and explanations are also provided. Unless otherwise indicated, the cited messages and papers are included in the 340.1115 and 340.1115 Field, Hermann H. files of the Department of State’s Central Files. Copies of the telegraphic exchanges together with additional materials not transmitted to the Department of State are included in the 233 files of the London, Praha, and Warsaw Embassy files.

2. Telegram 1319, September 12, from Praha.
3. Telegram 530, September 12, to Warsaw. Telegram 915, September 12, to Praha, instructed that a parallel request be made of Czechoslovak authorities. Telegram 3290, September 12, to London, stated that Mr. and Mrs. Hermann Field were “strongly suspected of being agents of a country allied with Poland and Czechoslovakia” and asked that information be obtained from Mrs. Field, “discreetly and sympathetically on their movements, activities and associates.” Telegram 3728, September 16, from London, provided the requested report.
4. Telegram 544, September 16, to Warsaw.
5. Telegram 1224, September 17, from Warsaw.
6. Counselor of the Embassy in Warsaw Cecil B. Lyon who was in charge of the Embassy in the absence of Ambassador Waldemar J. Gallman.
7. On September 22 a Department of State spokesman revealed to newsmen the disappearance of Hermann Field and stated that the Department was much disturbed at the failure to determine his whereabouts.
8. Telegram 1249, September 22, from Warsaw.
9. Telegram 1254, September 23, from Warsaw.
10. Telegram 1256, September 24, from Warsaw.
11. Telegram 1266, September 27, from Warsaw.
12. Stanislaw Leszczycki.
13. Telegram 1270, September 28, from Warsaw.

14. During the trial in Budapest in September of László Rajk, former Hungarian Foreign Minister and Hungarian Communist Party Politburo member (see airgram A-985, September 26, from Budapest, p. 471) on charges of treason and espionage, Noel H. Field, brother of Hermann Field, was named as one of various alleged American, British, and French agents who conspired with Rajk. Noel Field, a former officer of the Department of State and an official of the American Unitarian Service Committee during and after World War II, disappeared in May 1949 from the hotel in Praha where he had been staying during a visit to Czechoslovakia. Noel’s wife Herta went to Czechoslovakia in August to search for her husband, and she too disappeared. Telegram 3320, September 13, to London, stated that the Department of State placed no credence in the Hungarian charges against Noel Field and added: “Any US Govt connections were severed many years ago and he is now regarded as definitely Left wing and possibly Soviet agent”. Telegram 617, October 7, to Budapest, instructed the Legation to ask Hungarian authorities whether any of the Fields were currently in Hungary or had been there recently. Similar instructions were sent to Praha in telegram 1019, October 7.

    For an authoritative account of the circumstances of Noel Field’s abduction by the Czechoslovak Security Police at the request of the Hungarian Security Police, see Jiři Pelikán, ed., The Czechoslovak Political Trials 1950–1954: The Suppressed Report of the Dubdek Government’s Commission of Inquiry, 1968 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1971), pp. 70–73.

15. Apparently October 12 is intended.
15. Dated October 18.
16. Telegram 1611, October 26, from Praha. Telegram 1517, October 14, from Praha, suggested that there might be some connection between the missing Fields and recent large-scale political arrests in Czechoslovakia (860F.00/10–1449).
17. Dated October 28.
18. Despatch 743, October 31, from Warsaw.
19. Memorandum of conversation by Thompson, November 18.
20. Telegram 1550, November 25, from Warsaw.
21. Telegram 1784, November 30, from Praha.
22. Telegram 724, December 13, to Warsaw. Similar instructions were sent to the Embassy in Praha in telegram 1215, December 16, to Praha.
23. The note to the Polish Foreign Ministry was delivered on December 16. In his telegram 1880, December 21, from Praha, Ambassador Ellis O. Briggs reported that during a long conversation with Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Vladimir Clementis he had made a futile effort to elicit information on the whereabouts of the Fields. Other portions of the conversation are reported upon in telegram 1878, December 21, from Praha, p. 427. Ambassador Briggs then delivered the formal note expressing the deep concern of the United States Government regarding the safety of the members of the Field family and renewing earlier requests for information about them.