361.1115 Kujala, Arthur
J./43
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
No. 236
Moscow, December 27,
1939.
[Received February 7, 1940.]
Sir: With further reference to the
Department’s telegraphic instruction number 282 of December 13, 4 p.m.,
and to my despatch number 217 of December 1640a transmitting a copy
of the note which the Embassy addressed to the Commissariat for Foreign
Affairs under date of December 15, I have the honor to enclose: (1) a
copy of the Russian text of the answer of the Commissariat for Foreign
Affairs under date of December 22, 1939, (2) an English translation
thereof, and (3) a copy of my reply under date of December 27, 1939.
Should the Foreign Office fail within a reasonable period of time to make
a satisfactory reply to my note of December 27, the Department may wish
to consider the advisability of lodging a strong protest as suggested in
its telegram under reference.
[Page 916]
The indifference, not to say contempt, of the Soviet Government toward
personal liberty, not only in respect of its own citizens but of foreign
citizens as well, is so pronounced as to accentuate the desirability of
giving clear evidence that unwarranted deprivation of the liberty of an
American citizen will not be allowed to pass unchallenged.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure 1—Translation]
The People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the
Soviet Union (Molotov) to
the American Ambassador (Steinhardt)
Moscow, December 22,
1939.
Mr. Ambassador: In reply to your note of
December 15, 1939, in regard to the case of Mr. Arthur
John Kujala, I have the honor to state that in its
note number 534–AM of November 11, 1938, the People’s Commissariat
for Foreign Affairs informed the Embassy of the United States of
America concerning the circumstances of the arrest of Mr.
Kujala and informed the Embassy that he had
lived in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics since 1936 without
any documents whatsoever. Therefore, I do not perceive in the
actions of the Soviet authorities in the given case any departure
whatsoever from the agreement reached in 1933 between the President
of the United States, Mr. Roosevelt, and the
People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, Litvinov. It is entirely obvious that the
above-mentioned agreement cannot be extended to persons who are not
in possession of proof of their American citizenship.
In conclusion, I consider it essential to point out that as soon as
it had been established that Mr. Kujala was
really a citizen of the United States of America the appropriate
authorities of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics not only
carried out the above-mentioned agreement but also afforded Mr.
Kujala the possibility of leaving for the
United States before the expiration of the sentence given him.41
Accept [etc.]
[Enclosure 2]
The American Ambassador (Steinhardt) to the People’s
Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union
(Molotov)
Moscow, December 27,
1939.
Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge receipt of your Excellency’s note of December 22, 1939,
in reply to my communication of
[Page 917]
December 15, 1939, with reference to the
failure of the Soviet authorities to comply, in the case of the
arrest and detention of Mr. Arthur John Kujala,
an American citizen, with the provisions of the agreement of
November 16, 1933, between the President of the United States of
America and the then People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
Litvinov.
I regret to have to inform Your Excellency that the explanation
offered in regard to the failure of the Soviet Government to notify
this mission of the arrest of this American citizen and the failure
to permit a member of this Embassy, in accordance with the
above-mentioned agreement, to visit Mr. Kujala
within a reasonable period of time cannot be regarded as
satisfactory.
I observe that you state that as soon as Mr.
Kujala’s American citizenship had been
established the appropriate authorities of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics complied with the provisions of the
above-mentioned agreement. I feel constrained to bring to your
Excellency’s attention the fact that Mr.
Kujala’s arrest was effected by the same Soviet
authorities to whom his American passport had been repeatedly
exhibited, an American passport having been issued to him by this
Embassy on April 28, 1936. In the Embassy’s note of June 17, 1938,
to the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, reference was made to Mr.
Kujala’s passport. Despite the fact that
the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was officially apprised of the
American citizenship of Mr. Kujala in a formal
document bearing date of: June 17, 1938, it was not until November
11, 1938, that the Embassy was notified of his arrest by the Soviet
authorities.
Furthermore, in the note from the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of
November 11, 1938, to which you refer, the Soviet Government
recognized that Mr. Kujala was a citizen of the
United States. Despite this recognition, it was not until [August]
17, 1939, a further delay of eight months, that a representative of
the Embassy was granted permission to interview Mr.
Kujala, despite the clear and unequivocal
obligation contained in the above-mentioned agreement to grant to
this Embassy the right of visit to an arrested American citizen
without delay.
With reference to your Excellency’s observation that “the
abovementioned agreement cannot be extended to persons who are not
in possession of proof of their American citizenship”, I invite your
Excellency’s attention to the protocol signed on December 21, 1928,
at Moscow, between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and
Germany, supplementing article 11 of the treaty between those two
countries signed on October 12, 1925,42 providing that insufficient proof of
[Page 918]
the citizenship of the
person arrested shall not revoke the obligation in respect of
notification and right of visit provided thereunder, and to the fact
that under the agreement between the President of the United States
and the then Commissar for Foreign Affairs nationals of the United
States are accorded rights to legal protection no less favorable
than those enjoyed by the nationals of the nation most favored in
this respect.
In the light of the foregoing, I have to inform your Excellency that
I consider that the actions of the Soviet authorities in the case of
Mr. Kujala were not in conformity with either
the letter or the spirit of the agreement between the President of
the United States and the then Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Accept [etc.]
[File copy not signed]
