361.1121 Pyk, Irena Teodozja/13: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 16—12:40 a.m.]
774. Lozovski asked me to call at the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs this afternoon. He told me that the Soviet Supreme Court had directed the liberation of Irene Pyk on condition that she depart immediately for the United States, and had assessed “judicial expenses” amounting to 1500 rubles against her. Also that Roszkowski’s [Page 953] liberation and immediate departure for the United States had been directed on the payment of “judicial expenses” of 600 rubles. When I expressed surprise at the imposition of “judicial expenses” on the grounds that in previous similar cases no such expenses had been assessed, Lozovski replied “The fine imposed on Gorin was twenty times greater.” He added that the Embassy might now have access to Irene Pyk for the purpose of taking her application for a passport and said that as soon as the necessary documentation and transportation arrangements could be effected, including Japanese transit visas, Pyk and Roszkowski “would be put on the train in Moscow for Vladivostok.”
I then inquired as to the status of the Devenis, Habicht, Scott and Magidoff cases to which he replied that the Soviet Government considered that by the release of Pyk and Roszkowski it had fulfilled all of its “obligations” arising out of the release of Gorin and that it did not consider that the other cases had any connection with the release of Gorin. To this I replied that whether the Soviet Government considers itself under an obligation or not in these cases I was certain that it would make “an extremely bad impression” with the State Department if the Soviet Government failed to take prompt action looking toward the release of Devenis and Mrs. Habicht, and the granting of exit visas to Mrs. Habicht, Mrs. Scott, and Mrs. Magidoff. He replied that since his last talk with me on the subject he had received two telegrams from Umanski in which the latter asserted that he had given no assurances of any kind to the Department in the Devenis, Habicht, Scott or Magidoff cases and did not consider the Soviet Government under any obligation to take any action in these cases. I reiterated the bad impression that adherence to this position would have on the Department and urged him to take prompt action. The upshot of our discussion of this subject was Lozovski’s promise to present my views to Molotov—which incidentally he had assured me he would do on the occasion of our previous talk and admitted today he had not done “because Molotov has been so occupied.”
I should appreciate immediate instructions regarding the manner in which Pyk’s judicial expenses and transportation and Roszkowski’s judicial expenses are to be dealt with.