704.5561/3: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 26—9 a.m.]
1044.
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I then took up various minor matters which have been a source of vexation to us within recent weeks and made reference to the Habicht, Scott and Magidoff cases. Vyshinski replied by referring to the “detention and treatment” accorded Ovakimian, expressing strenuous resentment at the alleged fact that the latter had been handcuffed. [Page 966] Inasmuch as Vyshinski in this general connection emphasized that Pyk and Roszkowski had been released in exchange for Gorin, I judge that a similar arrangement might be possible in the present instance, although he stressed the fact that Mesdames Habicht, Scott and Magidoff are Soviet citizens and that the Soviet Government could not countenance any attempt to compel it to permit its own citizens to renounce their citizenship, which is a condition to granting of their exit visas.
I also expressed annoyance over the habitual seizure by the Soviet customs authorities of jewelry and other personal effects from American citizens departing from the Soviet Union who had been visiting in Poland when that country was invaded and consequently were not in possession of Soviet entry declarations, and over the refusal of the Soviet authorities to return Ambassador Biddle’s66 effects. Vyshinski said that he would look into the former subject and disclaimed any knowledge of the withholding of the Biddle effects. Nevertheless, he advanced numerous excuses in connection with the latter, such as “war conditions, looting”, and the likelihood that the property had never come into the possession of the Soviet authorities and promised to look into the matter.
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