661.11245/28
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 3, 1943.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s airmail instruction number 87 of November 23, 1942 (File No. 661.11245/25),76 suggesting that the Embassy make further representations to the appropriate Soviet authorities regarding the possibility of recovering, or of obtaining financial compensation for, certain items of personal property seized by the Soviet customs officials at Odessa in November 1940 from Mrs. Maria Kamecka.77 The Department also requested the Embassy to forward to it a copy of the note of March 21, 1951 from the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs dealing with this subject in order that the Department might complete its records in this case.
No copy of the note of the People’s Commissariat of March 21, 1941, is available to the Embassy, in as much as its files in the case were destroyed at the outbreak of Soviet-German hostilities.
[Page 486]In view of the finality of the reply of the People’s Commissariat to the Embassy’s note number 66, of March 18, 1942, a copy of which reply was transmitted to the Department as enclosure number 2 to the Embassy’s despatch number 1493 of March 30, 1942,78 and of the difficulties encountered by the Embassy in the past with respect to the case of Mrs. Kamecka and other similar cases, it is believed that further representations by the Embassy would prove futile and serve only to give rise to unprofitable irritation.
The Embassy is of the opinion that the Soviet Government has adopted a definite policy of refusing to act favorably on cases of this nature.79 In addition to the case of Mrs. Kamecka, two other cases, those of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Redfern and Mr. M. W. Beckelman, have been the subject of much correspondence between the Embassy and the Soviet Foreign Office, as well as between the Consulate General at Vladivostok and the Soviet authorities there, with little or no progress having been made.
While the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs stated in its note to the Embassy number 20 of May 15, 1942, that a plain metal watch seized from Mr. Beckelman would be turned over to the Consulate General at Vladivostok, the watch has not as yet been forthcoming and at the same time it was stated that the gold chain also seized from Mr. Beckelman could not be returned to him. A copy of the Commissariat’s note number 20, referred to above, and of its note number 92 of December 9, 1942, in Russian and in English translation, are enclosed for the information of the Department.80 A copy in Russian and in English translation of the Commissariat’s note number 91 of December 9, 1942 concerning Mr. Redfern’s property is also enclosed.81
In this connection, the Department’s attention is invited to the following quoted paragraph from the despatch of the Consulate General at Vladivostok to the Embassy, number 78 of October 19, 1942:
“While Mr. Redfern makes no mention thereof in his letter, he informed me that during his conversation with the Customs inspector he made inquiry of the procedure he should follow to recover the seized rings, upon which some uniformed official standing nearby remarked that the United States Government had seized ships and gold belonging to the Governments of the Baltic States82 and that the [Page 487] rings would be held until the ships and gold are released to the Soviet Government.”
The Embassy has in a few cases made representations to the Soviet authorities on behalf of American citizens owning real property or bank deposits in the Baltic States, which property was nationalized by the Soviet Government upon its occupation of those areas.83 In reply to such representations the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs; has almost invariably stated that in view of the fact that the area wherein the property is situated has been occupied by German armed forces, it is impossible for the Soviet authorities to obtain any information with regard thereto. The Department undoubtedly has records of many similar cases.
In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that the Department consider the advisability of converting all such cases into claims against the Soviet Government to be settled after the war.84 The treating of these cases as claims is especially urged, in as much as it appears that any action taken by the Embassy in connection therewith will fail to produce satisfactory results.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩
- Mrs. Albert (Wojciech) Kamecki, née Male.↩
- Not printed; the reply from the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, dated March 27, 1942, had stated that it did “not see any reason why it should revert to this matter at the present time.” (661.11245/22)↩
- The Chargé in the Soviet Union, Walter Thurston, had further reported in despatch No. 1493 of March 30, 1942, that “little or no success in recovering such articles has been experienced hitherto, probably due to the fact in many instances that the articles have ‘disappeared’.” (661.11245/22)↩
- Neither printed.↩
- Not printed.↩
- For correspondence on these subjects, see Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. i, pp. 389–444, passim. ↩
- The United States had notified the Soviet Government that it would be held responsible for all losses to American nationals resulting from acts of nationalization or confiscation of American properties; see telegram No. 276, May 16, 1940, to the Chargé in the Soviet Union, Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. iii, p. 201, and telegram No. 423, August 9, 1940, to the Chargé in the Soviet Union, ibid., vol. i, p. 410, See also telegram No. 1734, December 15, 1940, from the Ambassador in the Soviet Union, ibid., p. 443.↩
- When the Department of State suggested in a letter of April 7, 1943, to the lawyer representing Mrs. Kamecki that her losses might be regarded as a case for a claim, it was also stated that the Department was “not in a position at this time to advise you when claims of American citizens against the Soviet Government for such losses may be adjusted, or regarding the measures which may finally be adopted for their settlement.”↩