Moscow Embassy Records
Memorandum by the First Secretary of Embassy in the Soviet Union (Bohlen)
Memorandum of Conversation at the Kremlin, 11:30 p.m. November 9, 1943
| Present: | Ambassador W. A. Harriman |
| Mr. Bohlen | |
| Mr. V. M. Molotov | |
| Mr. Berezhkov |
Subject: Meeting of the Heads of State.
After an exchange of amenities the Ambassador handed Mr. Molotov the President’s telegram to Marshal Stalin dated November 8,1 together with a letter of transmittal.2 Before having it translated Mr. Molotov said that Marshal Stalin regretted that he was unable to receive the Ambassador but he had a slight attack of grippe and through an excess of caution was staying in for two or three days.
The President’s message was then translated very carefully to Molotov by Mr. Berezhkov. Mr. Molotov made a note particularly of the fact that the President was expecting to leave Washington within a few days and to arrive in Cairo on November 22.
Mr. Molotov inquired what was to be the nature of the meeting at Cairo. Was it to be of a preliminary character in preparation for the meeting of the heads of government at Tehran? The Ambassador replied that it was his understanding it was of such a nature.
In reply to Mr. Molotov’s question as to the exact matters which the Cairo meeting would discuss, the Ambassador stated that he would endeavor to get further details from the President as to the exact character of the meeting, the subjects to be discussed and who would be there. He added that it was his impression this would be one of the more restricted meetings of top staff officers of the three governments and that, while he had no definite information as to the subjects to be discussed, he assumed it was one of the periodic considerations of strategic plans, in this case those adopted at Quebec,3 with a view to such alterations as the developing progress of the war since Quebec might have made necessary. He added that he believed the question [Page 75] of the Dodecanese Islands operation would probably form one of the subjects, and also undoubtedly the question of Turkey’s entrance into the war and what effect this might have on the course of the war.
Mr. Molotov replied that since the Soviet military representatives had not participated in the formulation of the Quebec plans they were not of course familiar with their details and would like to have sufficient information to be properly prepared for the meeting. The Ambassador pointed out that for two years the British and American staffs had been working in close intimacy and that now the desire was to include representatives of the Soviet staff in that intimacy. He promised to obtain such information as he could for Mr. Molotov and the Soviet military representative.
Mr. Molotov then inquired whether the Ambassador knew if the President had noticed that in Marshal Stalin’s message of November 54 it was stated that his colleagues in the Soviet Government did not consider it advisable for Marshal Stalin in general to leave the Soviet Union at the present time because of the complexity of the operations on the front.
The Ambassador replied that, while he could not say specifically, he thought the President’s cable which he was delivering tonight made it quite clear the President considered that Marshal Stalin’s offer to go to Tehran still stood. He added that the Marshal’s message of November 5 appeared to indicate that he did.
Mr. Molotov replied that he considered the general reluctance to have Marshal Stalin leave the Soviet Union at all had been clearly set forth in that message. He added, however, that he could not undertake to speak for Marshal Stalin and that, since the communication was not addressed to him, Molotov, he could make no more comment on the matter but would immediately transmit it to Marshal Stalin.
The Ambassador, in concluding the subject, added that the President attached the greatest importance to this meeting as a certain method of destroying the last Nazi hope of any division among the Allies, and that he knew the President would like to have a favorable answer before he left Washington. He knew the President fully appreciated the importance of Marshal Stalin’s personal direction of the highly skillful operations on the Soviet Union front.
The Ambassador returned to the question of the Cairo meetings at which Mr. Molotov would be present, stating he had been asked to find out whether there was any high ranking Soviet staff officer who spoke English, since the presence of such an officer would greatly facilitate the technical and detailed consideration of military matters. Molotov replied that there should be someone on the staff who had a good knowledge of English and he would endeavor to find out whom.
[Page 76]The Ambassador informed Molotov that he was under instruction to go to the meeting with the President accompanied by General Deane, and with Mr. Bohlen as interpreter.