511.6141/12–3050: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Barbour) to the Secretary of State
1270. Article in New Times No. 52 of December 27 commenting on Ambassador Kirk’s answer to press concerning attitude of Soviet people (Embtels 1260, and 1261 of December 281 in Embassy’s view affords excellent opportunity convey to public simple message on importance difficulties pertaining to relations with USSR. Although letter to New Times from Embassy or from Ambassador himself would follow established precedent, Embassy believes either Department statement or mention of subject in major address would be more effective.
Statement could be in nature of factual correction of misrepresentation contained in journal successor to Comintern publication War and [Page 1282] Working Classes2 and published through Soviet Government-owned monopoly published facilities. It could be pointed out that although Ambassador has staff able to report on published opinion in USSR which is uniform throughout country because of monopoly of printing facilities and central control of editorial policy, there is evidence that people of USSR like those in rest of world have differing individual attitudes on such important questions as events unfolding in Korea, attitudes ascertainable only through free and frequent personal contact with them.
Contrary to impression Commie parties and peace partisan movement are attempting to create in demanding greater economic and cultural interchange between Commie and free world countries that Soviet Government actually promotes these objectives in practice, facts are that as result of combination of psychological and physical restraints imposed on Soviet people by police organs of their government, laws governing contacts between foreigners and residents of the USSR and travel restrictions imposed on former, those few foreigners who are allowed to enter the confines of Soviet state, which includes, of course, the American Ambassador and the staff of his Embassy, are cut off from any opportunity to talk and visit with Soviet citizens to extent necessary to gain an understanding of their reactions to major world problems. Even in very slight let-up which took place during World War Two when cordial feelings of Soviet people were exhibited to few hundred Americans in Soviet Union by those who at personal risk helped make them feel at home was cut short by highly restrictive laws and regulations issued in 19473 and by administrative pressures that caused these daring friends to drop out of sight.
The Soviet Government with the cooperation of groups mentioned above uses this wartime experience and the decreasing number of rare exceptions to paint an opposite picture. But such is the real situation.
Please inform Ambassador Kirk.
- Neither printed. A translation of the brief article was sent by the Embassy in telegram 1261. The article asserted that Ambassador Kirk had evaded answering a direct question by newspaper correspondents in Washington on December 19 on the reaction of the Soviet people to the war in Korea. He had excused his “‘lack of information’ as due [to] inability to meet generality of Soviet citizens allegedly because ‘Soviet police’ interfered.” The article concluded: “Reluctance of Mr. Kirk to inform American public that Soviet people unanimously oppose American interventionists and that sympathies Soviet people are completely on side of Korean people fighting for freedom and liberty of their country is understandable. However means by which Mr. Kirk hastens to hide this does not testify to his resourcefulness.” (511.6141/12–2850) The Department of State advised the Embassy in telegram 444 to Moscow on January 2, 1951, not printed, that Ambassador Kirk had told newsmen, following a courtesy call on President Truman, that there was “almost no contact” possible between members of the Embassy and the Russian people, but that there had been “no reference to Korea.” (511.6141/12–2850)↩
- War and the Working Class (Voyna i rabochy klass), the wartime predecessor of the periodical New Times (Novoye Vremya), had been published from June 1943 by Trud, the central trade union newspaper in Moscow, eventually in several major languages.↩
- Among these restrictions and hindrances to personal associations imposed in 1947 were: the decree banning marriages of Soviet citizens to foreigners of February 15, see Foreign Relations, 1947, vol. iv, footnote 1, p. 722; the State Secrets Decree of June 8, ibid., pp. 569, 571, 622; and the decree of December 16, on the restricted handling of foreign contacts only through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, ibid., 1948, vol. iv, p. 798.↩