https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/16fccea7ecec82f625563f697624b6ca.pdf 7ce96356fa0f2890afcfd9ea1823cfc6 PDF Text Text • l~fl~fBen~~d COP¥ac~a\,Wd,Bitmle:Et, "·. Uf1p,y:,t]i~ccffj..fo lnfocmotionAct . v&~~dfLoi st\-·hccesa l'info;mation' • DEPAR.TMENT OF. EXTERNAL AFJ.t'AIRS,. CANADA. ' · .. •. (DUPLICATE) DESPATCH ·- . TOP._SECRET . -~\._ TO.THE SECRETARYOF STATE FOR . ---~, • EXTERNALAFFAIRS, OTfAWA,. CANADA. Siecuri ty: ,:~-.•.. , ...... ' •• l'lo:• • • • - ;,,. •. THE CANADIANAMBASSADOR, BONN,. FROM; ... • ....... .__.I ••• ••••• ~--.- ••••••••••• •·• •••••• I . . • •••••••• •• •.• •·545 e : ... .- .. ·• .·•· • .1 ·o GERMANY'_ . • '''Re'port Stibject:., ....... I•. • t :~ I.·. on my-Visit ...... I I ••• 0 •-~. :~_ ••• - • I' I to Berlin ....................... , IO I - June •.......... -:...... o ... e e 1 , ··,. ·.~. ·~.... ,·, :·, ,·, , , ~., ' , , • . 1 ,~ .... ·, .. ,_ ... ·:.. . ., . .' .-. . ,· • ',.: ............ EriclOS~res:..•....... &fe_rence: • • ,·. ...... June 22, ·1953. Date:.·.· ... ,. .... • 1 ' , .. .-·.-... , .•, , . , . -·.,,,·..:~.. , , ' I.· . _.. ·p9_s~File _No:............ :Ottawa File No, -.·... •... ,!:, .. ,., . References _ This is Sunday, June 21, and I have just ret.u_rned from a three.;,.day trip to Berlin o I fixed the time of my visit before any of the recent events~ . transpired .and by sheer chance the visit coincided with the. fa_r-reaching developments_.of· the. last: weeko 2o This report will be pattl~ factuat' ~nd· partly • a report on conqlusions reached· by me o I come back • • from Berl'in this time with a ·realization that these events· will ha~_e ·far-reachtng effect.s ori ·the· whole' German ·problem>· I a],.s·o. had ':the feeling while there t~at the whole situation was akin to a ··boiling c'auldrotj;· with a . .-·forced down lid which might .blow ..any minute wi\th serious resultso !_J;'heatmosphere is.full of dangers ·.and unless the Russians hold. their hea.'qs , .. anything ..µiay well happen. · • · , • ~" :,. I I -~-3o i. propos.et to_.wri te'··a ~ep.ara.te d e·spatch • • - dealing with the question of -the :t;"~cerit rever.·sal of .-.policy in. the Sovie·_t Zone ancf to .expr.ess my opinion ·as to the -reason therefo'ro .Such·a report should be read in conjunction-with· ,this .. one as. they .bear'. a close reia tio_nship one to'. the other~ •• • • ••• Int,errial Circulation Distribution to Posts Ext, 180C (Rev. 2/52) . / 4o Suffice .it t6 say;,·~at this:·time, on the last.mentioned· subject· that the recent events flowed· directly . from this. reversalof policy~ . ·On· or ·about June 9 last . (announced-;. I ·think, on the 11th) t_he. DDR Governme11t • and the so-called Politburo of the SEP,· the c·ommunist party .in the Eastern Zone, w:i,.th. the very· apparent approval,. if not dic·.tation ·c;,_fthe Sovi-et Contro'l . author•:i. ties, completely _reyersed the whole policy . whi'ch they have j_ointly· a,pplied in the last two or . .•. three years. These-repres~ive·policies have been· more assiduously and relentlessly appl:i.ed in recent 'wEfeks and the apout-face has been ·.literally uhbelievable to.any .person except -a Communist who can with the greatest of ease, cl;lange his course, alt.el'. _his line and swallow hims~lf.:at any·moment., wi~hout. changing·- . . expression or. blinking a:n eye-.~ • .,:· • • ·" . • . .50 Before .the qhange of_policy, it had been decided to .increase norms of .wo:rk _and the worker- had either ·to, -increase his ·output by the decided upon p_ercentage to maintain· his current rate of wage, or if he did not produce this increase then his pay was 000909 I �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue·en vertu de lo Loi.sur /'0cces a /'information .:::]--., • • be proportionately cut~ Strangely enough, in the general ··---'.t"eversal of policy no provision was made for the repeal of this ordero 60 The. Soviet Control Commission organ, the Taegliche Rundschau, the SED organ, the Newes Deutschland, published abject apoiogiis for the pursuit of wrong policies and their public reversal of former actions.-and orders for some strange reason overlooked this factor of increased normso 7 About June ·15 the workers· on the State building projects on Stalinallee in East Berlin.received their pay and found to their amazement that inasmuch as they had not increased their output their pay had been seriously reduced It wa-ermade plainly evident at the time of payment, by many of these workers, that they.were very dissatisfied with the cut and they made it plain that with the abject confessions of wrong policy which the Government and Control Commission had just published in their respective organs, they could not· understand why this production policy had not 7 with the others,. ·been reversed The next day the so-called trade union publication, the Tribune, came out with a statement that while other policies were being altered, this policy was not being altered artd would stand. It was· after.the publication of this statement on the 16th that a group of these workers laid down their tools and went to the headquarters of the Government in.East Berlin to protest. While this meeting was a.strenuous one, no untoward actions were taken, and it.passed off without important resultso As a matter of fact, while this meeting was· going. on loudspeakers were brought into play on the outskirts of the c row:d •announcing that the • poli.cy complained against had also been altered and that no incre.ased norm would be demanded. Only junior or lesser members of the Government appeared in answer to the demand of the crowd that they wanted to see Grotewohl, Ulbri_cht and Pieck. The . crowd was ·told that Pisek was·in the Soviet Union on sick leave ~d that the other two were not at the moment available. Finally, the crowd on the rectification of their complaints dispersed and no further disturbances took place on that afternoon or ·evening. o • o o Bo There is a great deal of discussion going on in Allied quarters in Berlin as to whether or not this whole show was not • .inspired by the· Soviet Contro+ authorities. or by their stooge Governmento I do know that some of those who participated therein informed the AP correspondent who happened to be there by chance at-the time that it had been so promotedo The reason given for this alleged action is that the authorities intended •. to pubiicly reverse their policy as they did and·to announce to the world how responsive they were to the will of the people and how the people were permitted to freely express opinions in - disagreement with Government policy o • On the other hand, it is argued that the whole thing arose through sheer stupid bureaucratic. methods wherein one hand had little knowledge of what the other was doing o •• 9·~ lbo I do know that again by sheer chance, General Coleman, the British Commandant, was in the Eastern S@ctor on the morning of the day in question and saw an abnormally large number of Russian soldiers about as well as an abnormally large number of People's policeo He remarked on these facts upon his return to his office long before any incident had occurred and· he wondered what was in the offing because. of these. facts. llo I do not suppose that in ·the final result it makes much.difference as to whether o.r not the incident was Governmentinspired or spontaneouso It .looks strange to me that while this 000910 �---------------------------------- Dacument disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en· vertu de la Loi sur /'occes a l'informotio~ 3 \r~._ •• . ,,4"eneral 'reve,rsa:)_ of .·policy was going· .on'·this '----·bfone was not mentioned or al tere,d o 'bitterly_ :complained 120 ·, rt· is now ·argued by the Soviet Control peqple 'and by . the DDR Government that the whole of the ·incidents were manoeuvered a_nd. suggested by the Western_ Control. and occupation authorities; by>the Government of West·Germany and West Berlin and by elements in the.city of.Berlin and in West Germanyo I think that it can·.-be accepted as a fact that non.e of these bodies or· people .. had anything to do with the ··even ts of. the 16tho Wha't occurred was either inspired or ·spontaneouso 130 ·ram not prepared tb go this far :tn connection with the serious events -of the ne:tt day· a·s I found a number of ·very suspi·cious circumstances which,· if correct, may have d·ire consequenqes in the future~· Let me remark-that this.section of·this· report must particularly be treated with complete · 6onfidence ahd no mention made of it or the contents hereof because of the se·rious re.sul ts which might flow from any 1:w:~despread dissertiina~ion of this informationo· r·am not going.to mention. the source of my .information except to say·. that it is completely and thoroughly reliable.·: . . 140 ~Wh~ther again by sheer coihcidenrie or not, -a meeting had'been staged.to· take place in West Berlin on the border between the two sectors of t~e city for the day following the first disturbance in the East ·sector o I. think that this meeting· was ·being staged by the SPD elements in Berlin. • It was planned to relea_se small balloons carrying leaflets for the people of the Eastern.Zone.· This, of course,, :all had to do with the strange antics of tne Government of the Eas·ternZone. and the abrupt about-face in the f"ield of policy which the· pre~ious_ week had brought forth. ' • J ' 15. ·Knowing of the disturbed conditions in the Eastern Sector o.f the _c.i ty, as evidencecl. by the demonstration of the previous day, the.Allied authorities called in the West Berlin Chief of Pqlice, Stumm, and instructed him to mobilize his • police force and to also·reqUire th~ authorities proposing to stage this meeting in the West Sector to hold the same ba.ck :· from the border, so that no cla·shes would resul"G froin the . meeting and so that the ._meeting did not eni;!o,ur·age a renewal of t·rob.ble in the East Sector o These. orders were not c·arried • out and. Stumm was called in again lat.er in the mcil,'ning and told once more what the orders were and that they had·to be earried outo He had some evasive .excuse. It so happened that Mayor Reuter was in Vienna on leave whi3:-e all this was ha:ppening anq. his· deputy, Schreiber, was also away .. The ranking member of the city government was, a man named Conrad and despite C!~ efforts to get hold of him the authorities of the.West were unsuccessful o They finally ran him down in the·· afternoon ·about 3:00 Perno at his home to be told tn.at he was in bed . hav.ing a res to I-t follows· that there is su·spicion that the West ·German .authorities were not averse to trouble taking place in· the ·East •Sector and were perhaps encouraging it. . I suppose that it would be an .understandable .line for them to take o Thei'y view the matter in a different light than we do-. They· are · concerned primarily· in making as much trouble as·'T • • ·possible for the authorities in the East Se.ctor and intthe • East Zone and are not retarded therefrom by considerations •.6f international policy which might be affected by these · events. • I haye no authority for the statement but I sU:sp·ect that el_ements in the West capitalized upon the demonstrations • ,_ of the previous day and the evident feeling of the East Berliners as disclosed thereby and they irit~rvened in whi~ping up the very ser~ous disturbanc~s of th~ 17tho • :160 000911 �Document disclosed under the Acc;ess t_oInformation Act Document divulgue en verhi'de. lo Loi sµr i'occes a /'information . ,_..-:-..... Allf 7 . . . . • . ' . Agiinst this, of co.urse, i's -the .fa.ct·, so -far as ..i_t can .be 1 •1.,...,,..~scertained, similar disturbances aro.se in a11 •the larger· ci ti·es • of the Russian Zone on this· same day an.a.· succeeding days.. The • West Berliners 6ouid not. have had .§. finger ,in ,th~t. pie. to· any • great· d~·gree and being widely :scatter,ed. ·as they were;· it looks ... as though t_he basic cause ·was the fact that_ the. e.ndurance of the people had .-reached a climax and that- ··the whole was· a :r~~onstrance . against the iniqui.tiEis and ip.equali ties_ o.f the Gqvernment ·policies,., 18.o It may well be, of course·,. that both the- Government and the Control authorities having annouf?.ced that previous poiic-ies were ·wrong. and inexcusable· and· having a;tl reduced·_ thems·elv'es to abject cr·awlaing that the.· people.felt: that it would be. safe to•. express themselves in· a field. whe·re the· P.owers-that-be had told the-' world that they .w~re· wrong. • • • • 19 Another ~trang~. fac.tor· ··which'I.'might .'mention·- at. thi~. ·_ point is that the police.authorities_in -the Easterrt.:Sector were of sufficient st:rength,·to_·control the situation iQ.the Eastern:··-·• Sector but made rio attempt •so to do. ·>It- had ·been sugges4ed. in . • the press ·that the members ·or this ·.force -were· desll?rting in _great . numbers and would nei the-:r· obey orders nor were to be. ·relied upon.· The fact· is· that not mo·re than· twelve of this force 'desert·ed in the two days of the. trouble and· ..SG ·far as c·an be ·ascertained it • was a deliberate policy not· to_. have· this fb;rce,_ int.erfe:i;-~_.· Thei.r .• . non-interference tliis II1ade it· po·ssible,- for. the Russian rilili tafy f o:rce s to be ·called in o • No· one can figure out the r~ason ;f'OJ'.'. . • 'this.. It is argued that the cal~ing· in of - the Rus~ian troops' · vvill in the future ·be used as evidence of the .. inability of-,the existing ·1eaq,ership of the DDR to gove;rnc Everyone seerris ·:agreed that unless Russia emoarks on ahb~her volte·race· in policy that notwithstanding these events more mode;ra te • elements ,are going to be introduced into the East German Government and all this self-abasement and this acknowle.dgement of lack of· control are step·s towards this end.. • • 0. I - 20 o • , Time only will tell the line the_ Rµ~3Sianif .will now ,-take~ Tf they are 'going to rule· by sheer force and tyranny then I . • s·uppoSEl that the .border between the city sectors will be kept cl.osed o If, notwithstanding what ~a_s happened, Rus,$ia' s policy of ,the last few weeks is to be maintained.then the b.orders will be opened .. The Russians have now indicated that'they look • forward to a ·restoration ·of freedom of movement within B.erlin.;: . . . . 1 ' :.. •' 210 Meantime, the border has been opened at three points in the las~day or so but msrely to all0w Easterners to g6 back homeo So far.as I could learn:, Westerners caught over there ar~ being held .. •22.. This leads me to a few final thoughts about these ... ;.. . events. I cannot keep out of my mind developments·tn·Korea and the conflict· in the field of policy b_etween. the· United Nations forces and· the South Korean Government and where . , Syngman Rhee to serve his· own ·purposes .has· been. prepare_d to cut the feet right from under the United Nations to prevent an attempt at a. pol~t-.ieal, settlement of the problem of Korean • unity on the fround that no'unitycan-be secur.ed short of ·one· enforced by-armed force .. It ~ay be that the Wes~ Berlin: . authorities will not. go this far but their actio:p. on the! 17th above outlined indicates that they are prepared to· ignore instructions and pursue their·. own poi:i_cy .if they ._in their .. sole. judgment decide that such is the .Policy to be fol-lowed'! . . . • . ' 230 I dci not for a moment attribute any .such :idea to the. Government of West. Germa_ny .because· I know that the Chancellor, 000912 �D9cument disc/qsed under.the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de lo Loi sur /'occes a /'information 5-'-.~. • .. );-o long as he is. at the helm, -will play the. part of - the honourable \_,_,.--reliable man he is ·but -it does-· show that we are· in a bit of a precarious position right in Berlin and th<=tt even Adenauer could be outflanked o • • • • . • • 24., One must not-forget-that the Russians now have two divisions in the Eastern --Sector- of the city, one armoured· and the other.· ordinary. I would judge _t_hat this is about twentyfive thousand men which is an extremely heavy force for the ·job to be_doneo This force could over-run the woole city in half an hour .. • A mistake by some-Russian commander could.precipitate a. ve·ry serious situation-, -even .a world war.. I do hope· that -with . the_ .return of Reuter sanity will be restoreci •and -_that _contact -between the occupation authorities and the municipal government can now be put once·again on.a proper basis. . . - 250 MeantiII1e,·the border has· been closed between the sectors of the cityo • One Westerner has already been judged guilty in some• kangaroo court of inc~ ternent of -these riots and he ha~ .. been summarily shoto_ r-think that the Soviet authorities intend to-shoot some ten or·fourteen others; tried in the same summary _wayo It appears that·they are also engaged in rounding up _innumerable- persons who are alleged· to be ringleaders in the · riots and we may see in East Berlin a reign of bloodshed and terror. which may have s·erious repercussions in the. West sectors o 260 The events of the second day·clearly indicate the hatr:ed of the East Berliners and the residents of the Russian Zone-·for their Soviet and German-Communist masters. The tearing down of the Russian flag from the Brandenburger Tor and the ·_burning thereof and all the other incidents flowing from a . pent-up explosion·indicqte that the Russians face a, very, very serious problemo • 27. The events of those two days have complete~y.:c_hariged the whole prospects over here and it -is hard-to say where all this is bound to lead ... We-are in for a ve~y, very dangerous per.fbd~. 000913 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDBC00352 Title A name given to the resource "Report on my Visit to Berlin - June 18 to 21, 1953," Bonn to SSEA, despatch no. 545 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 22-Jun-53 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "BERLIN. Political Situation. Relations between West and East Berlin," RG25-A-3-c, Volume 8506, File number: 10937-40, File part: 2.3, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC ATIP A-2024-01457 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Berlin Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English