874.01/2-1447
Memorandzum by the Representative in Bulgaria (Barnes) to the
                       Secretary of State 62

SECRET                                    [PARIS,] August 23, 1946.
  The decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers that the Russian
Army should withdraw from Bulgaria in 90 days after peace enters
into force was followed immediately by the return of General Biryusov
to, Sofia. He set to work at once to prepare for the riveting of a
purely communistic regime onto the country prior to the departure of
the Red Army. The past two months in Bulgaria have been marked
by intensified terror, by more brutal and repressive measures against
the opposition and by a purge of the army and civilian administra-
tions that have greatly worsened political conditions throughout the
country.
  It is believed under these circumstances, and especially in view of
U.S. obligations that flow from the fact that the U.S. was a signatory
to the armistice with Bulgaria and has a representative on the Allied
Control Commission in Bulgaria, that the. Secretary might well have a
frank talk with Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev and Minister for
Foreign Affairs Kulishev, pointing out to them his disappointment
with conditions as they have developed in Bulgaria and the difficul-
ties that these conditions create for him in implementing U.S. policy
with respect to Bulgaria.
  It is suggested that in this conversation the Secretary develop the
following points and attempt to elicit responsive explanations from
the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs:
  1. Persistent reports reach the Secretary that the Fatherland Front
is in effect no more than a facade for Communist domination of the
government. These reports are given substance by what appears to
have happened to War Minister Damian Veltchev; 63 also by the dras-
tic purge of the Army, of other governmental establishments and of
all educational institutions.
  2. What are the facts about political prisoners and the allegation
that 40,000 of them are now held in concentration camps and prisons?
If these allegations are denied, is there any reason why the American
Representative on the Allied Control Commission should not be per-
mitted freely to inspect the prisons and the concentration camps?
  3. The growing disposition of the Bulgarian Government to explain
repressive acts on the grounds of obligations flowing from the Yalta
  m The source text is included as enclosure 6 to a letter of February 14,
1947,
from Barnes to the Secretary of State.
  m Telegram, 623, August 13, 1946, from Sofia, reported that the press had
announced that War Minister Veltchev was on "home leave" and that
Prime
Minister Georgiev had taken temporary charge of the Ministry. There was
reliable information that Veltchev was under house arrest in an isolated
Black
Sea village. (874.00/8-1346)



133



BULGARIA