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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated on 1st and  2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.

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From the diary of the plenipotentiary representative of the USSR in the kingdom of Romania a. I. Lavrentiev

January 6, 1941

Secret

I called the military attaché of the Turkish mission, Kocaturk, and said that I would like to meet with him. Kocaturk agreed to this and came to the embassy.

I asked Kocaturk how he assessed the situation created in Romania as a result of the arrival of German troops. Kocaturk stated the following:

A month ago, it was believed that at least one infantry division was stationed in Romania, which arrived to train the Romanian army and which was deployed as separate companies and battalions in various points in Romania: roman, Bacau, Focsani, Rshnik‐sarat, Buzau, Ploiesti , Bucharest, Djurzhu, Brasov, Targovishte and others with a command post in Brasov.

From the second half of December to January 1, at least 2 more divisions arrived in Romania.

The location of these 2 new divisions was as follows: one division was sent to Banat [division commander in Timisoara]; another division ‐ towards the southeastern border of the country [dzhurzhu, optenitsa, kala‐rash]. The command of the second division is located in Bucharest. With the arrival of new units, the command post of the division that arrived first moved to Bacau. This division was concentrated in Moldavia.

Continuing German troops are concentrating on the countryʹs southeastern border. From this disposition and movement of the troops, it can be judged that the Germans intend to cross the Danube and enter Bulgaria. One division, located in Banat, will cover the main group of forces moving south from the right flank, and the other division, located in Moldova, will provide protection from the left flank.

The above considerations are also supported by the facts that the units arriving at the Romanian‐Bulgarian border are located not in barracks, but in camps. Obviously, their stay in these places will not be long. In addition, from personal observations of k [okaTurk1 and other military attachés, it follows that the Germans are concentrating a large number of engineering units and pontoon means on the Romanian‐Bulgarian border and attracting Romanian forces here. This indicates that they are going to cross the Danube. Moreover, there is reliable information. K [Kocaturk] said that he has his own person in the Medjidie, who has his task to monitor the movement of military trains, that the Germans have concentrated and continue to concentrate a large number of troops and in northern Dobruja, in particular, many German troops are passing through Constanta. According to an observer from Medjidie, about 80 military trains have passed through Medjidie to northern Dobruja to this day. K [Kocaturk] considers this figure exaggerated, explaining it by the ignorance of his observer in military affairs.

I asked Kocaturk] a question ‐ how many, in his opinion, German troops are in Romania today. K [Kocaturk] replied that it can be considered established that there are at least 3 infantry divisions [wartime manning ‐ deployed] and one air division [fighter regiment, reconnaissance aviation regiment, bomber regiment and air defense regiment] in Romania. This is, of course, at least, and as a maximum for today it can be considered possible to have 5 infantry divisions and one air division.

Kocaturk] speaks of only 3 divisions only because he personally could identify only 3 divisions by identification marks [on vehicles, etc.]. The first of the arriving divisions bears the identification mark in the form of parallel lines, the second ‐ in the form of the Latin letter y [igrek] with a crossed‐out base, and the third ‐ a circle divided into three parts by radii.

K [Kocaturk] pointed out that the Germans are sending more material to Romania than the soldiers, and, according to some military attaches, military material [weapons, ammunition, uniforms, equipment, food ‐ canned food] for 20‐25 divisions has already been sent to Romania. But Kocaturk] is inclined to think that the last figure is greatly exaggerated.

However, it is a fact that in Romania there is already military material to supply the personnel who are arriving or may arrive.

K [Kocaturk] indicated that he was told that 2000 German officers were arriving in Bucharest. Two generals have already arrived, in addition to the existing four, whom he personally knows as the generals in charge of the German military mission in Romania.

Regarding the number of military trains arriving daily in Romania, k [Kocaturk] said that he did not have these data, since they are difficult to obtain. He can cite as an example his conversation that he had on December 28 with the chief of a railway station located between Ploiesti and Bucharest, who said that he was given the task of passing 750 military echelons through his station from January 1 to January 7. Regarding the goals of concentration of German troops in Romania, Kocaturk] indicated that, in his opinion, the Germans would enter Bulgaria and, together with the Bulgarian army, would launch an offensive against Turkey, seeking to seize the straits and throw the Turks off the European mainland. Upon completion of this task, it will be possible to end Greece even by a simple diplomatic route, by presenting an ultimatum to her. After that, having thus provided assistance to the Italians, the Germans will launch an offensive against the USSR, since, according to Kocaturk], the German headquarters considers the USSR to be as much an enemy as England. Therefore, Germany wants to quickly launch a war against the USSR, so as not to give the USSR the opportunity to grow stronger still. The occupation of the straits will have the aim of preventing the provision of possible aid to the USSR by Britain.

To this I noticed that it seemed to me absolutely impossible for Germany to embark on such an adventure as an attack on the USSR. If we continue the colonelʹs thought that Germany is seeking to seize the straits, then it can logically be assumed that Germany will not stop there, but will seek ways to penetrate Egypt and, as they say, after conquering the straits will continue to move through Turkey and Syria. K [Kocaturk] replied that, in his opinion, it is very difficult, almost impossible to do this way.

In his personal opinion, in the event of a German penetration into Bulgaria, it would be necessary to attack the Germans and Bulgarians from two sides: Yugoslavia would attack Bulgaria from the west, and Turkey from the southeast. With the help of the British and Greeks, this war in the Balkans could have lasted for about a year and thus kept the Germans in one place. A year later, however, the situation could change seriously.

In conclusion, k [Kocaturk] expressed his opinion that Yugoslavia would not let the German troops through; Bulgaria will let through and even fight with the Germans against Turkey and that the arrival of German troops in Bulgaria should be expected from day to day, at the latest ‐ in a week.

K [Kocaturk] pointed out that in Bulgaria there is already one German air defense communications battalion on the line between Razgrad ‐ Plevna, which even the German military attaché allegedly told him a few days ago.

Lavrentiev avp rf, f. 0125, on. 27, p. 122, d. 4, l. 68‐71.