CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/07/20

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05973568
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: June 6, 2019
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2019
• Publication Date: July 20, 1952

CApproved for Release: 2019/05/28 C05973568
C TOP SEiRET
SECURI INFORMATION
20 Suly 1952
Copy No, 53
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO I
NO CHANGE IN CLASS. Aff
DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE: 1,005
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE: /4414,11.. REVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOPS
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
.... 3.5(c)
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
SEC INFORMATION
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 C05973568
_...4.�kpproved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
ET
3.5(c)
SUMMARY
GENERAL
I. SOviet authorities in Berlin embarrassed by Linse kidnapping
(Page 3)-
2. Soviet High Commissioner in Vienna protests air corridor
"violations" (page 3).
SOVIET UNION
3, Soviet Far Eastern air defense strengthened (page 4).
4. Aviation gasoline shipped to Kamchatka (page 4).
WESTERN EUROPE
5. West German Communists may convert to quasi-military status
(page 5).
6. Postponement of Saar elections favored by West German Social
Democrats (page 5).
7. Austria considering trade negotiations with Soviet Union (page 6).
8. Italy's support EDC conditioned on early federation of Europe
(page 6).
9. Moderate French labor leader may be new Communist dupe
(page 7).
* * * *
3.5(c)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
3.5(c)
1.
Approved for Release: 2r119/05/28 C05973568
TGP SECRET
GENERAL
Soviet authorities in Berlin embarrassed by Linse kidnapping:
3.3(h)(2)
The Committee of Free Jurists has informed
the US High Commissioner's office in Berlin
that Walter Linse, the kidnapped West Berlin
lawyer, is being held in Lichterfelde barracks
in East Berlin. The Soviet authorities give the impression that they
don't know what to do with him and that they had no idea the kidnapping
would cause such a world furor.
The Committee points out that Linse can hard-
ly be released under Western pressure, adding that it is not even cer-
tain that High Commissioner Chuikov has sufficient control over the MVD
to release him. It believes that the best solution would be to intimate
that if Linse is permitted to escape the incidentwould not be publicized
by the West.
Comment: Although Chuikov gave Mr. McCloy
the impression that he would do what he could, McCloy is not very hope-
ful of Linse's release.
The kidnapping has tended to undercut the posi-
tion of West German neutralists who have argued that the Soviet Union
could be trusted to fulfill the terms of a negotiated German settlement.
3.3(h)(2)
2. Soviet High Commissioner in Vienna protests air corridor "violations":
In a 16 July letter, Soviet High Commissioner
Sviridov in Austria protested to the US High
Commissioner that the Tulln-Linz air corri-
dor had been violated by United States mili-
tary planes. He stated that the corridor could be used without ad-
vance notice only by transport and liaison planes of the occupying powers.
-3
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 C05973568
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 C05973568
CRET
3.5(c)
He warned that in the event of future unauthor-
ized flights, the Soviet authorities will take "stricter measures"
against violators, responsibility for which must be borne by American
authorities. A isimilar letter was presented to British officials.
SOVIET UNION
3. Soviet Far Eastern air defense strengthened:
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
existence of a third fighter division in the 10th
Air Army of the Sakhalin Air Defense Corps.
The division is placed either in southern
Kamchatka or northern Sakhalin.
Comment: Other evidence of Soviet emphasis
on strengthening air defense along the Far Eastern approaches to the
Soviet Union has been the establishment of a fully-developed air warn-
ing center at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, noted in early 1952,and the recent
t...
augmentation of jet fighter strength in the Kurile area.
all Chinese air warning centers LW een 41.111011
and Mukden are reporting t� a central point, probably in the Dairen-
Port Arthur area. 3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
4. Aviation gasoline shipped to Kamchatka: �
On 23 lune 1800 tons of 100-octane aviation 3.3(h)(2)
gasoline consigned to "Bassalaev" was shipped
on the tanker Batumi from Vladivostok to
Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula.
- 4 -
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 C05973568
-Approved
for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
T-ECRET
3.5(c)
Comment: 3.3(h)(2)
This
is the nrst known shipment to Petropavlovsk of a significant quantity
of 100-octane aviation gasoline, which is suitable for most conven-
tional aircraft and which is apparently used in the USSR chiefly for
light and medium bombers.
WESTERN EUROPE
5. West German Communists may convert to quasi-military status:
The Bavarian branch of the West German
Communist Party went underground on
27 June, and may convert to quasi-military
status in August,
Cadres of trusted followers
are being sent to East Germany for training in sabotage, guerrilla
warfare, and weapons transport. Weapons are to be smuggled into
West Germany for future use by terrorist groups.
3.3(h)(2)
Comment: The party will almost certainly
not commit itself to such activities as gun running until the Constitution-
al Court has ruled on the government's case for outlawing it.
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
Bavarian 3.3(h)(2)
Communists have made frequent trips to East Germany since last
winter, apparently to obtain instructions and training on future under-
ground activities. Previous evidence indicated, however, that the
party's underground plans precluded violence.
6. Postponement of Saar elections favored by West German Social Democrats:
The acting chief of the West German Social
Democratic Party now strongly favors the
postponement of the Saar elections, sched-
uled for 19 October, to avoid aggravating
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
\Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
RET
3.5(c)
the issue. American officials in Paris and 3.3(h)(2)
Bonn suggest that the French be urged to delay
the elections until December, in order to keep
the issue quiet at the time of final German
ratification of the Bonn and Paris treaties.
American representatives in Bonn state that
the Germans are more interested in the licensing of pro-German
parties by the Saar Government than in the date of the elections. The
recent conditional refusal of Saar authorities to license two such
parties has produced so strong a reaction in Germany that Adenauer
may raise the matter in his talks with Schuman next week. American
officials feel that if the Saar authorities definitely refuse the licenses,
the Bonn government may not be able to prevent a "serious outburst"
in its own ranks.
7. Austria considering trade negotiations with Soviet Union:
3.3(h)(2)
Austrian Foreign Minister Gruber states that
his government has tentatively decided to offer
to negotiate a trade agreement with the Soviet
Union, The Foreign Minister says Austria
will insist that exports of the Soviet-controlled enterprises be credited
to Austria, a condition which Gruber believes the Russians will reject.
Comment: In the light of recent Soviet ges-
tures to Austria with respect to interzonal trade and Danube shipping,
the Russians might be prepared for political reasons to offer the
Austrians quite favorable terms. Trade between the two countries is
now virtually non-existent.
8. Italy's support of EDC conditioned on early federation of Europe:
3.3(h)(2)
'unless the formation of
the European Army is quickly followed by
European political federation, Italy will re-
consider its support of the European Defense Community.
- 6 -
TO,PSSET
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
TCP SECRET
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
Schuman was concerned lest
British opposition to French proposals for European federation have an
inhibiting influence, particularly on Belgium and the Netherlands. 3.3(h)(2)
Comment: Italy believes that the total inte-
gration of Western Europe is the only long-term solution to its eco-
nomic problems.
9. Moderate French labor leader may be new Communist dupe:
"Fighting Democracy," the international
organization which Leon Jouhaux has just
launched to mobilize popular support for
UN objectives is actually being promoted
by two fellow travelers, Henri Laugier and Louts Dolivet, accord-
ing to the American Embassy in Paris.
3.3(h)(2)
3.3(h)(2)
Comment: In recent years Jouhaux has
been content to get by on the prestige of his earlier success as a labor
leader; his identification with a Communist-led movement might wreck
the Force Ouvriere, which he founded to provide middle-of-the-road
opposition to the Communist-dominated General Confederation of Labor.
- 7 -
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
Approved for Release: 201-9/05/28 005973568
TCP SECRET
3.5(c)
Laugier, who has been Assistant Secretary
General of the UN, has served as an officer in fellow-traveling groups,
and is considered well-disposed toward the USSR. He proposed the
"Fighting Democracy" idea last November.
Dolivet is the pseudonym of an old Communist
militant of Rumanian origin who was a Comintern agent in Paris before
World War IL More recently he directed the pro-Russian United
Nations World and helped promote neutralism in France.
-8
Approved for Release: 2019/05/28 005973568
3.5(c)