WEST GERMAN REPORT THAT ADENAUER'S RE-ELECTION WILL CAUSE USSR TO WIDEN EAST-WEST GERMAN SPLIT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150298-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 298
• Publication Date: December 8, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150298-4
MAR 1952 51-45
CLASSIFICATION RESTRICTED
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY GDR, German Federal Republic, USSR
SUBJECT Political - Foreign policy
HOW
PUBLISHED Weekly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Hamburg
DATE
PUBLISHED 16 Sep 53
LANGUAGE German
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. g' Dec 1953
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
WEST GERMAN REPORT THAT ADENAUER'S RE-ELECTION
WILL CAUSE USSR TO WIDEN EAST-WEST GERMAN SPLIT
fomment: This report summarizes a news story which
appeared in the Hamburg weekly periodical Der Spiegel. The period-
ical, following its usual practice in stories of this kind, makes
no mention of its source of information.]
On 7 September 1953 at 1130 hours, a meeting of the GDR Politburo was held
at the "House of Unity" in East Berlin. The 13 Politburo members were forced
to wait a half hour for the arrival of Soviet High Commissioner Semenov.
Semenov cut short an opening speech by Minister President Ulbricht with the
words: "We don't want to waste time with introductory remarks. Let's get
down to business." He then chided the Politburo for the optimistic reports
and forecasts issued by the SED (Socialist Unity Part,.)'-Test N.pertment.
according to which a Social Democrsiic victory in West Germany should have
been expected.
After his short, sharp speech, Semenov left the Politburo to attend a
meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers. There he repeated his
accusations, and added that the Soviet Union would now be forced to re-examine
her foreign policy, and that economic achievements would be the only argument
which the GDR could use effectively in the East-West conflict.
On 8 September, Semenov amplified this statement to his staff at Karlshorst.
According to a reliable report from Karlshorst, the gist of Semenov'a statement
was as follows: The fateful result of the West German elections has created an
entirely new situation, so that the basis of previous Soviet offers to negotiate
and to make concessions would have to be revised in any case. Semenov gave a
vague indication of how far the Soviet willingness to make concessions would
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150298-4
have gone, had there been a West German government
told his listeners of conversations willing to negotiate. He
between German and polish negotiators,
brought together at Soviet insistence, around 20 August 1953.
One interpreter took down the following sentence# which characterizes the
expected Soviet reaction to the West German election results: "The Soviet
Union feels uneasy about the previously latent restoration tendencies of the
West German policy, which have now been confirmed by the results of the elec-
tions. As a consequence of the policy of concession, which was in force until
now, the Soviet Union must now deepen the split."
Further consequences of the Soviet displeasure at the outcome of the West
German elections were indicated by Alfred Neumann, the First Secretary of the
Berlin SE$ in aconfidentiai meeting of East Berlin SED officials. Neumann
wants to seLd ,;trong-arm squads into West Berlin to give the West Berliners
the feeling of being blockaded again. In addition to organized SED riots,
the State Security Service also wants to start "special missions" in West
Berlin. Details about this plan were given by Berlin State Security Chief
Morgenthal to his subordinates in the presence of State Secretary Ernst
Wollweber.
It is to he noted in this connection that Allied intelligence services have
timmre detecting increased activities by agents from East Germany for quite some
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STAT