AMERICAN OFFICER KILLED BY RUSSIAN IN EAST GERMANY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570024-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: March 26, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570024-7
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AMERICAN OFFICER
KILLED BY RUSSIAN
NEW YORK TIMES
26 March, 1985
White House spokesman, described the
shooting as "unwarranted and unjusti-
fied." He said Robert C. McFarlane,
the President's national security advis-
er, woke President Reagan early this
morning to inform him of the incident.
In Bonn,? American diplomats said
the United States Mission in West Ber-
UGlllllt111 ; lin had lodged what one called "a
i strong protest" with the Soviet Em-
bassy in East Berlin. Several Amer-
By JAMES M. MARKHAM
Special to The New Yolk Times
STUTTGART, West . Germany,
March 25 - A United States Army
major on a reconnaissance mission in
East Germany was fatally shot Sunday
b a Soviet guard near a Soviet mili-
tary installation American officials
said oday.
The 37-year-old officer, identified in
Washington as Maj. Arthur D. Nich-
olson Jr., was shot in the chest near the
East German town of Ludwigslust as
he was observing Soviet tank sheds, as
cording to various American sources..
Major Nicholson was a member of
the 14-member American military liai-
son mission, which has been stationed
1 in the East German town of Potsdam
since 1947 with a mandate to observe
activities in what was once the Soviet
zone of occl}pied Germany. -
Warnigg Ignored, Russians Say ;.:
The' Soviet Union asserted that the
officer had been in a prohibited area
and had been shot after he disregarded
warnings to halt. The Vnited States re-
jected the Soviet account, calling the
shooting "totally unjustified." Richard
R. Burt, Assistant Secretary of State
for European Affairs, said in a state-
ment in Washington that the major and
his partner, a sergeant, had been fired
on without warning and that the offi-
cer's death was -tantamount to "mur-
der." :
Soviet liaison -men conduct similar
missions in West Germany. Both sides
have lon a ted h&LAMMUL"
ican officials familiar with the case
said Major Nicholson was not in a re-
. stricted area when he was shot.
In Washington, however, a Soviet
diplomat, Vladimir M. Kulagin, issued'
a statement saying the American offi-
cer had been caught "red-handed"
photographing Soviet military equip-
ment in a restricted area near
Schwerin.
The Soviet diplomat said the Amer-
ican, wearing a camouflage uniform,
failed to heed the warning shot and was
killed while trying to flee the area. Mr.
Kulagin said the American's driver
was apprehended in their vehicle near-
by.
"The Soviet side launched a resolute
protest in this connection," Mr. Kula-
gm said.
American diplomats disputed the
Soviet account, saying Major Nich-
olson had been shot without warning.
"If you hit someone with a warning
shot, they have to be pretty close," said
an American envoy involved in the
case.
Russians Said to Hold Body
Russians move unhindered
Soviet missions are accredited to the
American forces in Frankfurt, to the
British at BUnde and the French at
Baden-Baden, and their cars move
largely unhindered in West Germany.
The four erstwhile occupying powers,
may declare certain areas off-limits to
others. The Russians have consider-
ably restricted a number of areas in
East Germany to the British, French
and Americans, marking such zones
with warning signs. - -
The West German military must
notify the nearest Allied unit in case of
a Soviet intrusion into a restricted
area. Like the existence of the mis-
sions, this rule is a reminder of West
Germany's incomplete sovereignty.
The missions are part of a network of
accords that has survived the postwar
years and that in several instances im-
pinges on the status of Berlin, which re-
mains under the nominal control of the
four powers.
The four regulate air traffic into Ber-
lin, which sometimes leads to tension.
Last April, the United States, Britain
and France protested when the Soviet
Union altered the 20-mile air corridors
leading into West Berlin, forcing com-
mercial jets to change their ascents
and descents. -
According to another American, the
Russians kept Major Nicholson's body
for a day, turning it over at 4:30 P.M.
today to the white stucco American
Mission in Potsdam. This afternoon an
American military ambulance brought
the body across the Glienicke bridge to
nearby West Berlin.
TA United States Army sergeant who
was with Major Nicholson, who was
identified as Sgt. Jessie G. Schatz, was
held for a few hours by the Russians
near Ludwigslust and then released.
according to the American sources.
The town lies about 25 miles- from the
sanctioned espionage in the two
West German frontier and 70 miles
northwest of East Berlin.
The Americans of the elite Potsdam
mission speak Russian and some speak
American officers attached to the se- German as well. Their commanding
cret mission, and their British and officer is Col. Roland Lajoie, a former
French camterpart:i, often report un- Army attache in Moscow.
pleasant confrontations with Soviet and The missions were established in
East German units, including car ram- 1947 to coordinate activities in the four
mings and short detentions. - occupation zones in Germany.
Western diplomats said Major Nich-
olson's killing was the most serious in=
cident in the 38-year history of the liai-
son missions. A year ago, a soldier at-
tached to the French mission was
killed near Halle when his car was
rammed head-on by a heavy-duty East.
German military truck.
In Washington, Larry Speakes, the
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404570024-7
-Unwarranted' and Unjustified'