269. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 384 (AVPRF, f. 059, op. 1, p. 338, d. 2314, l. 36). Molotov’s talks with Göring: Naumov, 1941 god, I: 370–3 (APRF, f. 3, op. 64, d. 675, l. 84–92). Ribbentrop and Himmler were present when Göring received Molotov.
270. Eberle and Uhl, Hitler Book, 36–7.
271. Ullrich, Hitler: Ascent, 386. “I was expecting a thundering Jove in his castle and what I got was a simple, gentle, possibly shy man in his country home,” French ambassador Coulondre wrote of Hitler. “I had heard the rough, screaming, threatening, and demanding voice of the Führer on the radio. Now I became acquainted with a Hitler who had a warm, calm, friendly and understanding voice. Which one is the true Hitler? Or are they both true?”
272. In response to Molotov’s cable after the first meeting with Ribbentrop, Vyshinsky had called the Berlin embassy to read a message for Molotov correcting him—eliciting a Molotov apology—for having implied that the 1939 Pact had ceased to be in force [“ischerpan”]. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 367 (AVP RF, f. 059, op. 1, p. 339. D. 2315, l. 16–7).
273. Schmidt, Hitler’s Interpreter, 217.
274. Fröhlich, Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels, VIII: 417–8 (Nov. 14, 1940).
275. Sontag and Beddie, Nazi-Soviet Relations, 234–47; Naumov, 1941 god, I: 375–83 (APRF, f. 3, op. 64, d. 675, l. 49–57); DGFP, series D, XI: 550-62. Berezhkov writes: “Perhaps more important—and Molotov informed Stalin about this—Hitler was prepared to meet him face-to-face.” Berezhkov, At Stalin’s Side, 48.
276. Schmidt, Hitler’s Interpreter, 219; Time, Nov. 20, 1940; TASS (Nov. 13, 1940), printed in Izvestiia, Nov. 14, 1940, and reprinted in Naumov, 1941 god, I: 392–3.
277. Waddington, “Ribbentrop and the Soviet Union,” 21–2.
278. DGFP, series D, XI: 533–41; Sontag and Beddie, Nazi-Soviet Relations, 247–54.
279. Berezhkov, S diplomaticheskoi missiei, 48; Berezhkov, At Stalin’s Side, 44–9. The line does not appear in the official record made by Pavlov: Naumov, 1941 god, I: 385–92 (APRF, f. 3, op. 64, d. 675, l. 68–83, 92–3). British air raids deliberately coincided with Molotov’s visit to Berlin. Churchill, Second World War, II: 586. “How did he put up with you telling him all this?” Molotov recalled Stalin asking of his dealings with Hitler. Chuev, Molotov Remembers, 17.
280. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 394 (AVPRF, f. 059, op. 1, pap. 339, d. 2315, l. 38–9), 393–4 (pap. 33, d. 2314, l. 41–4).
281. Pravda, Nov. 15, 1940; Degras, Soviet Documents on Foreign Policy, III: 476–7.
282. Pravda, Nov. 13, 14, 15, and 16, 1939. See also Werth, Russia at War, 106–9.
283. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 384–5 (Politisches Archiv des Auswärtiges Amtes. Bonn, Bestand Dienstelle Ribbentrop, R 27168, bl. 25933, 25934, 25940); Lota, “Alta” protiv “Barbarossy,” 235.
284. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 508 (TsAMO, f. 23, op. 24119, d. 3, l. 6–7: Jan. 4, 1941); Gorodetsky, Grand Delusion, 125.
285. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 398 (AVPRF, f. 82, op. 23, p. 95, d. 6, l. 141–2).
286. Hilger and Meyer, Incompatible Allies, 324. Hitler’s interpreter would note that “just as the march into Prague on March 15, 1939, signified the decisive turn in the break with the West, so the outbreak of the fateful clash with the East . . . had its prelude in the November 1940 encounter between Hitler and Molotov in Berlin.” Schmidt, Statist, 515; Schmidt, Hitler’s Interpreter, 209.
287. The 1982 recollections of Yakov Chadayev have Molotov reporting on his Berlin trip at a meeting of the politburo on Nov. 14—but Molotov had not yet arrived back in Moscow. Chadayev’s recollections, moreover, have Stalin understanding at this point that the Pact had become worthless, a conclusion that does not comport in the least with Stalin’s actions. Kumanev, Riadom so Stalinym, 399–406 (Chadayev); Sipols, Tainy, 274–5. Molotov first appears again in Stalin’s office logbook on Nov. 18, alone, for a mere thirty minutes. Na prieme, 317–8.
288. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 395–6 (AVP RF, f. 059, op. 1, p. 326, d. 2239, l. 113–4). Molotov also denied any agreement had been signed in Berlin.
289. Gorodetsky, Grand Delusion, 76 (citing AMVnR, p. 42, op. 1sh, pop. 315, l. 34: Stamenov, Nov. 16, 1940).
290. News Chronicle, Nov. 16, 1940; The Times, Nov. 18, 1940; Hanak, “Sir Stafford Cripps,” 67n3; Gorodetsky, Mission to Moscow, 83.
291. Simonov, “Zametki k biografii G. K. Zhukova,” 49. See also Volkogonov, Triumf i tragediia, II/i: 64, 67.
