114. One account claims Golikov met with the despot only twice following his appointment in July 1940. Lota, Sekretnyi front, 6, 46–7. Stalin’s office logbook lists five meetings, the last on April 11, 1941. Na prieme, 595. “It is quite true that Golikov was a misinformer—but that is not the point,” Gnedich, who delivered Golikov’s reports to Stalin, would recall. “All the ‘reliable’ parts of Golikov’s regular reports appeared in one form or another in the official press. Stalin, however, on principle, was interested in anything deemed by Golikov as ‘doubtful.’” Erickson, “Threat Identification,” 377 (citing a photostatic copy of the transcript of the discussion in the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, 1966, with Gnedich’s reminiscences); Petrov, “June 22, 1941,” 257; “Sovetskie organy gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti v gody Velikoi otechestvennoi voiny,” 27. In 1965, the historian Viktor Anfilov asked Golikov in the archives about his March 20, 1941, report. Golikov responded: “Did you know Stalin?” Anfilov: “I saw him up on the mausoleum when I stood in the parade columns.” Golikov: “Well, I was subordinated to him, I reported to him and was afraid of him. He had formed the opinion that as long as Germany had not finished its war with England it would not attack us. Knowing his character, we constructed our conclusions to conform to his point of view.” Anfilov, Doroga k tragedii, 193; Naumov, 1941 god, I: 42–3. According to Novobranets, Golikov issued imprecise orders; then later, if something went wrong, he would say, “I did not give such a directive,” or “You misunderstood me.” “We did not respect him.” Novobranets, “Nakanune voiny,” 172.
115. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 776–80 (TsAMO, op. 14750, d. 1, l. 12–21: March 20, 1941); Gavrilov, Voennaia razvedka informiruet, 568–71; Lota, Sekretnyi front, 178–84 (citing TsAMO, op. 14750, d. 1, l. 12–21). “ABC” reported (March 26, 1941) that he had spoken with an adviser in the German embassy in Romania, who claimed Mihai “Antonsecu told me that his grandfather—the head of state, [Ion] Antonescu—already in January had a meeting with Hitler supposedly devoted by Hitler himself to plans for a war between Germany and the USSR, and that a detailed conversation about this subject also took place during a meeting between Antonescu and Göring in Vienna.” Mihai considered the month of May to be “critical.” Gavrilov, Voennaia razvedka informiruet, 573–4 (TsAMO, f. 23, op. 24119, d. 1, l. 468–9).
116. Iampol’skii et al., Organy, I/ii: 61–2 (TsA FSK); “Iz istorii Velikoi otechestvennoi voiny,” 207. Also on March 24, “Yeshenko” reported further information from “ABC” about a meeting in Vienna where Göring supposedly told Antonescu to coordinate mobilization of the Romanian army with the German army. Naumov, 1941 god, 788–9 (TsAMO, f. 23, op. 24119, d. 1, l. 452–5). That same day Stalin received Japanese foreign minister Matsuoka (791–3: APRF, f. 45, op. 1, pap. 404, l. 83–8), and Vysheinsky received Schulenburg (793–6: AVP, f. 07, op. 2, pap. 9, d. 22, l. 44–7).
117. Berezhkov, S diplomaticheskoi missiei, 79.
118. Naumov, 1941 god, I: 804 (AVFRF, f. 082, op. 24, pap. 106, d. 8, l. 307). According to a Moscow NKGB summary of a report from Berlin sent by Kobulov on April 2, 1941, “Elder” met with “Corsican,” telling him “about the complete preparation and working out of a plan for an attack on the Soviet Union by his agency.” “Elder” was conveyed numerous details of German targets, German discussions concerning the involvement of Romania and Finland, and the opinion of German air ministry officers that an attack would take place. “‘Elder’ himself is not completely sure that the action will take place.” Kobulov’s report also included conversations with “Lycée-ist.” Naumov, 1941 god, 13–5 (TsA SVR, d. 23078, t. 1, l. 236–41). On March 31, the NKGB reported that “from December 1940 to the present time the movement of German troops to our borders has strengthened.” “Nakanune voiny (1940–1941 gg.),” 208.
119. Sergeienko, Sinteticheskii kauchuk; Lewis, “Innovation in the USSR”; Sutton, Western Technology, II: vii.
