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SWEDEN COUNTRY READER TABLE OF CONTENTS George L. West 1942-1943 Vice Consul, Stockholm C. Gray ream 1944-1945 Vice Consul, Stockholm Norman V. Schute 1947-1952 Assistant Attach%, Stockholm Robert F. Woodward 1950-1952 Counselor of Embassy, Stockholm .aul F. Du Vi0ier 1950-1954 Commercial Attach%, Stockholm Roy 1. 2a0erkamp 1955-1957 General Ser0ices Officer, Stockholm 2ar0ey F. Nelson, 5r. 1956-1958 Analyst, Scandina0ian Affairs, ureau of Intelligence and Research, Washington, DC 5. 2oward Garnish 1957-1958 .ublic Affairs Officer, 9SIS, Stockholm Virginia 2amill iddle 1959-1961 Consular Assistant, Stockholm 2ar0ey F. Nelson, 5r. 1959-1961 Office Director, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, Washington, DC Edward L. .eck 1959-1961 5unior Officer, Goteborg William 2. Littlewood 1960-1965 Science Attach%, Stockholm William . Cobb, 5r. 1962-1965 Commercial Attach%, Stockholm Isabel Cumming 1964-1966 Director, 9SIS, Stockholm 1heodore Wilkinson 1964-1966 Consular Officer, Stockholm William odde, 5r. 1967-1970 .olitical Officer, Stockholm Richard 5. Smith 1968-1971 Commercial Officer, 9S 1rade Center, Stockholm C. Arthur org 1968-1971 .olitical Counselor, Stockholm 2a0en N. Webb 1969-1971 Analyst, Western Europe, ureau of Intelligence and Research, Washington, DC .atrick E. Nieburg 1969-1972 .ublic Affairs Officer, 9SIS, Stockholm Gerald Michael ache 1969-1973 Economic Officer, Stockholm Eric Fleisher 1969-1974 Desk Officer, Scandina0ian Countries, 9SIA, Washington, DC William odde, 5r. 1970-1972 Desk Officer, Sweden, Washington, DC Arthur 5oseph Olsen 1971-1974 .olitical Counselor, Stockholm 5ohn .. Owens 1972-1974 Desk Officer, Sweden, Washington, DC 5ames O; rien 2oward 1972-1977 Agricultural Officer, 9S Department of Agriculture, Stockholm 5ohn .. Owens 1974-1976 .olitical Officer, Stockholm Eric Fleisher 1974-1977 .ress Attach%, 9SIS, Stockholm Da0id S. Smith 1976-1977 Ambassador, Sweden 5ohn .. Owens 1976-1978 Consul General, Gothenburg 5ack R. .erry 1976-1979 Deputy Chief of Mission, Stockholm 1heodore Sellin 1978-1979 Consul General, Gothenburg Robert 5. Martens 1978-1979 Deputy Chief of Mission, Stockholm 5enonne Walker 1981-1983 .olitical Counselor, Stockholm Ints Silins 1983-1986 .olitical Counselor, Stockholm Robert L. arry 1985-1986 2ead of 9S Delegation, Stockholm Conference, Stockholm Ward 1hompson 1986-1987 .rincipal Officer, Gothenburg arbara 2. Nielsen 1994-1998 .ublic Affairs Officer, 9SIS, Stockholm Alphonse F. La .orta 2000-2003 .olitical Ad0isor to Commander of NA1O Forces in Southern Region, Naples, Italy GEORGE L. WEST Vice Consul Stockholm 1942-1943) George L. West was born in Seattle, Washington in 1910. He received a bachelor's degree from Stanford Universit in 1933. His Foreign Service career included positions in Paris, Godthab, Stockholm, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, and Bonn. This interview was conducted b Charles Stuart Kenned on Februar 9, 1990. ,- How did you go to Stockholm during the war. WES1: Well, first we flew from La Guardia to Limerick, Ireland, in a flying boat, I remember, with arry ingham on board. I was in London. 1hen we went up to Dundee and waited quite awhile until we could get a good dark night, and were flown o0er in the bomb bay of a Mosquito. ,- A Mos1uito being a British light bomber. WES1: 1hen I arri0ed in Sweden. Maybe this little incident is worth telling. We had a legation there, and they were beefing it up quite a bit during the war for reporting purposes, co0ering German-occupied Europe. I arri0ed there, and 2erschel 5ohnson was the Minister. 2e was an old pro after a couple of days. 2e was occupying a 0ery elegant apartment, which had belonged to the King's brother. 2e said he wanted to ha0e a junior officer li0ing with him, so that he could carry on from home at times. 2e had a reputation for calling a Charg% up at one o'clock in the morning and saying, AWinthrop, I'0e been thinking about...A 2e was hardworking and a good professional. 1he Minister asked me if I'd be interested in li0ing there with him. I don't think I had any particular suspicions at the time, but I did know that after li0ing with my boss for two years in Greenland (that is when he was thereC, I wasn't too anDious to continue that. 1he bright lights of Stockholm were really rather appealing. I was just 32. I backed out. 1hen that summer, another fellow who I was li0ing with, a fellow named Alan Leitner, he'd had a similar eDperience when he arri0ed in Sweden, and he, too, had dodged it. O0er in Finland, Minister... One of the problems of being 80 is that, although I can remember these things, I can't remember names. ,- Don't worr about the names. WES1: Arthur Schoenfeld was the Minister. 2e was taken out, and Rob McClintock, whom I'd known from Stanford, became the Charg%. 1he department wanted to send someone o0er there to be with McClintock, so they asked 2erschel 5ohnson at Stockholm if they could spare somebody. 2e then suggested that I be sent o0er. So I went o0er to Finland and had an apartment. It was pretty badE we were under bombardment. So finally I mo0ed into the legation residence with the McClintocks. We'd be up on the roof a couple nights a week with incendiaries. ,- At this point we might mention that it was a peculiar situation, that Finland was kind of an all of the Germans, but not at war with us. WES1: 1hat's right. 1he Germans had gone in. All the legations were ADis countries, so to speak, eDcept for two neutrals, Sweden and SwitFerland, and then the 9.S. and raFil. 1here was the black sheep of a prominent family (sent about as far away as they could get him from raFilC who was the raFilian Charg%. Along about Easter, '43, we got instructions, because we were surrounded by Germans. E0erybody who came in the legation was photographed right across the street. We weren't allowed out of the city. We could go downtown. We did go to the consular luncheons, which were something, because all the Consuls were Finnish citiFens, and this was their opportunity to really put it on, foodwise, liquorwise. 1he Germans were... Mannerheim would ne0er meet with 2itler. ,- Mannerheim was the Marshal who was also 3President of the Republic5 the head of 3.5 WES1: A great man. 2e told us our codes had been compromised. We'd known that. I think they were compromised in Gugosla0ia, actually. 2e was 0ery standoffish, but the Germans were 0ery much in occupation. Gou can't blame the Finns after the Winter War. Any enemy of the So0iet 9nion was their enemy. ut things were pretty rough for the people there. 1hen came Easter of '43, and the department instructed us to break relations with the Finns. 1hat Easter weekend I was o0er in Stockholm, with my former colleagues out on my old boat on the MHlaren sailing. McClintock was authoriFed to break relations within 48 hours. 2e was to con0ert money, Finnmarks, into dollars. 2e got his wife out. She was pregnant and came o0er to Stockholm. I was in constant communication with him during this period. 1hen a message came through to Sweden. 1he message was: If you ha0e not already done so, do not, repeat, not break relations. 1he responsibility for the Katyn massacres finally had been recogniFed as the So0iets'. And they did not want that to be associated with our breaking relations with the Finns. ,- The Kat n massacres were the massacre of Polish prisoners of war b the secret police of the Soviets. WES1: So I stayed on in Sweden. My work was chiefly with reporting on German... We had a special reporting section reporting on German-occupied Europe. My particular assignment was the altic States and Finland. I had a group of former .residents. y this time, Germany was occupying the altic States. 1he So0iets had, then the Germans. 1his was when the Germans pushed to the east. I had a number of former .residents, Foreign Ministers, etc., of Lat0ia, Lithuania, and particularly Estonia, working for me monitoring German radio broadcasts from the other side, and trying to put together as much of a picture as we could. I was commuting once a week to 2elsinki with a pouch, with oral messages, back and forth to McClintock. I'd go o0er, he'd meet me at the airport and gi0e me what there was, and then I'd fly back. We'd ha0e lunch in the woods outside the airport. Once I almost got on the plane from Riga by mistake. AAchtungI AchtungIA -- I thought it was calling the plane for Stockholm. I didn't though. ut at any rate, I was enamored with the daughter of this former Estonian Foreign Minister. So then about Christmas time, '43, they decided that they would gi0e McClintock a break. Meanwhile I had stood by for the birth of his son in Stockholm. 1his time, 5ohnson was asked to name two people. 2e named Leitner and myself, both of whom had refused to li0e with him. Of course, later it was eDposed that 2erschel 5ohnson was a homoseDual. At that time, he had a young guy named loomingdale, who was supposed to be a Special Assistant, CIA, he had this boy, who later was caught with him in raFil. 1his isn't the kind of thing... ,- No, but it gives a little feel for the problems. But was this sort of suspicioned or you just didn't, I mean both of you... WES1: We put our own things together. It was suspicioned at that time. 1he full confirmation didn't come until after the war. 5ohnson was then at the 9.N. as deputy to Warren Austin, our first Ambassador to the 9.N.