Presidential Papers, Doc#339 To Valeriu C. Georgescu, 23 July 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #340

Document #339; July 23, 1953
To Valeriu C. Georgescu
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series, Jackson Corr.
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part II: Settling into "the long pull"; May 1953 to August 1953
Chapter 5: "So much to do in the world"

 

Dear Mr. Georgescu:1 I have left your letter of June 12 unanswered this long because I have been constantly thinking about the really tremendous problems both explicit and implicit in your letter.2

It seems almost unnecessary to say that the United States is grateful to you and Mrs. Georgescu for an act of great courage. This act takes on added significance by virtue of the newness of your American citizenship and stands as a heartening reaffirmation of the loyalty and devotion of all our citizens--the new equally with the old. In this country it seems inconceivable that anyone could have proposed the safety and freedom of your two sons in return for espionage activities against the United States. In defying Communist pressure in such a situation you have given us all an inspiring example.

This Administration is arranging to make the strongest representations to the appropriate authorities for the release of your children.

In these extraordinary days, when it is still too early to judge whether the Soviet regime and its Communist satellite regimes are genuinely willing to meet us half-way, as they say they are, or whether their recent words are only superficial and temporary, I still believe that it should be possible to convey the thought to them that there is no place in a peaceful world for such practices as keeping children forcibly separated from their parents.

The brazenness of the approach to you might have stemmed, as you suggest, from similar, but more successful, attempts in the past.3 I can hardly believe that it stemmed from complete stupidity. If I am correct, I hope that the Georgescu case will serve a two-fold purpose:

First, to strengthen the hearts of those who may be subjected to such torture in the future;

Second--and in the light of recent developments--to encourage others who may have succumbed to similar blackmail to reveal their plight, secure in the knowledge that the Government of the United States will do everything possible to alleviate their personal situation and to recognize the mitigations brought about by the duress to which they were subjected.

In closing, may I again express not only the gratitude of our country for the courage and loyalty you and Mrs. Georgescu have displayed, but also the hope that the near future may bring to you reunion with your children.4 Sincerely

1 Georgescu, a Rumanian, had been managing director and chairman of the board of Romano-American, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and the largest capitalized enterprise in Rumania. Leaving his two sons, Georgescu and his wife had arrived in the United States early in 1947 for a business trip that was to last two months. During this time the Rumanian government nationalized the oil companies and revoked his citizenship, making return to his country impossible without the threat of imprisonment. Since then, the Georgescus had become naturalized citizens of the United States and had worked through diplomatic channels to obtain the boys' release (New York Times, May 27, 1953).

2 Georgescu's letter is in WHCF/CF: Georgescu Case. On May 20 he had been visited in his New York apartment by the first secretary of the Rumanian Legation, who asked him to "collaborate politically with Rumania against the United States" in return for the release of his sons. Georgescu, understanding the effect of his decision on the safety of the boys, had refused the offer and reported the incident to State Department officials the following day. On May 26 Acting Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith declared the first secretary persona non grata and directed Rumanian officials to arrange for his immediate departure ("Rumanian Diplomat Declared Persona Non Grata," U.S. Department of State Bulletin 28, no. 727 [June 1, 1953], 815; see also New York Times, July 22, 1953).

In his letter Georgescu had expressed fear that the United States would be misled by Soviet words expressing desires for peace. The Soviet government, he continued, must be embarrassed by "this clumsy bit of villainy," and could be ready "to issue certain orders to Bucharest. . . . A little more pressure from you to increase their difficulty and embarrassment would be effective."

3 Georgescu had written of his concern that "what was attempted in my case may have succeeded in others" and that many agents, susceptible to this kind of blackmail, could have been recruited. The release of his sons, he had written, might encourage "other victims of this kind of mental torture and persuasion . . . to come forward with revelations in the hope of enjoying similar happy results."

4 In 1954 Eisenhower would write Rumanian President Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej asking him to investigate the case and, in order to remove one cause of friction between the two countries, "expedite a satisfactory solution" (Eisenhower to Gheorghiu-Dej, Feb. 25, 1954, AWF/D). The Rumanian President would agree to the release, "considering that the elimination of any misunderstanding cannot but be useful." The family would be reunited in New York City on April 13, 1954 (Gheorghiu-Dej to Eisenhower, Mar. 12, 1954, ibid.; New York Times, Apr. 14, 1954).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Valeriu C. Georgescu, 23 July 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 339. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/339.cfm

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