AVP RF, f. 082, op. 41, port. 93, pap. 280, ll. 3-4. Translated by Daniel Rozas.
June 17, 1953
Telephonogram from Vladimir Semyonov and Marshal Vasilii Sokolovskii to Vyacheslav Molotov and Nikolai Bulganin Reporting on the Situation in East Berlin, as of 11:00 p.m. CET
Secret
Copy #14
TELEPHONOGRAM BY VCH
From Berlin
17 June 1953
To comrade V.M. Molotov
To comrade N.A. Bulganin
We report on the situation in Berlin and the GDR at 11 p.m., 17 June.
The disorders in Berlin have been stopped. The streets are calm. In connection with the implementation of martial law from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., the movement of transportation and walking on the streets were halted in the Soviet sector of the city. A small number of people were arrested for breaking this order.
Our troops and the German police are in control of all key streets and important installations in the Soviet sector of the city. The most attention has been paid to the defense of the sector border between East and West Berlin, across which a number of large groups of provocateurs and hooligans from West Berlin had broken through into the Soviet sector in the evening. On the streets Brunnenstrasse and Bernauer Strasse, these gangs started a shootout with the German police, which resulted in casualties. According to preliminary information, 79 German policemen were injured and 2 policemen are missing as a result of the disturbances in the Soviet sector. West Berlin radio is reporting that 7 demonstrators were killed and 66 people were injured. As yet, there are no complete reports on the number of casualties.
In its broadcasts, the American radio station RIAS is calling upon the rebels to submit to the orders of the Soviet authorities and avoid clashes with the Soviet troops.
In the majority of cities in the GDR, order has been fully restored. There are reports of continuing disorders only in the two small cities of Apolda and Muhlhausen.
According to incomplete data, 700 instigators of the disorders have been arrested in the Republic, 300 of whom were in Berlin.
Measures are being taken to reestablish normal operation of all enterprises in the Republic, as well as measures to prevent interruptions in the food supply to the inhabitants of Berlin. The GDR government has called upon the people to swiftly reestablish social order and normal operation of enterprises.
Sokolovskii
Semyonov
Sent by Blatov
Received by Roshchina
18.VI.1953
2 hours, 45 min.
Cable to the Soviet leadership describing the situation in East Berlin after the imposition of the curfew. The cable reports that at least 700 people have been arrested in East Germany, 300 of which were in the Soviet sector of Berlin. East German police and Soviet troops have taken control of the border of East Berlin to prevent "provocateur elements" from entering the Soviet sector.
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