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{
    "localId": "245256643",
    "label": "Memorandum from Rear Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter to President Harry S. Truman, with Related Material",
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    "id": "245256643",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from Rear Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter to President Harry S. Truman, with Related Material",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 16,
            "logicalDate": "1948-03-16",
            "month": 3,
            "year": 1948
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    "seq": 4,
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    "ocrText": "22 December 1947\nMEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT\nThe breakdown of the CFM in London may cause the USSR\nto undertake a program of intensified obstructionism and calcu-\nlated insult in an effort to force the US and the other Western\nPowers to withdraw from Berlin all representatives except a\nsmall Allied Control Authority group. The implementation of\nsuch a program could create a situation of great tension which\nmight lead to armed clashes between Soviet personnel and that of\nthe other occupying powers.\nThe failure of the CFM to reach agreement on any ques-\ntion and the CFM's subsequent indefinite adjournment will result\nin an accelerated consolidation of eastern Germany. The USSR\nwill attempt to incorporate thoroughly the economic system of its\nZone into the Soviet economy and to orient the political system\nstill more closely to the Soviet ideology. Soviet authorities\nwill encounter difficulties in accomplishing both objectives be-\ncause of the presence of US officials and troops in Berlin.\nThe presence there of this personnel hinders the ruth-\nless and forcible communization of all eastern Germany, helps to\nsustain non-Communist opposition, and demonstrates that the US\ndoes not intend to abandon or partition the country. Berlin, of\ncourse, could hardly serve as the capital of an eastern German\nstate, should the USSR eventually establish one, so long as the\nWestern Powers maintain troops in the city. The Kremlin is aware\nof this situation.\nThe Kremlin is aware, also, that the present quadri-\npartite occupation of Berlin furnishes the US with an excellent\nlistening post and a base of operations for intelligence activi-\nties in the Eastern Zone as well as providing political refugees\nfrom Soviet areas with a convenient haven. Masters of propaganda\nthemselves, the Soviet authorities are highly sensitive to the\ngreat propaganda value of the continued presence of US and the\nother Western Power forces and the guarantees they provide of\nrelative political freedom for the residents of the city.\nDECLASSIFIED\nAuthority\nNLT-\nRECORDS\n77.79\nEc\nSECRET\nBy HC\nNLT\nDate 8.31.78"
}