by Arno Baker
He wants it published by mid-March for reasons he will not share with me…I am now hard at work on my way back to Paris with pages and pages of notes. I phoned the Times bureau to ask for a meeting, they sounded puzzled. I didn‘t say what it was about but they know who I am and what I do. “
February 13, “The Quai calls me for a meeting with the minister…S. [Savigny] gets on the phone, he sounds very alarmed...asks me to stay in Paris until further notice…met later on with S. who is now in charge of the matter. He called me again a few hours later and said the Americans would answer in 24 hours...so now it’s settled…we will join the Americans up there...Notified L.P. through top secret channel, he answered positively in less than 10 hours, the location is agreed and the date is set for early next week…I am amazed that the Americans went along with this highly risky business, they must be anxious to find out what‘s going on inside the Castle.”
Another note attracted Jack’s eye,
February 27, “Back since yesterday, very cold. P. once more asked about the interview and I answered that I was almost ready. He told me about a remark I.V. made concerning me the day before, he said to P. “I have not forgotten what Barnave did for us in 1939-40. I took his file with me before I spent time with him at Kuntsevo to refresh my memory. Without his input we could have been in serious trouble at that time. The Presidum is very grateful...you should tell him that.”
Jack asked Michaud what this meant. The explanation was a key element in vetting the notebooks and Michaud hesitated then finally volunteered the missing information,
“Well, I guess you should know that my father was born in 1895 in Odessa, the son of a French lawyer, Maximilien Laffont and a Russian woman named Olga Burckhardt who came from the new urban bourgeoisie, her father was an important Tsarist bureaucrat of German origin who had secretly married a Jewish woman, but no one knew about Olga‘s Jewish descent. Lucien Laffont, by his real name, was therefore bilingual and attended the French school until 1912 when my grandfather returned to Paris and retired. At age 19 Lucien volunteered in the First World War and because of his fluent Russian was quickly dispatched to Romania as a liaison with the Russian army in 1915. He won a few citations, one of them a Tsarist medal for bravery of which he remained very proud to the end of his life.
The Russian Revolution affected him deeply and he began reading Marx, joined the Socialist Revolutionaries --the SRs -where he met Boris Savinkov and apparently even ran errands for Sydney Reilly in Petrograd. But his love of journalism and his ailing mother brought him back to Paris in 1920. He never joined the French Communist party when it broke away from the socialists in 1921 and I might add that he personally always opposed any form of totalitarian dictatorship. He saw himself as a progressive pragmatist if you must label him; what some would call rather derisively a ‘fellow traveler.’
In 1936 he went to Republican Spain and reported back for a string of French regional dailies and small magazines. By then he had a reputation as a leftist and was nicknamed “Laffont-lesocialo…” but he made many friends and people liked him because of his friendly and happy disposition. I was born around that time and I lived near here in my grandfather‘s apartment on boulevard Montparnasse with my mother. In 1939 at age 44 Lucien again volunteered for duty and this time was dispatched to the Deuxième Bureau in Aleppo, Syria under General Weygand. The main task was to analyze Soviet documents and other intelligence relating to Russian army strength in the Caucasus. He became incensed when he found out that French and British plans included a bombing operation and an attack on Baku to set fire to the oilfields. He contacted the Soviet consulate in Beirut thus beginning a secret relationship with the NKVD. The British were also preparing a series of high altitude reconnaissance flights to obtain aerial photographs of the oilfields.
In November Barnave was sent to Iraq to prepare a similar French reconnaissance flight mission that was to take place in December 1939 before the British operation. He spent almost two months at the airfield at Habbaniya outside Baghdad getting photographic equipment and maps ready for the flights and analyzing Soviet intercepts and radio traffic. But there were many delays and in the meantime in Baghdad he made contact with Soviet NKVD illegals. The material he gave them, which was immediately recognized as extremely valuable, quickly reached Stalin‘s desk through Beria and corroborated other secret intelligence produced by GRU agents in London.
By February 1940 Stalin, who had been badly humiliated in Finland, was absolutely convinced that the British and French were seriously planning a two-pronged attack on the USSR: at Murmansk in the Arctic and at Baku in the Caucasus with the intent of cutting the Soviet Union in two. Beria also persuaded the boss that uprisings were being prepared by Polish, French and British agents in the Baltic States, the Ukraine and the Polish areas occupied by Soviet troops since September 1939. These revolts would be timed to take place when the invasion started.
Stalin agreed with Beria’s assessment and signed off on the orders to shoot the Polish officers at Katyn which was just one among many other drastic actions meant to jugulate the revolt. After the war Soviet disinformation insisted that the NKVD had shut down its British operations in London as early as September 1939 implying that there could be no direct connection between the illegals still operating in London and the Katyn massacre. The GRU however continued to function very effectively and provided information that was key to Stalin‘s decision. Barnave did his bit from Syria and Iraq. The reports just corroborated one another at a critical moment. I must admit that my father, without being aware of it, played an important role in getting those unfortunate Polish POWs massacred. He realized this later on with great regret. It‘s in the notebooks.”
Jack found the explanation plausible and disturbing,
“Stalin therefore had ample reason to trust Barnave.”
“Absolutely! His track record was impeccable since the Spanish Civil War. And yet in the end he would feel compelled to betray Stalin and then again to betray his second benefactor, Lavrenti Beria, as you already know! I could never reconcile those contradictions in my own mind…even after reading all this very carefully!”
Jack already had more material than he ever dreamed of and could easily build a much bigger story around the book.
“Why such a betrayal? What caused him to suddenly abandon Beria and side with the opposition?”
Michaud looked at the ceiling as if he were attempting to compose his thoughts. After several minutes of silence he said in a halting voice,
“If I told you what I think happened you will not believe me…but let me try. Barnave knew after his conversations that Beria wanted radical change in the USSR, perhaps even the end of communism and that he was the only one with the tools to make it happen. But the west and the French preferred to see the Soviet Union headed by a steady and predictable group at the top. What they feared more than anything was a chaotic Russia torn by civil war which could become far more dangerous than the communist regime.”
Michaud remained silent as if he still hesitated to say what was on his mind.
“So then, why torpedo Beria? Barnave stood to gain from his coming to power!” asked Jack.
“Yes. But he was also convinced that Beria would liquidate him because of all the dirty secrets that he, Barnave, happened to know. The heavy hints that Barnave should move to Moscow were very disturbing. However that is not the true reason: he betrayed Beria because he was ordered to do so.”
“And by whom?”
“I have no documents to prove this but I have reconstructed a very plausible scenario that goes back to 1945-46. When Barnave began working seriously as a journalist and traveling to Moscow regularly he was suddenly arrested upon his return by the DST probably on a tip from the Americans. This was in the summer of 1946. He was taken to a house in the Paris suburbs and secretly and rather roughly interrogated for two whole weeks. He may have been tortured by Roger Wybot himself who was then the head of DST and known to perform such services at th
at time. One of his frequent visitors, believe it or not, was Georges Bidault, prime minister and foreign minister who was quickly becoming a staunch anti-communist. Bidault was looking for a secure back-channel to Stalin and thought that Barnave was the best candidate. The DST using old Sûreté files found out that Barnave was a suspected NKVD agent in Spain and during the war in 1939-40. This enabled Bidault to use every tool at his disposal to turn him and he finally succeeded. From 1946 on Barnave was a double agent working for SDECE and often reporting personally to Bidault who was uninterruptedly part of the government during those years.”
“But you have no proof of this?”
“No, because in France my father carefully nurtured his “leftist” identity and was often seen in the company of communists and fellow travelers unless he was “interviewing‘ a government official for a Soviet publication, which happened from time to time.”
“And the Russians never had a clue?”
“Again, in view of the way he was assassinated, I wouldn’t be so sure. He threw in his lot with Malenkov because he was ordered to do so by SDECE and probably by the CIA. They were convinced Beria was far more dangerous were he to seize total power like Stalin and viewed the collective leadership as being far weaker. They were right, of course!”
Jack pointed to the stack of old notebooks and smiled,
“And all this doesn’t contain a single hint of what you are saying?” he asked.
Laffont looked up and answered,
“Monsieur Harrison, there’s a lot of top secret history in those pages that many governments never wish to see published. The SDECE and the KGB never knew that he kept so many notes of all his writings and the background investigative reporting that went into them. It would be impossible to create such a vast amount of information as a forgery. Of course you’ll tell me in 1983 there were the Hitler Diaries…but they were quickly found out and are nowhere nearly as revelatory as these daily notations that are filled with hard facts and inside information. Regarding Bidault I only have a few pages with a vague hint of what went on.”
He pulled one notebook from the stack and opened it a few pages from the end, Jack read the usual tight little handwriting,
“September 22, 1946…I emerged from those three weeks in the fog with a new lease on life. I cannot say and may never repeat what actually happened even in the privacy of these pages but my mission has now been clearly defined. I was told in no uncertain terms to make a choice and I did. Now my life has a completely different meaning. When I reached the inevitable fork in the road there was only one other option left for me: I could not just think of myself! There is also my beloved boy and Germaine. So I listened and agreed. Who knows how long this will last? In the other scenario, had I refused, I would most certainly have faced either summary execution or if it was more advantageous, a shameful public trial.
My three week disappearance was explained as a bout of the flu…what a joke!”
Jack looked at Michaud who remained impenetrable.
“What do you intend to do with all this, Mr. Michaud?”
“Well, in business terms how much do you think this is worth, in dollars, I mean?”
“Probably far more than my company can pay. If money is what you are seeking of course.”
“Money is important but there are other values at stake as well. This after all was my poor father‘s life work, it is a reflection of his personal tragedy and since I never married there is no one else to pick things up after me. The Laffont story ends right here, in these few rooms! Even if you could produce a lot more money I wouldn’t know how to spend it.”
Jack knew that Michaud was thinking in terms that went beyond basic greed.
“It will be a long term project and many people will attempt to stop it.”
“I am absolutely convinced of that as well. It took me at least ten years to make sense of these notebooks and their different nuances and asides. I had to read hundreds of books and articles and it‘s not over by any measure. I also collected all the newsprint from the years 1945 to 1953 that I could find. In the cabinets you will discover the complete collection of Franc-Tireur , Combat, L‘Humanité, Le Figaro, L’Aurore, Paris-Presse, Le Monde, La Dépeche and so on. I read everything and tried to find the documents available from all sources but never once did I go public. That would have sent a message that someone was researching these matters. Scholars will spend many years trying to analyze and interpret the fine details, I am well aware of that. So now let me show you what I think is the most important and the most secret part of this entire archive.”
He pulled out a single schoolboys’ notebook with a faded green cover and the drawing of a single palm tree in the middle with the words “La France africaine” and below that “Dakar.” At a bookmark Michaud selected a few pages, dated February 1953…
“…Suddenly Marshal Beria rose and said that he and General Clark should adjourn to a private meeting in a separate room. The two leaders sat in the armchairs at an angle while their interpreters were right behind them with notepads on their knees: Col. Bergman and myself, Lucien Barnave. Beria was repeatedly looking at his watch and appeared to be suddenly pressed for time. He told Clark,
“This segment is also off the record general, perhaps we may call it our private ‘secret protocol’?” he chuckled alluding at the infamous Stalin-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact of 1939. Mark Clark showed no reaction and remained poker faced throughout the entire proceedings not knowing what the “secret protocol” actually was, no doubt. Beria went right to the heart of the matter with his disturbing mixture of black humor and brutal candor that made him appear so genuinely menacing. But he wasn‘t boisterous or overbearing and spoke in a low hushed voice, even when he was saying the most outrageous things, smiling often and looking straight into the general’s eyes with those round rimless spectacles of his.
“General, President Eisenhower is promising peace in Korea and I can assure you that he shall have it as soon as Stalin is gone. But until other changes take place in the USSR that truce will be a mere illusion. You and I here and now have an opportunity to trace a path that will bring permanent stability, peace and quiet in Asia. I can tell you with some certainty that Asia represents a serious threat hanging over the Soviet Union as much as does to the United States.”
He paused for effect and to let Col. Bergman interpret his words accurately. Clark then asked,
“And which kind of threat are you describing, exactly marshal?”
Beria smiled but remained very serious,
“Why China, of course!”
“Ah, so your assessment is that both our countries face a similar threat and therefore we have a common interest in the containment of China?”
Beria smiled again and shook his head slowly,
“Containment? I am not talking about containing anyone. Containment is poppycock for small children! An invention of your propaganda…Your colleague General MacArthur had a plan to end the Korean War and neutralize the People‘s Republic of China by creating a nuclear no-man’s land across Manchuria. I am talking about a vastly expanded version of that operation: 100 to 200 or more atomic bombs, as many as required, to ensure the obliteration of more than half the population of China itself.”
He paused again and let the interpreter who was taking notes on a pad whisper to the general. Clark showed no reaction but looked at Bergman to make sure he had heard correctly and then asked him to repeat word for word what Beria had said. He gave a side glance at Barnave whose face looked ashen. Then he said very slowly,
“I’m not sure our discussion is going anywhere, Marshal Beria...the United States and its allies will never agree to a preventive war. However I must explore the implications of your proposal.”
Beria leaned forward and clasped his pudgy hands tightly together,
“Be under no illusions, general, I am talking very, very seriously ...this whole story is about China and what I am telling you reflects the thinking of those who agree
with me inside the Politburo and who are now committed to supporting my policies. Stalin himself has often mused about such a scenario. He doesn‘t trust the Chinese and Chou En Lai in particular whom he suspects is a possible British agent…But then Joseph Viassarionivch also suspects his own mother as you know! Until Russia neutralizes the Chinese we cannot dedicate our efforts to moving away from a war economy and reverse the disastrous conditions this disproportionate effort is having on the Soviet people. Please consider what I am saying: the Soviet Union wants to produce many more consumer goods and offer the Russian people vastly improved living conditions. This is essential if the party is to remain in power. It cannot happen until China is set back one or two centuries and the U.S. and USSR reach a general settlement. My plan will reduce the Chinese population by 800 million or more and eradicate the useless and catastrophic Mao regime, an outcome which would also suit the United States.”
He waited and could see that Mark Clark had some comments,
“Assuming for an instant that an American government would even consider such a move, Marshal Beria, where would you get the bombs? We know that your atomic production and delivery capability are far from being even close to ours.”
Beria nodded,
“Correct, and I am very well placed to know all about the nuclear issue. This is the reason why we are having this meeting and we must agree to a secret protocol that can be signed later on by underlings. That document will specify that the U.S. will either drop the bombs on targets we designate or lend us the aircraft and crews to carry out the mission ourselves using Soviet markings. The attack would only last a few days and once it is over the world will be faced with a fait accompli. No one will have time to react.”
For the first and only time General Clark showed some reaction as he raised his eyebrows in amazement at the request made by his Soviet counterpart.
