Popov Clodius

7/31/2019 Popov Clodius

1/17

ntheMediterranean,especiallyagainst

Hewas verygladabout theletterofthe

eDuceandhe(the Fuhrer)woulddo

Fiihrer'sstatementsinpart thanked

ngremarksandemphasizedespeciallythe

adundertakeninthelast fewdaysin

L IVQuNo.44434/41g. K.Chefs2

LATERORGANIZATIONOFTHE

UGOSLAVIAAREA

llowingguiding principlesforthe

ministrationoftheYugoslavarea:

rmerlyAustrianandwhichborderon

tyria tothesouth,willto anextent still

edtothese Gaueandthustothe territory

utonomousstate,probablyunderHun-

hwesternYugoslavia,Dalmatia,and

y.

ulgaria.

ube),formerlyHungarian,whichbor-

oHungary.

Macedonia)isforthetimebeing to

manmilitary administration.8

t date.It wasinitialedbyBitterandWoermami

epartition ofYugoslaviatransmittedinadi-

yKeltelwhichis publishedinTrialofthe Major

ocument No.1195-PS(O.B.Exhibit 144),pp.60-62.


2/17

Legationin Bulgaria

14,194112:00 midnight.

Berlin,April 1512:30 a.m.

inistrySent April1512:45a,m.

gramNo.407 ofAprilII.2

ons belongingtoYugoslaviawillnot

later,at theconclusionofpeace.At pres-

ntscanbemadeconcerningpoliticalgoals

respect totheareaofMacedonia.For

t theBulgarianpopulationinYugoslav

dwouldhavetobe:"Away fromBelgrade"

ngtheextent oftheareafor suchprop-

ntoaccount,however,that Italianclaims

bitedbyAlbaniansare tobeexpected,

regardtothe MacedonianslivinginGreek

bemadeuntillater.

d.

7863-64)reportedthegrowingImportanceofthe

lgariaandrequestedInstructionsforguidanceIn

assadorinItaly

nversationat 9:45p.m.whichI hadfrom

Rintelen,inthepresenceofthe Marchese

othercallfromtheformerat 11:10 p.m.,in

,accordingto reportsfromZagreb,the

mPavelicto theDuce,whichI hadhanded

n[sic],4hadmeanwhilebeendeliveredto

Zagreb,andwouldbe deliveredbyhimto

edwiththeonetransmittedbyme,but con-

o'sconsultationwithPavelid,asupplement

ndfootnote1.


3/17


4/17

osemaintenance,at least,asseenfrom

becauseotherwise,with thesituationasit

ementsamongtheBulgariansand Mace-

eencouragement,andneithertheKingnor

manentlywithstandthem.Asituation

of1917,whenextremist demandsforthe

brujaweresubsequentlymade,whichthe

re;disregardingthem,however,caused

itteredanddidmuchto shaketheBulgarian

Anassignment ofOhridtoItalywould

ences.It isrealizedbyall sensibleBul-

nbereached concerningthefutureof

heStruma.

Legationsin HungaryandBulgaria1

NA,April16,19416:00 p.m.

Zagrebisreceiving thefollowingtele-

Government nowinformalsotheHun-

manianGovernmentsbywireat onceof

dependent CroatianStatewiththerequest

seGovernments,too,maythereupongrant

ment at yourpost ofthismatterand,

wouldappreciateit ifthetelegramsofthe

regivenapositivereply,at once,ifpos-

lyalsoaddressedto theLegationinRumania.

ndaspecialaddendumforBucharest weredeleted

spatched.

egramNo.116 ofApr.16 toZagreb(116/66764).


5/17

at theFiihrerhadalreadydecidedin

sionhadindeedbeenso clearthat,in

hrer,theRegent haddeliberatelyre-

poncemore.

edthat Rumaniawaspreparingtooc-

thecomingweek.

t Iwouldtransmit hiswishestothe

lsoofferedtoappearinperson before

rto explainandconfirmwhat hehad

Legationin Bulgaria

4111:50 p.m.

e

lin,April17 [18}12:25a.m.

182:00 a.m.

nowbeenpermittedtooccupy:

nthe east bythedemarcationline

s;inthewest bythe Strymonline.

present nofartherthantothePirot-

omthere,followingthecourseofthe

er.1

horitiesconcernedhavealreadyre-

eHighCommandoftheWehrmacht.2

heBulgarianGovernment alsoandadd

dicatedforMacedoniaisprovisional

uitable,earlydatetoenterintodiscussions

ment concerningaprovisionalsettle-

nsarisingforBulgaria fromthecollapse

rewill befurthercommunicationsre-

mtheSpecialTrain,forwardedtoSofia asNo.603

Bittersent theinstructionthat theBulgarianGovern-

that theBulgarianArmywaspermittedto occupythe

uptoaline runningfromBujanovactonorthofMt.

roughBrodto Bitolj.TheareaofOhrid wasnot

lianshadevacuatedit.

y15(274/177966)RintelennotifiedRitterthat

to enterOhrid.

mofApr.18 (230/153121)recordsthetransmission

mattertotheForeignMinistry.


6/17


7/17


8/17

MANFOREIGNPOLICY

t aMinistertoZagreb.4In thiscontext

alsomentionedthemission ofGeneral

nbetweentheoccupyingtroopsandthe

reignMinisterin turnoutlinedthe

nizationofthe formerYugoslavterritory,

washandedtoCount Cianoat thecloseof

edattentiontothe definitivechangein

roatia,alreadyorderedbytheFuhrer.7

rmanywouldmakeaboundarytreaty

ment.

thenaddedthat Hungaryhadclaimed,

iihrer,the BackaandBanat regions,be-

ithinthe oldboundariesofHungary.

dbyGermantroops inordertoavert

HungaryandRumaniainthat area.For

lsopointedtothe existenceofaRumanian

many,tobe sure,heldthat suchaclaim

farnot beenraisedhadlittlejustification,

fact that Rumaniawouldhavetobe

pensation;at thepresent moment it was

dbe,but thepossibilitywouldhavetobe

ail.

madeastothefuture regimeofSerbia.

tobring PrincePaulbacktoSerbia.

reignMinisterreferredonce more

ancedby KingBoris,whichwerere-

mtheGermanviewpoint andconcerning

ssedsympathy.Theonlyreservation

ectionwasthat hewouldwant tohavean

esubjectswith theItalianally.

argumentsonthenecessityofadvancing

conomicandespeciallymilitarycon-

ytotakethisposition,and proposedthat

a hearingonthat point.TheItalian

erecalledin,but theywerenot ableto

formation,inresponsetothedetailed

eignMinister,onthe militaryreasons

ordedthat HitlerhadIndicatedtoHewelthe wish

eestablishedinZagrebwithout delay,whereupon

dtoHitlertheappointment ofSA-Obergruppenfiihrer

nMinister(116/66768).HitlernotifiedPavelldof

aletterofApr.19 (116/66779-80)whichKane-he

1.


9/17

rtheborderin Macedonia.Generaldi

that hedidnot want tohaveazig-zag

antlythat iftheborderswereleft asthey

etoonarrowandthe withdrawalzoneto

anosupplementedthesestatementsby

doublerangeofmountainsas theborder

avepossessionofcertainrailroad lines

wedanexchangeofviewsontheethnic

tionintheareain dispute,basedon

ouniformviewemergedfromthesedis-

dthat he,forhisperson,wasprepared

akeOkhridainsuchawaythat theBul-

ludedinBulgarianterritory.

oreignMinisteraquestionwhichhe fre-

thercourseof theconversation:namely,

yobjectionstoapersonalunionbetween

rrepliedthat hewouldasktheFuhrer

er,andinquiredwhethertheCroatshad

alstoItalyabout apersonalunion.Ciano

mhehadknownforalong time,hadoften

ioninformerdays,whena newsettle-

attersseemedtobefaroffin anebulous

adtoadmit inresponsetoaquestionby

that hehadnot talkedtoPavelicvery

rthenelaboratedthepositiono"fthe

shapingofCroatia'sfuturesystemof

t entirelytotheCroatsthemselves.Ger-

toforceanythinguponthem.Moreover,

withtheCroatssofar,but hadmerely

raisedamongtheCroatianpeople.The

plainedthesedemandstoCount Ciano,

ap,andreiteratedthat Germanyand

ia'sindependenceandthat Germanyhad

Zagreb.WhentheReichForeignMin-

connectionGermany'sdesiretowithdraw

soon aspossible,Count Cianotookad-

at Italywaspreparedtosendtroopsfor

ely.

rthencametospeakof Hungary's

coast oftheAdriatic.Count Ciano

obstaclesinthe wayofaneconomicar-


10/17

econversationtheReichForeignMin-

shexpressedtotheFiihrerby KingBoris

lonikatoBulgaria.Cianorepliedat this

hat hecouldnot sayanythingonthismat-

sterrepliedthat theFuhrerhadnot

estoKingBoris.lie hadtoldhimthat

nscouldnot betakenuntiltheend ofthe

dtheDuce'sview aspresentedbyCount

mplexofquestionsrelatingtoGreeceshould

rand theDuceuntiltheend ofthewar.

enpromptedtoput forwardhisde-

t thecessionofSalonikahadbeenpromised

hehadverystronglypressedforthe in-

edonia,stressingthat theSalonikaarea

aturalentityandthat theonecouldprac-

eother.TheReichForeignMinister

hought that theFuhrerwasnot unsym-

,althoughhe hadtoldhimthat this

tleduntillater.TheReichForeignMinister

ort totheDucethat theReichForeignMin-

at theFuhrersympathizedwiththeBul-

ntlyconvincedCount Ciano,forincon-

voicedbefore,hecharacterizedthenew

alonika'sinclusioninMacedoniaasen-

hat thislogic,tobesure, wouldalsohave

makingagestureasifhe weretakingpos-

eReichForeignMinisterbywhat act

Dalmatianboundary.Hethought that

ablishedbya law,just asGermanyhad

darywithCroatia.WhentheReichFor-

ertheethnographicbasisforsucha

eboundarywassimilartothat present in

hwereinhabitedbyGermansand hadbeen

h,Count Cianoansweredthat Dalmatia

of herhistory,culture,andlanguage.

be sure,but thecountrysidewasentirely

xationofDalmatiacouldnot bejustified

Insupport ofherdemand,Italytherefore

Lebensraumandreasonsofpoliticaland


11/17

sesin GenenKularow.Pleasebringthis

ngarianGovernment at once.7

ay3 (93/103611)RibbentropinstructedErdmanns-

dingthe investigationoftheHungarianexcesses

y5(93/103615)Erdmannsdorffreportedonthe

.

y17(93/103630-32)heforwardedthetext ofa

whichadmittedthat Volksdeutschehadaccidentally

"unavoidableresult ofshootingcausedbythe

"but insistedthat it was"inconceivable"that any

rwouldact withhostilityor maliciousintent toward

inority.

theForeignMinistry

l24,1941.

edApril248:05a.m.1

sevening,2immediatelyonarrival.

y'sacquiringownershipofall chromium

dnortheast ofSkoplje,inaccordancewith

uslyreachedbetweenthetwocountries

epositsofrawmaterials.Accordon

an amicablemanner,andtheKingwas

hat wewereattemptinginsomemanner

xert pressure.TheKingseemstohave

significanceofthequestionofownership,

Skoplje.Hementionedthat theFiihrer

himthat heattachedimportancetohaving

ubotenbecomeBulgarian.

erencewiththeForeignMinisterdur-

idesthequestionofownershipof the

ndSkopljeourothereconomicand finan-

ted that it willpresumablybepossible

nssooninasatisfactorymanner,aswas to

halldraw upthetext ofawrittenagree-

ister.Iamofthe opinionthat it would

oavoidconcludinganofficialagreement

tedasNo.1368 totheSpecialTrain,Apr.24,

eeveningof Apr.23.Thetelegramwaspre-

eveningof Apr.23 anddispatchedintheearly


12/17

MANFOREIGNPOLICY

xchangemerelyinitialedmemorandawith

hourstheKingverycandidlypre-

ngallpolitical andterritorialquestions

Yugoslavia.I assumethat theBang's

coincidewithwhat hehadsaidinVienna,*

enot benecessarytoreport bytelegraph.

merelythat theKingis primarilycon-

determiningthefrontierbetweenAlbania

Heisveryanxiousthat Ohrid,Stniga,

ovoshouldgoto Bulgariaforethno-

asons.

r.24(274/177921-22)Clodiusreportedthat

his proposalsbytheBulgarianCouncilofMinisters,

signed thetext oftheagreement without further

2,footnote2.

orAlfieribrought upthefollowingtwo

vonWeizsackerfordiscussion:

Vienna2theReichForeignMinister

othat hewouldsendtheLeader ofthe

forethelatter'snegotiationswiththe

nicationtotheeffect that Germanywould

sthat he,Pavelic,wouldmakewiththe

dingtoAmbassadorAlfieri'sstatements,

earlyastomorrow,Fridaynoon.Forthis

stedthat theReichForeignMinistercarry

mas soonaspossible.

sadorAlfieri,on thebasisofa tele-

ount Ciano,madethesupplementarystate-

nWeizsackerthat Count Cianoasked

epbe considerednot asanofficial

el], Apr.24."

m."

and385.


13/17

MANFOREIGNPOLICY

theForeignMinistry

162,1941.

10:55a.m.1

gramNo.701 ofMay14.2

ulgariaconfront theGovernment with

whichgovernmentalcirclesdonot conceal.

a largeGreekminoritybecauseofthe

garianelementsaftertheWorldWar

eksfromAsiaMinor.Macedoniacontains,

opulation,not inconsiderableportionsof

anians.Rumaniaisalreadymakingat-

alfofthe Kutzo-Walachians.TheItal-

arksoftheAlbanianSpecialAttache1with

avenot yet stoppedusingAlbanian

morefar-reachingBalkanplans.New

Macedoniawouldperhapsrenderper-

chanceofapacificationandeconomicdevel-

ttedasNo.1556 toFnschl,May17."

ootnote3.

tionhasbeenissuedas yet.Tobesubmitted

,June10."

E221554)hasthefurthernotation:"Thesnggestion

.Totheflies.Goe[ken],July11."

erfor theFuhrer

mMinister KascheinZagreb,1the

ldifnecessarybewilling toreceivein

0,000 SlovenestobeevacuatedfromLower

coulddeport thesamenumberofSerbs

theFiihrer'sthereactuallyshouldbe

stoCroatia.However,sincetheCroatian

13 (116/66849).


14/17

FOREIGNPOLICY

ent ofthePoliticalDepartment

theB ulgarianForeignMinisterPopov

BerlinonNovember26,1941,From

PopovtransmittedtotheReichForeign

eBulgarian Kingaswellas oftheBul-

andremarkedconcerningBulgaria'sgen-

urse,asin thepast,apolicyon Germany's

mportant questionswhicharoseBulgarian

uld alwaysrequest Germanadvice.He

t that.Ratherhewasinterestedin bringing

wminorquestionsregardingwhich the

antedtoexpressspecialwishes.

ionsM.Popovcitedtheresumptionof

nePythion-DedeAgach.1TheFrench

hadrecentlybrought upthisquestion

ench-Greekcompanywhichownedthis

thenearfuture.This didnot appear

Government.Rather,it requestedthat

vertotheBulgarianrailroad administra-

intooperationbytheGermanmilitary,that

ed.It didnot appearexpedient totheBul-

ekpersonneltobe employedagainin

tterwas ofnogreat importance;never-

t wassettleddidhavea certainpsychological

publicopinion.

sedM.Popovtoexaminethisquestion.'

hedthequestionwhetherBulgariawasin

t thisrailroadlinewhich ranthroughtheGerman-

racebeput intooperationunderGermanadministra-

sonnelwas first reportedinSofiatelegramNo.1334

24).Thesamematterwasofilcially raisedbyMinister

rwhorecordedthisconversationina memorandumof

7byWeizsiicker(278/179025)andWoermann(278/

theBulgarianForeignMinisterbrought upthequestion

railroadinseparateconversationswhichhe hadwith

urseofhisvisit withWeizsacker,Popovpresenteda

thebackgroundoftheBulgarianwishesinthis matter

1.


15/17

toGermany.4Onecouldnot simplytreat

dpoint ofatransactioninvolvingdeliveries,

eonehadtoproceedfrom thefact that

ngonastruggle forfreedomforallof

anpeoplewere indeedmakingthegreatest

wassurelyofa certainsignificancethat

rmany,eachto theextent ofitsabilities,

receivingthenecessarydeliveries.

newthisandwas awareofthesenecessi-

ver,thesituationforBulgariaherselfwas

e excessofraintheharvest hadbeenvery

matesindicatedthat therewouldhardly

satisfyfullytheneedsof theBulgarian

ancities.

dtothis that hedidnot want toask

dtheBulgariancapabilities.However,he

dbepossibletoput throughthedeliveryof

.

ovsaidthat hehardlybelievedthat the

possible;perhapsmaizedeliveriescould

statedthat theBulgarianMinisterofTrade,

atterswith theGermanGovernment and

at might bedone.

inisterremarkedonthis subject that

haspossiblebe done,andnomore.However,

ouldbeverywelcometo us.Whatever

onnectionshewould actuallybedoingfor

get what fatetheBolshevistshadintended

M.Molotovhadstatedonlyayear

ntedapact ofassistancewithBulgaria

providedwithbasesinthat country;in

ddedcondescendinglythat onecouldeasily

ainin thecountry.Oneknewindeedthe

sfromthe experiencewiththepactsof

aandtheBaltic countries.Nowthisdanger

anyhadtocontinueher effortsinorder

ewholefuture.Shewas pleasedwithall

pherin this.

.23 (4703/E227414-15)whichwastoserveas a

ussionofthis matterwithPopov,Clodiusexpressed

wascapableofsupplyingGermanywith at least 20,000

onsiderablylargeramount ofmaize.Clodiusrecom-

Government insist onBulgaria'ssupplyingGermany

helimit ofherpossibilitiesandaccompaniedbya

omesticconsumption."

ocument No.328.


16/17

MANFOREIGNPOLICY

peatedagainthat Bulgariawoulddo

ehadnot forgottenwhat Germanyhad

afelt alliedwithGermanytothebitter

nversationtheBulgarianForeign

uprisinginThracethat occurredsome

Drama,inwhich32Bulgarianofficialsand

badlywounded.OfcoursetheBulgarian

pelledtotakevigorousactionagainst this

ausedbyCommunist agitation.Nowthe

mplainabout it andtoaddresswritten

Government.6 TheBulgarianGovernment

dhavethismaterial.It wantedtosettle

sivelyandnot deferit forthefuture.M.

hat nothinghadbeendonebytheBulgarians

orquellingtheuprising.Ifmistakeshad

nindividualcases,thentheycouldbest be

e Greekcomplaints.

Ministerremarkedthat suchmaterial

him.7He wouldhavethematterinvesti-

thematterofthe areaofFiorinainwest-

point.TheGreekadministrativeauthori-

anti-Bulgarianagitation.Theareawas

ministration,but therewasonlyalimited

andersinthecitiesthereandthey couldnot

curredintheirarea.Herequestedthat the

grantedsomewhat greaterprotection.

stsinSalonikaseemedtobetoo skepticalin

fthe Bulgariansfromthisarea,probably

at hadreachedthemhadbeenexaggerated

firmeduponinvestigation.However,that

at thereweretoofewGermansupervisory

eBulgarianpopulationdidnot enjoyade-

ekssimplywantedtooppresstheBul-

27(278/179022-24)WeizsSckerrecordedhaving

Ministerthat daythat hewouldbegladto show

terialrelatingtoaccusationsagainst Bulgariaon

ereBulgarianmeasurestakenagainst GreekInsurgents.

sterwasanxioustorefutetheseaccusationsand

ndum,whichisappendedtoWeizsRcker'srecordofthe


17/17

alwayswanted todointhe courseof

rget that Bulgariahadbeenforcedtoas-

mfromGreeceinthe samewayasshehad

rpoliticalfreedomagainst theTurks.

sedM.Popovthat hewouldhavethis

,andwouldseewhat couldbedonein this

upthedifficultieswhichtheBulgarian

ncarryingout thelaws directedagainst the

eJewslivingin Bulgariawerenot citi-

ngary,Kumania,Spain,andothercoun-

wever,claimedthesamerightsfor their

othercitizens,anddid not toleratetheir

ment providedforin theJewishlegislation.

nthat hadtobesettled jointlyamong

repliedthat hefoundthis question

ht uptobenot without interest.Evenat

monething:at theendofthewar allJews

e.Thiswas anirrevocabledecisionofthe

onlywaytomasterthis question,becauseit

globalbasisandbecauseindividualmeasures

ally,oneshouldnot attachtoomuchim-

gardingJews whowerealiennationals.At

dattentiontosuchprotestsfrom American

ForeignMinisterwouldhavetheproblem

xaminedintheForeignMinistry.

e Bulgarianwishthat,aspart ofthe

upnewtransportationrouteswhich the

ryingout,provisionbealsomadefora

betweenBulgariaand Rumania.Thelack

felt forsometime.That it shouldbebuilt

cancetoBulgaria.

edthiswish interestingandworthlook-

sionaskedM.Popovtotransmit hisrespects

ndalsotoMinisterPresident Filov.8

28/179035)RlntelenforwardedtoWeizsackerthe

that actionbetakenwithregard toexaminingthe

dbyPopov.Welzsttckerroutedthisrequest tothe

.30.

Documents

Popov Clodius