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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI KNAR KIRF RS
SUBJECT: GOR GREETS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM DIRECTOR BLOOMFIELD 
WITH OPEN ARMS 
 
REF: 09 MOSCOW 1349 
 
Classified By: DCM Eric Rubin for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During a visit to Moscow from January 29 - 
February 4, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Director 
Sarah Bloomfield received an enthusiastic response from GOR 
officials, who noted that the GOR and the USHMM have shared 
interests in expanding World War II and Holocaust education. 
USHMM representatives hope to announce a series of bilateral 
projects as part of Russia's Victory Day celebration in May. 
Despite the obvious shared interests in this area, we should 
be alert to the possibility that the GOR will attempt to 
exploit the issue of Nazi collaborators in Ukraine and the 
Baltic countries to push its own geopolitical goals in the 
former Soviet space.  End Summary. 
 
USHMM proposes closer cooperation to GOR 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a visit to Moscow from January 29 - February 
4, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Director Sarah 
Bloomfield met with a wide cross-section of over twenty 
academics, NGOs, federal archive agencies, and GOR officials. 
 The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is a federal 
agency, funded by Congress, and its Director, Sarah 
Bloomfield, is directly appointed by the President in a 
manner similar to Cabinet members.  Although Russia has a 
Holocaust Memorial Synagogue and other Holocaust-related 
organizations, it has nothing comparable to the USHMM.  The 
primary goal of Bloomfield's trip was therefore to bring 
bilateral cooperation on Holocaust-related projects to the 
government level and out of the NGO realm.  The percentage of 
Russian participants in the USHMM's work has thus far been 
low; out of the 400 scholars who have had fellowships there, 
only two have been Russian.  Furthermore, the cooling of 
U.S.-Russian relations prior to 2009 led GOR agencies, 
including archival ones, to cut off cooperation with the 
USHMM. 
 
¶3. (C) Information about Nazi crimes on Soviet soil forms a 
key part of the USHMM's collection, and includes not only 
Jews who were Soviet citizens, but also Slavic forced 
laborers and Soviet prisoners-of-war.  Bloomfield's deputy 
Paul Shapiro noted that, ironically, due to a lingering Cold 
War mentality on the part of some GOR officials, the USHMM 
has enjoyed a closer cooperative relationship with a former 
U.S. adversary, Germany, than with its former ally, Russia. 
 
Common ground on falsification of history 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Bloomfield and Shapiro were quick to point out to GOR 
officials that the lack of Russian scholars at the USHMM was 
detrimental to Russia's interests.  Other former Soviet 
countries all participate, and have the opportunity to put 
their own spin on events that occurred during World War II, 
which differ from the views of Russians.  Shapiro told GOR 
officials that the USHMM shared Russia's concerns about 
"distortion of history" (reftel) and exoneration or even 
celebration of Nazi collaborators in places such as Ukraine 
and the Baltics.  Shapiro also noted that the improved 
bilateral atmosphere, which can only be enhanced by 
commemorating our World War II alliance against the Nazis, 
provides a golden opportunity for collaboration on joint 
projects. 
 
¶5. (C) Bloomfield and Shapiro found an extremely enthusiastic 
audience among their GOR interlocutors.  Deputy Foreign 
Minister Sergei Ryabkov agreed that "we have to focus on this 
tragic period of our history," and noted that the 
commemoration of the Red Army liberation of Auschwitz (a 
ceremony which Bloomfield attended, and where Russian 
Education Minister Fursenko inaugurated a pavilion devoted to 
the liberation) had just taken place on January 27. 
Bloomfield pointed out that many Americans are not aware that 
it was the Red Army, not the Americans, who liberated 
Auschwitz (as well as five other Nazi killing centers), and 
that this was emblematic of the need to include Russia more 
in Holocaust education.  Ryabkov cited the example of 
Ambassador Beyrle's father, who fought for both the U.S. and 
the Red Army during World War II, as an example of the kind 
of story that needs to be shared with the public so that they 
can understand the partnership of our two countries during 
that time.  Ryabkov suggested focusing media attention on any 
joint projects, and added, "the more we can do on this 
subject, the better," as we should always remember that we 
were allies for this event, which "for us, is a cherished 
part of our history."  He also agreed that it was "obvious" 
that a broader partnership of Russian scholars with the USHMM 
 
MOSCOW 00000334  002 OF 004 
 
 
would enhance the chances of bringing people's understanding 
of history as close to the truth as possible. 
 
Archivists ready to cooperate as well 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Shapiro asked Ryabkov about the obstructionism among 
some GOR officials in recent years regarding the USHMM's 
access to archival materials.  Ryabkov responded that it 
would be necessary to find a way to eliminate bureaucratic 
obstacles to address "the very un-bureaucratic issues" 
related to the Holocaust.  Given that, as Shapiro noted, 
archival materials form the backbone of the USHMM's work, no 
joint projects with Russia will be able to get off the ground 
without approval from GOR archival agencies.  These agencies 
have had a mixed record of cooperation with the USHMM; 
Bloomfield and Shapiro have been in regular contact with 
Sergey Mironenko, Director of the State Archives of the 
Russian Federation (GARF), while still only sharing a limited 
amount of information.  Two years ago, the FSB's archival 
wing, without explanation, cut off all contact with the 
USHMM.  To help resolve this question, Bloomfield met 
separately with Dr. Andrey Artizov, Director of the Federal 
Archival Agency of the Russian Federation, and with 
Mironenko.  Artizov (whose Agency supervises GARF's work) and 
Mironenko both expressed readiness to work with any of 
Bloomfield's ideas.  Shapiro emphasized these agencies' key 
role in any bilateral projects, and added that one of the 
most fundamental sources of information on Nazi crimes on 
Soviet territory is the documents from the Soviet Union's 
Extraordinary Committee. 
 
¶7. (C) After a week of meetings with GOR officials to discuss 
modes of collaboration, the head of the FSB's archival 
division, Vasiliy Khristoforov, unexpectedly appeared during 
a meeting at the MFA with Mikhail Shvydkoy, the Special 
Cultural Representative of President Medvedev, and proved to 
be affable and amenable to Bloomfield and Shapiro's 
suggestions.  Nonetheless, in order to re-start the 
relationship with the FSB, Ryabkov suggested that the USHMM 
begin by sending small list of cases to Ryabkov, who could 
then pass them along.  They could then gradually add in more 
and more cases as trust continued to improve. 
 
The nitty-gritty 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Bloomfield and Shapiro presented a series of specific 
ideas to their GOR interlocutors.  Shapiro suggested three 
joint bilateral projects in advance of the May Victory Day 
commemoration: one archival project; one roundtable of 
scholars; and one publishing project.  These could concern 
both Jewish victims and Soviet forced laborers.  Ryabkov 
noted that the events in May would involve foreign 
delegations, parades, and other commemorations, and agreed 
with Bloomfield that jointly signing a memorandum of 
understanding on the above projects would make an appropriate 
public gesture of cooperation in this context. 
 
¶9. (C) Shapiro proposed, in addition to the above ideas, a 
digitization project which would make all Extraordinary 
Committee documents available both here and in Washington. 
Artizov said that it would not be necessary to move this to 
Washington, as they have state of the art materials here. 
(Note: This statement has some basis; the Bloomfield group 
later toured GARF's new state-of-the-art facilities, which 
have just undergone a USD 16.7 million renovation.  End 
note.).  Artizov said that they should discuss how much the 
American side could fund, and then look at the budget and 
hammer out the details (including which part of the 
digitization would take place in-house, and which part would 
be outsourced).  Bloomfield assured Artizov that this project 
would be a priority.  Artizov suggested drawing up an 
agreement and signing it on the eve of Victory Day.  For his 
part, Mironenko said that they had a thorough collection from 
SVAG (the Soviet Military Administration in Germany), which 
they had developed in cooperation with the German 
Bundesarchive; however, this project had taken ten years to 
complete.  Artizov also said he was interested in YIVO and 
Yad Vashem documents.  Shapiro also suggested having Russia 
join the International Task Force on Holocaust Education and 
Research. 
 
¶10. (C) During the meetings, Shvydkoy said that he was 
planning to designate 2012 as "the year of Russia" in the 
U.S., and vice versa in Russia.  He added that "our 
Presidents require from us evidence and facts of the 
'reset.'" Shvydkoy also invited Bloomfield and Shapiro to two 
conferences in Moscow in April: one of Russian and American 
historians, and one of historians of post-Soviet countries 
 
MOSCOW 00000334  003 OF 004 
 
 
(which will touch on the Holocaust).  Ramzan Koloyev of the 
Ministry of Culture, told Bloomfield that his Ministry was 
also interested in taking part in bilateral activities in 
this sphere.  He mentioned the Bilateral Presidential 
Commission Working Group on culture, which entails joint 
cooperation between museums and libraries in both countries. 
Koloyev said that a Russian cultural delegation of 10-12 
people plans to visit the U.S. in March as a reciprocal visit 
to Undersecretary McHale's visit in December. 
 
¶11. (C) Because of Bloomfield's desire to put the weight of 
the GOR behind any joint projects, the trip focused on 
establishing, or re-establishing, relationships at the 
governmental level.  However, she also met with a number of 
academics and NGOs, without whose work none of the 
symbolically important events could happen.  Andrey Roginskiy 
showed Bloomfield the impressive archival collection 
belonging to his NGO Memorial, although only the portion 
relating to Soviet forced laborers during the war (so-called 
"ostarbeiters") touched directly upon the USHMM's work. 
Bloomfield and Shapiro also spoke with Aaron Zusman of the 
Organization of Victims of Fascist Camps and Ghettoes, 
himself a survivor of Nazi atrocities who has organized a 
number of former victims within Russia. 
 
¶12. (U) Bloomfield and Shapiro also spoke with professor 
Arkadiy Kovelman, head of the Department of Jewish studies at 
Moscow State University, regarding possible research, 
information, and scholar programs for his students at the 
USHMM; with Mark Kupovetskiy of the Russian-American Center 
for Biblical and Jewish Studies at the Russian State 
University of the Humanities (RGGU), regarding collaborative 
development of online databases; and Isaac Frumin, Vice 
Rector at the Higher School of Economics (HSE), regarding 
possible research exchange and fellowship programs.  HSE's 
and RGGU's field work involving personal interviews of 
survivors or witnesses from World War II sparked particular 
interest from the USHMM side.  They also visited the Moscow 
Choral Synagogue, the Solomon Mikhoels Cultural Center, and 
the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue.  Although GOR contacts will 
provide necessary heft to any joint projects, many of these 
people will make substantive behind-the-scenes contributions 
to any publicized bilateral activities to promote Holocaust 
awareness. 
 
Possible pitfalls 
----------------- 
 
¶13. (C) Bloomfield and Shapiro were pleased to be on the same 
page with their Russian interlocutors.  However, their 
conversation with Mironenko about some of the political 
aspects of this initiative provided a reality check for them 
about potential pitfalls, and optics that may not be in USG 
interests.  When Shapiro asked if the joint digital project 
would fit in with Medvedev's Victory Commission, Mironenko 
answered that for the 60th anniversary, there was a Central 
Committee called "Victory" which still exists on paper, but 
he derided the Committee as "pompous" and empty of substance. 
The context was "parades and such," with little relation 
anything academic or substantive. 
 
¶13. (C) Mironenko also spoke archly of the Anti-Falsification 
Commission (of which he and Artizov are technically members, 
although Mironenko only prepares information for it) that 
Medvedev created in May 2009 (reftel), damning it with faint 
praise.  He said that it has thus far met twice, but "cannot 
decide what direction to take."  He said that it was good 
that the Commission is stimulating research, and said may be 
interested in funding this, but he also made it clear that he 
had little respect for the majority of the Commission's 
members, who appear to be focusing on scoring political 
points, and to have shallow scholarly knowledge.  Any funding 
that a bilateral project received from the Commission would 
thus be tainted with politics.  Artizov told Bloomfield: "We 
are not trying to politicize the archives; that is not our 
mandate.  But when fascist collaborators are getting honors, 
we can't sit idly by." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14. (C) Artizov's sentiment on fascist collaborators is one 
GOR officials commonly express on the subject of World War II 
and the Holocaust.  Despite our obvious shared history as 
allies who defeated the Nazis, the GOR takes a radically 
different approach toward the problems and complexities of 
twentieth-century history in the USSR's former sphere of 
influence.  Bloomfield is correct that the USHMM and the GOR 
have a shared agenda in ensuring that the full truth of this 
collaboration is known, and that such mutually important 
 
MOSCOW 00000334  004 OF 004 
 
 
topics will add to the warming trend in bilateral relations. 
But while the USHMM wishes to air the truth in order to hold 
Nazi collaborators to account and in order to help ensure 
that nothing like the Holocaust occurs again, the GOR has at 
times shown an inclination to politicize this issue in order 
to silence critics of Russian actions before, during, and 
after World War II.  We should encourage the USHMM's 
initiative while remaining alert to attempts by the GOR to 
manipulate the issue for its own purposes. 
Beyrle