ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...

museums. Even in the private sector, this magnificent department store, the Kaufhaus des
Westens or KaDeWe as it was called, with its food section that included thousands of
different cheeses and sausages, was a political statement designed to show the difference
between East and West. The West German government also paid for all the operating
expenses of the three Western powers in Berlin, including things like housing and
furniture. Of course, in return West Germans were getting the defense of West Berlin so
it was still a pretty good deal for them.
Q: We talked about the Soviets. What about the French and the British? They had their
own sectors and did you get involved with them?
PERINA: We coordinated very closely with the French and the British. As a matter of
fact, we even had our own telegraphic network in Berlin that connected the British, the
French and the U.S. Missions in West Berlin so we could very quickly send confidential
messages to one another. You have to remember that this was before the internet. It was
another unique aspect of Berlin that I had not seen elsewhere. This was a classified
network, just like the State Department’s classified telegraphic system. The rule on the
system was that messages could be sent in either English or French. Of course, the
French always sent us messages in French whereas we and the British always sent
messages in English. Once on April 1 the U.S. Minister, Nelson Ledsky, a man with a
good sense of humor, sent out a message I drafted to the French and the British saying
that we had received new instructions from Washington and were no longer allowed to
receive messages in French because of the delay in translating them during possible
crises. The French fell for it and got very upset before realizing it was April 1. But on
your question, the coordination was very good among the three Western allies, and we
had very few disagreements.
Q: What about relations with our Embassy in East Berlin? Did you have much contact
with it?
PERINA: Not particularly but we coordinated as colleagues. The U.S. Ambassador in
East Berlin during my time was Roz Ridgway who later became Assistant Secretary for
European Affairs. As happens bureaucratically, there was an element of rivalry between
the Mission in West Berlin and the Embassy in East Berlin, especially in reporting to
Washington. If it was a Berlin issue, we were supposed to report it. If it was an East
German issue, the Embassy was supposed to report it. Clearly, there was sometimes
overlap on specific issues and disagreement over who had action. But it was rarely
serious and perhaps contributed to a healthy competition that improved overall reporting.
Q: Did you feel under any menace or threat during your time in Berlin as a result of
East-West relations?
PERINA: Not really. If you had asked me, I and I think most others would have answered
that the Berlin situation was very stable and likely to continue unchanged for a long time
into the future. We didn't feel any menace in the Cold War context. Nobody seriously
thought that there was going to be a World War III or an invasion of Berlin by the
41