State Department Clears Diplomat of Being Accomplice of Nazis

Undersecretary of State Ben Read has given a clean bill of political health to Constantine Warvariv, the American career diplomat who has been accused by Soviet authorities of being “an accomplice of the Nazis during World War II.” In a letter to Warvariv dated Oct. 27, which was made available to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by the State Department, Read wrote that “the Department’s investigation found no evidence whatsoever to support the allegations and charges against you” and that “the Department reaffirms the confidence in your loyalty and character as represented initially by your commissioning as a foreign service officer of the United States.”

Warvariv emigrated to the U.S. under the Displaced Persons Act from Germany in 1948 and joined the State Department in 1962. A Soviet press review last July, issued by the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York, revived the Soviet allegation that Warvariv was involved in the murder of 17,000 Jews in Rovno between Nov. 7-9, 1941. The Soviet report said Warvariv “was identified as a Nazi accomplice” when he attended a UNESCO conference 13 months ago as a U.S. delegation member.

Read’s letter also “commended” Warvariv “for your courageous and forthright action in immediately bringing to the attention of your superiors the attempt by Soviet representatives to suborn you.”

A spokesman for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration which is investigating alleged Nazis who entered the U.S., said that it does not have Read’s letter and does not consider the case closed. The spokesman told the JTA that a letter last month from Douglas Bennett, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, reported the Department’s office of security had discussed the Soviet charges with Warvariv and that “to date the investigation has resulted in the development of no information which would support the Soviet assertion that Constantine Warvariv was involved in war crimes.” Noting that Rep. Joshua Eilberg (D.Pa.), the subcommittee chairman, had written to Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance on Sept. 18 regarding this case, the spokesman said that the subcommittee would review the case when its members return to Washington.