Romanian Diaries, 1944-1947

The diaries of the former senior political representative of the United States to Romania from 1944 to 1947, Burton Y. Berry, provide a first-hand account of the Communist takeover of Romania, as seen through the eyes of an American diplomat. From 1928 to 1944, Berry served in various posts at American diplomatic missions in Turkey, Greece, Iran, and Egypt. In 1944, he was appointed as senior political representative for the United States in Romania, with the personal rank of minister. As General Cortlandt Van R. Schuyler, the chief of the U.S. military representation on the Allied Control Commission in Romania described it, Berry’s “primary task was to establish and maintain informed channels with the king and the Romanian government.” From this position, Berry witnessed first-hand the events that led to the installation of a Communist regime in Romania.

Romanian Diaries also includes the top-secret Report upon Romania which Berry presented to United States President Harry S. Truman in September 1946. The editor of the diaries, Cornelia Bodea, describes this report as “a significant marker of the beginning of the Cold War. In it, he presented Truman with solid documentation of Soviet methods at work in Romania.” Berry’s diaries cover the period from 9 November 1944, the day he arrived in Romania, until 20 May 1947, the day he left Bucharest.