WE CAN NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY...
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| PAVEL IVANOVICH FEDOSIMOV |
With thanks and acknowledgment to Clive.
As followers will know, Clive has been working away often in the background digging into websites, endless files and libraries searching for anything that might reveal more about Pavel Fedosimov. Pavel closely matches the description of the Somerton Man.
Brief Background
Together we had found that variations of the spelling of Pavel's name had been recorded by US authorities, we also found that he had been apparently misidentified in the Venona Code names.
Vassiliev's notes broke the astonishing news that Pavel had been under suspicion of planning to betray Russia and that was the reason for his being recalled to Moscow.
He was booked on the Pobeda departing New York on July 31st 1948. One account tells of that ship's departure being delayed for four hours apparently over a luggage issue. A review of the departing passenger lists for the Pobeda certainly has the name Pavel Fedosimov on it but, and it's a big BUT, the list was not certificated. No official from the US actually signed off that the list and the passengers were correctly matched. His wife's name does not appear on that list.
All other departures from the US have their passenger's lists signed off and certificated, the Pobeda's records show only blank certificates.
The mystery is further compounded when we discovered that there was a disastrous fire aboard the Pobeda on its journey back to Russia. On September 1st whilst in the Black Sea on the last leg of its voyage to Odessa, the fire broke out killing 40 passengers and two crew.
One of those passengers was a high profile ex Chinese Nationalist Minister (Wa Lord) who had publicly criticised the Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, this ex-minister, Feng Yu Hsiang, died along with members of his family that day. Stalin suspected espionage and he was furious.
It seems most likely that there was an association between the CIA and Pavel, had that not been the case, they would have surely written a flat out denial. But, as you will have read the response was 'we can neither confirm nor deny having such records'.
THE CIA LETTER
Fast forward now to this latest news. Clive had written a second letter to the CIA records people requesting not only publicly available information but, given the years that have elapsed since 1948, he also requested information on items that may have been classified.
Clive received a response last week, here are the relevant sections as highlighted:
Despite an extensive search effort, we have found that there are no other photographs of Pavel other than that which we found some 2 years ago. There is no photographic evidence that Pavel existed after that one and only photograph was taken.
The research continues with a somewhat different focus.
Many Thanks Clive! Your work is invaluable and very much appreciated.
stock standard response.
ReplyDeletesurely you, having worked in an investigative/intelligence role ,know that even a mundane query elicits such a reply....
You are referring to the 'Glomar Response' it is generally used in response to an FOIA question when to reveal the requested information could cause issues even this long after the events. It is not used as a response to mundane inquiries, it's specific to purpose.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Fedosimov and according to Vassiliev's notes, this man was under suspicion of being a double agent. The US would have been the third party and there would indeed be records which may yet still be sensitive.
With regards to my background, there are no secrets, it's been published on this blog I find it best to be open with people so they can make informed opinions and assessments as to credibility. If you would care to send them in, I would be more than happy to publish your relevant experience/details here.
This information is still relevant today. Did a high ranking Soviet official, Pavel Fedosimov, make his way to Australia landing here in early November 1948? Is it possible that it was he who ended up dead on Somerton Beach on December 1st 1948? Until there is absolute proof that Carl Webb was the Somerton Man, then Pavel Fedosimov remains a candidate for the Somerton Man.
ReplyDeleteThere have been numerous, weak, attempts to disprove this possibility but mostly from a well known troll, 'Milongal', who has always refused to share their identity and relative experience with us. A zero credibility rating for that person whose notable input to the Somerton Man case has been an explanation of the various bus and train timetables that were in use during 1948, perhaps that is where they could most usefully spend their time?
For those interested, please read through this post to get an understanding of some of the circumstances surrounding Pavel Fedosimov and the view I have of his potential involvement.