"We know the methods of rule employed by the Bolshevik
dictator in Russia itself from, for example, the writing
and speeches of the Prime Minister himself during the
last twenty years. We know how the Red Army behaved in
Poland in 1920 and in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Galicia
and Bessarabia only recently.
We must, therefore, take into account how the Red Army
will certainly behave in when it overruns Central Europe.
Unless precautions are taken, the obviously inevitable
horrors which will result will throw an undue strain on
public opinion in this country.
We cannot reform the Bolsheviks but we can do our best
to save them - and ourselves - from the consequences of
their acts. The disclosures of the past quarter century
will render mere denials unconvincing. The only
alternative to denial is to distract public attention
from the whole subject.
Experience has shown that the best distraction is
atrocity propaganda directed against the enemy ... your
cooperation is therefore earnestly sought to distract
public attention from
the doings of the Red Army by your whole-hearted support of various charges against
the Germans and Japanese which have been and will be put into
circulation by the Ministry."
Extract from the infamous letter, sent February 29, 1944, to the BBC by
the British Ministry of Information (nice Orwellian touch). Reproduced from
"Allied Wartime Diplomacy", by Edward J. Rozek