Eric Assmus ( died 1937/1939, literally Erih Asmus) was a
Soviet diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
of
German descent.
Preceded by
Boris Shtein
Boris Yefimovich Shtein (russian: Бори́с Ефи́мович Штейн 1892 – 14 March 1961) was a Soviet diplomat. He was a member of many Soviet delegations in the 1920s and 1930s and served as a diplomat at the United Nations in the 1940 ...
, Assmus was
Ambassador to Finland from 1935 to 1937. He contacted Finnish Prime Minister
Toivo Kivimäki
Toivo is a masculine given name most commonly found in Estonia and Finland and may refer to:
*Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (1924–2017), Namibian politician and anti-Apartheid activist
*Sigrid Elmblad (1860–1926), Swedish journalist, poet, translator ...
on 15 June 1935 that "in case of a military conflict in the
Mainland Europe, the Soviet Union could be forced to occupy some parts of Finland". On 10 February 1936, Kivimäki reported his private conversation with Assmus to
Juho Kusti Paasikivi:
"in case Germany starts a war to any direction, Russia is forced to annihilate Finland to defuse it. It is possible that the enemy great power could use Finland to attack Russia, and to prevent this Russia have to occupy Finland. According to Russian military experts this would happen in days".[Polvinen, Tuomo "''J.K. Paasikivi: Valtiomiehen elämäntyö 2 1918–1939''" (in Finnish), p. 399]
After Assmus left
Helsinki, he was arrested and executed by the
NKVD during the
Great Purge. In 1938, the NKVD agent
Boris Yartsev
Boris Arkadyevich Rybkin (russian: Бори́с Арка́дьевич Ры́бкин)born Boruch Aronovich Rivkin russian: Борух Аронович Рывкин; 19 June 189927 November 1947) was a Soviet diplomat and a secret agent of the NK ...
started unsuccessful negotiations between Finland and the Soviet Union.
References
Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Finland
Great Purge victims from Germany
Executed Soviet people
Soviet people of German descent
Year of birth missing
1930s deaths
Year of death uncertain
{{Europe-diplomat-stub