For years after I discovered the existence of this document at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in 1989, the U.S. government fought my efforts to get it declassified. At the time, the Pentagon was saying there was no evidence American POWs had been taken to the Soviet Union. At one point, the Bush 41 White House itself directed it should stay secret, though by then it was over thirty-years-old. After it was finally released, the source -- KGB defector Yuri Rastvorov -- was brought forward by the CIA and reportedly denied he provided this information. At least two American officials who knew him, including a senior CIA officer and a POW expert present in the White House staff meeting described by this document, confirmed Rastvorov had indeed reported on the Americans under Soviet control; it was consistent with other reports at the time, many also kept secret for decades after. [Click on the document for more about its background.]

Rastvorov died in 2004; we're trying to get his original debriefing information from the CIA, but are not hopeful.

Moscow some years ago shut down U.S. efforts to investigate reports of Americans in the Gulag.