Eric Assmus

Who is Eric Assmus?

Eric Assmus was a Soviet diplomat of German descent.

Preceded by Boris Shtein, Assmus was an ambassador in Finland from 1935 to 1937. He contacted the Finnish prime minister Toivo Kivimäki on 15 June 1935 stating that "in case of a military conflict in the Mainland Europe, the Soviet Union could be forced to occupy some parts of Finland". Later on 10 February 1936 Kivimäki told his private conversation with Assmus to J.K. Paasikivi, where he told:

"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."

After Assmus departed Helsinki, he was arrested and executed by the NKVD during the Great Terror. In 1938, a NKVD agent Boris Yartsev started negotiations between Finland and the Soviet Union.