Evening star., 1953-05-26
Oil Executive
Tells of Refusinq
To Make Deal
By Crosby S. Moves

'If you want to see your chill
dren. you have got to do some
thing about it"
The time was last Wednesday.
The place was the New York
apartment of Valeriu Georgescu,
40, Romanian-born executive of
the Standard Oil Co. of New Jer-
sey. The speaker was a stranger
who had called earlier to make
an appointment.
Today, Mr.. Georgescu sat on a
sofa in his room at the Carlton
Hotel and told how it feels
when somebody asks you to be a
spy against the United States.
Especially when your two sons
your only children-are used as
bait. Mr.. Georgescu had recent
ly finished giving his statement
to the State Department and the
FBI.
The telephone call had come in
at $40 that Wednesday morning,
he said.
THE stranger asked to see
me and gave a name on the tele-
phone that sounded like Co.'S
tapeter. 1 said I did not rec
ognize the name He said it did
not matter because he did not
know me personally.
Visit at Home Arranged.
IT asked him to come and
see me at the Office. He re-
piled that it was on a personal
matter and therefore he wished
to see ME at home. He then
added that he had recently come
from Romania and that he was
bringing letter from my sons.
II said: Please come right
away. I shall wait for you.' He
said: I am only three minutes
away and will be right up"
There was good reason why
Mr.. Georgescu should be anxious
to get a letter from his sons.
Since 1947, when he and his wife
left Romania for what was ex-
pected to be a two months trip
to the United States, he hadnot
seen his boys-ConStantin, called
Costa, and Peter. At the time,
he was head of Romanian affi-
late of Standard Oil, and he
had been called back to the
United States for consultations
with the company. The Com
munists moved in on the Roman
ian oil industry in his absence.
At the end of his trip, Mr..
Georgescu found that he could
not return to Rumania. He
stayed in New York as the chief
Standard Oil executive for Mid
die and Far Eastern production.
He became an American citizen
in last year.
Family Taken in Custody.
The children had been left
with Mr.. Georgescu's in-laws at
their home in Banat. From
friends, he had learned that the
father-in-law, Sever Bocu, had
been arrested in 1850. Soon aft
erWardS, the rest of the family
was taken from their home to
an "evacuee camp" at Urziceni.
Since 1851, they had not been
permitted to write letters. The
only evidence Mr.. Georgescu
had they were alive was from
signed receipts for money that
he sent them regularly. The
last receipt came back in March.
Since 1947, the Georgescus had
been trying everything to get
their children out of the coun-
try. They had appealed direct
ly to the Communist govern
ment. They had tried the State
Department, the Red Cross, the
International Labor Organiza-
ton, the Indian government,
the intercession of friends and
other neutral organizations"
All had failed.
Still, they kept their hopes.
1T seemed to us that in recent
months, things had developed in
the international picture that in
dicated a sort of Softening of
relations. We had begun to hope
and pray that the time might
come when our children would
be returned to u.s."
The stranger shattered these
illusions, soon after his arrival
in Mr.. Gorgescu's apartment last
Wednesday.
"He came in after a few min
Continued on Page A-3, Col. 2)