134 World War Two and the Partisan Struggle
the ideal place for this. They gave the necessary permission and for the next
three or four nights watched the Soviet aircraft take off and land. When the
Russian aviators had been sufficiently “trained,” Tito left with them at three
o’clock in the morning of 19 September 1944. His airplane took off without
sig naling, in the dark, with the head of Tito’s inseparable companion, his dog
Tiger, wrapped in a sack to silence his barking. Their distrust of the Allies was
such that the aircraft with Tito on board was escorted by another plane that, on
reaching Bosnia, flew in the opposite direction.^438 When a few days later the
British realized that their illustrious guest had “levitated,” to use Churchill’s
expression, they indignantly protested. But they had already lost control over
the Yugoslav situation. As Kardelj contemptuously said: “In the end, Churchill
has to continue behaving as a friend, because if he doesn’t, the English would
say that his politics in the Balkans was a failure. But in the meantime, the Rus-
sians are at Donji Miholjac” (a provincial town in Slavonia).^439
To the subsequent reprimands from Fitzroy Maclean for having gone to
Moscow without informing his British protectors, Tito answered defiantly:
“Churchill doesn’t tell me where and when to go.”^440 Nor did his flight from
Vis remain hidden from the Germans who, in spite of their hostile attitude
toward the Partisans, commented with manifest Schadenfreude. During a
meeting with his officers, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler stated: “I wish to
mention another example of fortitude, that of Herr Josip Broz. Unfortunately,
he is our enemy. When we catch him, we will get rid of him immediately,
I assure you.... But how I would like to have a dozen Titos in Germany.... He
did not have anything. He was between the Russians, English and Americans,
but he had the guts to make fun of the English and the Americans, and cover
them with shit in a most ridiculous way. He is a Moscow man. He has never
capitulated.”^441
Tito flew on a C-47, first to Marshal Fyodor I. Tolbukhin’s headquarters in
Craiova, Romania. He remained there for two days after a hair-raising trip,
since it was necessary to fly over enemy lines. Then, on 21 September, he left for
Moscow, where he was welcomed with respect. Discussions with Stalin fol-
lowed, about which little is known, since they took place in private. From Tito’s
later revelations it is evident, however, that the two examined both military and
political questions, but in a rather chilly atmosphere. “The principal reason,”
observed Tito, “was probably related to my telegrams during the war, especially
the one that started with the words: ‘If you cannot help us, don’t obstruct us.’
This was also confirmed by Dimitrov, whom I visited after my meeting with
Stalin. Dimitrov said to me: ‘Walter, Walter, the Boss was very angry because
of that dispatch.... He was so angry that he stamped his foot on the floor.’”^442