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After leaving the meeting, said his son, Robeson “tore up the little notes and burned 'em in an ash tray, flushed them down the toilet...”<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson2.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr. (Part 2)] (Episode 6: Reds, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/ Interview transcripts], “Cold War,” [http://www.cnn.com/ CNN]), [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ National Security Archive], [http://www.gwu.edu/ The George Washington University].</ref>

After leaving the meeting, said his son, Robeson “tore up the little notes and burned 'em in an ash tray, flushed them down the toilet...”<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson2.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr. (Part 2)] (Episode 6: Reds, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/ Interview transcripts], “Cold War,” [http://www.cnn.com/ CNN]), [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ National Security Archive], [http://www.gwu.edu/ The George Washington University].</ref>

According to Robeson, Jr., “dad followed up by writing a letter direct to Stalin [on Pfeffer's behalf], through diplomatic channels, along with Howard Fast, the famous left-wing writer here and Frederich Joliot-Curie, who was the famous French physicist and a Communist.” The letter apparently failed to move Stalin. Pfeffer and his colleagues were executed in 1952.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson3.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr. (Part 2)] (Episode 6: Reds, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/ Interview transcripts], “Cold War,” [http://www.cnn.com/ CNN]), [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ National Security Archive], [http://www.gwu.edu/ The George Washington University].</ref>

According to Robeson, Jr., “dad followed up by writing a letter direct to Stalin [on Pfeffer's behalf], through diplomatic channels, along with Howard Fast, the famous left-wing [actually Communist]<ref>Elizabeth Dutertre, "Insights into the 'Small Terror': An Account Assembled from the Writings of Howard Fast," in Jean-Robert Rougé, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=zwfhUdsvJnEC L'anticommunisme aux États-Unis de 1946 à 1954] (Presses Paris Sorbonne, 1995) ISBN 2840500566, p. 191</ref> writer here and Frederich Joliot-Curie, who was the famous French physicist and a Communist.” This alleged letter apparently failed to move Stalin. Pfeffer and his colleagues were executed in 1952.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson3.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr. (Part 2)] (Episode 6: Reds, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/ Interview transcripts], “Cold War,” [http://www.cnn.com/ CNN]), [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ National Security Archive], [http://www.gwu.edu/ The George Washington University].</ref>

Back in the U.S., instead of denouncing Pfeffer's murder, Robeson lied, denouncing reports of the pogrom as anti-Soviet propaganda. In the Soviet Union he had "met Jewish people all over the place," he told a reporter, and "heard no word about it."<ref>Tim Tzouliadis, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FeR9R-cpFRsC The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia]'' (Penguin Group, 2008) ISBN 1594201684, p. 268</ref> Robeson eventually confessed the truth to his son, making him vow not to make the story public until well after Robeson's death, "because he had promised himself that he would never publicly criticize the USSR."<ref>Louis Rapoport, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=5rZtAAAAMAAJ Stalin's War Against the Jews: The Doctors' Plot and the Soviet Solution]'' (Free Press, 1990) ISBN 0029258219, p. 116</ref>

Back in the U.S., instead of denouncing Pfeffer's murder, Robeson lied, denouncing reports of the pogrom as anti-Soviet propaganda. In the Soviet Union he had "met Jewish people all over the place," he told a reporter, and "heard no word about it."<ref>Tim Tzouliadis, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FeR9R-cpFRsC The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia]'' (Penguin Group, 2008) ISBN 1594201684, p. 268</ref> Robeson eventually confessed the truth to his son, making him vow not to make the story public until well after Robeson's death, "because he had promised himself that he would never publicly criticize the USSR."<ref>Louis Rapoport, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=5rZtAAAAMAAJ Stalin's War Against the Jews: The Doctors' Plot and the Soviet Solution]'' (Free Press, 1990) ISBN 0029258219, p. 116</ref>