'curious sympathy towards Soviets'
There seems to have been a naivety about Stalin's intentions in places - on both sides of the Atlantic at all levels in 1945/6. He was still perceived as an ally by many.
The diaries of King George VI's Private Secretary, Tommy Lascelles, illustrate this. He had been to Oxford, so was well educated, and also seemed a reasonable judge of character as he wasn't impressed by the Prince of Wales (Duke of Windsor), but Tommy Lascelles seemed to accept Stalin at face value according to his diaries.
(However, on 2nd thoughts, I'm not sure about his standard of education. He thought a casualty rate of 5% on a bombing raid was reasonable - I hope he never took out a loan at compound interest!)