Difference between revisions of "Venona files"
(correct yr) |
(more info) |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
Approximately 2,200 of the messages were decrypted and hundreds of cover names were found to be involved in clandestine activity with the KGB. Many have been identified. | Approximately 2,200 of the messages were decrypted and hundreds of cover names were found to be involved in clandestine activity with the KGB. Many have been identified. | ||
| + | |||
| + | With the first break into the code, Venona revealed the existence of Soviet espionage<ref> | ||
| + | Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, ''Secrecy : The American Experience'', Yale University Press, (1998), pg. 54, ISBN 0-300-08079-4. "these intercepts provided...descriptions of the activities of precisely the same Soviet spies who were named by defecting Soviet agents [[Alexander Orlov]], [[Walter Krivitsky]], [[Whittaker Chambers]], and [[Elizabeth Bentley]]." </ref> | ||
| + | at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory#The Manhattan Project|Los Alamos National Laboratories]].<ref>[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf A Brief Account of the American Experience]. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. VI; Appendix A. U.S. Government Printing Office. pg. A-27. "Thanks to successful espionage, the Russians tested their first atom bomb in August 1949, just four years after the first American test. As will be discussed, we had learned of the Los Alamos spies in December 1946—December 20, to be precise. The U.S. Army Security Agency, in the person of Meredith Knox Gardner, a genius in his own right, had broken one of what it termed the Venona messages—the transmissions that Soviet agents in the United States sent to and received from Moscow."</ref> Identities soon emerged of American, [[Canadian]], [[Australia]]n, and British spies in service to the Soviet government, including [[Klaus Fuchs]], [[Alan Nunn May]] and [[Donald Duart Maclean|Donald Maclean]], a member of the [[Cambridge Five]] spy ring. Others worked in Washington in the State Department, Treasury, Office of Strategic Services,<ref>[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf A Brief Account of the American Experience]. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. VI; Appendix A. U.S. Government Printing Office. pg. A-7. "KGB cables indicated that the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II had been thoroughly infiltrated with Soviet agents."</ref> and even the White House. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The decrypts show that the U.S. and other nations were targeted in major espionage campaigns by the Soviet Union as early as 1942. Among those identified are [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg]]; [[Alger Hiss]]; [[Harry Dexter White]],<ref>Benson, Robert L. | ||
| + | | url = http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00039.cf The Venona Story | ||
| + | | publisher = National Security Agency | ||
| + | | accessdate = 2006-06-26 | ||
| + | }}</ref> | ||
| + | the second-highest official in the Treasury Department; [[Lauchlin Currie]],<ref> | ||
| + | {{cite web | ||
| + | | url = http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00044.cfm | ||
| + | | title = Eavesdropping on Hell | ||
| + | | publisher = National Security Agency | ||
| + | | accessdate = 2006-06-26 | ||
| + | }} "Currie, known as PAZh (Page) and White, whose cover names were YuRIST (Jurist) and changed later to LAJER (Lawyer), had been Soviet agents since the 1930s. They had been identified as Soviet agents in Venona translations and by other agents turned witnesses or informants for the FBI and [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]]. From the Venona translations, both were known to pass intelligence to their handlers, notably the [[Greg Silvermaster#Silvermaster group|Silvermaster network]]."</ref> | ||
| + | a personal aide to Franklin Roosevelt; and [[Maurice Halperin]],<ref> | ||
| + | {{cite web | ||
| + | | last = Warner | ||
| + | | first = Michael | ||
| + | | year = 2000 | ||
| + | | url = https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/oss/art07.htm | ||
| + | | title = The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency; Chapter: X-2 | ||
| + | | publisher = Central Intelligence Agency Publications | ||
| + | | accessdate = 2006-06-27 | ||
| + | }} "[[Duncan C. Lee]], Research & Analysis labor economist [[Donald Wheeler]], Morale Operations Indonesia expert [[Jane Foster Zlatowski]], and Research & Analysis Latin America specialist Maurice Halperin, nevertheless passed information to Moscow." For title page to book, see [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/oss/index.htm here]</ref> | ||
| + | a section head in the Office of Strategic Services. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The identification of individuals mentioned in Venona transcripts is sometimes problematic, since people with a "covert relationship" with Soviet intelligence are referenced by code names.<ref>{{cite book | ||
| + | | last = Moynihan | ||
| + | | first = Daniel Patrick | ||
| + | | year = 1998 | ||
| + | | title = Secrecy : The American Experience | ||
| + | | publisher = Yale University Press | ||
| + | | pages = pg. 54 | ||
| + | | id = ISBN 0-300-08079-4 | ||
| + | }} "In these coded messages the spies' identities were concealed beneath aliases, but by comparing the known movements of the agents with the corresponding activities described in the intercepts, the FBI and the code-breakers were able to match the aliases with the actual spies."</ref> | ||
| + | Further complicating matters is the fact that the same person sometimes had different code names at different times, and the same code name was sometimes reused for different individuals. In some cases, notably that of Alger Hiss, the matching of a Venona code name to an individual is disputed. In many other cases, a Venona code name has not yet been linked to any person. According to authors [[John Earl Haynes]] and [[Harvey Klehr]], the Venona transcripts identify approximately 349 Americans who they claim had a covert relationship with Soviet intelligence, though less than half of these have been matched to real-name identities.<ref> | ||
| + | {{cite book | ||
| + | | author = Haynes, John Earl and Klehr, Harvey | ||
| + | | year = 2000 | ||
| + | | title = Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America | ||
| + | | publisher = Yale University Press | ||
| + | | pages = pg. 12 | ||
| + | | id = ISBN 0-300-08462-5 | ||
| + | }}</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the [[CIA]], housed at one time or another between fifteen and twenty Soviet spies.<ref> | ||
| + | {{cite web | ||
| + | | last = Warner | ||
| + | | first = Michael | ||
| + | | year = 2000 | ||
| + | | url = https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/oss/art07.htm | ||
| + | | title = The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency; Chapter: X-2 | ||
| + | | publisher = Central Intelligence Agency Publications | ||
| + | | accessdate = 2006-06-26 | ||
| + | }}</ref> | ||
| + | [[Duncan Lee]], [[Donald Wheeler]], [[Jane Foster Zlatowski]], and [[Maurice Halperin]] passed information to Moscow. The [[War Production Board]], the [[Board of Economic Warfare]], the Office of the [[Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs]] and the [[Office of War Information]], included at least half a dozen Soviet sources each among their employees. In the opinion of some, almost every American military and diplomatic agency of any importance was compromised to some extent by Soviet espionage.<ref> | ||
| + | {{cite web | ||
| + | | last = Peake | ||
| + | | first = Hayden B. | ||
| + | | url = http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/2000/summer/re2-su0.htm | ||
| + | | title = The Venona Progeny | ||
| + | | publisher = Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, Vol. LIII, No. 3 | ||
| + | | accessdate = 2006-06-26 | ||
| + | }} "Venona makes absolutely clear that they had active agents in the U.S. State Department, Treasury Department, Justice Department, Senate committee staffs, the military services, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Manhattan Project, and the White House, as well as wartime agencies. No modern government was more thoroughly penetrated."</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Some scholars and journalists dispute the claims by Haynes, Klehr, and others concerning the precision of the matching of code names to actual persons. Also contested is the implication that all 349 persons identified had a witting covert relationship with Soviet intelligence; it is argued that in some cases the individual may have been an unwitting information source or a prospect for future recruitment by Soviet intelligence. See "Critical views" below. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
| − | <references | + | <references> |
==External link== | ==External link== | ||
. | . | ||
[http://cryptome.org/fbi-nsa.htm ''Explanation and History of Venona Project Informantion''], FBI Memo Belmont to Boardman, Feb. 1, 1956. | [http://cryptome.org/fbi-nsa.htm ''Explanation and History of Venona Project Informantion''], FBI Memo Belmont to Boardman, Feb. 1, 1956. | ||
Revision as of 02:46, March 31, 2007
The Venona project intercepted codes passed among agents of the communist Soviet Union, and attempted to decrypt them. This was a project by the United States and United Kingdom during the Cold War. It helped identify people who were spying for the Soviet Union, and passing military secrets (such as information about the atomic bomb to it). Historians John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr have stated,
- Unfortunately, the success of government secrecy in this case has seriously distorted our understanding of post-World War II history. Hundreds of books and thousands of essays on McCarthyism, the federal loyalty security program, Soviet espionage, American communism, and the early Cold War have perpetuated many myths that have given Americans a warped view of the nation's history in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The information that these messages reveal substantially revises the basis for understanding the early history of the Cold War and of America's concern with Soviet espionage and Communist subversion.[1]
Between 1942 and 1945 thousands of encrypted cables were sent between KGB stations in the U.S. and Moscow but only a fraction were ever decrypted. The decryption rate was as follows:
- 1942 1.8%
- 1943 15.0%
- 1944 49.0%
- 1945 1.5%
Approximately 2,200 of the messages were decrypted and hundreds of cover names were found to be involved in clandestine activity with the KGB. Many have been identified.
With the first break into the code, Venona revealed the existence of Soviet espionage[2] at Los Alamos National Laboratories.[3] Identities soon emerged of American, Canadian, Australian, and British spies in service to the Soviet government, including Klaus Fuchs, Alan Nunn May and Donald Maclean, a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring. Others worked in Washington in the State Department, Treasury, Office of Strategic Services,[4] and even the White House.
The decrypts show that the U.S. and other nations were targeted in major espionage campaigns by the Soviet Union as early as 1942. Among those identified are Julius and Ethel Rosenberg; Alger Hiss; Harry Dexter White,[5] the second-highest official in the Treasury Department; Lauchlin Currie,[6] a personal aide to Franklin Roosevelt; and Maurice Halperin,[7] a section head in the Office of Strategic Services.
The identification of individuals mentioned in Venona transcripts is sometimes problematic, since people with a "covert relationship" with Soviet intelligence are referenced by code names.[8] Further complicating matters is the fact that the same person sometimes had different code names at different times, and the same code name was sometimes reused for different individuals. In some cases, notably that of Alger Hiss, the matching of a Venona code name to an individual is disputed. In many other cases, a Venona code name has not yet been linked to any person. According to authors John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, the Venona transcripts identify approximately 349 Americans who they claim had a covert relationship with Soviet intelligence, though less than half of these have been matched to real-name identities.[9]
The Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA, housed at one time or another between fifteen and twenty Soviet spies.[10] Duncan Lee, Donald Wheeler, Jane Foster Zlatowski, and Maurice Halperin passed information to Moscow. The War Production Board, the Board of Economic Warfare, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and the Office of War Information, included at least half a dozen Soviet sources each among their employees. In the opinion of some, almost every American military and diplomatic agency of any importance was compromised to some extent by Soviet espionage.[11]
Some scholars and journalists dispute the claims by Haynes, Klehr, and others concerning the precision of the matching of code names to actual persons. Also contested is the implication that all 349 persons identified had a witting covert relationship with Soviet intelligence; it is argued that in some cases the individual may have been an unwitting information source or a prospect for future recruitment by Soviet intelligence. See "Critical views" below.
References
<references>
External link
. Explanation and History of Venona Project Informantion, FBI Memo Belmont to Boardman, Feb. 1, 1956.
- ↑ Haynes, John Earl & Klehr, Harvey Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, Yale University Press, (2000), p. 18. ISBN 0300084625.
- ↑ Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, Secrecy : The American Experience, Yale University Press, (1998), pg. 54, ISBN 0-300-08079-4. "these intercepts provided...descriptions of the activities of precisely the same Soviet spies who were named by defecting Soviet agents Alexander Orlov, Walter Krivitsky, Whittaker Chambers, and Elizabeth Bentley."
- ↑ A Brief Account of the American Experience. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. VI; Appendix A. U.S. Government Printing Office. pg. A-27. "Thanks to successful espionage, the Russians tested their first atom bomb in August 1949, just four years after the first American test. As will be discussed, we had learned of the Los Alamos spies in December 1946—December 20, to be precise. The U.S. Army Security Agency, in the person of Meredith Knox Gardner, a genius in his own right, had broken one of what it termed the Venona messages—the transmissions that Soviet agents in the United States sent to and received from Moscow."
- ↑ A Brief Account of the American Experience. Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. VI; Appendix A. U.S. Government Printing Office. pg. A-7. "KGB cables indicated that the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II had been thoroughly infiltrated with Soviet agents."
- ↑ Benson, Robert L. | url = http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00039.cf The Venona Story | publisher = National Security Agency | accessdate = 2006-06-26 }}
- ↑ Eavesdropping on Hell. National Security Agency. Retrieved on 2006-06-26. "Currie, known as PAZh (Page) and White, whose cover names were YuRIST (Jurist) and changed later to LAJER (Lawyer), had been Soviet agents since the 1930s. They had been identified as Soviet agents in Venona translations and by other agents turned witnesses or informants for the FBI and Justice Department. From the Venona translations, both were known to pass intelligence to their handlers, notably the Silvermaster network."
- ↑ Warner, Michael (2000). The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency; Chapter: X-2. Central Intelligence Agency Publications. Retrieved on 2006-06-27. "Duncan C. Lee, Research & Analysis labor economist Donald Wheeler, Morale Operations Indonesia expert Jane Foster Zlatowski, and Research & Analysis Latin America specialist Maurice Halperin, nevertheless passed information to Moscow." For title page to book, see here
- ↑ Moynihan, Daniel Patrick (1998). Secrecy : The American Experience. Yale University Press, pg. 54. ISBN 0-300-08079-4. "In these coded messages the spies' identities were concealed beneath aliases, but by comparing the known movements of the agents with the corresponding activities described in the intercepts, the FBI and the code-breakers were able to match the aliases with the actual spies."
- ↑ Haynes, John Earl and Klehr, Harvey (2000). Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. Yale University Press, pg. 12. ISBN 0-300-08462-5.
- ↑ Warner, Michael (2000). The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency; Chapter: X-2. Central Intelligence Agency Publications. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ↑ Peake, Hayden B.. The Venona Progeny. Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, Vol. LIII, No. 3. Retrieved on 2006-06-26. "Venona makes absolutely clear that they had active agents in the U.S. State Department, Treasury Department, Justice Department, Senate committee staffs, the military services, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Manhattan Project, and the White House, as well as wartime agencies. No modern government was more thoroughly penetrated."