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The '''Venona project''' intercepted codes passed among agents of the [[Communism|communist]] [[Soviet Union]], and attempted to decrypt them.  This was a project by the [[United States of America|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,

The '''Venona project''' intercepted codes passed among agents of the [[Communism|communist]] [[Soviet Union]], and attempted to decrypt them.  This was a project by the [[United States of America|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. <ref>Haynes, John Earl & Klehr, Harvey ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', Yale University Press, (2000), p. 18. ISBN 0300084625. </ref>

: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 [[Joseph_McCarthy#Tensions_of_the_times|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. <ref>Haynes, John Earl & Klehr, Harvey ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', Yale University Press, (2000), p. 18. ISBN 0300084625. </ref>

The Moynihan Commissions of Government Secrecy wrote in its final report,

The Moynihan Commissions of Government Secrecy wrote in its final report, "The first fact is that a significant Communist conspiracy was in place in Washington, New York, and Hollywood" <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/appa6.html Moynihan Commssion on Government Secrecy, Appendix A 6. The Experience of The Bomb]</ref>  The Commission's final report also included, "the United States Government possessed information which the American public desperately needed to know: proof that there had been a serious attack on American security by the Soviet Union, with considerable assistance from what was, indeed, an “enemy within.” ... Only the American public was denied this information." <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/appa7.html Moynihan Commssion on Government Secrecy, Appendix A 7. The Cold War]</ref>

:The first fact is that a significant Communist conspiracy was in place in Washington, New York, and Hollywood <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/moynihan/appa6.html Moynihan Commssion on Government Secrecy, Appendix A 6. The Experience of The Bomb]</ref>

 

During World War II, the Soviet Union ran espionage operations against the War Department and the State Department, the [[War Production Board]], the [[Office of Economic Warfare]], and even the Office of the President of the United States. It successfully penetrated each institution, and stole the secrets of many other organizations concerned with national security.  No modern government was more thoroughly penetrated. <ref>Peale, Hayden B., [http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/2000/summer/re2-su0.htm ''The Venona Progeny''], Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, Vol. LIII, No. 3.  "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."</ref>

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:

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:

With the first break into the code, Venona revealed the existence of Soviet espionage<ref>

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>  

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 Ethel and [[Julius Rosenberg]]; [[Alger Hiss]]; [[Harry Dexter White]],<ref>Benson, Robert L. [http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00039.cfm ''The Venona Story''], National Security Agency</ref>  the second-highest official in the Treasury Department; [[Lauchlin Currie]],<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 Ethel and [[Julius Rosenberg]]; [[Alger Hiss]]; [[Harry Dexter White]],<ref>Benson, Robert L. [http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00039.cfm ''The Venona Story''], National Security Agency</ref>  the second-highest official in the Treasury Department; [[Lauchlin Currie]],<ref>

[http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00044.cfm ''Eavesdropping on Hell''], National Security Agency.  "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>  

[http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00044.cfm ''Eavesdropping on Hell''], National Security Agency.  "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>Warner, Michael, 2000. [https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/oss/art07.htm The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency]; Chapter: X-2. Central Intelligence Agency Publications.  "[[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 personal aide to [[Franklin Roosevelt]]; and [[Maurice Halperin]],<ref>Warner, Michael, 2000. [https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/oss/art07.htm The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency]; Chapter: X-2. Central Intelligence Agency Publications.  "[[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.  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>Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 1998, ''Secrecy : The American Experience'', Yale University Press, pg. 54, ISBN 0-300-08079-4. </ref>  Nearly every American military and diplomatic agency of any importance was compromised to some extent<ref>Peale, Hayden B., [http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/review/2000/summer/re2-su0.htm ''The Venona Progeny''], Naval War College Review, Summer 2000, Vol. LIII, No. 3.  "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>

a section head in the Office of Strategic Services.  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>Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 1998, ''Secrecy : The American Experience'', Yale University Press, pg. 54, ISBN 0-300-08079-4. </ref>  Nearly every American military and diplomatic agency of any importance was compromised to some extent<ref>Peale, ''The Venona Progeny''. </ref>

==References==

==References==