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<div style="background: #ccf; font-weight: bold; padding: 1px 3px 1px 3px;">This article is part of the<br/>[[Venona project|Venona]]<br/>series.</div>

<div style="background: #ccf; font-weight: bold; padding: 1px 3px 1px 3px;">This article is part of the<br/>[[Venona project|Venona]]<br/>series.</div>

[[CPUSA#Secret_apparatus|Secret apparatus]]<br/>

[[CPUSA#Secret apparatus|Secret apparatus]]<br/>

[[Works Progress Administration]]<br/>

[[Works Progress Administration]]<br/>

[[War Production Board]]<br/>

[[War Production Board]]<br/>

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'''Henry Samuel Magdoff''' (born 21 August 1913 died 31 December 2005), commonly known as '''Harry Magdoff''', held several administrative positions in government during the [[President of the United States|presidency]] of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] while being a Soviet espionage agent in the [[Perlo group]].  Magdoff made many false statements regarding his employment in order to obtain a job as an economist with several [[New Deal]] agencies.  During [[World War II]], as Chief Economist on the [[War Production Board]], Magdoff passed much classified and vital information to the [[Soviet Union]]. Magdoff was a dues paying Communist. At the time, U.S. law forbad employment within the United Government of persons belonging to groups which advocated the [[violent]] overthrow of the United States Constitutional form of government.

'''Henry Samuel Magdoff''' (21 August 1913 – 31 December 2005), commonly known as '''Harry Magdoff''', held several administrative positions in government during the [[President of the United States|presidency]] of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] while being a Soviet espionage agent in the [[Perlo group]].  Magdoff made many false statements regarding his employment in order to obtain a job as an economist with several [[New Deal]] agencies.  During [[World War II]], as Chief Economist on the [[War Production Board]], Magdoff passed much classified and vital information to the [[Soviet Union]]. Magdoff was a dues paying Communist. At the time, U.S. law forbad employment within the United Government of persons belonging to groups which advocated the [[violent]] overthrow of the United States Constitutional form of government.

After the war, Magdoff became co-editor of the [[Marxism|Marxist]] publication, ''[[Monthly Review]]'', along with [[Paul Sweezsy]].   

After the war, Magdoff became co-editor of the [[Marxism|Marxist]] publication, ''[[Monthly Review]]'', along with [[Paul Sweezsy]].   

The public accusation that Magdoff was working for Soviet intelligence was itself not new; it had originated with defector [[Elizabeth Bentley]] who testified to that same effect.

The public accusation that Magdoff was working for Soviet intelligence was itself not new; it had originated with defector [[Elizabeth Bentley]] who testified to that same effect.

: On the date specified I went to the apartment of John Abt, was admitted by him to his apartment and there met four individuals, none of whom I had ever seen before.  They were introduced to me as Victor Perlo, Charlie Kramer, Henry Magdoff and Edward Fitzgerald.  They seemed to know, at least, generally that they could talk freely in my presence and I recall some conversation about their paying Communist Party dues to me, as well as my furnishing them with Communist Party literature.  There followed then a general discussion among all of us as to the type of information which these people, excepting Abt, would be able to furnish.  It was obvious to me that these people, including Abt, had been associated for some time and that they had been engaged in some sort of espionage for Earl Browder. <ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm2c.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 2c,] p. 182 (p. 3 in PDF format).</ref>

: On the date specified I went to the apartment of John Abt, was admitted by him to his apartment and there met four individuals, none of whom I had ever seen before.  They were introduced to me as Victor Perlo, Charlie Kramer, Henry Magdoff and Edward Fitzgerald.  They seemed to know, at least, generally that they could talk freely in my presence and I recall some conversation about their paying Communist Party dues to me, as well as my furnishing them with Communist Party literature.  There followed then a general discussion among all of us as to the type of information which these people, excepting Abt, would be able to furnish.  It was obvious to me that these people, including Abt, had been associated for some time and that they had been engaged in some sort of espionage for Earl Browder.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm2c.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 2c,] p. 182 (p. 3 in PDF format).</ref>

Bentley's charges resulted in many acrimonious investigations of alleged spies, including Magdoff.

Bentley's charges resulted in many acrimonious investigations of alleged spies, including Magdoff.

In the History of counter intelligence operations in the United States, published by the United States Office of the National Counterintelligence Center (NACIC), lists Magdoff as a member of the [[Perlo group]] of Soviet agents. <ref>[http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci3/ch1.pdf ''A Counterintelligence Reader,'']  Office of the National Counterintelligence Center, p. 31:  "The following were members of the Victor Perlo group....Harry Magdoff: Statistical Division of WPB and Office of Emergency Management; Bureau of Research and Statistics, WTB; Tools Division, War Production Board; Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Commerce Department."</ref>  Magdoff was identified by [[Arlington Hall]] cryptographers in the VENONA cables and by [[FBI]] [[counterintelligence]] investigators as being a Soviet information source under the cover name "KANT" as of 1944. <ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/venona/releases/05_May_1944_R3_m4_p1.gif Venona 629 KGB New York to Moscow,  5 May 1944.]</ref>

In the History of counter intelligence operations in the United States, published by the United States Office of the National Counterintelligence Center (NACIC), lists Magdoff as a member of the [[Perlo group]] of Soviet agents.<ref>[http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci3/ch1.pdf ''A Counterintelligence Reader,'']  Office of the National Counterintelligence Center, p. 31:  "The following were members of the Victor Perlo group....Harry Magdoff: Statistical Division of WPB and Office of Emergency Management; Bureau of Research and Statistics, WTB; Tools Division, War Production Board; Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Commerce Department."</ref>  Magdoff was identified by [[Arlington Hall]] cryptographers in the VENONA cables and by [[FBI]] [[counterintelligence]] investigators as being a Soviet information source under the cover name "KANT" as of 1944.<ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/venona/releases/05_May_1944_R3_m4_p1.gif Venona 629 KGB New York to Moscow,  5 May 1944.]</ref>

The name "KANT" appears in declassified decrypts of cables from [[New York City|New York]] to [[Moscow]], dated May 5, May 13, and May 30, 1944.  The first is described by the decrypters as being sent from [[Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov]] in which he requests a "telegraph a reply to No. 139 and advise about the possibility of a meeting with KANT."

The name "KANT" appears in declassified decrypts of cables from [[New York City|New York]] to [[Moscow]], dated May 5, May 13, and May 30, 1944.  The first is described by the decrypters as being sent from [[Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov]] in which he requests a "telegraph a reply to No. 139 and advise about the possibility of a meeting with KANT."

On the May 13 cable, "MAYOR", according to Arlington Hall counterintelligence is [[Iskhak Akhmerov|Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]], reports on a meeting in which Elizabeth Bentley was placed in contact with the Perlo group for the purposes of obtaining secret government information to transmit to the Soviet Union. Magdoff's surname was transmitted in the clear. <ref>[http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/venona/b35.gif Venona 687 KGB New York to Moscow, 13 May 1944.]</ref>

On the May 13 cable, "MAYOR", according to Arlington Hall counterintelligence is [[Iskhak Akhmerov|Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]], reports on a meeting in which Elizabeth Bentley was placed in contact with the Perlo group for the purposes of obtaining secret government information to transmit to the Soviet Union. Magdoff's surname was transmitted in the clear.<ref>[http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/venona/b35.gif Venona 687 KGB New York to Moscow, 13 May 1944.]</ref>

A number of U.S. government agencies (as well as locations within the U.S.) were also given cover names.  In this case, "DEPOT" is said to be code for the War Production Board, where Magdoff worked in the Statistics and Tools Divisions.

A number of U.S. government agencies (as well as locations within the U.S.) were also given cover names.  In this case, "DEPOT" is said to be code for the War Production Board, where Magdoff worked in the Statistics and Tools Divisions.

In Moscow the request was processed. Evidence was unearthed in the Comintern Archives in the late 1980s, Lt. General [[Pavel M. Fitin]], the head of [[KGB]] foreign intelligence operations in Moscow, requested of Secretary General of the Comintern [[Georgi Dimitrov]] information to complete Magdoff's recruitment. <ref>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fitin_to_Dimitrov%2C_29_September_1944 Wikisource:Fitin to Dimitrov, 29 September 1944].</ref>

In Moscow the request was processed. Evidence was unearthed in the Comintern Archives in the late 1980s, Lt. General [[Pavel M. Fitin]], the head of [[KGB]] foreign intelligence operations in Moscow, requested of Secretary General of the Comintern [[Georgi Dimitrov]] information to complete Magdoff's recruitment.<ref>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fitin_to_Dimitrov%2C_29_September_1944 Wikisource:Fitin to Dimitrov, 29 September 1944].</ref>

This document was published in a book by historians Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov <ref> ''The Secret World of American Communism'', Yale University Press, 1995.

This document was published in a book by historians Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov,<ref>''The Secret World of American Communism'', Yale University Press, 1995.

</ref>, and also in the memoirs of [[Alexandre Feklisov]] <ref>[http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=50A "A NKVD/NKGB Report to Stalin: A Glimpse into Soviet Intelligence in the United States in the 1940's"] Pozniakov, Vladimir, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Cold War History Project Virtual Archive:  "Feklisov, pp. 65-105; M. Vorontsov, Capt. 1st rank, Chief Navy Main Staff, Intelligence Directorate, and Petrov, Military Commissar, NMS, ID to G. Dimitrov, 15 August 1942, No. 49253ss, typewritten original; G. Dimitrov to Pavel M. Fitin, 20 November 1942, No. 663, t/w copy; P. M. Fitin to G. Dimitrov, 14 July 1944, No. 1/3/10987, t/w copy; P. M. Fitin to G. Dimitrov, 29 September 1944, No. 1/3/16895, t/w copy. All these documents are NMS ID and FCD Chiefs' requests for information related to Americans and naturalized American citizens working in various US Government agencies and private corporations, some of whom had been CPUSA members. The last two are related to a certain Donald Wheeler (an OSS official), Charles Floto or Flato (who in 1943 worked for the "...Dept. of Economic Warfare"), and Harry Magdoff (War Production Board)-the request dated 29 Sept. 1944-and to Judith Coplon who according to the FCD information worked for the [[Dept. of Justice]].-RTsKhIDNI, f. 495, op. 74, d. 478, l. 7; d. 484, l. 34; d. 485, l. 10, 14, 17, 31, 44."</ref>  

</ref> and also in the memoirs of [[Alexandre Feklisov]] <ref>[http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=50A "A NKVD/NKGB Report to Stalin: A Glimpse into Soviet Intelligence in the United States in the 1940's"] Pozniakov, Vladimir, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Cold War History Project Virtual Archive:  "Feklisov, pp. 65-105; M. Vorontsov, Capt. 1st rank, Chief Navy Main Staff, Intelligence Directorate, and Petrov, Military Commissar, NMS, ID to G. Dimitrov, 15 August 1942, No. 49253ss, typewritten original; G. Dimitrov to Pavel M. Fitin, 20 November 1942, No. 663, t/w copy; P. M. Fitin to G. Dimitrov, 14 July 1944, No. 1/3/10987, t/w copy; P. M. Fitin to G. Dimitrov, 29 September 1944, No. 1/3/16895, t/w copy. All these documents are NMS ID and FCD Chiefs' requests for information related to Americans and naturalized American citizens working in various US Government agencies and private corporations, some of whom had been CPUSA members. The last two are related to a certain Donald Wheeler (an OSS official), Charles Floto or Flato (who in 1943 worked for the "...Dept. of Economic Warfare"), and Harry Magdoff (War Production Board)-the request dated 29 Sept. 1944-and to Judith Coplon who according to the FCD information worked for the [[Dept. of Justice]].-RTsKhIDNI, f. 495, op. 74, d. 478, l. 7; d. 484, l. 34; d. 485, l. 10, 14, 17, 31, 44."</ref>  

(the Soviet [[Agent handler|Case Officer]] for [[Julius Rosenberg]] and [[Klaus Fuchs]]), published in 2001.

(the Soviet [[Agent handler|Case Officer]] for [[Julius Rosenberg]] and [[Klaus Fuchs]]), published in 2001.

Moscow then responded to New York KGB headquarters on February 25, 1945 in Venona decrypt #179,180.  According to the authors of ''Haunted Wood:  Soviet Espionage in America'', researchers Allen Weinstein and ex-KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev, the cover name of "KANT" was replaced with "TAN".  Moscow expressed concern that knowledge of some probationers working for various groups was widely known among other CPUSA members, so it was not uncommon for code names to change.  The code name "TAN" appears in a memo of [[Anatoly Gorsky]]’s, dated December 1948, a document from the KGB archives analyzed by Alexander Vassiliev. <ref>[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page44.html "Alexander Vassiliev’s Notes on Anatoly Gorsky’s December 1948 Memo on Compromised American Sources and Networks (Annotated),"] John Earl Haynes:  "3. "Tan" – Harry Magdoff, former employee of the Commerce Department."</ref>

Moscow then responded to New York KGB headquarters on February 25, 1945 in Venona decrypt #179,180.  According to the authors of ''Haunted Wood:  Soviet Espionage in America'', researchers Allen Weinstein and ex-KGB officer Alexander Vassiliev, the cover name of "KANT" was replaced with "TAN".  Moscow expressed concern that knowledge of some probationers working for various groups was widely known among other CPUSA members, so it was not uncommon for code names to change.  The code name "TAN" appears in a memo of [[Anatoly Gorsky]]’s, dated December 1948, a document from the KGB archives analyzed by Alexander Vassiliev.<ref>[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page44.html "Alexander Vassiliev’s Notes on Anatoly Gorsky’s December 1948 Memo on Compromised American Sources and Networks (Annotated),"] John Earl Haynes:  "3. "Tan" – Harry Magdoff, former employee of the Commerce Department."</ref>

Gorsky was then a senior official of the Committee of Information ([[KI]]), the Soviet agency at the time supervising Soviet foreign intelligence. <ref>Ibid.</ref>

Gorsky was then a senior official of the Committee of Information ([[KI]]), the Soviet agency at the time supervising Soviet foreign intelligence.<ref>Ibid.</ref>

A top secret internal FBI memo dated February 1, 1956 from Assistant [[Alan H. Belmont]] to the Director and head of the FBI's Internal Security Section, L. V. Boardman, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using [[Venona project]] materials to prosecute suspects.  In that memorandum, which remained classified forty-one years until the [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan|Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] obtained its release to the public in 1997, Boardman quotes the May 13, 1944 Venona transcript, which named several members of the Perlo group, including Magdoff.  Though Belmont was of the opinion that the VENONA evidence could lead to successful convictions, it was ultimately decided, in consideration of compromising the [[Signal Intelligence Service|Army Signals Intelligence]] efforts, that there would not be prosecutions. <ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/venona/venona.pdf "VENONA:  FBI Documents of Historic Interest Re VENONA That Are Referenced In Daniel P. Moynihan's Book, 'Secrecy,'"] pgs. 68-71</ref>

A top secret internal FBI memo dated February 1, 1956 from Assistant [[Alan H. Belmont]] to the Director and head of the FBI's Internal Security Section, L. V. Boardman, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using [[Venona project]] materials to prosecute suspects.  In that memorandum, which remained classified forty-one years until the [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan|Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] obtained its release to the public in 1997, Boardman quotes the May 13, 1944 Venona transcript, which named several members of the Perlo group, including Magdoff.  Though Belmont was of the opinion that the VENONA evidence could lead to successful convictions, it was ultimately decided, in consideration of compromising the [[Signal Intelligence Service|Army Signals Intelligence]] efforts, that there would not be prosecutions.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/venona/venona.pdf "VENONA:  FBI Documents of Historic Interest Re VENONA That Are Referenced In Daniel P. Moynihan's Book, 'Secrecy,'"] pgs. 68-71</ref>

==Postwar subversive activities==

==Postwar subversive activities==

Magdoff left his employment with the U.S. government, then with the [[United States Department of Commerce]], on December 30, 1946, and went to work for the New Council on American Business in New York, happy to leave government service. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster083.pdf Vol. 83, pgs. 83 -84] pdf, Hottel to the Director, January 8, 1947. Magdoff indicates he will be very happy to be leaving the Commerce Department.</ref>  Magdoff worked among many business associates until 1948, at which time he began employment with Trubeck Laboratories in New Jersey.  He became an economic advisor and speechwriter to former Vice-President and unsuccessful Presidential candidate [[Henry A. Wallace]].

Magdoff left his employment with the U.S. government, then with the [[United States Department of Commerce]], on December 30, 1946, and went to work for the New Council on American Business in New York, happy to leave government service.<ref>FBI Silvermaster file [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster083.pdf Vol. 83, pgs. 83 -84] pdf, Hottel to the Director, January 8, 1947. Magdoff indicates he will be very happy to be leaving the Commerce Department.</ref>  Magdoff worked among many business associates until 1948, at which time he began employment with Trubeck Laboratories in New Jersey.  He became an economic advisor and speechwriter to former Vice-President and unsuccessful Presidential candidate [[Henry A. Wallace]].

Magdoff began a career in academia in the 1950s.  His first and perhaps most influential book, ''The Age of Imperialism'', was published in 1969.  It sold over 100,000 copies and was translated into fifteen languages.  Two years later, after the death of [[Leo Huberman]], he began co-editing with [[Paul Sweezy]] ''Monthly Review'', the leading independent Marxist journal in the United States, and has continued to edit the magazine to this day.  Under Magdoff's direction, the ''Monthly Review'' has focused more and more upon [[imperialism]] as the key unit of analysis for global development and the forces challenging neocolonialism in the [[Third World]].  This perspective put the magazine and its press squarely on the [[New Left]] intellectual agenda since the late 1960s.  His work has also kept him in the forefront of socialist thought in the U.S. from the 1930s to this day.  The [[Great Depression]] left a strong impact on Magdoff's perspective on [[capitalism]], as Magdoff recalls a sense of doom felt in the mid-century by pro-capitalists, holding that nothing since 1929 leads him to believe that the economy has become immune to cycles of severe crisis.

Magdoff began a career in academia in the 1950s.  His first and perhaps most influential book, ''The Age of Imperialism'', was published in 1969.  It sold over 100,000 copies and was translated into fifteen languages.  Two years later, after the death of [[Leo Huberman]], he began co-editing with [[Paul Sweezy]] ''Monthly Review'', the leading independent Marxist journal in the United States, and has continued to edit the magazine to this day.  Under Magdoff's direction, the ''Monthly Review'' has focused more and more upon [[imperialism]] as the key unit of analysis for global development and the forces challenging neocolonialism in the [[Third World]].  This perspective put the magazine and its press squarely on the [[New Left]] intellectual agenda since the late 1960s.  His work has also kept him in the forefront of socialist thought in the U.S. from the 1930s to this day.  The [[Great Depression]] left a strong impact on Magdoff's perspective on [[capitalism]], as Magdoff recalls a sense of doom felt in the mid-century by pro-capitalists, holding that nothing since 1929 leads him to believe that the economy has become immune to cycles of severe crisis.

* Alexandre Feklisov, ''The Man Behind the Rosenbergs:  Memoirs of the KGB Spymaster Who Also Controlled Klaus Fuchs and Helped Resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis'' (New York:  Enigma, 2001).  ISBN 1929631081

* Alexandre Feklisov, ''The Man Behind the Rosenbergs:  Memoirs of the KGB Spymaster Who Also Controlled Klaus Fuchs and Helped Resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis'' (New York:  Enigma, 2001).  ISBN 1929631081

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, ''Venona:  Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1999).  ISBN 0300077718

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, ''Venona:  Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1999).  ISBN 0300077718

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov, ''The Secret World of American Communism'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1995); p. 312 (Document 90) reproduces a copy of the September 29, 1944 Fitin to Dimitrov memo (RTsKhIDNI 495-74-485).  ISBN 0300068557

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov, ''The Secret World of American Communism'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1995); p.&nbsp;312 (Document 90) reproduces a copy of the September 29, 1944 Fitin to Dimitrov memo (RTsKhIDNI 495-74-485).  ISBN 0300068557

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Kyrill Anderson, ''The Soviet World of American Communism'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1998).  ISBN 0300071507

* Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Kyrill Anderson, ''The Soviet World of American Communism'' (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1998).  ISBN 0300071507

* Herbert Romerstein, ''The Venona Secrets:  Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2000). ISBN 0895262754

* Herbert Romerstein, ''The Venona Secrets:  Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2000). ISBN 0895262754

* [http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm2c.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 2c,] pgs. 182-188 (pgs. 3-9 in PDF format).

* [http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm2c.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 2c,] pgs. 182-188 (pgs. 3-9 in PDF format).

* [http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm5b.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 5b,] pgs. 170-178 (pgs. 86-94 in PDF format).

* [http://foia.fbi.gov/silversm/silversm5b.pdf FBI Silvermaster group file, Part 5b,] pgs. 170-178 (pgs. 86-94 in PDF format).

* Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, [http://www.nacic.gov/history/CIReaderPlain/Vol3Chap1.pdf ''A Counterintelligence Reader'', vol. 3, chap. 1,]  p. 31.

* Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, [http://www.nacic.gov/history/CIReaderPlain/Vol3Chap1.pdf ''A Counterintelligence Reader'', vol. 3, chap. 1,]  p.&nbsp;31.

* Vladimir Pozniakov, [http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=50A ''A NKVD/NKGB Report to Stalin: A Glimpse into Soviet Intelligence in the United States in the 1940's'']

* Vladimir Pozniakov, [http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=library.document&id=50A ''A NKVD/NKGB Report to Stalin: A Glimpse into Soviet Intelligence in the United States in the 1940's'']

* [[Wikisource:Fitin to Dimitrov, 29 September 1944]]

* [[Wikisource:Fitin to Dimitrov, 29 September 1944]]