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'''Steve Nelson''' was a National Committeeman of the [[Communist Party USA]].

'''Steve Nelson''' was a member of the National Committee of the [[Communist Party USA]] who had ties to [[USSR|Soviet]] intelligence.

A native of [[Yugoslavia]], Steve Nelson entered the [[United States]] on June 12, 1920 under a false name. He joined the [[Communist Party]] in the early 1920's and in 1928 was granted United States citizenship.  

Born '''Stjepan Mesaros''' in Čaglić, Croatia in 1903, he entered the [[United States]] on June 12, 1920 under an illegal and fraudulent passport under the false name of Joseph Fleischinger. He joined the [[Communist Party]] in 1925 and was granted United States citizenship in 1928.<ref>Daniel J. Leab, ''I Was a Communist for the F.B.I.: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic'' (State College, Penn: Penn State Press, 2000) ISBN 0271020539, p. 83</ref>

Nelson received special training in the [[Lenin School]] in [[Moscow]] in 1931, and in 1933 acted as an operative for the [[Communist International]] in [[Shanghai]], China. In 1936 and 1937, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Communist-recruited [[International Brigades]] in Spain.  Although active as a Communist Party organizer in California and Pennsylvania and as a member of the Communist Party National Committee, his most important assignment was [[atomic espionage]].

Nelson received special training at the [[Lenin School]] in [[Moscow]] in 1931, and in 1933 acted as an operative for the [[Communist International]] in [[Shanghai]], China. In 1936 and 1937, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Communist-recruited [[International Brigades]] in Spain.  Although active as a Communist Party organizer in California and Pennsylvania and as a member of the Communist Party National Committee, his most important assignment was [[atomic espionage]].

In April 1943 the [[FBI]] monitored a meeting in Nelson's home.<ref>Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/venona.htm VENONA: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957]'' (National Security Agency/Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), Preface</ref>  An FBI report stated,

In April 1943 the [[FBI]] monitored a meeting in Nelson's home.<ref>Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., ''[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/venona.htm VENONA: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957]'' (National Security Agency/Central Intelligence Agency, 1996), Preface</ref>  An FBI report stated,