Changes

: MAGDOFF - "KANT".  GOOD GIRL's impressions:  They are reliable FELLOWCOUNTRYMEN ["members of a Communist Party"], politically highly mature; they want to help with information.  They said that they had been neglected and no one had taken any interest in their potentialities

: MAGDOFF - "KANT".  GOOD GIRL's impressions:  They are reliable FELLOWCOUNTRYMEN ["members of a Communist Party"], politically highly mature; they want to help with information.  They said that they had been neglected and no one had taken any interest in their potentialities

Magdoff at the time was ending a prolonged leave of absence due to a [[gall bladder]] operation, and was unsure of the type of material he could deliver.  As a new recruit, or "probationer" in Soviet parlance, "KANT" was subject to a background check and a request was made.  The May 30 cable transmits personal histories of the probationers.

Magdoff at the time was ending a prolonged leave of absence due to a gall bladder operation, and was unsure of the type of material he could deliver.  As a new recruit, or "probationer" in Soviet parlance, "KANT" was subject to a background check and a request was made.  The May 30 cable transmits personal histories of the probationers.

: ''2. "KANT" became a member of the CPUSA a long time ago, being [8 groups unrecovered], works in the Machine Tool Division of the DEPOT.''

: ''2. "KANT" became a member of the CPUSA a long time ago, being [8 groups unrecovered], works in the Machine Tool Division of the DEPOT.''

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 {{NamedRef|Haynes|7}}, and also in the memoirs of [[Alexandre Feklisov]] {{NamedRef|Feklisov|8}} (the Soviet [[Agent handler|Case Officer]] for [[Julius Rosenberg]] and [[Klaus Fuchs]]), published in [[2001]].

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.</br>

</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.

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. {{NamedRef|Vassiliev|9}} Gorsky was then a senior official of the Committee of Information ([[KI]]), the Soviet agency at the time supervising Soviet foreign intelligence. {{NamedRef|Gorsky|10}}

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>

A top secret internal FBI [[memorandum|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. {{NamedRef|Memo|11}}

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>

==Consequences and subsequent career==

==Consequences and subsequent career==

While Magdoff was never indicted on any charges related to espionage, the accusations damaged his reputation during the following decades.  Despite this, 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.

While Magdoff was never indicted on any charges related to espionage, the accusations damaged his reputation during the following decades.  Despite this, 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 and the late Paul Sweezy together produced five books.  Magdoff's most recent book is ''Imperialism without Colonies'', published when he was 89.  Today Magdoff co-edits the ''Monthly Review'' with John Bellamy Foster.

Magdoff and the late Paul Sweezy together produced five books.  Magdoff's most recent book is ''Imperialism without Colonies'', published when he was 89.  Today Magdoff co-edits the ''Monthly Review'' with John Bellamy Foster.

Magdoff has two sons.  His son, Fred Magdoff, is an expert in plant and soil science.  His wife of almost 70 years, Beatrice, died in [[2002]].

Magdoff has two sons.  His son, Fred Magdoff, is an expert in plant and soil science.  His wife of almost 70 years, Beatrice, died in 2002.

==References==

==References==

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==Publications==

==Publications==