Difference between revisions of "Silvermaster group"
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| − | The '''Silvermaster ring''' was a major Soviet espionage organization that operated within the [[United States Government]] during [[World War II]]. It was investigated by the FBI spanning the years 1945 through 1959. [[Nathan Gregory Silvermaster]] was the leader of the spy ring which consisted of 27 principal KGB operatives gathering information from at least six Federal agencies. The group operated primarily in the Department of the Treasury but also had contacts in the [[Army Air Force]] and in the [[White House]]. Sixty-one of the [[Venona cables]] concern the activities of the Silvermaster spy ring. | + | The '''Silvermaster ring''' was a major [[Soviet]] [[espionage]] organization that operated within the [[United States Government]] during [[World War II]]. It was investigated by the FBI spanning the years 1945 through 1959. [[Nathan Gregory Silvermaster]] was the leader of the spy ring which consisted of 27 principal KGB operatives gathering information from at least six Federal agencies. The group operated primarily in the Department of the Treasury but also had contacts in the [[Army Air Force]] and in the [[White House]]. Sixty-one of the [[Venona cables]] concern the activities of the Silvermaster spy ring. |
In 1942 the Silvermaster Group delivered 59 rolls of film to their handler. In 1943, it was 211 rolls, 600 in 1944, and 1895 in 1945. | In 1942 the Silvermaster Group delivered 59 rolls of film to their handler. In 1943, it was 211 rolls, 600 in 1944, and 1895 in 1945. | ||
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==Investigation== | ==Investigation== | ||
| − | In November 1945 [[Elizabeth Bentley]], the courier from group based in Washington D.C. to KGB headquarters in New York defected to the [[FBI]]. The [[KGB]] had removed Bentley from overseeing at least 80 members of the CPUSA Underground Apparatus in 1944. When she realized she knew too much, and was no longer of use to the KGB, she told her story to the FBI in a deposition. | + | In November 1945 [[Elizabeth Bentley]], the courier from group based in [[Washington, D.C.]] to KGB headquarters in [[New York]] defected to the [[FBI]]. The [[KGB]] had removed Bentley from overseeing at least 80 members of the CPUSA Underground Apparatus in 1944. When she realized she knew too much, and was no longer of use to the KGB, she told her story to the FBI in a deposition. |
The FBI knew of 5 Soviet agents throughout the war, Bentley added at least another 80, some of which were still employed in the US government at that time. Her story at first was incredible, but the FBI soon determined Bentley’s allegations were born out by information already in Bureau files. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster008.pdf Vol. 8, pg. 3] pdf.</ref> By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.</ref> | The FBI knew of 5 Soviet agents throughout the war, Bentley added at least another 80, some of which were still employed in the US government at that time. Her story at first was incredible, but the FBI soon determined Bentley’s allegations were born out by information already in Bureau files. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster008.pdf Vol. 8, pg. 3] pdf.</ref> By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 22:01, August 29, 2007
The Silvermaster ring was a major Soviet espionage organization that operated within the United States Government during World War II. It was investigated by the FBI spanning the years 1945 through 1959. Nathan Gregory Silvermaster was the leader of the spy ring which consisted of 27 principal KGB operatives gathering information from at least six Federal agencies. The group operated primarily in the Department of the Treasury but also had contacts in the Army Air Force and in the White House. Sixty-one of the Venona cables concern the activities of the Silvermaster spy ring.
In 1942 the Silvermaster Group delivered 59 rolls of film to their handler. In 1943, it was 211 rolls, 600 in 1944, and 1895 in 1945.
Investigation
In November 1945 Elizabeth Bentley, the courier from group based in Washington, D.C. to KGB headquarters in New York defected to the FBI. The KGB had removed Bentley from overseeing at least 80 members of the CPUSA Underground Apparatus in 1944. When she realized she knew too much, and was no longer of use to the KGB, she told her story to the FBI in a deposition.
The FBI knew of 5 Soviet agents throughout the war, Bentley added at least another 80, some of which were still employed in the US government at that time. Her story at first was incredible, but the FBI soon determined Bentley’s allegations were born out by information already in Bureau files. [1] By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. [2]
For much of 1946 the suspects were surveilled, and other information came from Canada and the Army Signals Intelligence. By December 1946 leaks began to develop, [3] copies of an FBI memorandum entitled "Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government" had been disseminated to several government departments and agencies, including the White House, and some were unaccounted for. In late December, a Justice Department prosecutor in the Criminal Division requested of a New York Special Agent in Charge (SAC) field investigator a copy of the Bentley deposition. The SAC telephoned FBI headquarters in Washington to request a copy of the signed affidavit in the presence of the prosecutor sitting at his desk. In a stinging rebuke to the field investigator, FBI Agent Edward Tamm noted in a memo to Director J. Edgar Hoover that the Bureau had gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the informant, and the call in the presence of the attorney was an "an atrocious exhibition of a complete lack of judgment." [4]
A copy of the Bentley deposition was furnished to the Criminal Division and they then pressed for a personal interview with Bentley to evaluate her ability to testify. Tamm wrote to the Director how he informed the prosecutors that “the Bureau was apprehensive for the life of informant since the informant would probably be killed if [her] identity were inadvertently disclosed” [5]
Members
- Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, Chief Planning Technician, Procurement Division, United States Department of the Treasury; Chief Economist, War Assets Administration; Director of the Labor Division, Farm Security Administration; Board of Economic Warfare; Reconstruction Finance Corporation Department of Commerce
- Helen Silvermaster (wife)
- Schlomer Adler, United States Department of the Treasury
- Norman Chandler Bursler, United States Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division
- Frank Coe, Assistant Director, Division of Monetary Research, Treasury Department; Special Assistant to the United States Ambassador in London; Assistant to the Executive Director, Board of Economic Warfare; Assistant Administrator, Foreign Economic Administration
- Lauchlin Currie, Administrative Assistant to President Roosevelt; Deputy Administrator of Foreign Economic Administration; Special Representative to China
- Bela Gold, Assistant Head of Program Surveys, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture; Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization; Office of Economic Programs in Foreign Economic Administration
- Sonia Steinman Gold, Division of Monetary Research U.S. Treasury Department; U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Interstate Migration; U.S. Bureau of Employment Security
- Irving Kaplan, Foreign Funds Control and Division of Monetary Research, United States Department of the Treasury Foreign Economic Administration; chief advisor to the Military Government of Germany
- George Silverman, civilian Chief Production Specialist, Material Division, Army Air Force Air Staff, War Department, Pentagon
- William Henry Taylor, Assistant Director of the Middle East Division of Monetary Research, United States Department of Treasury
- William Ullman, delegate to United Nations Charter meeting and Bretton Woods conference; Division of Monetary Research, Department of Treasury; Material and Services Division, Air Corps Headquarters, Pentagon
- Anatole Volkov
- Harry Dexter White, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Head of the International Monetary Fund
References
- ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 3 pdf.
- ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.
- ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Memorandum for the Attorney General, December 20, 1946, Vol. 81, pgs. 55 - 56 pdf. In transmitting a summary of the investigation on Harry Magdoff, Hoover urges the Attorney General to give consideration to the overall facts of the case before making the information available to any other government official. Hoover complains that a summary report prepared for the Secretary of the Treasury had been "lost" and a copy furnished to the White House was found in a desk drawer at the War Assets Administration -- the agency Greg Silvermaster had been working in.
- ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Vol. 83, pgs. 72, 73 pdf.
- ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Tamm to the Director, January 6, 1947, Vol. 83, pg. 56 - 57 pdf.