A Note on the Translations and List of Messages

The release of Venona translations involved careful consideration of the privacy interests of individuals mentioned, referenced, or identified in these documents. In very few cases, names have not been released because doing so would constitute an invasion of privacy.

In some of the Venona translations, the analytic footnotes indicated that the person referred to by covername had not been identified. Another--usually later--message may have footnoted that same covername with an identification. For example, in some early message translations, the covernames MER and ALBERT were footnoted as unidentified, but analysts subsequently determined (as footnoted in later translations of other messages) that the person in question was Iskhak A. Akhmerov, the KGB's chief illegal officer in the United States. Unfortunately for readers, the KGB occasionally re-used covernames; consequently, a single covername can designate two different persons. Even so, readers often can determine from context or geographic location which person is being referred to.

Finally, the Venona messages are replete with specialized Soviet intelligence terminology. The following are definitions of some of the more common terms and phrases.

The Russian word klichka (sobriquet or nickname) appears in the Venona translations as "covername." There are hundreds of covernames in the translations, including many seen in the messages included in this volume, such as ALBERT, LIBERAL, and ALES. Covernames designated Soviet officers, active or retired assets, valued contacts, and sometimes even prominent figures (such as CAPTAIN for President Roosevelt) and were periodically changed. Assets and contacts, however, rarely knew their covernames, which were to be used primarily in cable traffic. To complicate matters further, a Soviet intelligence officer like illegal rezident Iskhak Akhmerov typically had a covername (MER, and later ALBERT), aliases he used in his cover identity (William Grienke and Michael Green, among others), and "street names" he used in the company of assets and contacts ("Bill").

Fellow countrymen were members of the local Communist Party.

An illegal was a KGB or GRU officer, often a Soviet citizen, working abroad under alias with neither diplomatic cover nor visible connections to legal Soviet establishments. An individual illegal's cover story was his or her legend. Iskhak Akhmerov was the KGB's principal illegal in the United States before 1946 and thus was regarded as the illegal rezident. He apparently was succeeded in this role by Rudolf Abel. Several KGB and GRU illegals were shown in Venona messages to be operating in the United States, Mexico, and other countries. Although some Soviet illegals later used radios for direct clandestine communication with Moscow, illegals in the United States during World War II generally transmitted and received messages through Soviet diplomatic missions.

A leader (or group leader) was a KGB officer or an experienced local agent who handled and supervised a network or sub-network of assets. Such an officer might have either worked for an official Soviet entity or operated as an illegal. Venona messages showed that such agents as Jacob Golos and Sergei Kurnakov, while not themselves KGB officers, were nonetheless given significant responsibilities for certain networks. In many cases where the KGB gained control of older Comintern or GRU networks, the existing leader was left in charge for months or even years.

A line was a grouping of KGB officers by operational tasks. Some of these entities seen in Venona communications were the Second Line (which focused on ethnic groups of interest to Moscow, such as Ukrainians or Latvians); the Fifth Line (responsible for the security of the Soviet merchant fleet and its personnel); the White Line (concerned with White Russian emigres); and the Economic Line (a scientific and technical sub-residency, headed by Leonid Kvasnikov, in the New York consulate).

The KGB and the GRU referred to one another as the neighbors. In KGB parlance, Near Neighbors meant the GRU-Naval auxiliary, while the GRU proper was referred to as Far Neighbors.

Probationers was the cover term for KGB agents. The term--which apparently fell out of usage after the 1940s--was sometimes applied to KGB officers who were temporarily not attached to a diplomatic mission and hence were being run as agents.

To put on ice (sometimes rendered in cold storage) meant to suspend use of an agent.

The rezidentwas the KGB chief at a particular location; his station was called a residency (rezidentura). The New York residency supported a sub-residency, under Leonid R. Kvasnikov, to collect scientific and technological secrets.

A worker (sometimes referred to as a cadre) was the KGB's usual term for its own officers working in a diplomatic or official Soviet establishment such as the TASS press agency or the Amtorg trading company.

Access to the Venona Translations

All the Venona translations--roughly 2,900 KGB, GRU, and GRU-Naval messages--are being released to the public. Paper copies have been sent to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland, and to various federal repositories (typically at large state universities). The National Cryptologic Museum, adjacent to NSA headquarters at Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, also has a complete set of the translations. Each release of the Venona translations in 1995 and 1996 was accompanied by an original explanatory monograph authored by Robert Louis Benson, co-editor of this volume. The translations and monographs can also be found on the Internet's World Wide Web, NSA's Homepage, at http://www.nsa.gov:8080\. This conference volume can be found on the World Wide Web, CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence Homepage.

NOTE TO VIEWERS: The following pages were scanned as graphics.

Translations included: (1) (Each graphic is approximately 50KB)

 

1. Moscow [Comintern] 117, 121 to the US, 21 and 23 March 1936.

 

2. London [GRU] to Moscow, 10 August 1941. Klaus Fuchs interview

2. (Continued)

 

3. New York 854 to Moscow, 16 June 1942. Recruiting proposals

3. (Continued)

 

4. Moscow 424 to New York, 1 July 1942. More recruiting proposals

 

5. Washington [Naval-GRU] 2505-12 to Moscow, 31 December 1942.

5. (Continued)
5. (Continued)
5. (Continued)
5. (Continued)
5. (Continued)

 

6. Washington [Naval-GRU] 834, 846-8 to Moscow, 18 April 1943.

6. (Continued)
6. (Continued)
6. (Continued)

 

7. New York 782 to Moscow, 26 May 1943. Duncan Lee, OSS

 

8. New York 777-781 to Moscow, 26 May 1943. MI School

8. (Continued)
8. (Continued)
8. (Continued)

 

9. New York 786-7 to Moscow, 26 May 1943. Mrs. Roosevelt

9. (Continued)

 

10. New York 812 to Moscow, 29 May 1943. Agent "19"

10. (Continued)

 

11. New York 887 to Moscow, 9 June 1943. OSS

 

12. New York [GRU] 927-8 to Moscow, 16 June 1943. GRU and Amerasia

12. (Continued)

 

13. New York [GRU] 938 to Moscow, 17 June 1943. Joseph Milton Bernstein

13. (Continued)

 

14. New York 1132-3 to Moscow, 13 July 1943. Recruiting proposals

14. (Continued)
14. (Continued)
14. (Continued)

 

15. New York [GRU] 1325 to Moscow, 11 August 1943. GRU espionage

 

16. Washington [Naval-GRU] 1969 to Moscow, 13 August 1943. S&T

16. (Continued)

 

17. Washington [Naval-GRU] 1983 to Moscow, 14 August 1943. SALLY

 

18. Moscow 142 (Circular), 12 September 1943. Comintern dissolved

 

19. San Francisco 441 to Moscow, 31 October 1943. Pobjeda codebook

 

20. Moscow 232-3 to all Residents, 2 December 1943. PETROV on security

 

21. San Francisco 510 to Moscow, 7 December 1943. Olga Khlopkova

 

22. Mexico City 158 to Moscow, 23 December 1943. Assault to free Mercader

22. (Continued)

 

23. San Francisco 31 to Moscow, 17 January 1944. Espionage against aircraft

 

24. New York 195 to Moscow, 9 February 1944. Gold meets Fuchs

24. (Continued)

 

25. San Francisco 65 to Moscow, 10 February 1944. Kuznetsova deserts

 

26. Moscow [unnumbered], 25 April 1944. Keypad indicator change

 

27. New York 588 to Moscow, 29 April 1944. Perlo group

27. (Continued)
27. (Continued)

 

28. New York 598-9 to Moscow, 2 May 1944. CPUSA political analysis

28. (Continued)

 

29. New York 601 to Moscow, 2 May 1944. Norman Jay

 

30. New York 618 to Moscow, 4 May 1944. Jack Katz's cover

30. (Continued)
30. (Continued)

 

31. New York 625 to Moscow, 5 May 1944. Jack Soble's cover

31. (Continued)

 

32. New York 628 to Moscow, 5 May 1944. Recruitment of Al Sarant

 

33. New York 640 to Moscow, 6 May 1944. Infiltration of an organization

 

34. New York 655 to Moscow, 9 May 1944. Report from Greg Silvermaster

34. (Continued)

 

35. New York 687 to Moscow, 13 May 1944. Perlo group, again

 

36. New York 696-7 to Moscow, 16 May 1944. Walter Lippman

36. (Continued)

 

37. New York 732 to Moscow, 20 May 1944. William Perl

 

38. Moscow 334 to Mexico City, 30 May 1944. The Fishers

38. (Continued)

 

39. New York 786 to Moscow, 1 June 1944. Try to bribe Niles in White House

39. (Continued)

 

40. New York 824 to Moscow, 7 June 1944. "The Ten"

40. (Continued)
40. (Continued)

 

41. New York 847B-848 to Moscow, 15 June 1944. Walter Lippman, again

41. (Continued)
41. (Continued)
41. (Continued)

 

42. New York 850 to Moscow, 15 June 1944. Report from Klaus Fuchs

42. (Continued)

 

43. New York 1053 to Moscow, 26 July 1944. Recruiting Max Elitcher

 

44. New York 1043 to Moscow, 25 July 1944. FBI attempt to enter Consulate

44. (Continued)

 

45. New York 1065 to Moscow, 28 July 1944. Browder, Bentley, Mary Price

45. (Continued)

 

46. New York 1076 to Moscow, 29 July 1944. KGB officers

46. (Continued)

 

47. New York 1088-90 to Moscow, 30 July 1944. Problems with seamen

47. (Continued)
47. (Continued)

 

48. New York 1102-3 to Moscow, 2 August 1944. Fisher case

48. (Continued)

 

49. New York 1105-10 to Moscow, 2/3 August 1944. Donald Maclean

49. (Continued)
49. (Continued)
49. (Continued)

 

50. New York 1119-21 to Moscow, 4/5 August 1944. Harry Dexter White

50. (Continued)
50. (Continued)
50. (Continued)
50. (Continued)
50. (Continued)

 

51. New York 1203 to Moscow, 23 August 1944. Document forgery

51. (Continued)

 

52. New York 1251 to Moscow, 2 September 1944. New covernames

52. (Continued)

 

53. New York 1271-4 to Moscow, 7 September 1944. HOMER, again

53. (Continued)
53. (Continued)
53. (Continued)

 

54. New York 1313 to Moscow, 13 September 1944. I. F. Stone

54. (Continued)

 

55. New York 1314 to Moscow, 14 September 1944. William Perl, again

 

56. New York 1325-6 to Moscow, 15 September 1944. OSS "Reds" list

56. (Continued)

 

57. Moscow 954 to New York, 20 September 1944. "Reds" list

 

58. New York 1340 to Moscow, 21 September 1944. Ruth Greenglass

58. (Continued)

 

59. New York 1388-9 to Moscow, 1 October 1944. White and Silvermaster

59. (Continued)
59. (Continued)
59. (Continued)

 

60. New York 1410 to Moscow, 6 October 1944. CPUSA work for KGB

60. (Continued)

 

61. New York 1433-5 to Moscow, 10 October 1944. I. F. Stone, again

61. (Continued)
61. (Continued)

 

62. New York 1437 to Moscow, 10 October 1944. Maurice Halperin

 

63. New York 1442 to Moscow, 11 October 1944. Disputes at KGB residency

63. (Continued)

 

64. New York 1469 to Moscow, 17 October 1944. Document photography

64. (Continued)

 

65. New York 1506 to Moscow, 23 October 1944. I. F. Stone might help

65. (Continued)

 

66. Moscow 374 to San Francisco, 7 November 1944. Order of the Red Star

 

67. New York 1585 to Moscow, 12 November 1944. Theodore Hall recruited

67. (Continued)

 

68. New York 1600 to Moscow, 14 November 1944. Greenglass, Sarant

 

69. Moscow 379 to San Francisco, 16 November 1944. Fifth Line reorganized

69. (Continued)
69. (Continued)

 

70. New York 1613 to Moscow, 18 November 1944. Laurence Duggan

70. (Continued)
70. (Continued)

 

71. New York 1634 to Moscow, 20 November 1944. Aid to Harry D. White

71. (Continued)
71. (Continued)

 

72. New York 1635 to Moscow, 21 November 1944. Reward for Silvermaster

72. (Continued)

 

73. New York 1657 to Moscow, 27 November 1944. Ethel Rosenberg

 

74. New York 1699 to Moscow, 2 December 1944. Listing atomic scientists

74. (Continued)

 

75. New York 1715 to Moscow, 5 December 1944. Rosenberg, again

 

76. New York 1749-50 to Moscow, 13 December 1944. Rosenberg ring

76. (Continued)
76. (Continued)

 

77. New York 1751-3 to Moscow, 13 December 1944. Silvermaster

77. (Continued)

 

78. New York 1773 to Moscow, 16 December 1944. Rosenberg; ENORMOZ

 

79. New York 1797 to Moscow, 20 December 1944. Michael Sidorovich

79. (Continued)

 

80. New York 12-3, 15-6 to Moscow, 4 January 1945. ALBERT reports

80. (Continued)
80. (Continued)
80. (Continued)

 

81. New York 18-9 to Moscow, 4 January 1945. Boris Morros

81. (Continued)

 

82. New York 27 to Moscow, 8 January 1945. Judith Coplon

 

83. Moscow 14 to New York, 4 January 1945. Communist Party business

83. (Continued)
83. (Continued)

 

84. New York 79 to Moscow, 18 January 1945. KGB in Treasury

84. (Continued)

 

85. New York 82 to Moscow, 18 January 1945. GRU asks KGB aid

 

86. Moscow 200 to New York, 6 March 1945. Bonus for Rosenberg

 

87. Moscow 284 and 286 to New York, 28 March 1945. Flora Wovschin

87. (Continued)
87. (Continued)

 

88. Washington 1793 to Moscow, 29 March 1945. HOMER, again

88. (Continued)
88. (Continued)
88. (Continued)

 

89. Washington 1822 to Moscow, 30 March 1945. ALES interviewed by KGB

 

90. Moscow 298 to NY, 31 March 1945. Evaluating ENORMOZ take

90. (Continued)

 

91. Moscow 337 to New York, 8 April 1945. Delivering Silvermaster take

91. (Continued)

 

92. New York 776 to Moscow, 25 May 1945. Transfer of KGB agents

92. (Continued)

 

93. New York 777-9 to Moscow, 25 May 1945. Berger and Krafsur

93. (Continued)
93. (Continued)

 

94. New York 781-7 to Moscow, 25/26 May 1945. KGB political analysis

94. (Continued)
94. (Continued)
94. (Continued)
94. (Continued)

 

95. Moscow 709 to New York, 5 July 1945. MLAD (Theodore Hall)

95. (Continued)

 

96. New York 1052-3 to Moscow, 5 July 1945. Rewards to agents

96. (Continued)

 

97. Moscow 34 to London, 21 September 1945. Gouzenko crisis

97. (Continued)

 

98. San Francisco 568 to Moscow, 7 November 1945. Kuznetsova aboard

 

99. Moscow 46 to London, 17 September 1945. Kim Philby's information

99. (Continued)

Footnotes

(1) All cables are KGB messages unless otherwise noted.