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Soviet Espionage in America
Introduction
The hunt for Communists in the United States clearly reached the point of hysteria by the early 1950s, but what is often overlooked is that it had its origins in a very real phenomenon. The opening of the Soviet archives in the 1990s, and the declassification of certain intercepted Soviet messages from the late 1940s, indicates that Soviet agents had penetrated the U.S. government before and during World War II, in some cases at very high levels. One particularly noteworthy instance of this involved Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were convicted in 1951 of passing information about the atomic bomb to the Kremlin. The resulting trial, conviction, and death sentence of this young, middle-class couple divided the nation, and kept the issue of Soviet espionage before the American public for years to come.
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This lesson will expose students to recently declassified FBI documents and transcripts of the Rosenberg trial. It will encourage them to think seriously about the extent of the Soviet espionage network in America, thus setting the stage for a proper understanding of later hearings by the House Un-American Activities Committee and Joseph McCarthy.
Guiding Question
- Why was Soviet espionage such an important issue in the late 1940s and early 1950s?
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students should be able to:
- Identify the primary subjects of FBI investigation on espionage charges
- Explain the Venona project, including how it worked and what purpose it served
- Articulate the reasons why the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage
Background Information for the Teacher
Americans in the late 1940s awoke to a rude shock when they learned that since
the mid-1930s significant numbers of Soviet spies had been operating in the
United States. There were several factors that made this particularly disturbing.
For one, most of these spies were native-born Americans, apparently motivated
by sympathy for communism. In addition, some of these agents had been able to
penetrate several agencies of the federal government—especially the Departments
of State and the Treasury, as well as the Office of Strategic Services (the
precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency)—and in some cases at very
high levels. Perhaps most ominously, confessions by several spies made it clear
that Soviet espionage had, during the Second World War, infiltrated the top-secret
Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb. When in 1949 the Soviets
successfully tested their own atomic weapon, it did not take long for Americans
to conclude that this had been more the work of Russian spies than of scientists.
Coming at a time when relations between the United States and the Soviet
Union were already deteriorating to the point of near-war, these revelations
had a profound effect on the American public. Perhaps, they wondered, the
Soviet strategy might not be to try to conquer the world through traditional
military power, but rather by boring from within. If their spies had been
able to infiltrate some of the highest levels of the federal government, where
else might they be? Moreover, if these agents were motivated not by greed
or ethnic connections, but rather by a belief in communism, what did this
suggest about others who professed such a belief—or even those who appeared
to be in sympathy with some communist goals? This would be the beginning of
a dark period in the nation's history, a time when making even the most mildly
controversial statements ran the risk of being accused of disloyalty—or
worse. These matters are covered in the second and third lessons of this curriculum
unit, "The
House Un-American Activities Committee", and "The
Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy".
In fact, the hysteria that would ultimately flow from the espionage scare
of the late 1940s would lead many to believe that even the original threat
had been overblown, and that at least some of those who had been convicted,
like Alger Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were victims of a witch hunt.
Recent research, however, has shown that this is likely not the case. The
opening in the 1990s of the archives of the former Soviet Union showed that
the penetration of American institutions was, indeed, significant, and was
being directed locally by the Communist Party of the United States. Moreover,
the 1990s also saw the declassification of the transcripts from the Venona
Project. Under Venona, thousands of communications between Moscow and its
agents in the United States during the 1940s had been intercepted and decoded,
giving critical insights into the Soviet espionage network and, in many cases,
revealing the identities of the spies themselves. However, because the FBI
was unwilling to release this information at the time (it seems as though
not even President Truman was aware of it), it was never used to prosecute
the individuals involved. Whatever one might think of the tactics of the House
Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s, or those of Joseph McCarthy
in the early 1950s, there is little doubt today that the Soviet spy network
in America existed, and that it was extensive.
For more information on the Rosenberg Trial, an excellent resource is "The
Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg," part of the site "Famous
Trials", available via the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History
Matters. For more on the Venona Project, see "The
Venona Story," located at the web site of the National
Security Agency.
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and links from
EDSITEment reviewed websites used in this lesson. Download and print out selected
documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing. Alternatively,
excerpted versions of these documents are available as part of the downloadable
PDF file.
Download the Text Document for this lesson, available
here as a PDF file. This file contains excerpted versions of the documents
used in the various activities, as well as questions for students to answer.
Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of the handouts you plan
to use in class.
Analyzing primary sources
If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might
use one or more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. The
Learning Page at the American Memory Project
of the Library of Congress includes a set of such activities. Another useful
resource is the Digital
Classroom of the National Archives, which features a set of Document
Analysis Worksheets.
Suggested Activities
Activity 1. The Venona Project, 1948-1956
In the first activity students will learn about the FBI's ongoing investigation
of suspected Soviet agents in the United States. They will do so by reading
excerpts from actual recently-declassified
FBI memoranda regarding the Venona Project, located at the FBI's web site
(accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History
Matters), but available in excerpted form in
the Text Document. Note that these are not the Venona transcripts themselves,
but rather a series of internal FBI memos describing the project and summarizing
its findings. While these memos were written in the 1950s, they are describing
work that had been going on since 1948, when the Soviet code was first broken.
Teachers should divide their students into small groups. All will read an
introduction to Venona, found on
pages 1-4 of the Text Document. This provides an overview of the program,
including the methods used to identify the real names of individuals referred
to only by code names in the decrypted messages. It also offers reasons why
the FBI chose not to reveal the Venona information. As the students read,
they should answer the following questions, available as a worksheet on
page 5 of the Text Document:
- What is the purpose of this document?
- What is Venona?
- What are the main limitations on Venona as a source of information about
Soviet espionage?
- What advantage might there be in using the Venona information as evidence
to prosecute suspected spies?
- What legal problems might be involved in using Venona information as trial
evidence?
- Why, according to the author of the memo, might it be unwise politically
to try to use Venona information as trial evidence?
- How does the author think the Soviets would react if the Venona transcripts
became public?
Next, each group will be responsible for reading about a particular individual
or group suspected of spying for the Soviets. The
Text Document contains information about all of the following individuals.
However, teachers should not feel compelled to assign all of these. An asterisk
has been placed next to those that are of particular importance, since the names
of these individuals will come up in the next activity on the Rosenberg Trial,
as well as in subsequent lessons in this unit:
Judith Coplon (page 6)
Emil Julius Klaus Fuchs (page 7)
Alger Hiss (page 8)
Harry Dexter White (pages 9-10)
Harry Gold (page 11)
David Greenglass (page 12)
After reading all these materials students will complete a
worksheet, found on page 13 of the Text Document, with the following questions.
- What is the real name of your subject?
- By what code names was your subject also known?
- What evidence exists that your subject was engaged in espionage against
the United States?
- Over what period of time did this alleged espionage take place?
- Who, if anyone, was also involved in your subject's alleged espionage
activities?
- What actions, if any, did the U.S. government take against this alleged
espionage activity?
Finally, teachers should lead an in-class discussion regarding the nature of
Soviet espionage in the United States, and the methods that were used to identify
and prosecute spies. Drawing on what the students have read, they might, as
a class, draw a web showing how the various individuals mentioned in the documents
were connected to one another. One student should begin by writing the name
of his or her subject on the board, along with lines connecting him or her to
any other individuals named in the document. Others should follow, so that ultimately
a large network of agents will be displayed.
Activity 2. The Rosenberg Trial
The Venona transcripts would have no doubt been a bombshell had they been
released at the time; however, they were not, and they therefore played no
role in the most headline-grabbing trial of 1951. In an era when accusations
of Soviet espionage were very much in the public mind, the trial of Julius
and Ethel Rosenberg was perhaps the biggest story of all. This seemingly average
middle-class couple, with a loving marriage and two young children, stood
accused of betraying their country by passing atomic secrets to the Soviet
Union. From the beginning they protested their innocence, and ultimately the
case divided the country between those who believed they were guilty, and
those who believed the Rosenbergs were the innocent victims of a national
case of paranoia. For the final activity teachers will stage a reenactment
in their classrooms of this trial, using excerpts from the trial transcripts
found at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's site "Famous
Trials" (accessible via History
Matters). Further abridged versions of these transcripts are
available in the Text Document.
Teachers should begin the activity by informing students that the year is
1951, and that both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg have been charged with conspiring
to commit espionage against the United States, a crime for which, if they
are found guilty, they could face the death penalty.
Seven students will take on the roles of the principal witnesses. Each of
these will read an excerpt from the trial transcript, covering that witness's
testimony, as well as a brief biographical sketch of the individual witness
(to save class time, this reading might productively be assigned as homework).
After doing so each of these students will make a five-minute presentation
to the class in which they convey the information found in that testimony
to the class. Teachers should insist that the witnesses convey all the relevant
information found in the testimony, so that the jury can make an educated
decision as to the guilt or innocence of the defendants.
The witnesses, and their relevant reading assignments, are as follows:
Max
Elitcher:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TELI.HTM (excerpts available on pages
14-16 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BELI.HTM)
David
Greenglass:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TDGR.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 17-21 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BDGR.HTM)
Ruth
Greenglass:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TRGR.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 22-25 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_BRUT.HTM)
Harry
Gold:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TGOL.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 26-27 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BGOL.HTM)
Elizabeth
Bentley:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TBEN.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 28-30 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BBEN.HTM)
Julius
Rosenberg:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TJRO.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 31-35 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BJRO.HTM)
Ethel
Rosenberg:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TETH.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 36-40 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BERO.HTM)
After the witnesses have given their testimony, have two additional students
portray the lawyers for the defense and the prosecution. Each student should
read one of the final statements below along with a biographical sketch (again,
this might be assigned as homework), then make a five-minute presentation based
on what they have read:
Emanuel
Bloch, for the defense:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TBLO.HTM (excerpts available on pages 41-44
of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BBLO.HTM)
Irving
Saypol, for the prosecution:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_TSAY.HTM (excerpts available on
pages 45-47 of the Text Document) (Biographical
Sketch:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/
ROS_BSAY.HTM)
The remaining students will represent the jury in this reenactment. After all
of the presentations are finished, the members of the jury will vote on whether
or not they believe Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were guilty. Individual jurors
should be assigned a brief writing project (a good homework activity) in which
they write a couple of paragraphs explaining why they voted as they did.
To conclude the exercise students should read the
announcement of the actual verdict.
Assessment
After completing this lesson, students should be able to write brief (1-2 paragraph)
essays answering the following questions:
- What was Venona, and how was it used to identify Soviet spies in America?
- Why did the FBI choose to keep the Venona Transcripts classified? Do you
think this was a wise decision?
- Why were the Rosenbergs convicted of espionage? Do you believe that the
verdict was just? Why or why not?
- Assuming the Rosenbergs were guilty, do you think that they deserved the
death penalty?
- Alternatively, students could be asked to write an answer in response
to the following more general question:
- Why was Soviet espionage such an important issue in the late 1940s and
early 1950s?
Extending the Lesson
Revelations in 1946 that Soviet agents had penetrated the federal government
was a goldmine for the Republicans, who had been out of power since 1932, and
it helped them win majorities in both houses of Congress in the 1946 midterm
elections. In an effort to prevent the GOP from exploiting this issue any further
Truman in March 1947 issued Executive Order 9835, which authorized investigations
into the political activities of federal employees. The
text of this order may be found at Teaching
American History, along with speeches
by Truman and Rep.
Chester E. Holifield (D-California) related to the loyalty program. These
documents might be used for an in-class debate on whether or not the program
was warranted.
It is important to note that the Soviet spy scare in the United States did
not happen in isolation—the origins of the Cold War in Europe and Asia
were critically important to creating a sense of crisis at home. To give students
a sense for these events, they
might examine this interactive timeline. Along the top there are four
regions—United States, Europe and the USSR, Middle East and North Africa,
and East Asia. Clicking on one of these, and then clicking on any of the years
along the left-hand side, will bring up a list of events in that region relevant
to the Cold War. Some of these can be clicked on to yield more information
about the event.
Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans
Origins of the Cold War (forthcoming).
"Police
Action": The United States and the War in Korea
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
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