Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America (24 page)

In reference to the work that I would be doing if I had the job, Clarence
stated that I would not see the results. Only the leading personal get to see the
results. He stated further that some i6 Universities were now taking up the
problem of this particular radioactive bomb. (He just said `problem'-did not
mention the word `bomb.')" 2

For the next two years the KGB tried to cultivate Hiskey through
Franklin, an ultimately futile effort. Part of the problem, as the KGB New
York station reported, was that the Manhattan Project transferred Hiskey

"[to] the University of Chicago, where the work and equipment from Columbia U. are being transferred. For this purpose, a new laboratory building was
built at the University of Chicago, and three old buildings were cleared out.
`Ramsay' [Hickey] is leaving for Chicago, where it seems he will be director of
operations. He was allotted i.5 million dollars by the government and allowed
to pick his own workers. On that last subject, `R.' ["Ramsay"] was given a special briefing on caution, meaning the possibility that their work could be infiltrated by agents from Germany or from us, or by fellowcountrymen. For instance, shortly after `Ramsay' hired a certain Tom Silverberg, who was

subsequently taken into the army, where he is currently studying at the Air
Force school, an agent from Hut [the FBI] came to see `Ramsay' and informed him that apparently Silverberg was one such agent (Silverberg is in
fact a fellowcountryman [Communist]) and that `Ramsay' should be careful in
his choice of assistants. `Ramsay' offered `Chap' [Franklin] to come work with
him in Chicago on his recommendation.

`Ramsay' told `Chap' the following about his position in the fellowcountryman organization: After moving from Wisconsin, R. did not get transferred to the University of Tennessee organization. Upon arriving in Tyre
[New York], Ramsay was paid a visit by Rose Olsen's husband, a fellowcountryman, who told R. that because of the great importance of his work, 'Ramsay' should stay away from fellowcountryman activities and conduct himself
accordingly"

(Rose Olsen was a pseudonym likely used by Rosalyn Childs, wife of Jack
Childs, a leading figure in the CPUSAs underground organization.) 73

Moscow responded, observing that it was "essential to find a good opportunity to plant someone into the U. of Chicago," but the KGB New
York station did not have any resident agents in the Chicago area. And
Moscow Center warned against using Franklin, since with his background
he was vulnerable to an FBI security check, but suggested that he should
recommend someone else to Hiskey. By the end of November 1943, it
had hit upon a candidate. Moscow instructed the KGB New York station
to "introduce `Huron' to Ramsay [Hiskey] through Chap [Franklin].
Huron is personally acquainted with employees at the U. of Chicago, including Fermi."74

The cover name "Huron" also appeared in five KGB cables deciphered by the Venona project. The messages indicated that "Huron" was
a scientist and had some connection with Soviet atomic intelligence, but,
like "Quantum," he was not identified by American counterintelligence.
And just as in "Quantum's" case, the connection to atomic espionage encouraged speculation about the identity of yet another unknown scientist spy. Candidates suggested included Bruno Pontecorvo (also suggested for "Quantum") and Ernest Lawrence. Again, the speculation was
wrong. "Huron" was Byron Darling, who had received a PhD at the University of Michigan in 1939 and had taken a position as a research physicist at the U.S. Rubber Company in Detroit in 1941. He had become a
secret member of the CPUSA probably in the late 1930s and had begun
assisting the KGB in 1942. His KGB recruiter, technical intelligence specialist Semenov, wrote that "Huron" was "a lead from the fellowcoun-
tlymen [CPUSA]," who had a PhD in physics and specialized in syn thetic rubber. Semenov described Darling as "`Politically mature, steadfast, should be trusted. While studying and working at the univs. of
Chicago and Michigan, acquired connections among scientific circles in
the field of physics. The connection of greatest interest is the Italian professor Fermi, who was involved in `Enormous' while working at Columb.
Univ. Currently, according to "Huron," Fermi works at the University
in Chicago.' "75

In early 1944 Moscow reiterated the need to introduce Darling to
Hiskey via Franklin but warned that it was dangerous to involve Franklin
in the Manhattan Project since he had come under investigation by counterintelligence on a recent trip to Canada. Still, it did "`not object to his
strengthening his ties with `R' ["Ramsay"/Hiskey], as we intend to take advantage of this relationship to introduce our man to `R." " In a report to
KGB chief Merkulov in February 1944 two senior officers, Gayk
Ovakimyan and Andrey Graur, discussed Hiskey's conversations with
Franklin and explained that their relationship "`allows us to use 'Ramsay' without his knowledge in order to plant our man through him on
`Chap's' recommendation."' Since Franklin was "exposed" to American
counterintelligence, it was necessary to have Darling become Hiskey's
contact, have Franklin limit himself to maintaining friendly relations with
Hiskey to learn about other scientists who might be of interest, and cultivate Hiskey "as someone who is of interest to us for the purpose of contracting him in the future."76

In March 1944 the KGB New York station informed Moscow that
Bernard Schuster had learned that Hiskey had been in touch with the
Chicago Communist Party. (Schuster was the CPUSAs liaison with Soviet
intelligence on the East Coast.) By this time Leonid Kvasnikov, who had
supervised KGB technical intelligence at Moscow Center from 1940 to
1943, had arrived in the United States to take personal charge of KGB scientific espionage. He proposed using these Communist Party connections to inform Hiskey that he would be approached "'by a trusted individual, whose purpose will be to learn about certain matters having to do
with the work being done in his department. A password will be arranged
with this person so that `Ramsay' can identify him."' He suggested sending Semenov, who would pose as a local Communist. After gauging
Hiskey's access and "`his attitude toward us,"' the KGB would decide
whether to use Darling as his liaison."

A May 1944 KGB New York cable responded to a Moscow Center
query about Kvasnikov's plan: "the object of Echo's [Schuster's] trip is as
follows: Olsen is district leader of the Fraternal [Communist Party] in Chicago. Olsen's wife, who has been meeting Ramsay [Hiskey], is also an
active Fellowcountryman [Communist] and met Ramsay on the instructions of the organization. At our suggestion Echo can get a letter from
Olsen with which one or other of our people will meet Ramsay and thereafter will be able to strike up an acquaintance." "Olsen" was not identified, but it likely was the cover name or the Communist Party name of
Morris Childs, at that time the head of the CPUSA district 8 (Illinois).
The message stated that Childs's wife had been cultivating Hiskey, and
the KGB wanted to use the relationship to put one of its agents in contact with him.78

In July 1944 the KGB New York station reported a follow-up to this
May message. It told Moscow that Schuster had passed along copies of
two letters that had been sent to Hiskey by "Victor" (unidentified) and
"Rose Olsen." Rose, however, was probably not Morris Childs's wife but
his sister-in-law, Rosalyn Childs. Rosalyn's husband, Jack Childs, was a
full-time CPUSA functionary who worked for the party underground and
had previously warned Hiskey not to associate openly with the CPUSA so
as not to endanger his position in the Manhattan Project. (It is possible
that the KGB New York station had confused Jack's wife Rosalyn with
Morris's wife in the May message. Rosalyn, a Comintern staffer in the
1930s, was active in the CPUSA underground with her husband, while
Morris's wife was much less active in party affairs, overt or covert.) The
letters assured Hiskey that its bearer was a reliable friend and asked the
scientist to acquaint him with his work.79

On i8 September 1944 the KGB New York station sent a cable responding to several inquiries from Moscow, one of which was the status
of the approach to Hiskey, explaining that its intermediaries in the matter, Bernard Schuster and Joseph Katz (one of the KGB's veteran American agents), were currently out of New York, while Rosalyn Childs, at
that point designated by the cover name "Phlox," and her husband had
traveled to "Ramsay's area" (Chicago) but had not yet returned. Finally,
the KGB New York station told Moscow in December 1944: "`Dick'
[Schuster] was directly in touch with `Phlox's husband' [Jack Childs] and
not with `Phlox' [Rosalyn Childs] herself. The intention of sending the
husband to see Ramsay [Hiskey] is explained by the possibility of avoiding a superfluous stage for transmitting instructions." Here the New York
station was conveying its decision to Moscow that Jack Childs would make
the approach to Hiskey.80

No agent of the KGB New York station, however, was able to carry
through with these plans to contact Hiskey in Chicago. In March 1945, the KGB New York station admitted: "We still do not have a definitive
outcome in the cultivation of Ramsay [Hiskey]. For six months we have
been unable to get the necessary people sent to him through Echo
[Schuster]. We gave 20o dollars for such a trip back at end of 1944, but
to this day we have not seen any results." In July 1945 Kvasnikov informed Moscow that Schuster had not been able to contact Hiskey even
with the assistance of Morris Childs and that he had decided to try to use
Zalmond Franklin once again. Moscow was not pleased and in August
blasted the KGB New York station for its "`poor work"' and "`inexcusable
delay in `Ramsay's' [Hiskey's] cultivation"' and pointedly reminded the
New York station: "`Top priority tasks: 1. To finish cultivating "Ramsay." "'SI

The KGB New York station continued to attempt to contact Hiskey
but reported that Franklin had been unable to connect. And finally,
Alexander Vassiliev's notebooks record: "In November, Chap learned
from his comrade that Ramsay-is in Alaska, where he had been sent
after being discharged from work on Balloon." ("Balloon" was by late
1945 another KGB cover name for the atomic bomb.) The pursuit of
Hiskey ended.82

In time the KGB likely learned that all its maneuvering to contact
Hiskey since April 1944, and probably some time earlier, had been a complete waste of time. Unbeknownst to the KGB, by the spring of 1944
Clarence Hiskey had become a source for "the neighbors," Soviet military
intelligence. Exactly when and under what circumstances GRU recruited
him is unknown. But recruit him it did. After that point, probably under
GRU orders, he had politely avoided the KGB's attempts to approach
him. But while the KGB remained in the dark for more than a year,
American counterespionage did not.

Arthur Adams was a veteran GRU officer who had been in and out of
the United States in the 192os and 1930s. On his last mission he arrived
from Canada in 1938 with a false Canadian passport. Identified by the
FBI by 1944 as a Soviet intelligence officer, he was kept under surveillance and in April 1944 was observed meeting covertly with Clarence
Hiskey. The FBI informed the Army, which oversaw Manhattan Project
security. A covert meeting was in itself insufficient for a criminal indictment, but Army security was in any event more interested in eliminating
a security threat than prosecuting a spy. Hiskey, although he had not been
called to duty due to his work on the Manhattan Project, held a commission as a reserve U.S. Army officer. The Army lifted his exemption and
dispatched him to an American base in the Northwest Territories in Canada (not Alaska, but not far away). Apparently not realizing that his
induction had been prompted by FBI surveillance (or by his acting very
foolishly), before leaving, Hiskey contacted John H. Chapin, a chemical
engineer with whom he had worked at the Substitute Alloy Material Laboratory at Columbia University, and arranged for him to meet with
Adams. Security officials, however, observed that encounter as well, and
when later questioned, Chapin admitted that Hiskey had told him that
Adams was a Soviet agent; he denied, however, actually passing any secrets to him. Hiskey also put Edward Manning, a technician working at
the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, in touch with Adams. Confronted
by security officers, Manning admitted to meeting with Adams seven
times but denied that he had actually passed any information to him. As
with Hiskey, authorities had insufficient evidence for criminal charges
and contented themselves with neutralizing Manning and Chapin by excluding them from the project.83

The KGB, however, knew none of this at the time. It continued to attempt to contact Hiskey in Chicago, not realizing until the fall of 1945
that "Ramsay" had been removed from the Manhattan Project in late
April 1944 and had spent the rest of the war at a remote Army base in
Canada.

The KGB's plans for Byron Darling ("Huron") were not limited to his
serving as a conduit to Clarence Hiskey; it wanted him to approach Enrico Fermi, the leading scientist at the Manhattan Project's Chicago facility. On 21 March 1945, Fitin directed Leonid Kvasnikov of the KGB
New York station to send Darling to Chicago to "renew acquaintance"
and "reestablish contact" with Fermi and Hyman Goldsmith, another
physicist working at the Metallurgical Laboratory. While Darling had no
compunction about providing information from his own work for U.S.
Rubber, he was more reluctant about serving as a recruiter for such an
eminent scientist as Fermi. On 1 April KGB officer Anatoly Yatskov met
with Darling and grumbled: ""Huron' [Darling] has as yet done nothing
to renew his acquaintance with Fermi. He has not written to Goldsmith
or to Fermi himself. His explanation was that he thinks he can't look for
a new job now and that it would be better for him to stay at his rubber
company, because if he leaves the company, he will inevitably be drafted
into the army and ultimately end up in the army and nowhere else. He
explained that there are people on the enlistment committee where he is registered who have long had a bone to pick with him and didn't pack
him off to the army only at the company's insistence.' "84