L E O N I D Z U B O R E V
ATOMIC BOMB FOR RUSSIA
Minuteman has achieved a world record:
the missile is in service for more than 50 years.
US Army plans to use Minuteman-III till 2020-2040.
From the news
C O N T E N T S
Prologue…………………………………………………………………
I. LOYAL TO STALIN .........................
II. LOVE & INTELLIGENCE......................
III. TO STEAL A FIRE
IV. DECEIVED BY STALIN
Epilogue
Prologue
In August 1949, Russian nuclear test director Marshal Beria appeared in the bunker of a control center, ten miles from the bomb. Dozens of Russian physicists waited for the result of the test in a shroud of fear at the secret testing ground.
“Here he is,” said the scientists nervously, watching the approaching car.
If the scientists did not succeed, an unavoidable fate waited for all the participants of the project. Stalin would kill the administrators and send the physicists to prison. Josef Stalin was prepared for such a contingency. He already had another team to replace this group of scientists.
At 7 A.M. a bright light pierced the morning clouds. A scarlet semicircle of an artificial sun began rising upon the firing range. When a mushroom-shaped cloud placed itself above the sky, a thundering noise reached the control center.
Having witnessed the successful explosion, Beria rushed to the chief scientist, kissed him and said, “Had it failed to blow up, this might have been a catastrophe for all of us!”
Then Marshal Beria directed a telegram to the Kremlin, “Dear comrade Stalin! Thanks to the efforts of the Soviet scientists and engineers your task to create a Soviet A-bomb has been completed. The construction of the A-bomb has been achieved due to your attention, concern and aid.”
The next day Stalin signed an order to reward the supervisor and the chief designer with a Medal of Honor, a cash bonus, houses and motor vehicles.
Other Soviet scientists were also given big gifts. Some intelligence officers were among the people who received awards.
At the ceremony Stalin told them, “The last war has given birth to a new generation of weapons, first the missiles and second the A-bomb. If we were late by a couple years the American bomb would have fallen upon us.”
* * *
A month after this event, the President of the United States was still in a bad mood. He was angry with the FBI. Now President Harry Truman had to inform his country and the entire world about the successful testing of a nuclear weapon in the USSR. The next day the headlines of American newspapers shouted:
RUSSIANS HAVE THE A-BOMB!
STALIN ENDS AMERICAN MONOPOLY!
The 65-year old commander-in-chief looked more like a modest bookkeeper in glasses, than a President of the most powerful country in the world. Truman was standing at the White House window, looking at the lawn. However, his appearance was deceptive to those who did not know him. This delicate man possessed a strong will and nerves of steel, having made the decision to bomb Japan with a nuclear weapon four years ago. Nervously tapping his fingers on the table, the President was waiting for the head of the FBI, whom he sincerely disliked.
J. Edgar Hoover, a bulky man in contrast to his frail boss, always appeared in an elegant suit and was consistently punctual. Hoover’s colleagues noticed long ago that he had no interest in women, though he was always dressed meticulously. Now some American citizens who shared communist views were detected in the State Department and Truman was afraid that the Russians could find ways to infiltrate the FBI.
“If this is true, that he is a gay, then the FBI chief ,who is in charge of our national security, is an ideal candidate for the Soviets,” the President thought. “Hoover will fear publicity, and it would be possible for Russians to recruit him”.
Truman was thinking of firing Hoover. Besides that, it was reported that Hoover was considering running for president of the United States.
Hoover had arrived at the Oval Office. He instinctively took off his hat and set his tie straight, expecting a confrontational meeting but unaware of the extent of Truman’s anger.
“Well, Edgar, how will you explain the appearance of the Russian A-bomb? You have been commanding the FBI for 25 years. Who is the traitor? Oppenheimer? Teller? ” roared the President.
“I do not know. We cannot read their messages until we completely break the Russian code,” Hoover answered hanging his head in shame.
“Could it be Oppenheimer? Is it true, that he visited Moscow before WWII?”
“Actually we do not know, but Oppenheimer’s communistic views are well recognized. At first he approved the use of our A- bomb. Later however, he said that the very day the nuclear bomb is used, humanity will curse us.”
“I know that,” Truman gave a sarcastic smile. “Oppenheimer said to me that he and his associates saw “blood on their hands” after I bombed Japan. I told him that hands can be easily washed off in water. You see, Edgar, I’m not Roosevelt. I’m not going to lick Stalin’s boots. During Roosevelt’s meeting with Stalin FDR didn’t mention the future atomic project because he was afraid that he would have to reveal how to make the bomb to Stalin. Roosevelt was too na;ve to believe that there could be cooperation between the two countries after the war, but my doctrine is to extend America’s sphere of influence around the globe. Our chief objective now is to fight communism. Of course, our forces in Europe can’t withstand the Russians, and Stalin can easily capture our military bases there. If you want peace, be prepared for war.”
“I must admit, Mr. President, we have some progress in decoding Russian messages, but not enough to identify thus far, who works for Russians,” whispered Hoover, who was not accustomed to such humiliation in front of his boss.
The news of the Russian success followed just a few weeks after the Chief of Intelligence and his friend raucously celebrated Hoover’s 25th anniversary at the FBI.
“Dear Edgar, you have always been recognized for your keen eye and ability to understand people. Maybe, you’re simply getting old and it may be time for you to have a break? Perhaps retire? You have convinced me, that if the Soviet physicists could create a bomb, it would happen not earlier than in six years. Was it not you who recently asserted that a nuclear weapon is so complicated and the calculations are so immense, that the realization of the project was possible only in the United States? In fact, you mentioned that the Russians do not have an established uranium industry or the required computers. Will you tell me which piece of your report on the Russian project is reliable?” the President asked, mockingly.
“A Special Committee deals with the atomic project in Russia. Stalin appointed Mr. Beria as the head of the project, and he remains the chief of Soviet Intelligence as well. Beria allocated approximately ten labor camps for this project. About 300 thousand political prisoners work for the nuclear program. A plant selected to be the control center is located in a small settlement with an unknown code name. The CIA confirms this information. This is all that we know.”
“Moscow denies that is has tested the nuclear weapon. Is that not strange?” Truman asked.
“They lie. We definitely know the bomb test was carried out,” the chief of the FBI reported. “Our pilots took samples of radioactive elements in the atmosphere. The scientists have determined that the Russian bomb is a copy of “Fat Man”, which was dropped on Nagasaki.”
“How many bombs does Russia have now? Zero? One? Several dozen? Do we have over two hundred?” raged the commander-in-chief.
“We have almost three hundred, Mr. President,” Hoover answered. “We can destroy hundreds of their cities.”
“I was informed that North Korea requested the Soviet Union’s support in invading South Korea,” the President said. “If that happens, I‘ll have to intervene, but I can’t use the bomb against the USSR, or against North Korea. I am now afraid of a reciprocal nuclear strike. Stalin deprived us of a nuclear monopoly! Do you understand this? In addition, they can now begin to accumulate an arsenal. I cannot believe that these provincials could so rapidly make such a sophisticated weapon! This could only have happened because of a leakage of information from our project. The Russians have stolen our invention! As far as I know, the Russians have received information about the German V-2 as well. I am afraid next time you’ll report that the Russians are on the Moon. Now it is no use to cry over spilt milk.”
“I agree, sir,” Hoover solemnly nodded.
“Now we have to pay more attention to the missiles. Future generations can carry a nuclear payload. Is that correct?”
“The first launch of the modernized V-2 was two years ago. The missile created by Wernher von Braun flew 150 miles and broke apart. It is not fit for Europe. Braun is busy with developing large missiles. Our Air Forces is working on a strategic missile by its own staff, particularly Captain Ed Hall. His missile flies further and carries twice a bigger payload than the V-2.”
Looking at Hoover, the President recollected a report he had received about the visitor’s ambiguous personal life. He was not married. He liked nobody but his male deputy. People in the FBI knew that they ate their meals together, and socialized in night clubs and went on holiday together.
But Truman never cared about that. At the end of the meeting, the President said to the chief of the FBI, “You know, Edgar, I do not care what you do in your free time. All that interests me is how you succeed in your job. Today it is not enough to find communist network cells in the U.S. A. It is necessary to find Soviet spies. However the FBI is busy with the Republican Party’s sex scandals. Your primary task now is to catch Soviet agents. Mr. Hoover, I expect you to use all our resources to find the people who gave away our secrets to the Russians. Until you find the traitors, our national security is threatened. Do not wait for a new surprise. Find the spies or leave the FBI!”
The President stood up abruptly, signaling the end of the meeting.
The stout FBI chief would usually look boldly into the eyes of the person sitting across him, but today everything was different.
“I‘ll do my best. Good day, sir,” said Hoover in a guilt-ridden voice.
It was the first time Hoover had seen Truman in such an angry mood. After returning to his office, Hoover called his deputy.
Hoover locked the door and told him, “Who is the ‘rat’? Where is he? In Los Alamos, in Chicago, in Tennessee? How can I catch him? If we fail to find him – we will certainly have to resign.”
Mr. Hoover and his deputy summoned all the divisions’ heads and after arranging an unprecedented meeting, they ordered the escalation of surveillance, telephone taps, and the inspection of all suspicious letters originating from high clearance personnel. This would not only include all the important scientists such as Einstein, Oppenheimer, Teller or Bohr, – but even regular mechanics involved with the Manhattan project.
Hoover ordered the officers, “You have to check all the reports and tips which are five and even ten years old!”
I. LOYAL TO STALIN
Two Brothers: a Wunderkind and an Engineer
Ted was born in 1925. Kholtsberg family waited 11 years for the second son’s arrival. It was great to be a late child, the object of a family’s entire love and attention. The elder brother Ed willingly took responsibility for Ted’s education and he should have been proud of his job: Ted’s progress was above and beyond that of his classmates, and from childhood he demonstrated remarkable talents. Always appearing highly developed, he skipped three years of school. At the age of thirteen under the supervision of his 24 year old brother, Ted had already finished school in New York City. Their father, who was a furrier, was glad he had run away from Russia.
Although Theodore Kholtsberg was born in Long Island, the family was soon forced to leave the prosperous area, after the father’s furrier business collapsed as a result of the Great Depression. They rented a small apartment in Queens, NY. It was a 500 square foot one bedroom apartment, with a toilet that was located in the yard. As usual, the brothers spent late hours studying in their room, surrounded by textbooks, used up notepads and Ted’s favorite book “Mysterious Universe”. The elder brother read it many times and only then gave it to the younger one.
On a winter evening the lights were turned off in the Kholtsberg’s household. Tomorrow Ted would go to school, while Ed searched for work. Ted was silent; Ed could not hear his brother’s breathing, possibly because he fell asleep.
This time Ted was listening to Prokofiev using headphones made by his brother from a telephone. Since he was six, Ed repaired all domestic appliances in the apartment.
“Beautiful music!” exclaimed the youth.
Ed also loved music, but within reasonable limits. Ed decided to discuss something with his younger brother.
“Teddy! I want to ask you about changing our surname. What would you say if I talked to father?”
There was no answer, just Ted’s eyes glistening in the darkness.
“Listen, Ted, I want to ask you something,” Ed loudly repeated. He sensed that his brother might have fallen asleep, listening to music.
“Shut up,” Ted answered in an irritated voice. “Wait, until the music is over.”
“This is important,” Ed proclaimed.
“Kiss my ass! Wait a bit,” said Ted.
Finally, pulling off his headphones, Ted responded, “As far as I remember, I have always loved music.”
“Why are you so obsessed with Prokofiev? Is he a Mozart or a Wagner?” exclaimed Ed.
“You love simple things: Jewish, Russian songs… I have three hobbies – math, chess and classical music. I adore music. I experience enjoyment by wandering in numbers and sounds. As for Wagner. After I read his essay “Jews in Music”, where he denies the possibility of any Jew to be a genius, including giants like Heine or Mendelssohn, – I don’t want to listen to Wagner’s operas, though his music is good. All these composers are clear to me, while Prokofiev is entirely different: new and interesting. His music is inventive and cheerful, with a delicate sense of humor and sometimes sarcasm. Do you understand?”
“This is too complicated for me, I prefer Rachmaninoff. As for Prokofiev, he is too abstract, too modern, it’s confusing for me. I approve your love for chess, but what is music for?” asked Ed.
“Don’t you see that music and chess both are connected with math? Many scientists adore music,” explained the youth. “Einstein plays the violin... Music is not a job; it will not feed us… Prokofiev pleases me; in fact two years ago he left the USA for the Soviet Union. In Russia life is fair. There is a future,” the brother asserted.
“Certainly, Russians are brilliant. I do not understand why Prokofiev returned to Russia, while Rachmaninoff doesn’t want to come back. You say Prokofiev’s music is abstract? While listening to the melody of the knights from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I imagine Hitler and the Nazis marching,” Ted whispered.
“OK, rest now, let us talk tomorrow,” said Ed.
Ted intended to sleep until sunrise. It was going to be a tough day and he needed a good nights rest. He saw in his dreams an urban skyline, worn neighborhood roofs, and then a blue mountain lake appeared. Suddenly he heard…
“It’s time to get up, Teddy!”
“Yes, mom,” he answered quietly, through his sleep.
“It’s time!” The Mother’s hand tenderly touched his head.
* * *
When family members love each other, the absence of comfort becomes nothing. In 1938, since there weren’t too many cars, Ted and his friends played ball safely, on the dead end of their street. Ted’s peers loved him; he was a natural leader, athletic, and daring. He helped lagging classmates with mathematics, though he was the youngest in the class. It did not please his mother. She was afraid he would lose his competitive edge. She greatly loved her son and was very protective. However, Ted did not share her worries, for he was highly educated under his older brother’s guidance. For years Ed had trained his younger brother. When Ted was seven, he began to study algebra. Ed had a diploma in engineering with two specialties, but in these hard times he couldn’t find a job.
“Papa! What would you say if I change the surname to something shorter? It would be Hall. I think the same should be done for Ted. Soon it’s time for him to enter college. Anti-Semitism here is no less than it was in Russia. Mom, where are our birth certificates?”
The mother found them in a set of drawers.
“Change them if you must,” the father waved his hand.
“Indeed. It’s bad here but in Russia it’s even worse,” sighed Ted.
“What do you mean?” Ed flared up.
“Don’t you know what is going on in Russia? The newspapers and radios report non-stop murders. The soviets are searching for “enemies of the people”. Stalin commits atrocities: he expelled Trotsky out of Russia. He shoots oppositionists.”
“Nonsense! You’re still a sucker. You understand nothing of politics. You read the wrong newspapers. Start reading the Daily Worker, and stop picking up old copies of the New York Times. Yes, there is a struggle for the leadership of Russia just like anywhere else. Certainly, there will be rivalry and turmoil, but such is the nature of politics. Everything else is a lie, formulated by capitalists and anti-communists. To understand this, one doesn’t have to skip grades.”
Ed passionately supported the Soviet Union, and through these conversations he was able to sway Ted. The older brother’s enthusiasm for Marxism, and dreams about Stalin’s utopia influenced Ted.
“Everybody can build a new life in Russia, while here the same can happen as in Germany. Have you heard what the right-wing said yesterday? If the crisis is repeated, the local Nazis will take power here. Believe me, Russia is the only hope,” proclaimed Ed.
“Perhaps, Russia will become a country of virtue, where there will be no anti-Semitism.”
Subsequently, Ed changed both Ted’s and his last name from Kholtsberg to Hall.
Moscow, 1938. Stalin killed the Opposition
The beginning of 1938 was an alarmingly dangerous period. As winter night covered Moscow, a storm had strengthened. Snowflakes hardly managed to touch the Red Square, before the ice-cold wind swept them up. Under a lunar glow, the storm carried them above Lenin’s Mausoleum and scattered them on walls of the ancient Kremlin. The blizzard howled, as frost had gathered.
The tower clock had already struck twice, yet Stalin's office windows were vividly illuminated. The leader of the Soviet republic worked very late nights, and trained all the assistants to work with his timetable. He called in his office ministers and generals. The future was not promising; World War II could begin any day. The threat was Hitler.
Stalin inaudibly stepped on the soft carpet while holding a tobacco-pipe in his hand. He stopped near the map of the world, and contemplated how complex the situation was in the country and abroad.
The leader was now 58 years old. His forehead lined by wrinkles, he had already lost some hair, but the faded cheeks did not lose their hardness, nor did his eyes lose their sense of suspicion. He was still strong, and in command of extensive forces, with the support of his comrades-in-arms.
Stalin thought, “Hitler is ready for the appropriation of surrounding areas. His idea of Lebensraum is hypnotic to the Germans. In a month or two, he will begin expanding … Who will be first: Austria, Czechoslovakia, France or Poland, and who will be after them? Hitler will not stop, until he takes Europe, then the entire world. And in this time, on the brink of war, it is necessary to gain time. I must form a treaty to deceive him, and yet the opposition wants my downfall”.
Stepping inaudibly on the parquet in his soft leather boots, a man approached the officer on duty, who noted his arrival in the registration book. The man took out from his holster a small pistol and surrendered it to the security officer. A male secretary entered Stalin's office to report that the chief of the Secret Service had arrived.
The Leader turned his eyes away from the sprawling map on the wall.
After the ritualistic ‘How do you do, comrade Stalin!’ the chief of the Secret Service presented a summary of security reports.
Stalin went around the table, stopping behind the visitor. The leader pressed on a cigarette, and filled his pipe with the tobacco. As he smoked, a fragrant smoke cloud filled the office.
“Do you understand that time is essential? We must urgently put an end to the opposition! We cannot put this aside. It is necessary to begin the trial as soon as possible. Who instructs the doctors to kill our party leaders?” asked Stalin.
“The leader of the opposition and foreign Intelligence led the recruitment, I believe,” answered the Intelligence chief.
“By appointing you as an Intelligence Service chief, I showed confidence and trust in you, and… And later I will strictly ask for results.”
Stalin was afraid of treason, and decided to change the Intelligence chiefs every two years. At the same time Stalin gave a terrible weapon to the Secret Service, torture.
During the trial the framed opposition-leaders and showed indifference, realizing their helplessness. The opposition leaders were executed. All this was widely described by American newspapers.
Ed Hall and his friends attentively followed the reports from Moscow. They, as other Americans who liked Russia, could not understand why oppositionists so rapidly confessed to the monstrous crimes, and how Stalin attained the confessions.
The secret of the Moscow trials remained an unsolved puzzle. On President Roosevelt's request the American ambassador personally was present in the court room. After that, the US ambassador wrote a book giving a favorable view of the Soviet Union. He had attended the notorious purge trials, in which high-ranking Communists, indicted for treason, confessed to their “crimes” in public. These confessions were categorically dismissed as fraudulent by virtually all foreign commentators.
The US ambassador concluded that the accusations were true ‘based on his 20 years trial experience’. Seven hundred thousand copies of his book were sold in English, and later translated into thirteen languages. A movie film was made. The ambassador’s main interest was perhaps not justice but the antiques that he used to buy in Russia, for negligible prices, which Stalin allowed him to take out of Russia to America.
Soon Ed read the report of the American correspondent from Moscow, that Stalin removed his sequential chief of the Intelligence service, who without delay “confessed” to spying.
Stalin appointed Beria to be the new Chief of Russian Intelligence service, and ordered him to strengthen the economic and scientific spying reconnaissance. It was necessary to be up to date in the new scientific ideas and developments of armaments in the Western countries. Stalin also ordered Beria to expand cooperation with the American Communists.
“The rich capitalists will sell us the rope that wå will use to hang them. All methods justify the victory of the revolution. We must learn to use our rhetoric and charisma to increase the number of our supporters abroad.” Stalin said.
“But how will we find them?” Beria asked.
“You underestimate the attractiveness of the idea of socialism,” smiled Stalin. “Those that identify with communism will search for and eventually find ways to our diplomatic and intelligence officers abroad. You should skillfully handle and direct them.”
* * *
October 20, 1938 was a glorious day for Ted. It was his Bar Mitzvah – the passage into manhood. A ‘son of the commandment,’ according to Jewish custom, is an adolescent who reaches the age of thirteen. From this day on, Ted was responsible for all his actions, the good ones and the bad.
“How do I pronounce my vows and undergo this religious rite when in reality I am an atheist?” Ted asked the Rabbi.
“We like all kinds of boys, non-believers as well,” the old man smiled.
As such, not to disappoint his parents, Ted started taking Hebrew lessons from the Rabbi. The traditional rite of passage includes a speech by the adolescent in front of the entire community. The youth must then in the presence of witnesses, hold the Torah and read the appropriate rites. His father must stand nearby, while the relatives and guests bring gifts. But Ted was mischievous and refused to abide by the synagogue rules. He devised ridiculous rhymes, instead of the mandatory text, to amuse the children. Ted insisted on preparing the speech himself.
That day, the Rabbi congratulated Ted and described the future responsibilities of the young man. In his reply, Ted spoke of the dangers of Hitler and war.
Ted proclaimed: “We have to eliminate poverty, greediness, and racial intolerance!”
Guests, who arrived to congratulate Ted, were astonished by the unusual speech of the adolescent.
Ted’s elder brother, Ed said, “The times nowadays are difficult and very alarming. Ninety percent of people in our community are Russian Jews. Most are religious.”
“The latest economic crisis has frightened Americans. I often hear people discuss political events,” Ted frowned.
Listening to the conversation of the sons and of surrounded friends, father added, “Evil paupers dream about millions of dollars, but they are lazy to take an extra step towards making money. Usual lazy people! Damn them. Let us better play the cards or chess!”
And chess playing began. It was a special world of the rivalry of the brothers. In spite of a young age, Ted was a dangerous adversary and often won. Ted easily conquered contemporaries, invited to the birthday, and then all together took up arms against Ed.
While considering the following move, Ed told the children, “Chess were invented in India several thousand years ago. Ancient legend assigns their creation to a certain Indian. For his invention he asked the Rajah for a reward – as many rye grains, as will be on the chessboard, if on the first box place he will put one grain, on the second – two, on the third – four and so forth...”
Ted gripped the piece of paper and calculated that it was more than entire harvest in the world.
The boys were astonished. The game continued.
“Move the horse!” the friend advised Ted.
“No, move the elephant!” squealed another one.
“The Royal Family must keep together, out of danger. A King, although weak, is the main figure. Pawns are soldiers, they as donkeys are brought down into the heap. You have to construct a defense. This indeed is a war game”, Ed taught the surrounding boys.
“Be careful, boys, this is very suspicious! Ed has something planned. Here is a trick. This is not a simple horse, this - insidious Trojan horse, there is something in it. We have to attack!”
“Well you are too sharp!” Ed did not give the brother a chance to finish phrase and won the game. “This is a lesson to you!”
The loss did not upset the youngsters. Then the brothers’ mom served tea and coffee, with domestic pirogues and tasty pastry, “What will the young men drink, Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev?”
That sounded funny because Tchaikovsky in Russian stands for “tea” and Prokofiev meant “coffee”.
“You know, mom, I’d love ‘Prokofiev’ with milk”, said Ted.
Then the guests started to play cards.
“What kind of game? Fools?”
“Certainly!” said Ed.
“Without fools it would be a boring world,” Ted agreed.
Then they brought in a gramophone and old records. They listened to the Gypsy’s “The black eyes” followed by Russian songs and then “America the beautiful”…
The brothers sang. When the party was over and the brothers remained alone, Ed said, “Well, I will tell a secret.”
“What happened?”
“I joined the Antifascist Club. Do not tell Mom,” Ed warned, giving his brother a Communist periodical. “We did not let the local Nazis rally yesterday. Hitler’s anti-Semitism can also infect America.”
Berlin, 1939. Super Weapon for Super Monster
After Albert Einstein established the concepts of relativity between space and time, he tore apart the established theories of science. With the advent of Einstein's formula, E = mc;, there was a fundamental realignment of ideas about the structure of the Universe; that the formation of planets and stars was based on atomic transmutations. Many thought that if Einstein was right, then the Earth was a dangerous island which consisted of explosive mixtures. Discussing these points, scientists found a source of temporary relief, “Thank God people thus far are like children, who do not yet know where the matches are hidden!”
Long before Hitler, there was a group of physicists in Germany, the “national researchers,” who declared that the Einstein’s theory of relativity was a “Jewish bluff”. They rejected “Jewish physics” of Einstein and Bohr. However, the majority of German scientists explained to their students that there is neither “German” nor “Jewish” physics. Science can only be correct or incorrect. Nonetheless, Anti-Semitic propaganda was about to explode in political fanaticism.
In 1939 it was announced that nuclear fission of uranium was discovered in Nazi Germany. Soon the Germans constructed a reactor. The experiments showed the possibility of a chain reaction. Ed Hall knew about that from his friends, University students.
In the summer Ed Hall learned from the newspapers that the German scientists declared, “Actually, we are on the way to Atomic bomb, but we are not Nazis. We are Germans.”
Some of them figured that Hitler would lose the war, and that their task as scientists was to remain in Germany to preserve scientific values.
In 1940 German scientists calculated that from a heavy isotope of uranium it was possible to come up with a new element, plutonium, which was more suitable for the construction of a bomb. The Nazis expanded their research, and Germany was at the forefront in the development of a nuclear weapon. At the same time, the Wehrmacht had already occupied several European countries.
In June 1942, the German Military Minister held a conference in Berlin to determine the prospects of creating the A-bomb.
The Minister asked, “Is it realistic to construct the bomb?”
The scientists assured the Minister, “The outlook is completely real.”
“How long will it take?” he asked.
They answered, “Three or four years.”
The Minister reported this to the Fuhrer. The answer in no way satisfied Hitler and the project was almost shutdown. The German army was not going to rely on the bomb, since it would be necessary to redirect valuable technical and financial resources as well as scientific personnel, that could be used in war efforts.
As early as 1936, Hitler decided to expand missile research in Peenemunde, the island in the Baltic Sea. In the forest, among the sand dunes, more laboratories were built. A member of the Nazi party, SS-Sturmbannf;hrer Wernher von Braun, became the facility’s scientific leader. He managed to create a 15-meter-long missile, capable of carrying a ton of explosives to a distance of 100 miles. The world's first strategic missiles, called the V-1 and V-2 were successfully tested, and in 1939 Hitler attended the launches in Peenemunde.
The collaboration of German scientists with the Nazis procured strong criticism from foreign scientists and strengthened their suspicions of the fact that they as well as von Braun made a pact with Hitler.
The German scientists feared that the Americans and British are better funded and they will create the bomb first and drop it on Germany.
The Germans acted decisively; suddenly the occupiers increased the export of uranium from Czechoslovakia.
At this time the German scientists were thus far unable to create the A-bomb for two reasons. First the Germans incorrectly calculated the critical mass of uranium 235. Secondly, Germany lost their “Jewish” physicists.
But the efforts to create the new weapon did not cease completely. In 1942, the Minister of armaments for the Third Reich permitted the development of a uranium reactor for their naval ships. Hitler allowed financing only for projects that promised immediate results.
In contrast to Hitler, the British and Americans understood the importance of the creation of a nuclear weapon, and not only actively worked on its development, but also tried in every possible way to prevent the Germans from completing their uranium project.
Although the British Intelligence Service was assured that the Nazis were not heavily invested in the creation of the A-bomb, Germany nonetheless had about fifty scientists who continued the work on it. By the winter of 1941-1942, the German and American scientists were approximately on the same level of progress.
II. LOVE AND INTELLIGENCE
Changes in World History
In Germany, a prolonged period of obscurity had begun with fascism overshadowing a country of great culture. A month had hardly passed since Hitler came to power, when a telegram from Berlin ordered the immediate discharge of Jewish professors.
Some of them were not just theorists who manipulated symbols and numbers. They won the right to be called German patriots for having fought and suffered on the frontlines of World War I. But neither these reasons nor the petitions signed by twenty two professors, including German Nobel Prize winners, saved Jewish scientists from dismissal. Some prominent scientists were initially untouched by the Nazis due to their reputation, but they were proud enough to ask for a resignation.
“We, Germans of Jewish origin, are now considered to be strangers and enemies of the state,” declared the scientists.
Albert Einstein also did not want to stay in Germany. He accepted a proposition to work in New Jersey and hence relocated from Berlin to the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton. The father of contemporary physics moved to the United States.
As a student at the College of the City of New York, Ed Hall constantly read what American newspapers wrote about the arrival of the “father of contemporary physics.” Einstein used to meet with American students, and they bombarded him with their questions. Ed tried to save every report and gathered all articles from newspapers with the scientist’s answers,
“Mr. Einstein, what is your view of the world?”
“Our limited mind is not capable of understanding mysterious forces, which move the constellations in the Universe.”
“What role does religion play in your life?”
“Each good will person has to fight for the implementation of humaneness in his own small world.”
“What influence Christianity made upon you?”
“In the childhood I studied Torah and Talmud. Later I read Bible too. I am a Jew, but the bright personality of the Christ from Nazareth impressed me greatly.”
“Mr. Einstein, do you believe in historical Jesus?”
“Definitely! It is impossible, reading the New Testament, not to feel the real presence of Jesus Christ. His personality breathes in each word. No myth possesses such a powerful vitality.”
When American scientists learned that the Germans were trying to create the A-bomb, they decided to use Einstein’s reputation to draw attention to the dangerous project. The scientists feared that the Nazis would create the bomb first. Albert Einstein had signed a letter to the President of United States,
F.D. Roosevelt August 2nd, 1939
President of the United States
White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear President Roosevelt:
Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in a manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy… Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future. This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable, though much less certain, those extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be very destructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory…
Next year Einstein sent another letter to Roosevelt,
“Since the outbreak of the war, interest in uranium has intensified in Germany. I have now learned that research is being carried out in great secrecy there and that it has been extended…”
* * *
The Soviet-German Pact of 1939 shocked America. Very few approved, while others condemned it. Ed and Ted realized that Stalin had bought time to be prepared for Hitler’s attack…
For his interview at Columbia University, Ted arrived with his mother. Due to his age, he was not accepted and was advised to wait. Ed insisted that Ted should send an application to Harvard. The university had always searched for true talent and promised to accept the brilliant 16-year old.
On a blistering day of June 22, 1941, Ed slammed open the door of his apartment.
“War!”
“What war, with whom?”
“Hitler has attacked Russia!”
“I bet America won’t get involved. Considering we didn’t help England, Congress will never approve participating in the war because of Russia,” Ted answered.
Ted and Ed closely followed the news from Moscow, with great empathy for Russia. To their joy, the Germans were stuck somewhere in the vicinity of Moscow, despite the successful beginning of their blitzkrieg. Further events developed with an improbable pace. Unexpectedly, Japan had made its devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, and Roosevelt declared war against the Empire. Subsequently, Hitler as a Japanese ally, had to proclaim war on America.
Ethel Greenglass and Julius Rosenberg
Mr. Greenglass arrived to the United States from Russia. The head of the family had been fixing sewing machines for years from dawn till night. The times of economic prosperity had ended with the “Great Depression” and the family could hardly survive. Only by 1938 the life of Greenglass family had slowly adjusted, though times were still rather difficult living in New York.
Tessie was a housekeeper and looked after their three children as well as her husband’s eldest son, from his departed wife. The Greenlasses lived in a poor neighborhood in Manhattan, having settled in a neglected house with no heating. In order to pay the rent, the head of the family worked as a super. He took care of the apartments in the evenings and his wife fulfilled yard-keeper duties.
The 23-year old daughter Ethel helped her mother raise David and Bernie. She had a strong will and an artistic gift for drama, music and singing. Tessie like all Jewish mothers, paid little attention to the different political chatter in the yard, and devoted herself to family matters. The mother considered her daughter’s singing, a frivolous activity, seeing no practical value of music in the girl’s future life.
Unlike the Russian province where she was born, Tessie found everything different in America. The booming sounds of the street would constantly penetrate the house. Tessie had never before heard such noises in her life.
Furthermore, something was constantly happening to her, but Tessie was not easy to scare.
Tessie spoke Yiddish with her children, and sometimes a bit in Russian. She only knew a couple of English words. Outside, Tessie tried to live as though she was still in Russia, communicating with the same Jewish people, the same women.
It was Sunday. Tessie was with her daughter Ethel, 16-year old David and 10-year old Bernie. On the way to the flea market they met a former neighbor from Russia.
“Hi!”
“Hello! Haven’t seen you for ages!” answered an astonished Tessie.
“Oh! You speak rather well.” The former neighbor bantered on the account of Tessie’s English,
“Come on. I do not need it. Why should I rack my brains? We live in such a place where no English is needed.”
“How many children do you have?”
“Three, all grown up. My husband, God willing, has a job… It’s a sin to complain. I am in America since my youth, for about 20 years. We arrived here some time before the Russian revolution.”
“Do you remember how difficult it was for Jews to enter a secondary school in Russia?”
“Oh, yes,” exclaimed Tessie, “just for this the anti-Semites should die! It is good that we have left, let the revolution remain in Russia; we do not need it here. Did you hear what is going on in Germany? What Hitler does against the Jews? There will soon be a war, remember my words. We are lucky to live in America!”
“Yes, but the climate in New York is bad,” interrupted the neighbor.
“Certainly, the summer heat in Manhattan is hellish. We go by subway to Brighton Beach or to Coney Island. The children love to swim,” said Tessie. During the conversation the neighbor noticed Tessie’s golden “Star of David,” which originally belonged to her husband’s first wife.
“Do you ever go to the park?”
“Rarely, I am very busy with the family and the house. Ettie assists me a lot; she helped raise David, now she takes care of Berniå. Ettie is an amateur singer; she often goes to the club, and not only joins the choir, but also sings solo.”
“Yes, I love Jewish and Russian songs and arias as well. Since school, the teachers predicted a musical career for me,” Ethel entered the conversation.
“But the main thing is that Ettie already has a job! She helps her father support us, later Ethel will go to college,” the mother said.
“Well, and what about a boy-friend?”
“Not a problem. She will find one in the club. There are a lot of boys there.”
“Good luck!”
* * *
The “Communist Club”, where strikers collected donations, hummed like an overfilled beehive. Hard work, low wages, intolerable conditions in American enterprises; all these problems were discussed there. Julius took an active part in the association. Every member was a socialist supporter. They were seeking a job, health care and affordable housing. Julius took part in a charity concert and was now reading a poem on the stage. The verses were pleasing and the public enthusiastically welcomed his performance. After applauds, Julius bowed and went to the hall.
It was there that Julius saw Ethel. She was singing the famous aria of “Chio-chio- sun,” about the tragic love of a girl from Nagasaki. Julius immediately recognized Ethel, for they used to go to the same school. He was stunned, listening to her performance of the aria from “Madam Butterfly.” Ethel made a deep impression upon its listeners, as the tearful melody filled their hearts,
“One beautiful day we’ll see a puff of smoke on the far horizon.
And then the white ship enters the harbor, roars its salute.”
“Bravo!” The public feverishly shouted.
“Wow, she has become really beautiful!” exclaimed Julius.
He waited until Ethel went down the hall and approached her, “What have you been up to, since school? Do you work?”
She answered and asked him, “How are you doing? Do you still live in NY?”
They were both children of Jewish immigrants, who left Russia in search of better lives. They had much in common. Julius was three years younger, his father was a tailor; the mother was a housewife, and altogether there were five children in the family. They lived poorly, sharing and dividing everything, including bread, soup, and eggs for the entire family. There was no hot water in the house and the toilet was in the backyard.
Ethel and Julius joined the Young Communist League while still at school, having been inspired by the Russian revolution. Ethel had worked for three years in a transport company, until she was fired for organizing strikes. After secondary school, Julius Rosenberg finished college as an electrical engineer, but civil motives were on top of his priorities. The surrounding destitute and social inequality made Julius very receptive to Communist ideas. Ethel Greenglass possessed a beautiful voice, but could not afford any further education since she had to work and provide for the family.
She succeeded in getting employment as a secretary-typist, and she spent her evenings in socialist clubs. Although Julius had met Ethel many years ago, it was only now that their friendship developed into love. The bride’s parents liked Julius, and in 1939, the young people were preparing for their wedding. At this time Julius Rosenberg was 21 years old, and his bride was 24.
The parents had spent all their savings on the wedding and even went into debt.
“I want this wedding to be just as good as everyone else’s,” Tessie told the neighbors. “But we have no money.”
Tessie set up a very conservative wedding party at their home. Ethel’s father, her brother Bernie, David and his girlfriend Ruth, stepbrother Sam, – were all happy for her.
Ethel’s brother David and his girlfriend Ruth extended their best wishes. David kissed his sister, “Ettie! Happiness to you!” added Ruth.
“Long live the newlyweds and their parents!” David exclaimed.
Couple days later, Tessie met the neighbors. They congratulated her, “We wish you and your family a happy life in this hard time, in this crazy world!”
“Lest us all live and let Hitler die!” Tessie answered.
Other than figures like Hitler and Stalin, Tessie was not familiar with politics. Yet she felt with all her heart that a misfortune was approaching her family: a great tragic catastrophe.
* * *
During a large meeting in Central Park, a Communist friend introduced Rosenberg to a Soviet engineer; a man who arrived from the country “of socialism, freedom and equality”. Soon Julius Rosenberg was recruited and agreed to collaborate. The “engineer” proved to be an experienced intelligence officer. The covert operations had started.
Immediately after America entered the war against Germany, Julius applied to join the US Army to fight in Europe. However, due to his weak health he was assigned to the army communication battalion in New York. During the war, the young family attentively followed the events and closely watched the fate of Russian Jews in occupied Europe, and USSR.
In 1942, Julius became a chairman in the local department of the Communist party and conducted sessions in his apartment. After a year of training, Julius obtained the post of an engineer in the Army. This was especially important because Ethel expected the birth of their first child. In 1942 the young family was finally able to rent a separate apartment in an inexpensive neighborhood in Manhattan. The birth of their son was a marvelous event for them, but it did not change the lifestyles of the young parents. Ethel had now many problems and sleepless nights, which were compensated by the smiles and laughter of the baby. Grandmother Tessie was a great source of aid. She dedicated all her love and attention to her grandson. David and Ruth often came to help bathe the child while the brothers, Sam and Bernie constantly brought new toys and played with the child.
In 1943, the Soviet intelligence agent again met Julius and advised the young father to leave the Communist party and go underground. Julius ended his subscriptions to Communist newspapers and terminated any open activities. Convinced by his ideological righteousness, Julius had decided to render assistance to Russia. He tried to obtain top secret information for the Soviet State, and disclosed what he did to his wife.
What was Rosenberg’s motivation? Was it money, ideology, blackmail or ambition? Undoubtedly, it was ideology, although ambition played an important role as well.
Even though during the war years Julius tried to conceal his membership in the Communist party, he was discovered by the government by 1945. The young specialist was discharged from the Army. Unable to find a job, Julius started a business with Ethel’s brothers, David and Bernie; a small machine repair shop.
In the mornings, Julius hurried to the workshop, constantly searching for decent work. Nevertheless, he was glad to have this job, for many could not find any work at all. During his years in the City College of New York, Julius’ public activities prevented him from being a successful student: he graduated in 79th place, out of 85 graduates.
He actively kept up his friendships with former classmates. Together they were captivated by photography and traveling; they discussed current events and arranged family picnics. From Rosenberg the Russians received extremely valuable information: one of his spies worked with radar systems. He was a talented specialist and served in a scientific research center, where top secret engineering was conducted. From the other, Rosenberg received documents of calculating machines, which processed the missile itinerary. From the third one he received more that a hundred technological secrets.
Another engineer regularly informed Rosenberg about the advances in radio engineering, and also about the production of chemicals. Between 1943-1945 Rosenberg provided information on numerous scientific developments to the Russians. These documents were considered highly valuable in Moscow.
The U.S. Communist party named Communism as “American dream”. At this time, Stalin made the decision to use communists around the world for espionage purposes. It made them vulnerable to accusations that they were agents of a foreign power.
Harvard
In 1942 Lieutenant Ed Hall began his military service in the US army. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent to England, where he supervised the repair and maintenance of Boeing B-17 bombers.
Ted, at this time, began his studies at Harvard. In his letters to his older brother, Ted asked, what impression Churchill made upon Ed, what was the difference between British and Americans and many other questions.
In Harvard, Ted had difficulty communicating with other students. He was not seventeen yet, while other students were between 20 and 25.
The ancient University buildings were three hundred years old, with classrooms and the abundant library occupying half of Harvard’s area. Especially impressive were the archaic edifices, which were reminiscent of old cathedrals. The green lawns, the splendid sport arenas, the sprawling dormitories, – were all pleasing to Ted. Roaming the University in warm evenings, Ted studied the ancient walls and pondered how much knowledge had passed down within its confines. How many bright minds had trained here for three centuries? As such, Ted had decided to study something innovative and fascinating.
The University town awoke early. The cleaners thoroughly swept the streets, while shop owners readied their stores. Merchants had set out their freshly baked goods on tranquil streets untainted by typical NY noise.
Ted was on his way to the library when he noticed a guy with a deformed left hand.
“A strange guy, perhaps he is a poet or an artist,” Ted thought.
This young man was tall, broad-shouldered, with hazel eyes and wavy hair. He was wearing a cap, grey shirt and crumpled dark-blue jeans. The guy was walking in the same direction. He suddenly approached Ted and began a conversation.
“Hi! Are you a student here?” curiously asked the boy.
“Yes, and you?”
“Me too. Where are you going?”
“To the library, to exchange some books.”
“Me too,” said the youth. “My name is Saville Sax, but you can call me Savy.”
“Nice to meet you, my name is Ted Hall.” Ted jabbered, shaking Savy’s hand.
“Your surname does not sound Jewish, probably abridged?”
“Yes, originally, my last name was Kholtsberg. I can speak Yiddish, it is my native language. I know all its subtleties, words, and even profanities. In the evenings, mom used to read us Sholom-Aleykhem’s stories. But later my native language was displaced by English. I still love Jewish songs, and sometimes insert Jewish sayings into my dialogue. But gradually I’ve stopped using it, now I speak mostly English and I’ve also forgotten my Russian.”
“I love English culture,” Savy pronounced.
“Any ethnic features remain visible to the world especially in works of art,” added Ted. “Take musicians, for example. Prokofiev has even in America remained a Russian phenomenon. I think that the psychological inclinations help to bring out nationalities. Therefore Bloch is a Jewish composer; Prokofiev is Russian; Wagner is German. The same idea can be extended to paintings: French impressionists, Shagal, Americans… But, honestly, deep inside I feel I’m a cosmopolitan, a citizen of the world.”
The youths quickly became friends, studying, playing the guitar, and discussing current events. Ted listened to his friend’s passionate speeches, having found a kindred spirit in Savy. Neither of them had picked their majors and passionately searched for answers to their hard life, which had let them cross paths due to their poor upbringing and desire to succeed.
Ted was generally not afraid of anything; he had great confidence in his abilities. After listening to a couple of lectures on electrical engineering, Ted realized he was more interested in physics, particularly atomic theory. Nuclear physics became an interest that he was always enthralled by.
“I was born in 1925. My father is a furrier and I’m his second son,” said the youngest student of Harvard to his new friend. “On the request of my older brother, Edward, my parents named me Ted, since he loved teddy bears. My mother supported the decision, since she always trusted him. Guess how much older he is than me?”
“5 years?”
“11 years,” answered Ted with a smile. “Now Ed serves in Britain, he is awarded with the Legion of Merit for inventing a quicker way to repair the Boeing B-17. He is not just a first class pilot; he is an outstanding engineer. He found a girl friend there, with the same name as his. She is an English girl, not Jewish. Her name is Edith. She is a nurse and an ambulance driver. Can you imagine a girl driving during the bombings?”
“Really? Wow!”
“She had been the best tennis player at College and it’s helped her succeed.”
“Of course it helps.”
“I think they will get married soon… In 1929 during the Great Depression, my father left our unpaid house in Long Island and he rented an apartment in Queens. Our immigrant friends from Russia came around our home to listen to folk music and sing old songs. Mostly we were mesmerized, listening to stories from this unknown country.”
“Do you see what is going on in Russia?” asked Savy.
“Yes, Hitler is a killer,” said Ted.
The young men had genuine concerns about the situation. It was not possible to ignore it by any philosophical ratiocination.
“By the way, I’ve been in love with mathematics since childhood; I’ve never had any problems at school. My brother frequently brought home different literature, I read it all. He is very devoted to leftist ideas. For me, who came from an immigrant family, it was a great honor to enter Harvard. I am probably the youngest here.”
“Yes, you probably are.”
“The girls here are not interested in me; they say I’m still a child. Listen, Savy, move into my dormitory. There is a space for another roommate.”
“Okay!”
* * *
Only a couple of dozen out of three and a half thousand students were fond of Communist ideology, which was like swimming against the tide. Among them were Ted and Savy, with their iridescent hopes for Russia. In Harvard, Ted was as good as his classmates, who were also brilliant and took difficult classes. Soon, Ted like others, began skipping lectures and joined Savy to play ping-pong and baseball.
Ed wrote a letter from Britain, informing Ted that he was going to get married. The brother responded with a couple of congratulatory lines, and at the same time Ted reported that he had difficulty selecting a profession. Ed advised that it was necessary to pick something practical relating to physics.
In Harvard, Ted was busy; he liked to study late at night in the University library. He studied the scientific articles of Einstein and Bohr, Heisenberg and Oppenheimer. Ted and Savy also joined a group that was being trained for guerrilla warfare, and were hoping to become paratroopers.
Ed continued his service in England, where he assisted in the battle against the Germans as part of the Air Force. In Harvard, everyone spoke about city of Stalingrad; students were enthralled by the Russian courage. Ted wrote to his brother, that after the University, he would immediately join the Army. However, thus far he was constantly preoccupied with his studies. In the summer of 1943, when Ted arrived from Harvard to New York for vacation, his mother fell ill and subsequently passed away. Ted wrote to his brother informing him that their father was in deep depression following her death. The brothers were distraught.
In October, Ted wrote a letter, telling his brother that he stopped being lazy, quit playing the guitar, and completely focused on studying theoretical physics. Since America was at war, the University campus was full of soldiers and officers. Ted was ready to join, but did not have the sufficient discipline, including maintaining his appearance, which was messy and unshaven. He was constantly late for classes, and due to his vivid imagination he was lost in day dreams.
When Ted intended to leave for the front, he was suddenly called into the dean's office.
“The scientist Robert Oppenheimer, who is our famous alumni, is looking for people to work for him. He seeks capable young scientists and we recommended you. Are you interested?”
“Certainly. But I have not finished the University yet!”
“That’s OK, complete your diploma and you may go. It might be an interesting project; we hope you will be pleased.”
The War Years: 1941-45
Hitler promised the German public they would become a pure nation, from which all “defective, non Arian peoples” would be expelled. Hitler’s ideology was like a seed planted in fertile soil. The German people had already been poisoned by bigotry and nationalist fever.
The British hated both Hitler and Stalin. The Soviet regime was standing by, watching the destruction of England by Hitler. The Russians would happily share the British Empire with the Germans. The Soviet government sent Hitler congratulations with every strike on England. Until June 22, 1941, the Great Britain was the only one battling Germany. One hundred thousand British souls perished during the bombings of their cities. Stalin found a common ground with Hitler, more than with the steadfast democracies of the West. Hence this led to the formation of the Russian-German pact. After dividing Poland with Stalin, German troops came face to face with the Russians.
Hitler occupied vast territories after attacking the USSR within a short time; the Wermaht approached the Russian capital, but was met with heavy resistance on the outskirts of Moscow. In September of 1941, the first snow fell in the Russian capital and by October all the roads to the capital were blocked by a thick layer of snow. The frost reached -40C in December. The tanks’ motors wouldn’t budge and the Germans were freezing. On November 7, 1941 Roosevelt signed the lend-lease act to help the Russians since their losses were three times higher than the Germans’. By the end of 1941, Russia began losing her two main advantages: population and territory.
Suddenly an unexpected “gift” was presented to Stalin by Japan. On December 7 it assaulted Pearl Harbor. On December 11, 1941, Germany joined Japan in waging war on the United States of America. German officers were surprised: in spite of Hitler’s declaration of war against the USA, the Empire of the Rising Sun had not done the same thing to the Soviet Union!
This gave Stalin an opportunity to relocate the troops from the Far East, and use them against the Germans on the other front. The crushing defeat of Germans in the suburbs of Moscow signaled the eventual failure of the quick war - blitzkrieg.
United States and England extended aid to the USSR, although they understood that a coalition with Stalin entailed signing a deal with the devil. Not long time ago Stalin was Hitler’s partner. However the beginning of the war exposed great atrocities. Millions of Germans participated in crimes against humanity. The SS troops consisted of about 900 thousand out of the German army.
The crushing defeat of the German troops in the environs of Stalingrad was one of the most glorious accomplishments of WWII. The battle lasted two hundred days and nights. The Red Army counterattacked and destroyed the enemy. The Russians surrounded and captured 300,000 German soldiers. The three-day mourning in Germany showed that city of Stalingrad became a turning point in the war. But Hitler did not intend to surrender. The Fuehrer had been informed of the great successes in the construction of rockets. He stated that he now confidently looked into the future, and “the weapon of retribution” would change the situation in favor of the Third Reich.
The capital of Great Britain underwent repeated German bombings. Many inhabitants were evacuated and the subway stations served as air-raid shelters for the rest of the people. Thousands of London citizens gave up their lives. Many suffered injuries and lost their homes. The Germans sent their barrages in the daytime in order to increase the number of victims.
American pilot Ed Hall and his English war time bride Edith spent their wedding day modestly. She was in her uniform. Ed only noticed a stronger than usually, clove aroma of the perfumes and her enamored eyes sparkled more blissfully under the downy eyelashes. They were registered in the marriage division of the municipality. Then they were photographed with their witnesses.
They dined in a caf; with two friends, and then a husband and a wife took a two-story bus on its regular route around the city. There were less people on the street than usually. The passengers were concerned with their own problems and turned little attention to a Lieutenant in Air force uniform, holding by hand, a young nurse with accurately combed hair, in a dark green color military shirt, with the necktie and a side-cap. The Halls mostly saw fellow military servicemen. There were torn posters all over the city streets, with policemen standing next to them.
The harmful mixture of fog and smoke was felt everywhere, it hung above London. The concentration of toxic smog choked the inhabitants. In the center, especially near Piccadilly, historical buildings were covered with camouflage nets and the fountain sculpture had been securely wrapped. In the middle of the Trafalgar square, the newly-weds saw the covered monument of Admiral Nelson, who had commanded the English fleet in the battle in 1805. The London gallery looked pitiful without its usual patrons. Nevertheless, near the Buckingham palace, some people excitedly watched the changing of the royal guard.
The downtrodden feelings of war were felt all around. Yet time moved on, Big Ben still ticked with the unrelenting pulse of life…
Ed Hall thoroughly studied German missiles. Once, while Ed visited his wife’s medical aid station, an anti-aircraft siren suddenly went off. An immediate barrage followed: several V-2 rockets hit Western London. Death spread across the residential areas, as rockets levied destruction across the district. Ed followed Edith to her ambulance. Anxiety, a broken Air force and the absence of any viable protection from the rockets, put the people of London into panic. A screeching siren approached, from a distance. A large bomb fragment landed directly in front of the car windshield, covering it in dirt and dust. Edith slammed on the brakes, but then changed her mind and pushed on the gas.
The machine twitched, the engine started to die out, but the car kept going. On the next street Edith stopped the ambulance, which was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. The explosion left fragments scattered all over the road. Once the dust had settled, one could see a dozen people lying on the road without any signs of life, apparently dead, with blood flowing onto the street. The fire from the adjacent building illuminated the scene. Volunteers and passer-bys helped the wounded who were covered in blood, mud, and glass fragments.
Edith immediately went to work: she determined the priority of the injuries, cleaned wounds and directed the volunteers. In minutes, several Red Cross automobiles arrived. Ed was in the process of helping his wife when a familiar roar approached. Ed was not frightened; he raised his head slightly to see where the V-2 would fall. Like an arrow, the rocket swiftly rushed to its unknown destination sending debris and havoc on its way. At the moment of explosion, Ed covered his wife. Suddenly a heavy fragment struck Ed on his shoulder.
“Ed, dear! Are you alright?” Edith rushed to him.
Cries were heard everywhere. First he noticed the pain on Edith’s face and then he saw the blood on his sleeve.
A huge funnel of smoke climbed to the sky from the center of a two-story house. An entire section of the building had fallen, but the basement remained intact. After clearing the debris, Edith ordered the establishment of a temporary aid station.
“Von Braun has reached me here,” thought Ed.
The volunteers helped Ed into the basement with the other wounded.
“Let me see it,” said Edith and carefully started to bandage her husband’s injured arm.
After composing himself, Ed got up and joined Edith. As he walked, dust and mud fell from his cap and uniform.
Later, Ed and his colleagues made a thorough inspection of the fragments of the missile. After recovering the pieces, the British reverse engineered the rocket. “The V-2” carried a warhead that weighed more than one ton. The British acquainted Ed with diagrams of the V-2 and the construction plans of the German base. The prints were sent to London by guerillas. The following week 600 English bombers attacked the German base and destroyed it. The Germans had decided to renew missile production at an underground plant deep in the mountains, next to the concentration camp Dora.
In the summer of 1943 in Hitler's office “Wolfsschanze”, Werner von Braun made a report about the “weapon of retribution”. Hitler met the missile genius for the second time and they both reviewed footage of the project. Hitler was astounded by what he had just seen. The Fuehrer gave the 31-year old engineer the title of professor, and access to unlimited labor resources. Braun personally selected the workforce in the death camp of Bukhenvalde.
Having missed the opportunity to develop the A-bomb, Hitler saw the necessity of building these rockets to hinder the Allied plan of opening a Second front. The Fuehrer directed all his resources toward his last hope. 1300 rockets were launched in the direction of London. The V-2s killed almost 3000 civilians and left 6500 with critical injuries. The psychological aspect of the bombings on the British citizens had much greater effect than the killings themselves. An American general told Captain Ed Hall,
“Our informants indicate that Werner von Braun is working on improving the V-2. He is designing the V-3, which would have the capability of reaching United States. Brown has proposed to Hitler that the missile could hit New York, an endeavor called “Project America.” However, the German failures on the Eastern Front had diverted them from working on the enhanced missile. Nonetheless, the V-3 project is not buried. In fact there are rumors that the Nazis intend to send rockets with specially trained kamikaze pilots ready to die.”
In 1943, Britain and America promised Stalin that they would open up the Second front. General Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of the joint troops, decided to land five divisions of troops on June 6, 1944. The task was complicated by volatile ocean weather on the Atlantic. By the beginning of the assault the allies had more than 8 thousand aircrafts and more than 6 thousand warships, transport and landing vessels.
Captain Ed Hall headed a small American landing group, which was specially trained at a British base. On June 5th, many groups like Ed’s, departed from South England late in the evening. The flight over the English Channel passed without incident due to the superiority of the Allied air force. The transport ships were ready for the D-Day invasion. Ed and his unit were dropped several kilometers behind the beaches of Normandy. They landed, but were dispersed around the area. In the darkness they slowly found each other. The enemy revealed itself in time and engaged the American soldiers in a fierce firefight.
At dawn, the Allied planes and ships brought down a barrage of bombs and artillery shells on the coast of Normandy. Anti-aircraft batteries opened fire, killing parachutists before they could land. Machine gun bursts swept the whole area: Ed’s unit entrenched itself and covered the right flank of the landing force.
The Germans were strong enough to resist. Soon the water was stained with blood.
The debarkation lasted for several hours. The invading army penetrated the German defenses, moving through barbwire, mine fields, and enemy ground fire. Death met them everywhere.
The parachutists had arrived a day earlier, to support the assault. Now, together they moved through the French countryside, from one house to the next. Each farm was fenced in with high hawthorn bushes that stretched along the roads. Enemy forces could be in any location, their visibility covered by rain. The unit did not stop; they advanced through mud under the cover of darkness.
As the invasion progressed, the tanks landed too. The ravines were a fatal trap for heavy armor and infantry; the narrow space made them perfect targets for the Germans panzerfausts (grenade launchers). German snipers were hidden everywhere among thick trees, unwilling to give up their positions. Each tree, leaf and twig seemed suspicious. Yet, the French resistance fighters helped the Allies navigate the area.
Ed and his men were passing through a grape farm. Germans were hiding behind the bushes and suddenly one soldier ran out of his shelter to attack. Ed was faster and succeeded to shoot him. Other Germans ran away. The enemy soldiers lost their formation and raised their arms in surrender. This was only one stop; a long and bloody journey was waiting for Ed’s unit…
The losses were significant, but the landing succeeded.
On June 11, 1944 Stalin sent Churchill a telegram,
“It is evident, that the mass debarkation, undertaken on immense scales, succeeded completely. My associates and I cannot but recognize that the history of war does not know another similar battle”.
Hitler did not intend to surrender. The military reported to the Fuehrer about the successful creation of a new generation of rockets, submarines and aircrafts. This gave Hitler the basis to make a statement, “I look into future confidently. ‘The weapon of retribution’, which I will soon have available, will change the situation in favor of the Third Reich”.
Now the rocket “V-2” made by Wernher von Braun could carry a warhead more than one ton.
The bloody offensive of the Russian Army against the Germans saved London, Moscow and New York. The cities could have been completely erased from the face of the Earth by von Braun’s V-rockets. There were rumors the Germans were constructing an A-bomb that could be carried by a von Braun’s missile.
During the heavy fighting, Ed and his unit moved slowly to the boundaries of the Third Reich.
* * *
David Greenglass was very happy to marry his beloved girl Ruth. He loved her black hair, smooth white skin, and her eyes. She captivated her young husband, who embraced his wife with adoration. For him she was everything. David Greenglass was a mechanic in the Army, periodically arriving to New York to see his wife and relatives.
David and Ruth shared many common views on life.
“I love you very much. I hope with the affection of Communism our life will be very happy,” he wrote to his young wife. He dreamed that socialism would propagate around the world after the war. He had read many books about the Soviet Union and the history of socialist thought.
In August 1944, David was moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where physicists were working on the creation of the A-bomb. According to the calculations of the director of the Manhattan Atomic Project (MAP), the first bomb would be ready by spring of 1945. Approximately at this time, the Russian intelligence officer met with Julius Rosenberg and asked him, “We need an apartment for photographing documents and other necessities. Maybe, you know, where can I find it?”
Rosenberg recollected, “Listen, my brother-in-law, David, no longer lives in the apartment which he leased earlier. Maybe, you can use it?”
The officer inquired, “Where is your brother-in-law now?”
“I do not know accurately, somewhere in the state of New Mexico,” answered Julius. “He works as mechanic at a military base.”
“Who is David to you?”
“The brother of my wife.”
“Fine, but can we trust him. Isn’t he too young to keep secrets?”
Julius guaranteed that his brother-in-law could be trusted, “I bet my life on it! David Greenglass is a reliable person, a devoted Communist.”
Ruth’s recruitment went rather smoothly. The Rosenbergs invited her to dinner. After the dinner Julius asked his sister-in-law, “Say, Ruth, what is your attitude toward the Soviet Union and how deep are your
convictions?”
Ruth answered, “I am certain our only hope is socialism. For a long time I have been captivated by Soviet Russia.”
“Do you want, in this case, to help the Soviet Union?”
“Me? How I can help?”
“I know how, but it is necessary to ask David first.”
Ruth became angry, “David will approve any of my decisions.”
On her way back from Albuquerque to New York, Ruth brought her first report, which she memorized by heart. Besides the general description of the object, it contained the names of some scientists who worked on the Manhattan project.
III. TO STEAL A FIRE
The Nuclear Secrets
After Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, scientist Klaus Fuchs made his decision to help Russia. Fuchs informed the Russians about the plans of creating an A-bomb.
A Soviet intelligence officer in England asked the scientist, “Why did you decide to transmit this information to the Soviet Union?”
The scientist answered, “I know a lot about the new studies. Not everything, but a lot. Russia is seriously behind. It should be ahead of Hitler, otherwise – kaput.”
He gestured a cut across his neck and quietly added, “I want that everything I provide to you will take place on Stalin’s desk.”
“Do you need money?”
“No, I will not take any. I do this as a humanitarian act. You should have the bomb for safety. The West wants the Soviet Union and Germany to dissipate and destroy each other in a fatal struggle. I will try to report to you only the results of my own studies.”
The following week, the intelligence officer again met with Fuchs. He asked the scientist to tell about himself.
“I am an ethnic German,” Fuchs said. “My father was a priest. I studied math and theoretical physics in the University. I joined the Communist party in Germany. In 1933, after Hitler came to power, I immigrated to Britain. Here I received a PhD and began to work under N. Bohr's management. I was granted British citizenship and was invited to work in the laboratory on the creation of the British A-bomb.”
Fuchs received an invitation from Oppenheimer, the head of the laboratory in Los Alamos, to continue his work in the USA. Soon the scientist obtained a visa. Fuchs met with the Soviet agent and reported on the forthcoming trip to America. In the United States he made contact with an agent of the Russian secret service, who was a hospital pharmacist.
Fuchs began working in the laboratory in Los Alamos. The construction of the bomb was conducted by the brilliant scientific mind of Robert Oppenheimer, who did not resemble a dry narrow minded specialist. He could quote classics in different languages, and had a passionate intellectual curiosity.
He was now traveling all over America, trying to convince leading physicists to work in his secret laboratory, at the edge of the desert. Prominent scientific minds such as Edward Teller, Leo Szillard, Enrico Fermi and many other researchers assisted on the project. Niles Bohr had only joined the group after leaving Denmark. He was one of several physicists who escaped Nazi persecution. The laboratory also had collaboration with some American Universities which carried out special tasks for the project.
A Major General was appointed as the chief supervisor over MAP. He recruited five hundred agents for security purposes. Unprecedented measures were taken to implement a regime of secrecy. Special permission was required to gain access to the Los Alamos facility. All incoming and outgoing mail was subject to censorship. The project was to remain in a shroud of secrecy. Only about ten people from the entire staff, knew about the final objective of the project. The State Department initially was not aware of MAP. Even Harry Truman, the Vice President at the time, was not informed on how much was spent on its development.
* * *
The diplomat from the Soviet consulate, who conducted the operation, met his messenger in a New York restaurant. The messenger was recruited a long time ago. The Soviet Intelligence even had paid for his College education. The assignment was not clear to the messenger. It contradicted the rules of espionage.
The displeasing messenger did not understand and asked, “What did you say? Should I bring the packet to New York?”
“No,” answered the controller, “you must go to Albuquerque.”
“OK, but you have never given me such a task, to deal with two different sources. Let someone else go to Albuquerque.”
“Unfortunately we have nobody to go. The mission is vitally urgent. We entrust this to you.”
“Alright.”
After meeting Fuchs, the messenger had to see Mr. Greenglass. The Soviet diplomat gave the agent an envelope with five hundred dollars and half of a card as a secret pass.
The messenger knocked on Greenglass’ door in the morning. A large man in pajamas opened it.
“Can I see Mister Greenglass?”
“I am David Greenglass.”
“I am sent by Julius.”
“Come in.”
In the apartment, David nervously took out the second half of the secret card, and matched it. The messenger was offered a cup of tea and a sandwich, which he promptly refused, longing to finish the mission as soon as possible. It turned out, however, that the report was not yet prepared, and David asked the messenger to come back later in the day. He arrived three hours later. This time the meeting lasted less than five minutes. With some awkwardness, the messenger gave David an envelope with money.
A day earlier he offered to give Fuchs one thousand dollars. Fuchs coldly rejected the proposal. However, Greenglass was more open to compensation, and willingly accepted the envelope. By touch he felt it was a significant sum.
“Is it sufficient?”
“It is enough,” answered David.
“OK. Next time I will bring more.”
Before a Bloody Sunrise
In January of 1944 Ted arrived in the highly secure perimeter of Los Alamos. The eighteen year old boy was about to participate in the top secret Manhattan atomic project as the youngest scientist in nuclear research.
Ted was waiting for his scientific supervisor, while listening to music being played on the radio. The building was a former school which was converted into a laboratory. The job immediately pleased Ted; he was fond of the assignment and did his best to fulfill his duties efficiently. He had a fervent desire for America to obtain the weapon against Hitler.
Full of admiration, Ted listened to Niles Bohr lecture while Edward Teller and other great scientists were discussing the A-bomb construction.
They expressed different views on whether A-bomb should be just a threat. The discussions on this problem flared up behind closed doors in the laboratory of Los Alamos.
The Jewish scientists who escaped from Germany had lost relatives and friends in Europe. The researchers felt an obligation to avenge their families. They tried to make the bomb as fast as possible and made no secret of their desire to drop it on Germany.
The level of education of the surrounding physicists and their brilliant works made a great impression on Ted. The scientists had long discussions on whether there’d be stability if the U.S. would share its weapon secrets with Russia.
The Americans feared foreign intelligence infiltration, especially by the Germans or the Japanese. The Major General who was in charge for the project, maintained tight security: no steps were taken without permission. There was to be no contact with outsiders, including friends and spouses, and any trips to relatives had to be reported! The security agents monitored the personal lives of the scientists as well.
Ted couldn’t stand the atmosphere. He didn’t like the surveillance and always criticized the strict way of life in Los Alamos. In a short course of time, Ted gained the reputation of a trouble-maker. He forgot to salute and say “sir”. He did not want to live in the barracks, and he stayed for the night with friends at the dormitory. He was born with a naturally gifted mind, but at the same time he couldn’t properly fit into his surroundings. Ted looked at the great scientists at Los Alamos, not as at bronze statues, but as accessible geniuses…
Ted’s 19th birthday approached. He had previously asked permission and was allowed to go to New York for several days. In NY he took a trip to the cemetery with his father, to his mother’s grave. Ted’s extended his worries about the preparation of the bomb to Savy, who stated, “I think we have to rapidly report this to the Russians. It is necessary to share this with them.”
“Come tomorrow morning, we will go to Manhattan. I know, where the Soviet Trade Office is located,” Ted said.
Ted’s Midsummer Nightmare
Ted could hardly sleep after his shifts at Los Alamos. In his dreams a time machine transferred him to other epochs and dimensions. He was lost between the past and the future. Newcomers from other worlds took him away to other planets…
Once Ted was coming back to the barracks late at night, he was very tired and intended to go to bed. The day had been a long one.
Thousands of shining stars were visible to Ted’s eyes, but he knew that there were far more in the infinite space. In the dim light of the constellations, there were billions of them. These stars were not visible even with a telescope. Ted knew that the dark planets were created long ago, from cooled stars, and in their depths nuclear reactions continued to rage!
Suddenly a strange object appeared on the horizon and drew Hall's attention. An unknown apparatus was approaching the Earth. Its speed was so momentous that the ship looked like a ray of light.
The ship was suspended above Los Alamos. In the main laboratory Oppenheimer was registering its radio signals. The chief director ordered to switch off the alarms and cancel the preparation to fire. Ted and other scientists observed with wonder, how the magnificent creation shot off a reconnaissance module. This large capsule was controlled by two pilots in space suits.
The bright module smoothly landed on the ground. Armor-protected doors opened and a strange mechanism, similar to a tank came out.
“They are creatures from other worlds!” shouts spread across the test range. The space invaders had met the homo-sapiens at last. The other worldly guests could only guess how many people have been killed throughout Earth’s history. Any civilization has to overcome tribulations in its evolution. The guests deciphered and translated the human languages to communicate. Ted clearly heard their conversation,
“We do not know what kind of civilization they have now. Maybe they are still wild cannibals. Did we have such an epoch on our planet? When did we have socialism?” one of the aliens asked the other.
“Well, it was 386 million years ago. They still have much to learn. I think they are still primitive,” the pilot answered.
It turned out that the space ship arrived to discuss the consequences of the coming nuclear test explosion. They had observed the preparations far from Space.
Only Major General and Mr. Oppenheimer held talks with the guests. After the meeting with the newcomers, Oppenheimer ordered over the radio for all scientists to gather in the assembly hall the next morning.
No one on the range fell asleep that night. At 9 A.M. about three hundred scientists occupied the seats in the main hall.
In the morning Hoover urgently arrived to the meeting from Washington with instructions from the President. The scientists’ families arrived as well, including Ted’s brother Ed with his wife Edith. Ted Hall stood still in expectation.
Oppenheimer appeared. He directed his view toward the sky and began his speech, “Ladies and Gentlemen! Dear Friends! Today is a great day! Yesterday we informed the governments of the world of the arrival of our guests from another world. Mr. Hoover just came and brought us the letter from President Roosevelt. Stalin and Churchill also sent us telegrams. A new way of life is coming! The Soviet Union agreed to join the USA and the rest of Europe. We will create a unified single country - the United States of the Entire Earth. The surrender of Germany and Japan will come in several days. We will have to select the President of the World and to appoint a World Government. It could be Roosevelt; it might be Churchill or Stalin! This will not be easy, but I am sure that surprising prospects will open before us. Finally the people of the world will not be afraid of war. A long-awaited peace will descend upon our suffering planet! Now the world governments will not need to conceal the findings of our scientific experiments.”
Niles Bohr put up a question, “I am interested in the ethical and moral issues of continuing the creation of nuclear weapons?”
“Germany will soon surrender, and the issue will be forgotten forever. Nobody needs bombs any more,” the leader of the project answered.
“The United States of Earth is a remarkable idea!” Oppenheimer went on. “The greatest step in human evolution! The nuclear and space collaboration of the great powers will come true! The Soviet Union and the United States with free Europe will bring splendid scientific developments. The day of the first Soviet-American-European expedition to Mars will come soon!”
E. Fermi, E. Teller and K. Fuchs also rose up questions.
At the end of the meeting Edgar Hoover approached Ted, “I know what you intended to do. You see, Mr. Hall, everything is OK now, and there is no need for you to talk to the Russians…”
“Get up, Ted!” Saville tried to wake up his friend. “Get up! It’s time to go.”
Ted jumped, looked around with his sleepy eyes. His mind was still traveling on the edge of consciousness. He jumped out of bed, dressed and washed his face.
* * *
Seeing how nervous Ted was, Saville said, “Take a tip from me, old friend. Don’t take it as treason. This is a correct decision. We live in controversial times. A famous French diplomat used to say ‘Treason is a matter of time frame.”
“To betray in the right moment means being wise?”
“You may construe it as you like.”
“Aren’t we making a mistake? Wouldn’t we regret it for a very long time?”
“It will be a mistake, if we do nothing…”
During the entire trip to Manhattan, Ted was full of doubts. He could not stop thinking whether his brother will approve of the act.
“What will Ed say? Will he understand the motives?” The young scientist thought, while embarking himself on the dangerous path of espionage.
The friends walked from the subway to the street, and traveled several blocks along Fifth Avenue. It was one of the most stylish and busiest avenues in New York, lined with foreign consulates, clothing stores, restaurants, and hotels.
“I am glad to be here. It’s rare for me to see the high-rise of the Rockefeller center.”
“Look, Ted, the developer dared to complete such a grand project under an economic crisis.”
The friends gazed at the skyscrapers. It was said that 30 artists worked on decorating the Rockefeller center. However, their attention was not on the statue of Atlas, who supported the heavens, but on his mythical brother, the rebellious Prometheus, who had stolen fire from Olympus and brought it to the mortals.
“You know, Ted, the statute of Prometheus was placed here ten years ago, and I look at it each time, as if for the first time.” They approached the bronze figure, and Saville loudly read the inscription carved in the red granite wall: "Prometheus, Teacher in Every Art, Brought the Fire That Hath Proved to Mortals a Means to Mighty Ends."
“What a cruel twist of fate! What irony! The gift was for the benefit of mankind, yet millions have perished in a blaze of fire, and how many more will in future wars!” Ted reacted.
“By the way, I read, that the paintings on the building walls were made by the artist, who was a Communist,” said Saville. “He painted a 100-meter fresco and named it “On the Crossroads.” Among others the artist had portrayed Marx and Lenin, but Rockefeller was dissatisfied and the picture was changed.”
“I think the fresco is about us. We are at the crossroads also,” Ted said.
Soon they were in Manhattan near the Soviet Consulate. The friends noticed a man, who was gathering paper boxes. They approached him carefully and the story of their espionage had begun….
Step by step Ted and Savy became entrenched in the spy craft. The Russian intelligence agents taught them to contact the Soviet Consulate with codenames like, Communist – “countryman”, Los Alamos – “camp”, MAP – “Enormous” and so forth…
Ted’s friend Savy, who served as a messenger for Ted, returned to Harvard to continue his studies. The Russians sent Ted another messenger – young Polish lady, Lona by name. She and her husband were recruited and agreed to work for the Soviets. The young Americans became Soviet messengers, betraying their own country…
The train ride to Albuquerque was long. Green foliage flickered through the window.
Lona finally arrived and stepped out on the platform. Passengers rapidly dispersed around the terminal. Lona approached the newspaper stand and asked for the direction towards the University. She went the opposite way and rented a room, as far as possible from campus.
The young man would arrive from Los Alamos to Albuquerque once a month, on Sundays only. She had been told he looked like a student.
Lona came to the appointed place by bus and was waiting for Ted who had to give her secret information. However, Ted did not show up. The first several days Lona wasn’t nervous. She was sitting on the bench, and for hours watched the students arrive and depart on the bus. Lona read books, and just waited. But then she panicked. It was very dangerous to remain in the small town; the health resort was under secret service observation. Nevertheless the messenger decided to wait. The last Sunday came.
“If he is late for another half-hour, I’ll have to leave,” said Lona to herself. She was holding a bright periodical LIFE in her hands as an identification mark for Ted. Finally Lona saw a young man running toward her.
Being short on breath Ted apologized, “Sorry, I could not come earlier.”
The encounter acted quickly. He threw into her bag some ten pages of his notes and ran away.
The whistle of the train was heard and a policeman helped the girl get onto a railroad car.
“Never was I so close to the electric chair!” thought Lona.
When the Russians studied the messages, they quickly realized that “Mlad” transmitted seriously valuable materials.
Lona met Ted several times. Ted also gave her a report about an upcoming test of the A-bomb. The Russian Secret Service immediately informed Stalin.
Lona’s husband considered Fuchs to be the most reliable and most valuable of all the agents. He said to his wife, “Mr. Fuchs is a balanced, composed man, with an antifascist past. I am sure he is a real scientist. But I cannot accept this boy Hall, the son of a furrier, to be a genius? No, I can not believe it!”
The two covert agents on the “MAP” project for Moscow were German physicist Klaus Fuchs and the young American Ted Hall. The authenticity of the information was confirmed by two independent sources. The information from Hall came to Moscow earlier than the information from Fuchs.
In the Soviet consulate in New York, the cipher clerks worked round the clock, transmitting signals from America to Moscow. Russian radio operators knocked out dots-and-dashes, sending secret information, obtained under a great risk. The keys kept knocking --.-…---.--…-..---....-.--.-…38650, 35468, 32487, 24359, 12374…
On the other end, Russian Intelligence department was anxiously waiting for the reports. Subsequently, Russian authorities sent other numbers in the other direction. Americans were trying to eavesdrop on the coded messages. They could not read them and Mr. Hoover ordered just to record and to store them. The most intricate technology could not decipher the Kremlin plans.
Ted gave the Russians a detailed sketch of “Fat man”, the bomb which was dropped on Japan. When Beria reported to Stalin about Ted, the chief of Soviet Intelligence considered the young scientist to be very suspicious. Beria suspected misinformation in Ted’s messages, considering that Americans deliberately exhausted Russian resources by leading them to dead ends. Beria skeptically reported to Stalin about the young source and his descriptions of the plutonium bomb, “It is very suspicious; Ted Hall is too young…”
“Give these materials to our scientists to read. We’ll see, what they are going to say,” Stalin ordered.
Ted informed the Russians about the American development of an “implosion”, a revolutionary new idea. Hall, inadvertently, gave a hard time to the translators, because there was no analog to the word in the Russian language.
Russian scientists were of high opinion regarding the stolen information. Having examined the message schematics, they decided to create a uranium reactor to produce plutonium. This radically changed the direction of their studies. The Plutonium bomb could have a larger explosive force with smaller weight. Since Russian scientists could not reveal their sources, they claimed that the breakthroughs were their own discoveries.
Allied Victory over Germany and Japan
Shturmbanfurer SS Werner von Braun was the chief rocket designer for the Germans. During the last years of the war he produced several thousand V rockets. Many of them exploded in London.
In the concentration camp named Dora, near von Brown’s plant, worked 60 thousand prisoners. 20 thousand of them perished.
In April 1945, the Nazis were forced to leave the camp and the plant. Ed Hall obtained an order to come for the seized rocket plant, and search for German missile engineers. In January 1945, his group obtained a list of personnel to be detained before they could be seized by the Soviet troops. Braun was ¹1.
On April 12, Ed Hall saw the desperate hell by the name of Dora. Several miles from the concentration camp, the Germans constructed an enormous rocket plant exploiting the forced labor. According to the concept, the existence of the plant as well as the camp was top secret.
The camp would forever torment Ed’s memory: the dark oblivion of the buried shelters and the scattered twisted corpses. There was a mountain of emaciated skeletons in striped uniforms with marks on the breast, soiled by blood and dirt. The Germans had squeezed out the last drops of life from their workers. Dora was a branch of a bigger camp named Bukhenvald. The prisoners entered the new camp Dora after several months, and lived under brutal circumstances. Any disturbances, such as dereliction of duty, suspicion of sabotage, led to collective executions by hanging. Braun personally selected the qualified slave laborers. The SS, with their arrogant belief of racial superiority, monitored the camps.
Many times Ed tried to imagine what the missile plant looked like, which he now saw with his own eyes. Beyond a wooded hill, Ed surveyed the assembly areas for rockets, which had a width of more than 15 meters. The underground production was stopped several days before his arrival. By that time productivity reached 35 rockets a day. Hundreds of freshly constructed rockets were preserved on the underground platforms.
For two days before the arrival of the Americans, the SS did not feed the prisoners. After heavy drinking, the SS started liquidating the camp. Toward the evening, thousands of prisoners were killed and buried. They simply did not have time to shoot the rest. The remaining workers looked like zombies. One described to Ed his bitter history. At Dora he worked on digging a tunnel into the remote mountain, later he worked at the plant. During the liquidations, he hid under the corpses of his comrades until darkness and crept away into the bushes.
Ed and the soldiers witnessed how many were killed in the tunnels. Ed ordered the captured Germans to remove and bury the corpses. Then Ed with his special unit selected a hundred assembled rockets and prepared them for the trip to the United States. Werner von Braun was found at the ski resort. American soldiers detained him and several hundred of his colleagues. In the autumn of 1945 the genius with his the V-rockets was sent to America where he went on to making bigger missiles for the US and engaged in designing “Jupiter” and “Saturn”.
After the war, Hall was assigned to an Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he worked on liquid-fueled rocket engines. While there, he built a rocket which was twice more powerful than the German V-2. Major Ed Hall began designing the “Atlas” and “Titan” with his colleagues.
Hall emerged as a technical leader, particularly in the rush to develop rockets using solid, not liquid fuel.
Like his brother, Ed had his own set of eccentricities. Colonel Hall treated generals as morons with doubtful intellectual ability and lack of honesty. He got away with it because the authorities considered him to be too valuable to be punished.
* * *
Ed and his brother knew that at the end of World War II the Soviet people lost about 27 millions human lives, while thousands of cities and villages were destroyed. They read in newspapers that on July 17, 1945 the Potsdam conference began in a suburb of Berlin.
The meeting was held after the war ended in Europe and the relations between the powers acquired a more complex nature. The Great Powers wanted to solve questions of the reconstruction of Germany on a post-war democratic basis. They wanted to disarm it, and force it to make reparations for the material damage the Nazis caused. It was also necessary to punish Nazi war criminals, who brought innumerable suffering to humanity. Roosevelt died three months later and the delegations were headed by Truman, Churchill and Stalin.
The personal interactions of the leaders of the three Great powers were an important aspect at the conference. Churchill asked Truman several times: “Any news from America?”
“Not yet,” answered the President…
* * *
No one went to sleep that night at the range. The testing was planned for 4 A.M. on July 16, 1945. At this time all inhabitants of the distant towns usually slept, and an explosion might be noted by a very small number of witnesses. The darkness was necessary for photographing. It was a very hot night, but suddenly it began to rain. Oppenheimer intended to put the explosion off, fearing radioactive fallout, but Major General knew that the President was waiting for the news in Potsdam. This would give Mr. Truman very important leverage in negotiations with Stalin. The upcoming explosion strained the nerves and brought out superstitious fear in the testers. They dreaded that they would anger nature itself.
Ted, like everyone else, was extremely tense, “What would the first nuclear explosion look like?”
Most of the scientists were confident in the accuracy of their calculations, but there were some who had doubts the bomb would explode. Ted constantly heard the theoretical soundness of the process, but practicality was a different matter. At this moment, Christian and Jewish scientists turned to their faith. Ted, an atheist, had no one to relate to.
Enrico Fermi oddly joked on the eve of the test, “Dear colleagues, I propose to make a bet. Would the bomb wipe out just America or the entire Earth? This is an interesting scientific experiment, since in the case of failure it would be established that the nuclear explosion is impossible.”
The last two hours prior to the testing went especially slow. Oppenheimer decided to detonate half-hour before sunrise. The bomb was not dropped from an aircraft, but had to be detonated on a platform, on top of a 33-meter steel tower. Thirty minutes prior to “zero hour”, the soldiers who guarded the bomb, left their post and quickly used their Jeeps to escape to the shelter, where Ted was standing.
The light from the flares had been extinguished for observatory aircraft. They were also used to illuminate the area for possible Japanese saboteurs. Ted would forever remember the atomic testing. It was 200 miles south of Los Alamos.
With a couple of seconds left, the nervous tension had reached its limits. Ted was looking directly forward. The officer shouted on the radio: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, “detonation!” – and a dazzling light had appeared from the horizon. The whole desert was flooded by a sharp light from a bloody sun. The reaction changed colors from gold to purple, violet, gray and blue. Immediately a ruby-colored mushroom began to form. Ted, watching through his black glasses, saw the wild rush of sand, and the terrible cry of birds reached his ears.
“Oh, Lord, we have awakened the devil!” An edgy thought pierced Ted’s mind.
The appearance of a hand-made sun was noticed afar almost 200 miles away. Ted saw the gigantic cloud rise from the earth's surface. It consisted of flows of incandescent gases, tons of dust, and vapors of iron. In five minutes it reached a five-mile height. The smoke covered the sun. The Earth shuddered; it inflated and slowly crawled upward. The shock wave tore away the side-caps from all the staff. The air burst to the sound of a powerful thunderstorm.
As a result of the explosion the ground was fused and a crater had formed in a thousand foot circle. A gigantic funnel was formed in the epicenter. Yellow sand curdled and became glassy. The steel tower, 500 feet away from the bomb, with a height of 15 feet and a concrete base, was completely evaporated. Most of the testers had one thought in their minds: “Wow! We are world rulers! The scientific problem has been solved. The fission of the atomic nucleus has become a historic reality”.
A new question arose: to what purpose would the weapon be used? Ted was one of the witnesses of the birth of the atomic era. The ominous semicircle, which illuminated the desert brighter than a thousand suns, would stay with him for his entire life…
* * *
In the middle of the conference, Churchill and Truman obtained the staggering coded message, “The baby was born!" This meant that the project in the desert of New Mexico was carried out. The A-bomb was created. Next day, after the end of their meeting, Churchill observed that the President of the United States approached Stalin and they began to talk with the participation of their translators only. Churchill attentively controlled this important conversation, expecting that the eyes of the Russian Red Tsar would flicker with a flame of curiosity.
Much later the Halls read Churchill’s recollections, “I was perhaps five yards away, and I watched with the closest attention the momentous talk…. What was vital to measure was its effect on Stalin… Evidently in his immense toils and stresses the atomic bomb had played no part. If he had the slightest idea of the revolution in world affairs, which was in progress, his reactions would have been obvious… But his face remained gay and genial and the talk between these two potentates soon came to an end. As we were waiting for our cars I found myself near Truman.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"He never put a question," he replied.
I was certain therefore that at that date Stalin had no special knowledge of the vast process of research upon which the United States and Britain had been engaged for so long...”
Churchill drew the conclusion that Stalin had no interest in the news about the A-bomb. The British Premier was deeply mistaken… Stalin was so calm because he had known about the coming tests. The first one to inform the Russians about the A-bomb was Ted Hall.
The Allied Potsdam declaration warned Japan that the united forces, which were now approaching, were immeasurably more powerful than the Nazis. Allies issued a call to the government of Japan to proclaim an unconditional surrender, but did not mention the A-bomb. The US decided to use their new weapon in Japan in case the ultimatum was declined. The next day the Japanese newspapers reported that the American declaration, whose contents were transmitted on the radio and scattered in leaflets, was rejected. The Japanese Premier stated at the press conference, “We reject the requirements of Potsdam Declaration and we will vigorously wage war to the end.”
Now President Truman had to decide, where and when to use the A-bomb. Truman consulted this matter with Churchill. The Prime Minister said that if the bomb could bring the war to a conclusion than his vote would be: Yes.
Simple calculations showed: in order to bring down the Japanese resistance, it was necessary to battle for each yard and sacrifice the lives of thousands of American soldiers.
On August 6, 1945 the summer sun came early, lighting up the skyline of Hiroshima. A light fog made it difficult to tell where the horizon ended, and the sky began. At 8:15 in the morning, the A-bomb exploded over the city. A gigantic fireball, with temperatures reaching more than 4 thousand degrees, appeared above Hiroshima! Fire and radiation proliferated immediately, creating a wave of death and destruction. One single bomb destroyed the entire city. 180 thousand people out of 300 000 inhabitants of Hiroshima suffered from the explosion. Nothing remained of those who were near the epicenter, the explosion literally evaporated people. Animals and plants disappeared. Pavements and asphalt melted. The subsequent fires turned the buildings into ash, burning down hundred of thousands of houses. Human imagination could not comprehend that one bomb could cause such a loss.
Several minutes after the explosion an unusual rain started to fall. Large black drops landed on the ground, but it did not end the fires and only strengthened the panic. People walked like ghosts in intolerable pain, trying to find help. Some lost their eyes, crawled along the streets, trying by memory to find the way to the river to quench their terrible thirsts!
The Japanese finally transmitted the brief report to their capital: “Hiroshima is destroyed by one bomb; the emergent fires continue to spread!”
On August 7 Japanese radio transmitted: “The enemy began to use new weapons… But, if we take the appropriate measures of protection, we will know how to reduce the damage. In any case we must not yield to this ploy of the enemy”.
The Governor of Hiroshima called on the population, in spite of the great loss, not to give up and to overcome their sufferings in order to continue the battle for the Emperor. In Tokyo they did not want to believe that only one bomb completely destroyed the city. The Japanese were convinced that Truman’s statement was propaganda.
On the fourth day of the President’s journey by ship from Germany to the US, historical news arrived. Truman was having breakfast in his cabin, when the Defense Minister told him that the bomb was successfully utilized. Truman ordered champagne and pronounced, “Gentlemen, recently we have dropped a bomb on Japan… It is an atomic weapon.”
The Halls brothers were on the opposite sides of the Atlantic, when they learned about the bombing of Hiroshima over the radio. The President announced, “By 1942 we learned, that the Germans feverishly search for the method of using atomic energy as an instrument of war. But they did not succeed".
In the morning of August 9, 1945 a plutonium bomb destroyed Nagasaki. 74 thousand people perished.
In the evening, the Oppenheimer’s voice was transmitted by radio across Los Alamos. He asked the scientists to come to the movie theater, which was the largest hall in the range. Sometimes dancing was held there with live music. Ted went with the others.
Oppenheimer appeared on the stage and proudly announced some details of the bombing. At the end of the speech he couldn’t hide his feelings of retribution and said, “It is a pity we created it too late to use it against Hitler.”
Ted and the rest of the scientists fell silent.
During the same day, the Soviet Government declared war on Japan. On August 14 the Japanese people for the first time heard the voice of their ‘God’, “The Empire of Japan agrees with the conditions of joint Declaration. The enemy began the use of a new weapon of unprecedented power. This fatal bomb caused irreparable damage to our country and took away thousands of innocent lives. If we continue to fight, this will lead us not only to the complete destruction of Japanese nation, but also will give a start to the eradication of entire humanity.”
The Second World War had ended with the capitulation of Japan.
* * *
The majority of spy volunteers were Jewish, but there were a sufficient number of non-Jews that were absorbed in socialist ideals. Mr. Fuchs, the “Cambridge Five” and A. N. May were the most involved of all non-Jewish spies.
The Soviets succeeded in organizing the recruitment of “the splendid Cambridge Five”. The spies began transferring information a bit later in the project, but their results were astonishing. The primary task of the Soviets was to penetrate British intelligence agencies. Kim Philbi was recruited, and then with his help others were enlisted. All of the “Cambridge Five” had privileged English aristocratic parents and some of them were known to be homosexuals.
However, the most important of all Englishmen was Kim Philbi, whose father was an Arabian scientist and who originally was a Christian, but later converted to Islam. He was also a shrewd businessman with main interests in oil. Kim Philbi proved to be one of the most promising spies for the Russians.
However, in terms of passing atomic secrets, there was another famous Cambridge student who did not belong to the “five”. At the beginning of 1930, young Allan Nunn May became a member of the Communist circle. Allan successfully acquired his PhD in physics. In contrast to many, Mr. May did not belong to the Cambridge elite. In April 1942, Allan May was invited to participate in the English atomic program, and soon he made contact with the Russians in England.
In contrast to other agents, Nunn May did not experience the personal gratification of undercover work. Spying caused him enormous pain, and he conducted covert operations only out of a sense of duty.
“It is like being a toilet cleaner - it stinks, but someone must do it,” said Allan May.
* * *
In 1945 eleven most important German physicists were detained and sent to England. While they were under house arrest, the Intelligence Service learned from the phone taps in their villa, what kind of research and work they accomplished during the war.
When BBC transmitted the news about the bombing of Hiroshima, the physics exchanging their opinions,
“If Americans made a uranium bomb that means all of you are losers!” said one of their associates.
Another scientist was agitated, “If the Americans made it, then it is terrible. In my opinion they made a mistake having used it.”
The first one did not agree, “Perhaps it was the fastest way to end the war.”
Thanks to the secret hearings, Intelligence Service learned that morals were not an issue for the German scientists during the war against Russia and the USA. Before the Germans learned of the Hiroshima bombing, they were sure that their accomplishments were paramount.
* * *
On the morning when Ted came back from New York to Los Alamos he was ordered to come to a large building, which was the Security Office.
“Is this letter yours?” threateningly asked the Captain and showed a photocopy to Ted.
“Yes,” confirmed Ted, immediately recognizing his handwriting. Ted’s face turned white.
“Did you sign the obligation not to disclose state secrets?”
“Yes.”
“In your room we found a Communist periodical. Are you a Communist? Why did you in a letter to your brother mention the name of a secret scientist? Instead of sparingly describing your life, you portrayed your laboratory in detail. Do you know that this is strictly forbidden?”
“It is my fault, I did not…”
“Why does your brother’s wife Edith, who just gave birth, suddenly ask in a letter, “I heard that you work at a place, which produces a huge bang. Can you send one to us?” What is this joke?”
“She incorrectly understood me…”
“You are disturbing and disputing with authorities. The Commission will examine your case and will draw conclusions despite the fact that your supervisor is very pleased by your work.”
In two weeks Ted was informed that he was fired. They demanded that he must leave Los Alamos immediately. The job was over. Ted went to NY and told Savy what happened. A bit later Ted began his service in the US Army. Now he was in a soldier’s uniform and was waiting to be sent somewhere to serve.
He spent a bit more than a month in the Army and was discharged.
At this time, Edward Teller who worked at a Chicago Laboratory needed some physicists. The job was also secret in nature. Ted did not tell Teller about the dismissal from Los Alamos. Ted just showed Teller the reference letter from Oppenheimer. Ted was hired, while Savy found a simple job in Chicago.
“Cold War”
Half a year later, Ed and Ted were shocked to read about the relations between the Great Powers. On March 5, 1946 Churchill arrived in Fulton. He was very concerned by Stalin’s actions and decided to use this opportunity to express his views to the entire world: “A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies. I have a strong admiration and regard for the valiant Russian people, and for my wartime comrade, Marshal Stalin…
It is my duty however to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From the Baltic to the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent… The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers, and are seeking everywhere, to obtain totalitarian control.
From what I have seen of our Russian friends and Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness… the Western Democracies stand together in strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations.”
Stalin gave a clear answer: “People spilled their blood for five years of the brutal war for the freedom and the independence of their countries, but not for replacing Hitler’s supremacy with Churchill’s … Certainly, Mr. Churchill is not pleased with the course of events, and he is appealing to using force… Enemies will be mauled the same way they were mauled in the past.”
The “Cold War” had started, and soon only memories remained of the collaboration between the allies. Friends turned into enemies…
The Russians said that the “Cold War” began from Churchill's speech, when for the first time, he mentioned “the Iron Curtain”. However, the actual confrontation began when the Red Army entered the states of Eastern Europe. Soon the crisis in Korea had escalated, turning the “Cold War” into a hot conflict. Truman was examining the possibility of utilizing the atomic weapon in order to deny a Communist victory. The FBI chief assured him, “Russians will be able to make their own A-bomb perhaps in five or six years…”
“I believe you, Edgar. You proved to give a reliable source of information during your long service in the FBI,” the President said to Hoover.
A former SS officer and a member of the Nazi party, who gave consent to the death of thousands of people at his underground plant, Werner von Braun was given a free pass for his crimes. The rocket creator, who proposed to destroy New York, became the chief American missile designer. In 1945 the army allowed more than a hundred German engineers to work under von Braun’s management. After the Nazi defeat, their scientific developments had fallen into the hands of Americans and Russians. In the Soviet Union the same type of work was being developed by Russian engineers, among them was Sergey Korolev, who brought rocket segments and design plans from Germany.
At this time Stalin deliberately aggravated the situation. Experienced intelligence officer Rudolph Abel was sent to the USA. His father was a German, but his Soviet mother taught him the Russian language which he successfully used to establish a strong spy network with Russian emigrants. Stalin gave the order to draw plans for diversionary operations in the United States on military bases, storage facilities, and oil reserves in case of war. Russian agent Colonel Abel recruited several American Communists, who agreed to produce acts of sabotage in the USA.
* * *
It is better to have à Jewish state,
which all hate, than Auschwitz,
the entire world grieves on which.
Rav M. Kakhane.
A total of about 60 million people perished in the Second World War, six million of them - Jews. 1,685,000 Jews battled in the Allied armies during the course of World War II, half of which died. There were 500 thousand Jews, who were in the Soviet Army, 200 thousand of them died.
The resurrection of Israel confirmed the truth about the immortality of Jewish people. The revival of the State of Israel after two thousand years, was considered supernatural by the entire world. The event brought out enthusiasm in all Jews, the predictions of ancient prophets seemingly coming true. Ted and Ed, like all other Jewish people, hoped better times were coming.
When Americans realized that Stalin was not much interested in the revival of Israel, they started the process without the USSR. However, Stalin eventually changed his mind in order to undermine British influence in the Middle East. It was clear that the Arabs would be against the formation of a Jewish state.
In November 1947, United Nations took the side of Jewish people and voted for the formation of the Jewish state.
Stalin explained to his comrades, “We will agree with the formation of Israel. This will be a splinter in the ass for the Arab states…”
After realizing Israel would not agree to carry out orders from Moscow, Stalin began to commit atrocities. As a result of his campaign, anti-Semitism became an official policy of Communist party of the USSR.
Ted’s Marriage
They met randomly. Ted read an announcement about a student group and told Savy about it. Savy answered that he would join him later. The meeting was scheduled for 12 o’clock. Ted arrived earlier and was waiting for Savy, who arrived with a girl unknown to him.
“Well! We are lucky, we are not late!” exclaimed Savy. “About a dozen members, not too many!”
“Do not worry,” the manager said, showing their places at the table. “A dozen members will be sufficient.”
While the manager explained the club’s rules, Ted observed the 17-year old girl who came with Savy. She was sitting opposite him with a beautiful face and bright hair.
After the meeting, Ted approached Savy.
“My friend Joan,” Savy proudly presented her.
“Ted Hall,” the physicist gave her his hand.
When they were in the street, Ted asked the girl,
“What do you think of the group?”
“I do not know. I have not decided yet if I will remain in Chicago,” answered the girl.
Ted was staring at her for the entire meeting.
“Well, we are in a hurry,” said Savy and disappeared with the girl.
Joan was happy with Savy. He would tell her Ancient Greek myths, as if he saw them in a real life. She listened to his story tales in astonishment.
“In the far space, indifferent to the passage of time, among the scattered stars, one could hear an audible whisper of the Titans. They were angry with Prometheus, because he had stolen fire from the Gods,” Savy was telling Joan one of his favorite stories. “Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and gave it to the mortals. For this Zeus ordered Prometheus to be chained to a steep cliff, and each day ravens would come and peck out the hero’s liver, which grew back again each night.
Pandora was created from the will of Zeus as punishment to the people for Prometheus’ theft. Gods presented Pandora with excellent clothing, irresistible appearance, sound mind, craftiness and eloquence. On the wedding day Zeus directed Pandora to guard a box, which contained all human defects, misfortunes and diseases. After obtaining this box, the curious Pandora opened it, in spite of being prohibited to do so. Thereby, she unleashed human suffering upon the world. Only Hope remained at the bottom of the box…”
At a meeting of the group, Ted again arrived first. He was only twenty years old and liked to focus attention on himself. He came up with nothing better than to pour Joan and Savy with a water pistol that he brought. The girl began to squeal and rushed out of the room.
“What a foolish boy!” Savy exclaimed angrily.
“As for me, I like him,” Joan responded.
“The meeting is too dull,” Ted justified himself before his friends.
After the gathering, Ted and Joan got to know each other. Joan studied Russian and Italian languages and she was going to become a teacher. She entered the University of Chicago, at the age of 15 and already passed her third year. She passionately loved music and spent entire days listening to the classics.
Savy and Ted had now started spending much time with her, and developed a deep friendship. As days went by, it became apparent that they could not live even two days without each other. Together they went to the cinema, which frequently showed Russian movies with Prokofiev's music, who was one of their favorites. Eventually Joan started to like Savy’s friend Ted. He was an educated fellow, who knew how to support a conversation, was delicate and tactful. Her intuition did not fail her. She saw in him a staggering intellect and vulnerability.
Step by step Savy was removed from the picture. The amorous triangle was filled with too much passion, quarrels and treason…
Ted fell in love with Joan at first glance. He began to believe in happiness; to dream about a family, having children and a calm marital life. Joan told him about herself, about her mother and brother. Ted was sincere with her. In this girl he immediately felt dignity and a clear mind.
Ted decided to act: he made an offense, with the determination to fend off his best friend.
“What is the pain of one person in comparison with happiness of two?” Ted justified this important step in his life.
Ted and Joan had frequent encounters. After work Ted hurried to meet her, and they departed for entire evenings to the coast, to sit by the waves. They went for walks to enjoy the nightlife of Chicago.
Their friendship developed into love. The charming girl entered Ted’s soul because they were kindred spirits on the notions of life. They frequently carried out assignments for the local department of the Communist party. Ted was truly happy.
“Joan and I, although inseparable, are completely different: she is an ocean storm, and I am an unapproachable cliff,” Ted wrote to his brother Ed. Ted and Joan fell deeply in love and could no longer live without each other.
Savy noticed the change in Joan and approached them for an explanation.
“I am in love and I don’t want to lose it! I am happy!” Ted told his friend.
“As far as I see, you will not separate?”
“Are you jealous?”
“Yes, I am jealous!” said Savy.
“I fell in love with him,” Joan entered the conversation. “You understand: I love him.”
Savy turned his head. He nervously tousled his hair with his hands. He leaned down, grabbed his elbows and began to cry.
“It’s out of the box Savy,” she said. “You must deal with this. Ted is my future husband, not you. I must now think about him.”
Savy was not able to deal with the situation, and ran out in anger.
“Enough of this,” Ted finished.
However, for Savy the deep, hopeless feeling continued. His passionate innocent love was broken, and difficult days were ahead. The past was not forgotten.
Joan’s mother asked her, “What did you find in Ted?”
“I fell in love with him. We can speak and understand each other,” explained the daughter. “We walk to the concerts, we listen to music, and he has a huge collection of it. We converse about politics, about art, about everything. We go to carnivals, we dance. The main thing is that we speak the same language. Ted is a very good boy, he’s something special. I love him. I decided to connect my fate with Ted’s”.
Savy lingered in despair until he became acquainted to a girl named Susan, a young likable Irish girl…
* * *
Joan knew everything about Ted. Almost everything. He told her about his father, about his brother Ed, who was now designing missiles. Since they were going to spend their lives together, it was time for him to reveal more. This time, as always they were sitting on the sofa, listening to music, and Ted suddenly began to expose his secret life.
“You know, Joan, I must open up a secret.”
“Go ahead! Probably, you are already married?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What is it then?”
“Promise, you will tell neither mother nor brother.”
“I swear.”
Ted jumped from the sofa, checked all around and asked in a whisper, “Can I hope that there is no microphone here?”
Joan and Ted recently watched a movie, in which a microphone was hidden in a lamp.
Joan looked at the lamp, and calmed Ted down.
“Have you heard about the recent developments in nuclear energy that everyone is talking about?” Ted asked her.
“Yes.”
“People have long ago learned how to use wind force and falling water, then coal, oil, and later electrical energy. Over billions of years the Sun has given us huge amounts of heat and light. Do you know from where it obtains so much energy?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry; the brightest minds did not suspect until recently, that the source of the solar energy and other stars are nuclear reactions, from which atomic energy is freed. The reserves of this energy on the Earth are also immeasurable; its conversion to peaceful needs offers humanity boundless possibilities. Concepts have been born that atomic energy will create a new world, entire utopias can be built: to improve climate, to melt Polar ice, to use the atom for improvement of harvests. But besides peaceful plans there are terrible ones as well. After the bombing of Japan everyone knows that America possesses a bomb of unprecedented force.”
“Certainly, much has been said of that in the media,” said Joan.
Ted continued, “You must know my views: much prior to the bomb testing, I already came to the conclusion that it will be the right thing for the USSR to have this weapon too. This will control the weapon’s use. Last year, from Los Alamos I went to New York, where I celebrated my 19th birthday with the family. The next day Savy and I visited the Russian Trade Office in Manhattan and we saw a man, who was packing boxes. We chatted. That man sent me to a Russian agent, who told me to write down everything I knew.”
Joan was shocked; she jumped off the sofa and looked at Ted, directly into his eyes,
“Do you intend to transmit information to the Russians?”
Ted answered, “I have already made this choice. I wrote a note and gave it to them. It was a list of the scientists, who worked in Los Alamos, and I reported where and what we accomplished.”
“But is it not a treachery against your country?” Joan was astonished.
“You know, Joan, what can happen, if this powerful weapon is used! I was there during the testing. As a specialist, I can assert that humanity already took a step toward the threshold of sanity after developing it. The bomb was aimed not only at the enemy, but at the millions of innocent civilians. Therefore I want not only our government to manage the fatal weapon, but Soviet Union as well. There must be balance in the world, for fear of reciprocity. People say: a weak peace is better than a strong quarrel. Do not think that I arrived at this thought too quickly.”
“Well, then what?”
“That Russian told me to come to the park on Coney Island, in Brooklyn. You were there, weren’t you?”
“Sure. Many times. We lived earlier in Brighton Beach, near the shore.”
“So, you do remember the boardwalk, and the park “Astroland”.
“Of course, I do. It is always full of children. I love that place. I was there often with my parents and friends. I adore the attractions, especially the Ferris wheel and the Trip to the Moon; you can see the skyscrapers in Manhattan.”
“I enjoy it also.”
“So I arrived there, in Astroland, and this journalist brought with him an intelligence officer from the Soviet embassy. While we walked around Coney Island’s Luna Park, we talked and I agreed to collaborate. I was tormented between the desire to carry out my debt to society and the fear of being caught.”
Ted was scared that Joan, after learning of his acts, would refuse to let him stay in her life, maybe even cause a scandal by revealing his treason to the entire country. This stunning news did not turn the girl against Ted. Vice versa - it convinced her of his virtues. She was captivated by this man, who combined intellectual vivacity with idealistic fanaticism. Ted convinced her that he made this decision because the United States could become a fascist power. She saw that her groom was not an obedient slave. He was confident in his righteousness, and he would obey nobody’s orders.
At that time Ted did not enter the Communist party yet, although he greatly sympathized with leftist ideas. Besides, he shared his ideals and was inspired by his friend Savy.
“We have good people in the Government, but we have in America a lot of immoral men as well. Savy and I feared that the bomb could fall into the hands of the latter. I flatly refused compensation from the Russians. My motives were humanitarian. I heard with my own ears, how Bohr indicated that he spoke with Churchill and Roosevelt, attempting to convince them to share the atomic secrets with Russians in order to establish mutual confidence. In America any economic crisis can lead to fascism, as it happened in Germany. I do not want war, but balancing the weapon is necessary for peace. I am confident in my contributions,” concluded Ted.
This was the only time, when Ted and Joan spoke about espionage in the apartment. They believed that the Soviet Union was a good, moral country, in consideration that American propaganda said the opposite. However, Ted saw himself as Prometheus, who stole fire from gods…
The wedding ceremony was carried out in the synagogue hall. There were three wonderful musicians that stirred the crowd. The clarinet, violin and accordion played Jewish melodies. Everyone was joyous.
A cover on four sticks, called the Khupa, symbolized God’s protection over the young lovers. The male guests were in white yarmulkes, round Jewish caps. After the wedding oaths, the Rabbi pronounced his blessing. Then the groom broke a bottle of wine, which symbolizes the weakness of human happiness. The husband and bride were seated in chairs, and the guests raised them into the air, honoring the couple. The Rabbi sang psalms and made a short speech, addressing the newly-weds and the guests.
“Whose wedding is this?” people asked curiously.
“The boy is from New York”
“And how much is the dowry?”
“Well, you know, nowadays a dowry is not in fashion,” the man answered in Yiddish.
A meal was served in the small hall. For the wedding supper, the guests were served stuffed fish and fried goose.
Then the dances had begun. Guests approached the musicians and ordered their favorite music, and politely invited their dance partners. This was not a religious wedding, but some traditions were observed in order to please the parents.
Guests approached and congratulated them, “Mazl tov!”
* * *
Ted’s personal life with his young wife flowed gracefully in Chicago, bringing them both joy. They had complete compatibility and mutual understanding. Ted and Joan began to drive to the bay, and had renewed their daily walks.
Ted managed to relax and by nights he could sleep serenely having Joan near him. In the mornings the room was still dark and only the rays, broken by the blinds, illuminated her figure. He gently felt her skin under the moonlight …
In spite of the different levels of education, Ted and Joan had mutual respect for each other. They were equal. Neither he nor she dominated each other. There was no place for grief or gloom in their romance.
In 1949, Ted and his wife entered the Progressive party, which represented trade unions and protected colored people from discrimination. Saville with his wife Susan also lived in Chicago.
In 1949, Saville told Ted that a Russian intelligence officer wanted to meet him, but Joan said to Ted, “No. It is enough. You promised before the marriage.”
The Russian agent, Colonel Rudolf Abel, continued to insist. Ted and Savy yielded. The Russians wanted the continuation of collaborations. Ted arrived home and told this to his wife.
Joan heatedly told Ted after supper, “I thought we agreed. No more. I’m pregnant and do not want any problems!”
* * *
President Truman’s declaration of the testing of the Russian
A-bomb in the USSR Ed and Edith heard over the radio. They were very surprised by such a big progress in Russia.
Ted and Joan heard Truman’s declaration over the radio also. Having heard the stunning news, the couple was very excited, but they kept silent, because they never spoke of such things in the house. They only exchanged glances, finished supper, and left to the street where they spoke about the Russian bomb. They needed to discuss what had occurred, and came to the conclusion that the appearance of the bomb in Russia was OK and Ted helped make it happen. The young physicist felt satisfied. Saville was also happy.
The next day they all bought newspapers. The headlines shouted,
“THE RUSSIANS HAVE THE A-BOMB!”
Joan said to Ted, “That is it. The game is over”.
However the Russian intelligence had different plans. Russian Colonel Abel called Lona, and they again left for Chicago to see Ted Hall.
Ted told Abel, “The time is different now: the war is over, the Soviet Union has conquered and the threat of fascism has passed. You should not fear America now. You have the bomb also, and I will return to my work.”
Knowing that Ted wouldn’t be enticed by money, the clandestine recruiter attempted to persuade Ted by leaning on his Communist ideals. Colonel Abel proposed that he escapes to the USSR, but Ted refused. Colonel Abel was very disappointed by his visit to Hall, but nothing could be done. Ted was firm in his resolve to end contact, just as he had felt a strong tendency to help Russia five years ago. The scientist’s mood had changed since the start of the “Cold War”. He was no longer bringing balance to the world but engaging in pure espionage. He met the Russians several more times but in Ted’s mind his job was done.
* * *
In contrast to Ted Hall, Julius Rosenberg entrenched himself so deep into espionage activity that he no longer distinguished it from his personal life. Ethel knew about that, she shared her husband’s views and approved his actions. Soon Ethel gave birth to their second boy. Time flew forward quickly and the sons grew up. Tessie took up all the responsibilities of helping her family and did all she could in her daughter’s apartment. The grandmother and the grandfather came to play with the kids constantly. David and Ruth often frequented the Rosenbergs, so did their brother Bernie. Stepbrother Sam was in the US Army and could only send letters. The elderly Mr. Greenglass in spite of being 70 years old, continued to fix sewing machines.
Tragedy came suddenly! Tessie’s husband felt ill, and went to bed. The doctor, having attentively examined his heart, immediately determined that the matter is hopeless. Tessie sent a telegram to Sam, who was able to come for the last hours of his father’s life. After he died, Tessie covered the mirror with a dark cloth, in mourning.
Ethel, David and Bernie had a hard time handling the death of their father.
Sam, as the eldest son, immediately pronounced a death prayer. The family rarely went to the cemetery, only on anniversary - yortsayt. David was called to the Torah and he read, “I believe with my entire heart, let his name be blessed!”
Life continued, the eldest son of the Rosenbergs went to school. However, Julius intensified his covert activities, strengthened connections with his sources and transferred more secrets.
During the war years Rosenberg obtained information on more than a hundred scientific developments. A scientist from a physics laboratory transferred secret information to Rosenberg, who regularly informed Moscow about radio engineering. The data was highly valued in Moscow. A reliable code was the only method to preserve the content of Soviet communications in secret. The Soviet Union tried to gain momentum in stealing American secrets, using the fact that the world was still in euphoria from Hitler’s crushing defeat, from the encounter of Americans and Russians in Europe, and from the capitulation of Japan!
Luck came to the Americans in the most unexpected way.
The Hall brothers were shocked, having read about a Russian cipher clerk in the Soviet Embassy in Canada who knew a great deal about Soviet espionage, relating to atomic projects. Documents in the hands of the cipher officer indicated that nine espionage groups acted in Canada. It was difficult to determine why he did so, but the Russian officer decided to remain in Canada with his wife and two children. The Halls like all Americans waited for the news everyday.
The cipher clerk had stolen from the Embassy approximately a hundred undisclosed sheets of paper and hid them under his jacket. He also took the chief’s notebook. Information was leaked to the FBI and an investigation had begun. The clerk’s attempt to flee, placed the entire work of Russian reconnaissance in Canada under threat. Consequences proved to be catastrophic.
Soon the Halls learned from the news that A. May was arrested in England. He confessed to the fact that he transferred some materials about the A-bomb. The Russian code used in Canada became accessible, but the one in New York remained an iron nut…
* * *
After obtaining a report with regard to the testing of the American H-bomb, Stalin perceived this as an American attempt to prepare for war with the USSR. In his long years in power, Stalin became affiliated with the most prominent people of his time, not only with political figures, but also with writers, cultural icons and distinguished scientists. From all of them he received nothing but spite and malice. He acted among them as a wolf amongst the sheep.
He ordered the Russian scientists to overtake America in technological progress. They did everything possible. The scientists worked on a range, which combined a research laboratory, experimental plants and a large prison camp. Prisoners built the labs, test floors, roads and houses for the scientists. All this allowed the Soviet Union, in spite of general deficiency of resources after the war, to erase the American nuclear monopoly in relatively short time.
Before the testing of the Russian A-bomb, Stalin invited the scientists to his office. The General Constructor looked into Stalin’s eyes: the dictator’s gaze was so strong-willed, that the scientist couldn’t turn away. The Leader already knew that the prototype was the only nuclear weapon in the country’s possession.
Stalin asked him, “Is it possible instead of one bomb to make two, let say, weaker or smaller?”
“It is not,” the General Constructor raised his eyebrows, “Technically it is impossible!”
IV. DECEIVED BY STALIN
Venona: The Steel Code is broken!
The FBI assembled messages which Russian intelligence in NY had been exchanging with Moscow, since 1939. The Americans could not decode them, and besides there was not enough time for it. All efforts were put into the breaking of German and Japanese ciphers. All the Russian messages were simply stored in the archives. Later several specialists got down to studying these radiograms. The project was given the code name "Venona".
The task proved to be an exceptionally difficult one. Soviet cipher clerks used a single-time system: the cipher was never repeated. Correct coding was the only method to keep the content of Soviet communications in secret. Soviet intelligence officers, who worked in Soviet Consulate in NY under diplomatic cover, relied on the durability of the adapted cipher system, which was stronger than the German and the Japanese. But all that has been invented by a clever man, can be cracked by another one, who might happen to be smarter!
Immediately after the Japanese attack, Mr. Gardner, who was fluent in several languages, was mobilized to military service and participated in the cracking German and Japanese ciphers. After working on the Japanese code, Meredith Gardner learned the Russian language and led the operation of solving the messages.
After Germany engaged in war against the USSR, the volume of communications grew rapidly. In the most desperate period of the war, the Russian cipher notebooks were duplicated. This error turned out to be significant and helped the Americans. The cipher analysts noted that the code had been used several times, and hope grew that this code could be broken. The idea was similar to the one in “The Adventure of the Dancing Men,” one of the short stories of Sherlock Holmes.
One day a loud scream “Eureka!” was heard from Mr. Gardner’s office. Meredith Gardner read one phrase of a message. The first breakthrough was achieved. Soon Meredith managed to read the radiogram in which the list of scientists working on the “Manhattan project” was mentioned. The Americans learned that agents of the Soviet Union were active in Los Alamos.
It was rather complicated to identify the names in the messages: most of the real names were under pseudonyms in the reports. A long investigation was necessary to establish who was “Liberal”, “Wasp,” etc...
When Mr. Hoover received the fragments of the decoded messages, the first person he talked to was his close friend. People in the FBI knew him as Hoover’s alter ego.
“Whom should I appoint to be in charge of this most important case?”
“I suggest the head of our Counter Intelligence Department.”
Hoover was shocked by the information he obtained, and decided to talk with the man who made the breakthrough.
When the head of our Counter Intelligence Department entered the office of the Director of FBI, he saw the chief standing behind the desk in a vibrant blue suit. Hoover greeted the agent with a firm and joyless handshake. His associate was giving drinks and cigars to a young man with a black bow tie.
“Counteragent, allow me to introduce the code breaker Meredith Gardner,” it was unusual to see Hoover in his white shirt and neat tie to be so nervous and excited.
“This gentleman has made the first step to break the Russian code. The Federal Bureau of Investigations appoints you to be in charge of this important assignment. From now you will be working with Mr. Gardner very closely. I hope that the results of your work will give us an opportunity to report some good news to Mr. President.”
Next month Gardner asked Hoover to find the coded messages sent by the Russians from previous years. Mr. Hoover promised, although he was not confident, that he would be able to obtain them, considering that four years had passed. The FBI Director sent an order to New York. Soon afterwards, Mr. Gardner received a bundle of messages.
After two weeks Gardner arrived at Hoover’s office. The decoder appeared to be more excited than ever.
“When will you bring me some good news?” Hoover asked impatiently.
“I have some! It turned out that the archive messages had been coded by the same cipher, which I had already partially read. The message indicates that somebody named Fuchs transmitted information to the Russians on how to split uranium.”
“At last,” Hoover could hardly hide his emotions.
The same week Hoover informed British Intelligence and they began their own investigation. They invited Klaus Fuchs for a conversation.
At first, Fuchs did not want to talk, but English investigators knew how to break him, and in several days he confessed.
The FBI sent a lot of photographs for identification to England, but Fuchs did not name a single agent. The British court convicted Fuchs, and the spy was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Fearing a leakage of information, the chief of the FBI did not like to collaborate with foreign intelligence agencies. He did not like the British, he despised Frenchmen and he hated Germans. But now he did not have a choice. It took only a couple of days for Hoover to make an important agreement with the British IS and he called for his inspector,
“The head of Counter Intelligence Department” the chief angrily said, “the code is almost broken. This is an unbelievable success over the years. But where is the result? There are a lot of names mentioned in Venona. And where are the spies? Who are they? I want you to fly to London and question Fuchs in prison. Do I make myself clear?”
Klaus Fuchs did not like the Americans. He respected the Englishmen more than Yankees.
The American investigator said to Fuchs,
“I made a long journey from America, Mr. Fuchs, in order to see you.”
It was to no avail; threats did not matter to Fuchs any more.
“I do not know anything. There was no need for you to come,” Fuchs answered. “I told the English investigators everything I knew.”
Fuchs had no idea how the Americans found him. Seeing that Fuchs did not want to talk, the head of US Counter Intelligence Department casually mentioned,
“Listen, Herr Fuchs. If you don’t want to talk, that’s your business. You have a right for that. We are not going to prosecute either you or your sister. But it’s a pity that you do not want to help the country which gave refuge to her. I was informed that she’ll soon be granted US citizenship, as she had married an American. Is it true?”
“That’s right.”
Fuchs understood the hint… and gave the description of a messenger whom he knew as a chemist or pharmacist in a Philadelphia clinic.
The FBI immediately found the man. While searching his belongings they found a map of Albuquerque. At the very beginning of the interview he assured the FBI, that he had never been there.
“Where did you get the map of Albuquerque from?” the agents asked the man.
Under fear of severe persecution, the man answered,
“Okay, I will tell you everything. I am precisely the person you are searching for.”
The messenger made a long confession starting with the moment he had been recruited by the Russians. He had an excellent memory, and revealed a significant amount of information.
The “Venona” documents showed that the American Communist Julius Rosenberg worked for Soviet Russia. His five agents, the engineers, supplied him with data about the newest secret technologies. Soviet intelligence agencies were not only hunting for atomic secrets, but also they attentively followed general scientific development. They were interested in everything: alloys for tank armor, artillery and ammunition, aircraft construction, radars, etc.
“Venona” said that Julius Rosenberg recruited David Greenglass, who sold the strategic secrets of the United States to the Soviet Union. During the war David worked as a regular mechanic in Los Alamos - the top secret area, where physicist Robert Oppenheimer and his associates created the first A-bomb in the world.
The FBI ordered the messenger to describe the Greenglass house in Albuquerque. The FBI agents found David’s house. Soon agents acquired the photograph of the tenant.
The FBI showed it to the messenger, “Is this the one?”
“It is him, this is the person who I visited in Albuquerque,” the messenger said.
* * *
The nickname of Ruth Greenglass was “Wasp”. She went to the atomic center in Los Alamos to see her husband. She returned from there with his approval. A long jail term, if not capital punishment, loomed on Ruth’s head.
In May of 1950, Julius Rosenberg rushed to see his relatives. Having found nobody at home he slid a newspaper under the door of Greenglass’ apartment. On the front page there was an article of the messenger’s arrest. His name didn’t mean anything to the Greenglasses, but they recognized the man on the photograph immediately. Half a year ago the newspapers informed about Klaus Fuchs’ arrest and now the article said that the messenger was cooperating with Mr. Fuchs.
The next morning Julius arrived again and with horror described that Fuchs was in contact with the same messenger who knew David Greenglass.
“This is very dangerous! You should hide,” demanded Julius.
“Why us?” objected David.
The Greenglasses did not want to leave, especially because Ruth gave birth to a baby. The Soviets took measures for their evacuation. They wanted the Greenglasses and the Rosenbergs to go to Mexico, and from there to Russia. David and Ruth received money from Julius for the departure. They decided to pretend that they had left, to wait in a secure place for Rosenbergs's departure. Then they wanted to return home.
On June 16, 1950 the newspapers said, that the FBI arrested David Greenglass.
He confessed immediately; David threatened to commit suicide, if the FBI would arrest his beloved wife. He explained that in case of his death, there will be no one to testify against Julius Rosenberg. He stated that he gave some secret information about the A-bomb to his brother-in-law Julius Rosenberg.
Rosenberg met with the diplomat from the Soviet consulate many times. Their group of "Volunteers" consisted of more than a dozen activists.
Mr. Hoover learned that Rosenberg obtained some information about the atomic bomb from his wife’s brother. It was enough for the FBI to accuse Rosenberg of betraying the USA.
As such, Fuchs's confession led the FBI to the messenger who gave away Mr. Greenglass. He in turn led them to the Rosenbergs. The FBI wanted Rosenberg to give them the names of those who were involved in covert operations with him.
The message sent from New York to Moscow on November 14, 1944 informed about recruiting Ethel’s brother and his wife. Since Ruth was recently recruited and she did not have an underground pseudonym yet, she was mentioned by her real name.
Mr. Hoover was satisfied with the head of Counter Intelligence Department job. The stubborn counteragent and the shy cryptologist formed a good team and found more new names in the encoded messages. But their luck eventually ran out.
On one unfortunate day Hoover’s secretary informed him that the head of our Counter Intelligence Department urgently needed to talk to the boss.
“What’s up, old man?” Hoover asked with some trepidation.
“Big trouble, sir. A big problem! The Russians have changed their code.”
When Hoover’s associate visited his friend, he found the boss in distress, broken and upset. It turned out that there was only one small step from victory to defeat.
“Calm down Edgar, relax. The code breakers will try to crack the new code, and we have plenty of material to catch those who have been already mentioned in previous messages. Of course, it is a big pity that we couldn’t utilize the broken code more extensively. It is very interesting how they learned about the decoding! Do you think there is a rat inside the FBI or the CIA?”
The FBI chief switched the conversation to the Rosenberg’s trial,
“The fact that the Russians learned about Venona is a great blow for us. Something similar happened when the Russians stole the plans for our A-bomb. It will take a long time until our code breakers can crack the new one. Once gain, we are blind and deaf, while the Russians go on spying. As far as Rosenberg’s case is concerned, I have to admit that there is not enough evidence. The messages are not fully decoded and the court would not accept them.”
“Unfortunately, you are right, my friend,” the deputy said. “Your only success, I would say, is the confession of David Greenglass. But he could say at any moment that we had forced him to ‘confess’ under duress.”
“Yes,” Hoover agreed, “we have to keep in mind that the case will be tried in an American court, not in a Soviet one. In Stalin’s “court” everybody would confess. They would rather die to save their families and stop their own suffering.”
The FBI Questions Ted and Saville
The FBI read an encoded telegram sent by a Russian resident on November 12, 1944 from New York to Moscow. The message reported that Theodore Hall, a 19-year physicist, graduate of Harvard University, voluntarily came, and met with Soviet Intelligence. This was one of the eight encodings about Ted. Since Ted had not received a pseudonym yet, he was mentioned under his own surname in the first message. Subsequently he was given the nickname “Mlad,” which means “youth”. His elder friend Savy obtained the pseudonym “Star”, which means “old” in Russian.
Russian Intelligence valued “Mlad” and wanted to keep him for as long as possible. Everything was quiet, until “Venona” exploded. As soon as the American counter-intelligence learned that the Soviet agent “Mlad” was Theodore Hall, the FBI began to observe Ted Hall and his friend. The information gave the impetus for further investigation. It turned out that Ted transmitted to Soviet Intelligence detailed description of the process of purification of plutonium. As the surveillance reports revealed nothing, the chief of the FBI gave an order to interview “Mlad” and “Star” separately. The FBI did this delicately, not to scare away the remaining spies. “Venona” clearly showed that Ted was implicated in espionage, but to prove this was not a simple matter…
The Rosenbergs had already been arrested and waited for their trial, when on a Friday morning FBI appeared at Ted’s job. They took Ted away from his laboratory, where he was working on his PhD. The agents transported him to the FBI office. Saville, who had been kicked out of the University and worked as a taxi driver, was detained on a street.
The questioning lasted for several hours. Ted was permitted to call his wife, and he pronounced in a low tone only three words, “I am detained.”
“Mlad” and “Star” had agreed previously, that if interrogated, they would simply deny everything so that their stories would not contradict. “Mlad” did not break during his questioning. The inspector was agitated by Ted’s impudence, which he acquired from youth as he entrenched deeper into Communism.
The investigator showed Ted the photograph of the Russian journalist, with whom Ted had met.
“Would you deny that you met this man?” the investigator asked.
With a poker face, Ted answered that he never saw him. At the same time Ted was confident that they would not let him go. Saville was questioned in the room next door. They showed Ted a picture of Julius Rosenberg. Ted said that he never met this person either. As far as David Greenglass was concerned, Ted said that he might have seen him in Los Alamos, but never spoke to him. He said the same about Fuchs.
“What are they going to do, while we are locked up here? Could they learn about my secret?” Ted thought.
Nevertheless they let the friends go home that evening.
When Ted left the FBI, he was ordered to come back Monday morning. They requested that he think about any possible affiliations with the spy network. Saturday and Sunday passed with great anxiety. In the apartment there was nothing to incriminate him to the bomb, but the Halls had a lot of Communist literature. The Halls gathered all the books, newspapers and periodicals, packed them into boxes and carried everything to their car. Then they put their one year old daughter into the car and drove to the bridge above the Chicago channel. On entering the bridge and determining they weren’t followed, they quickly dropped all the boxes into the water.
At the time Joan maintained a list with information on local members of the Communist-like Party and it was necessary to pass the list into reliable hands urgently. Members of the Party were frightened, when the Halls transferred the documents to them. But the couple could not explain the reason for the strange alarm.
On Monday morning Ted went to the FBI, as it was ordered. Joan was sure that he would not come back. During the weekend Ted decided that the only way out was to keep denying everything. His confidence confused the FBI agents. They did not know what to do with Ted.
Edgar Hoover was tormented by grave thoughts,
“It has been almost three years since the Russian code was broken and the Russians immediately found that out. That’s why they have changed the code. The old one has not been cracked completely and the partially decrypted messages will not be accepted in court. Everything could collapse and I again will make a fool of myself. We cannot take any chances and we cannot afford to lose Ed Hall because of his brother’s covert operations. Ed is a valuable rocket specialist.”
On Hoover's behalf, the head of Counter Intelligence Department called to Chicago, “The Chief does not want you to mention Venona! If Ted Hall and Seville Sax do not collaborate and do not want to confess, let them go to hell! Just watch them and follow them everywhere.”
To Hall’s disbelief, the agents let them go. They did not arrest him. There was no evidence, and it was not possible to accuse Ted, since he did not want to confess. The investigators could not mention the encrypted messages and the FBI needed a witness to testify in court. Conversely, in the Rosenberg’s case, the FBI had David Greenglass. Since Ted and Saville were not going to confess and a witness was not found, the friends were out of danger thus far as it was impossible to build a case.
Several weeks later official charges were brought against Julius Rosenberg. After reading about this in the newspaper, Ted became frightened for the first time…
It was late and darkness fell, and Ted was in bed recalling the details of his encounters with the Russian contacts. Joan now kept the window closed. When the light went out, a persistent sense of fear enveloped Ted. He tried to sleep. In his sleep the people, which Ted feared in reality, appeared to be amiable.
Saville, who had a passionate love for poetry, sometimes read to Ted his own verses:
Judge the man you see before you.
Look deeply past the appearance
Till his view absorbs your view.
See the government through you, through him,
The sky, the sun, the streets, the avenues.
Through you, through him, look deep
And see what is in you is in him.
Then as you condemn him, you condemn yourself.
Ted was an unusual man, may be not as strange as Saville, but in his sleep there was more aspects of reality, than in his everyday life.
He dreamt of a huge prison building covered in shadow, with dark brick walls.
However, life continued. It was necessary to get accustomed to living in anxiety. Sometimes he thought that his mission was done, and there was nothing to fear, yet Ted often considered disappearing or running away.
“What do you think, Joan, from the point of view of the Americans, am I a traitor?” Ted asked Joan.
“I do not think so,” the wife answered.
Now without the possibility of accusing Ted, the FBI put their anger out on the Rosenbergs.
“Oh, my God, they will kill the Rosenbergs!” Ted was terribly nervous.
“I do not consider you to be a spy,” said Ted’s wife, “the spies are Russian intelligence officers, and their American contacts. But you are a scientist; you shared the information with the Russians, because you considered it to be necessary.”
Ted Hall was a scientist. The force, which compelled him to transfer secrets to Russia, was the Communist ideology. But it did not cancel the fact he was a spy.
“You know, Joan, I do remember Fuchs in Los Alamos. He is a very serious scientist. It seems to me I saw Greenglass, the mechanic, there also, but I never saw Julius. It is completely clear to me that the machinist, Rosenberg’s brother-in-law, had no access to the bomb, nor could he have understood its design. For that he had to be a researcher and not a regular one. I feel with all my heart that Julius nevertheless is involved in something, and they hold his wife as a hostage to put pressure on him”.
Ted and Joan watched all this in horror, each day anxiously opening the newspaper. Russian agent Colonel Rudolf Abel proposed that the Halls escape.
“Do you want to escape to Russia?” Ted asked his wife.
“A good idea. I’ll think about it,” Joan said. “What about you?”
“No, I do not want to go anywhere; it is difficult for me to leave America. Besides, Ed will be in trouble, since he’s on secret military projects.”
“The USA vs. the Rosenbergs”
At last, counter special agent plucked up his courage to send Hoover a message, “It is now believed that David Greenglass and the individual described as «Caliber» are one and the same person. His wife Ruth has the code name “Osa”.
David Greenglass, during his interrogation by the FBI named Julius Rosenberg, his brother-in-law, as the man who had recruited him to spy for the Russians. Hoover forced his colleagues to work 24 hours a day to obtain further information. He regularly informed the President of the United States.
In June, Julius Rosenberg was interviewed by the FBI for the first time. He was the next link in the chain. But unlike the others, he proved himself steadfast and he wouldn’t give in. After the interview they let him go. Next month the Halls read in newspapers that Mr. Rosenberg was arrested. The judge placed the bail at $100,000, an enormous amount of money.
Two days later the FBI questioned the engineer who was one of Rosenberg’s activists. They did not arrest him and three days later he left his wife and two children, and escaped with his lover who left her own two children. They flew to Mexico and later to the Soviet Union. Another friend of Rosenberg having learned of Rosenberg’s arrest, immediately disappeared. The next one also ran away to Mexico and attempted to purchase a ticket to Europe from there. On the request of the FBI, the Mexican cartel pushed him into a car and delivered him to Texas. Soon he appeared before American court.
After Tessie Greenglass learned that her son, daughter and son-in-law had been arrested, she was crying her eyes out. She sensed that it all would end up in tragedy.
* * *
In June 1950, radio broadcast urgent news in all languages: a war broke out in Korea. President Truman gave the order to the US Navy and Air force to support the South Korean troops. In autumn “Chinese volunteers” moved to the Korean front. In fact, they were regular troops of the Chinese army.
The Halls like all American people heard about preparations for a new war.
Mr. Hoover was very angry and even frightened by the spread of Russian espionage in the United States. Two weeks prior to the beginning of the Korean War, Hoover proposed to the White House that they detain a large number of Americans suspected of espionage. Hoover wanted Truman to grant him the authority for mass arrests in order to secure the country. The list included about 12 thousand US citizens. To make these arrests, they would need to circumvent the notions of “presumption of innocence” and “material evidence”. In America, if there is no evidence, then it is not possible to make a case. It is necessary to present a legal basis, with material evidence for support. Hoover requested the President take into custody the suspects and grant them an open judicial hearing so that the judge would not be constrained by the aforementioned issues. The President refused…
Soon American scientists assured the FBI director that Russia would only succeed in designing the A-bomb not earlier than in 5 or 10 years. The Russians had already tested their first nuclear device, which put them in the “Nuclear Club” and as a result these events escalated the “Cold war".
The prosecution did not leave any doubt that it intended to ask for death sentences. The trial became a sensation not only for America but drew the attention of the entire world.
Fearing capital punishment for his wife and for himself, David Greenglass named his sister’s husband as a spy.
FROM DAVID GREENGLASS,
THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
David Greenglass agreed to be a prosecution-witness against his sister, in exchange for immunity for his wife. He answered the questions before the court.
- Did the messenger come back in the afternoon?
- Yes. I gave him my report in an envelope and he gave me an envelope, which I felt, and realized there was money in it, so I put in my pocket.
- How much was in the envelope?
- My wife and I counted it later. There was $500.
- Have you prepared a sketch?
- Yes.
Mr. Greenglass was asked about Julius Rosenberg’s visit in September of 1943.
- He came up to the apartment and he got me out of bed, and we went into another room so my wife could dress.
- What did he say to you?
- He wanted to know what I had for him. I told him "I think I have a pretty good description of the atom bomb."
Greenglass testified that Rosenberg asked him for a written description of experiments underway at Los Alamos. Greenglass said that he would prepare the descriptions. Rosenberg gave him $200.
- How many pages would you say it took to write down all these matters?
- I would say about twelve pages or so.
Mr. Greenglass also testified that his sister Ethel Rosenberg, in his presence, typed the secret information on a typewriter while he and Julius clarified the language in David’s draft. Greenglass then testified that Julius bragged while Ethel was typing that he had stolen a proximity fuse.
- Did Julius tell you what he did with that proximity fuse?
- He told me he took it out of his briefcase and gave it to the Russians....
- You knew at that time, did you not, that you were engaging in the commission of a very serious crime?
- I did.
- Did it occur to you at the time, when you finally said to your wife, "I will do this" and then transmitted to her certain information, that there was a possible death penalty for espionage?
- Yes.
- Did you think of your wife with regard to the fact that she may be a defendant in a criminal proceeding?
- I did.
- Did you have doubts when you took the money?
- I had plenty of headaches and I felt that the thousand dollars was not coming out of Julius Rosenberg's pocket. It was coming out of the Russians' pocket. It didn't bother me one bit to take it or the $4,000 either.
- Do you bear any affection for your sister, Ethel?
- I do.
- Do you realize a possible death penalty in the event Ethel is convicted?
- I do.
RUTH GREENGLASS
In November 1944 Ruth visited her husband, while he was working as a mechanic in Los Alamos. It was during this visit that Ruth asked David to give any information on the project to Julius Rosenberg.
During the testimony she confirmed that Julius had asked them to leave the United States, and gave them money for the trip. When asked what she did with the money she answered that they hid it in a chimney…
FROM THE ANSWERS OF JULIUS ROSENBERG
- What are you being charged with?
- Conspiracy to commit espionage to aid a foreign government.
- And amongst those witnesses did you hear your brother-in-law, Dave Greenglass, testify?
- Yes, I did.
- And did you hear your sister-in-law Ruth Greenglass testify?
- I did.
- Did you ever have any conversation with Mrs. Ruth Greenglass, with respect to getting information from Dave Greenglass, out of the place where he was working?
- I did not.
- Did you know in the middle of November 1944 where Dave Greenglass was stationed?
- I did not.
- Did you know in the middle of November 1944 that there was the Los Alamos Project?
- I did not. . .
- Did you ever give Ruth Greenglass $250, for her to go out to visit her husband in New Mexico, for the purpose of trying to enlist him in espionage work?
- I did not…
- At any time prior to January 1945, had anybody discussed the atom bomb with you?
- No, sir.
- Did you know anybody at all in the Russian Consulate office?
- I did not, sir.
- Do you owe allegiance to any other country?
- No, I do not.
- Were you a member of the Communist Party?
- I refuse to answer, on the ground that it might incriminate me.
FROM THE ANSWERS OF ETHEL ROSENBERG
- Where are your children now?
- They are at a temporary shelter in the Bronx.
- Have you seen them since you were arrested?
- No, I have not.
- Did you know that your brother was working on the atomic bomb project?
- No…
- Your brother David was the youngest in the family?
- That's right.
- And you are six years older than he is; and what was the relationship between you and him?
- Well, he was my baby brother.
- Did you love him?
- Yes, I loved him very much.
- Did your husband at any time ever mention to you that he was engaged in any spying or espionage work, transmitting information received from various sources to the Russians?
- He wasn't doing any such thing. He couldn't possibly have mentioned it to me.
- You saw your brother, didn't you, in January 1945?
- Yes, I did.
- Did you help him join the Communist Party?
- I refuse to answer.
The Rosenbergs pleaded the Fifth Amendment in response to all questions concerning their membership in the Communist Party.
FROM THE PROSECUTION
“In the center of this wheel, Rosenberg, reached out with the tentacles of an octopus...
This description of the atom bomb, destined for delivery to the Soviet Union, was typed up by the defendant Ethel Rosenberg... Just like on every countless occasion, she sat at that typewriter and struck the keys, blow by blow, against her own country in the interests of the Soviets…”
FROM THE DEFENSE
“Any man who will testify against his own blood and flesh, his own sister, is repulsive, is revolting, who violates every code that any civilization has ever lived by. He is the lowest of the lowest animals that I have ever seen, and if you are honest with yourself, you will admit.
This is not a man; this is an animal...
Well, maybe some people enjoy funerals; maybe some people enjoy lynching, but I wonder whether in anything that you have read or in anything that you have experienced you have ever come across a man, who comes round to bury his own sister and smiles.
Tell me, is this the kind of a man you are going to believe?..
Ruth Greenglass has never been arrested. She has never been indicted. She has never been sent to jail. Doesn't that strike you as strange?..
Greenglasses had to put the finger on somebody who was a clay pigeon; and Julius Rosenberg is a clay pigeon; because he was fired from the Government service, because it was alleged that he was a member of the Community party; and he was the guy who was very open and expressed his views about the United States and the Soviet Union, which may have been all right when the Soviet Union and the United States were Allies, but today it is anathema. This man was a clay pigeon”
VERDICT
“We, the jury, find Julius Rosenberg guilty as charged. We, the jury, find Ethel Rosenberg guilty as charged.”
FROM THE JUDGE’S STATEMENT
“Citizens of this country who betray their fellow-countrymen can be under none of the delusions about the benignity of Soviet power that they might have been prior to World War II. The nature of Russian terrorism is now self-evident. Idealism as a rational dissolves . . .
I consider your crime worse than murder. Plain deliberate contemplated murder is dwarfed in magnitude by comparison with the crime you have committed. In committing the act of murder, the criminal kills only his victim. The immediate family is brought to grief and when justice is meted out the chapter is closed. But in your case, I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians, the A-bomb, years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb. It has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country.
The evidence indicated quite clearly that Julius Rosenberg was the prime mover in this conspiracy. However, let no mistake be made about the role which his wife, Ethel Rosenberg, played in this conspiracy. Instead of deterring him from pursuing his ignoble cause, she encouraged and assisted the cause. She was a mature woman - almost three years older than her husband and almost seven years older than her younger brother. She was a full-fledged partner in this crime.”
THE SENTENCES:
The judge determined the measure to punish Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was capital punishment – the death penalty.
At the end the confession of Ethel’s brother got him 15 years in prison.
Two Years in the Death Chamber
The news about the theft of the bomb, shook up the American society. There were those who trusted the news, and those who didn’t believe it. Communists gathered in Manhattan and led huge demonstrations to defend the Rosenbergs. This only fanned the flames. Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of those who were killed in Korea wanted retribution.
People began to gather long before the assigned meeting time of the Communist party. Young and old men in spite of sweltering heat gathered in Manhattan, from all corners of the city. The columns of people stretched for miles. More than a hundred thousand people assembled. The roar of the crowd was over the limits of nervous tension. The meaning of the event had reopened fresh wounds!
Ted and Joan also arrived. Ted anxiously held his wife’s hand. Both kept silent. The preparations were over and public appearances began. Communists and trade-union activists asserted that Rosenbergs were innocent and the US Government orchestrated this situation to slander the Communist party.
Excitement levels rose and in hysteria people screamed out,
“The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!”
The Halls together with the crowd scattered, providing space for the approaching mounted police. A column of government-supporters appeared behind them. The police maneuvered, attempting to avoid havoc and preserve order. It was very dangerous to provoke the agitated masses. People from the opposite side began to shout,
“Death to the Rosenbergs! Let them hang! Fry them!”
Vengeance boiled in people’s hearts, the blood pressure rising! They wanted justice. Many people were holding posters demanding death. Hypnotized by the huge spectacle, the crowd could not be calmed. The women, who lost their husbands and sons in the new Korean War, cried and shouted, “It is not necessary to fry them, there will be a lot of stench! Let’s hang them and send the corpses to Russia!”
“The death sentence must be carried out!” shouted those who lost relatives, with tears of vengeance in their eyes. Across many other cities, participants gathered at demonstrations to demand US national security. A wave of hearings started in the Senate Committee. Americans were agitated by the fact that their secrets had been stolen by Russians, who were former US allies. The Communist Party of the United States served as an umbrella for the Soviet intelligence. Many people blamed the Communists, and put the blame on the deceased President Roosevelt.
For two years, the lives of the fanatic Communist couple were in danger. Ethel’s life was used as leverage against Julius Rosenberg. The FBI considered that the loving husband would cooperate so that his wife would survive. The prison rabbi attempted to alter the idealistic views of the USSR supporters. The Rabbi told the Rosenbergs about the mass persecutions of Jews in the country of socialism, particularly the “doctors’ case”. The Rosenbergs refused to believe him.
Mr. Truman’s presidency was coming to an end, and he left the dilemma of pardoning the couple to the new President, Dwight Eisenhower. In consideration of the Korean War, Eisenhower saw the Rosenbergs’ acts as sheer treachery that indirectly led to the death of thousands of Americans.
Julius said that the death sentence did not surprise him. He thought it had to happen that way because it was necessary to end the hysterics in America and allow the public to accept the Korean War.
The Rosenbergs wrote to the President that they were innocent. The decoding, which confirmed the couple’s guilt, was on the President’s table next to the Rosenbergs' petition for pardon.
“Appreciation” of the Tyrant
Stalin obtained the nuclear weapon mostly thanks to Jewish scientists and Jewish intelligence officers. In light of Jewish contribution in the Soviet revolution, scientific progress, and culture, Stalin had betrayed them.
The Soviet “Jewish Antifascist Committee” was Stalin’s idea, first of all, for donations in favor of the USSR. During the war the Committee visited the USA and gathered millions of dollars. Nevertheless an anti-Semitic campaign had begun in the Soviet Union.
From 1948 the Jewish Antifascist Committee began receiving requests to permit Soviet Jewish volunteers to protect Israel. The demonstrations in Moscow occurred in connection with the arrival of the Israeli ambassador Mrs. Golda Meir.
Stalin accused the Jewish Antifascist Committee of “nationalistic activity with connections to the American intelligence agencies”. Russian security agents withdrew Yiddish literature from the libraries. KGB began to arrest Jewish writers and actors, naming them “cosmopolitans”.
The Jewish theater and all other Jewish establishments were also closed. Stalin tried to distract the Russian people from their poor standard of living, shifting fault to “the imperialists, who construct intrigues against Russia”. The Communist Leader feared his own people. He was hiding behind his numerous secret agents, and created an even larger atmosphere of fear. He destroyed a large group of high-ranking Russian ethnic leaders in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). These executions suggested that Stalin was not so much anti-Semitic, but simply a reckless bloodthirsty monster. The tyrant was glorified by thousands of followers; some fervently believed in their leader, while others feared for their lives. A few even proposed to begin a new era of chronology starting with Stalin’s birthday.
In 1952, Stalin secretly killed 13 members of the Jewish Antifascist Committee in the basement of the Secret Service office.
Soon after WWII, Stalin began to consider America to be the main enemy. After witnessing what kind of nationalistic fervor Hitler obtained by elevating anti-Semitism, Stalin decided to use the same leverage. He insisted that all Jews were American spies. At the end of his life, the leader of the world proletariat was rather ill, but nevertheless, he almost daily met the officers of the Secret service. Stalin personally gave them instructions: who must be arrested, who must be questioned.
On January 13, 1953, Russian news agencies announced the arrest of a group of “Jewish doctors”. The 37 physicians were accused of “harmful treatment which shortened the lives of the Russian leaders”. The doctors, according to the publication, were connected with a covert American terrorist organization. The “doctors’ case” was planned, in an effort to lift the influence of the old party guard. Furthermore, the deportation of Jews from various cities to Siberia was planned.
The Russian people began to fear visits to any Jewish doctors. Gradually the “Jewish doctors’ case” went out of control. In the United States there was a sharp negative reaction. In New York mass demonstrations took place. Albert Einstein and other public figures wrote publications in protest.
In effect, Stalin was fulfilling Hitler’s will. The Fuhrer finished his political testament with the call, “Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them, to meticulous observance of the laws of race...”
On January 30, 1953, the Halls read the US newspaper compared Stalin with Hitler,
“Stalin announced a war against Jews all over the world. Moscow is advocating the persecution and destruction of Jewry wherever it is possible. In Russia we see a Slavonic model of Hitler”.
To Halls it was clear that to name Stalin a regularly anti-Semite in the conventional concept of this word, was difficult. Stalin had many Jewish companions-in-arms. His children were married with the Jews.
The facts show to the Halls that Stalin was not an anti-Semite in the conventional concept of the word. Hitler had no Jews around him.
Stalin had many Jewish comrades-in-arms. Stalin’s children were married to Jews. As far as cultural repression was concerned, Stalin bestowed the same cruelty on Russians…
The “Shortcomings” of the American Constitution
On a February morning of 1953, the car of the director of the FBI rolled to the White House. In the next five minutes the new President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, whom Hoover did not hate like the previous one, received the chief of the FBI, who reported the latest intelligence data. When Hoover finished the report, the President exclaimed,
“You see, Mr. Hoover, what a headache we have because of the Rosenbergs! Did you see on television yesterday huge demonstrations in New York, here in Washington and abroad? Stalin is probably rejoicing in Kremlin. Almost every day, they protest behind the White House fence.”
“What can we do, Mr. President? Should we let the Rosenbergs walk for depriving us of a nuclear monopoly?” smirked Hoover. “This family has stolen a fantastic amount of money, which we have spent on the “Manhattan project” with Britain. With that type of capital we could have restored war torn Europe! Furthermore, the CIA has provided information that nobody has seen Stalin since the announcement of the anti-Jewish “doctors’ case”. Stalin was absent from some important meetings. In general, our analysts deem that the communist leader is sick.”
“Is it true? This is interesting. As far as the Rosenbergs are concerned, it seems they hope that public opinion might force me to grant them mercy.”
The President looked through the window to the White House lawn. The demonstrators were marching along the fence, exercising their freedom of speech.
President Eisenhower continued,
“If I show mercy, what will the parents of our dead soldiers say? I think the Rosenbergs fear shame more than death. They are afraid the public will learn they were spies who stole certain atomic secrets, but nothing of big importance.”
“I think Ethel possesses a strange and, I would say, wild nature, Mr. President.”
“Precisely Edgar, Ethel proved to be stronger than her husband.. Is she the leader in their family?” Eisenhower asked Hoover.
“I believe so, Mr. President,” the chief of the FBI confirmed, “Although we have no proof she is directly involved in the husband’s operations. Besides, she seems to have psychological problems. At the time of her arrest she had been already seeing a psychologist every week. Now we have permitted him to see her in prison twice per month. The doctor consults her free of charge, but he seems to influence her rather negatively according to the reports.”
“Do not interfere, let him treat her,” muttered the President. “And do not touch her attorney. What a character he is! As you earlier reported he is a devoted Communist. Nevertheless, do not touch him. Frankly speaking, I do not know what to do with Ethel.”
Mr. Hoover responded, “I’d rather they stayed alive. They can provide useful information if they live. Otherwise I would never discover who the spies like are. I have information about dozens of very important spies, whose activity I cannot prove in court. Including those, who actually transferred important secrets to the Russians.”
“I can not help you. I am not going to violate the Constitution. Although I could never assume that we have so many Communist admirers here.”
“Without your permission I cannot summon 12 thousand Communists that are somehow involved in anti-American activity.” Hoover was agitated. “For instance, look at this boy Ted Hall, who I know for sure had transmitted secrets to the Russians. I can’t do anything! As far as I was informed, he switched from physics to medical radiology…”
“That’s good. By the way, is he a relative of our rocket designer?” President asked.
“Ted is Ed’s younger brother. I have to admit Ed has the best references. I am sure he has no idea about his brother’s betrayal. Ed Hall has recently been awarded the Goddard Prize for his contribution to missile construction. In any case we conduct constant surveillance of all our secret scientists, including Wernher von Braun. If I were the president, I would forbid the existence of the Communist party here,” said the chief of the FBI.”
“First you have to become a president, Edgar. Indeed we have a lot of problems with the Communists, our people are very angry with the Rosenbergs. We lost many boys in Korea, and since the Russians have the A-bomb now, we fear reciprocity. Otherwise, I would wipe out all the Chinese “volunteers” in Korea. If I let the Rosenbergs out today without protection, the crowds will burn their apartment in New York. The parents of our lost soldiers in Korea will seek vengeance. But if we do not execute them, we will have to let them out in 15 years or even earlier according to the law. All the petitioners who defend them, Einstein, Picasso and many others, also trust them. They do not know the reality of the situation. I wonder what they would say after they read the “Venona” reports. What damage these spies have done! Look what Rosenbergs' letter says. Ethel suggested I should ask my wife, the mother of my only son, to make a decision on the couple’s fate. My only son is now in Korea fighting against world Communism. Perhaps, Stalin is testing us to learn about the decoding?”
“No, sir. That’s not the case. Unfortunately, Russians have changed the code.”
“That’s a pity”.
“It is,” said Hoover.
“Do you think the Russians could blackmail the Rosenbergs?”
“Maybe. Russian agents have killed some defected Russian intelligence officers in the U.S. So why couldn’t the Russians blackmail the Rosenberg family by threatening to murder their children? We know that Stalin killed Trotsky and other opposition leaders together with their relatives, including wives, sisters and children!”
“I do not really know what to do with Ethel. It turns out that her younger brother sent her to the electric chair. I have no idea what to do with her. Did you prepare an official FBI recommendation?”
“The FBI recommends capital punishment to Mr. Rosenberg and 30 years of prison for his wife. I share this opinion and I am going to sign the official document. We do not ask for the death penalty for a mother of two children,” Hoover said.
“You, Edgar, do not have children, as I understand,” the President sarcastically looked at his visitor, fully aware of Hoover’s personal life. “My son and tens of thousands of young Americans risk their lives every day. Almost fifty thousand of American boys have lost their lives. The Rosenbergs helped Stalin destroy our atomic leverage in the world. I am afraid of a retaliatory attack and cannot use the bomb in Korea. So will you let me have my own opinion on how to punish these traitors!”
Ìom
Each evening the Halls together with entire America watched the TV news about the Rosenbergs' trial. Ethel’s mother was also repeatedly showed over TV.
Now it seemed that any minute Tessie could lose her mind. Her tortures lasted day and night. Tessie visited her son in prison once per month.
“David, my son!” She began to look for something in her bag, finding a handkerchief. She repeated in an undertone, “Oh, My Lord, why have you left me?”
David incoherently muttered, “Mom, don’t cry. I know it’s hard for you, but there is a chance that Ettie will remain among the living. Do not lose hope.”
“Dave, why did you spy?”
“It just happened, mom. You were the first who advised me to immediately confess. Julius started all this. He is guilty of everything…”
The mother wiped her eyes and asked her son,
“How to convince Ettie to confess?”
After the visit to prison, the mother was entirely broken in spirit, her maternal heart aching.
Tessie was not the only one to condemn the views of her daughter. Tessie’s son Bernie and stepson Sam, were also shaken by the behavior of their sister. Tessie did not cease to thank God for He had taken her husband prior to the tragic arrest of their children.
The Rosenbergs brought out hatred and criticism from the majority of Americans. However, Ethel wanted to be the symbol of Communist ideas, the symbol of a martyr. Sam was a serviceman in the Army for seven years and did not stay with the family. He arrived from the Army in order to see his sister in prison. After meeting with her, he was completely downtrodden. He arrived home and asked his brother Bernie,
“I do not understand. Is Ethel a Jewish mother of two children or a fanatic spy, who placed her Communist responsibilities before her country and her own children? How does she manage to withstand a two-year imprisonment, each day expecting the execution? David revealed the truth about Julius and his own espionage, but I’m not confident, it was Ethel who typed the report. There is no doubt that Julius was a spy and offered David to join.”
“We have to thank Ruth for many of the problems,” Bernie answered.
“You see, he will do everything for her!” Sam concluded.
Ethel really had some psychological problems, letting herself think that she had become an inept mother. Even before her arrest, she had difficulty controlling her son, becoming angry at the whole world, and her relatives too. Expecting her eventual arrest, Ethel began to visit a psychologist five times a week. With time she had become close to the 42 year old psychologist, who had become her spiritual teacher. Ethel requested permission to renew her consultations with the doctor. The authorities did not object. The psychologist arrived every two weeks to consult her, thereby reinforcing her illusion of being a hero. So it happened: Ethel wanted with all her resolve to please the doctor and mesmerize him. Their bond soon strained the limits of a typical doctor-patient relationship. She wanted to appear as a heroine, famous like Jeanne d'Arc.
The Rosenbergs’ attorney promised that their case would become famous around the whole world, and so it did. When international committees “Freedom for the Rosenbergs!” were formed in 24 countries, the couple was caught in a trap. There was no way out, the entire world was focused on their case. All great public figures, renowned scientists, artists, writers and politicians gathered to defend the Rosenbergs.
Sam, Ethel’s stepbrother, tried to convince her that it was time to think about her future and that of her children. He still hoped to persuade her to collaborate with the government. After their conversation, he met Tessie. He said that in his opinion Ethel and Julius deserved the death sentence.
He wrote to his sister, that he visited Tessie and saw the nephews. Sam wondered how Ethel so successfully swayed her children into believing the myth about their parents’ innocence. He also wrote to her that it was very difficult for Tessie to look after the grandsons. Sam called upon her to forget her wild ideology, and to fight for her family. He promised to help her, so she could eventually become reunited with her kids.
In February 1953, Tessie as usual came to prison during visitation hours. She spoke to her daughter for an hour and a half. Ethel at first was calm, but then started to argue because the mother took David’s side. The mother promised to send a letter to the new President of the United States. After returning home, the mother called the FBI to try to save her daughter. Then she met with the attorney to convince him to advise her daughter to confess. Tessie was aware of the real situation from her son David, who was serving his term in prison.
The next time the mother went to prison was with Ethel’s brother Bernie. However, Ethel was so busy with various matters that she forgot about her son’s 10th birthday. Tessie, wishing to save her daughter, advised Ethel to divorce her husband. Ethel answered that she does not want to see her mother any more. This time Ethel called her mother a witch!
Tessie went to see David in prison and asked her son,
“What is it going to be? How to explain this to Julius, since Ettie does not understand that this will all end in their deaths?”
David said to his mother, “This is in no way simple, mom. What does it mean to confess? It is not easy for Julius to simply say: Yes, I confess I am a spy, I worked for the Russians. For Hoover it is not enough. He wants Julius to name others, and testify against his accomplices in court as a witness for the prosecution. They want the whole chain of Russian agents.”
Since Julius’ mother was very sick and could not provide any help, Tessie looked after the grandsons ever since the Rosenbergs were arrested. The children were misguided and nervous, constantly hearing all around them about the possible execution of their mother and father.
Tessie said to her daughter,
“If you confirm the words of your brother that your husband is a spy, they will free you and you will be able to look after your children. I am sick; I am completely out of energy.”
When the daughter refused, Tessie declared,
“I cannot look after my grandsons any longer. I cannot manage them. I will send them to an orphanage.”
Ethel blamed Tessie for not being a loving mother. She still did not forgive her for being unsupportive of her artistic talents, thus diminishing her abilities.
The judge, who determined the measure of punishment for the Rosenbergs, was the youngest Federal Judge in America. He spent many hours praying in a synagogue before carrying out the sentence. Weeping, Tessie met him one day begging for her children’s lives…
“Your Honor,” Tessie said, wiping tears from her face. “In front of you is the saddest mother in the world. I am a widow. My husband died not long ago. My son is condemned for 15 years in prison and my daughter and her husband are waiting for their execution. My grandsons are without care, I do not have the strength to look after them… I will simply perish. Have pity. I cannot have any influence upon Ethel. She does not want to listen to anybody, except her attorney and her psychologist.”
The judge answered, “Mrs. Greenglass, I am very sorry, but I cannot discuss these matters out of court…”
The word “mother” is the most important word in the world. The first word that children pronounce sounds similar in all languages. Only a mom has the best and most affectionate hands. A mom has the most sensitive heart; the most sincere one, it never falls out of love, it is never indifferent. Despite how old the children are, they always need their mother’s kindness. Tessie tried to educate all her children properly, so that it would be possible one day, to proclaim, “I am proud of my children!”
She failed.
“I tried to persuade Ettie to confess, I did all I could,” Tessie said to herself. “Thousands of young men perished in Korea. Their blood demands vengeance. Their parents will not rest. Of course, they will demand payment for the sins of my children.”
It was most difficult for her at night. Strange sounds permeated her bedroom. It was as though someone was walking on the stairs to her room and the bolted door opened.
“I can’t help her,” cried Tessie in bed, overwhelmed by misery and helplessness. Her daughter and son-in-law came in her dreams alive and dead each night. They had no eyes; only a bottomless dark void stared at her from their empty sockets. Horror penetrated her heart, and she understood that death is approaching.
“Help, My Lord!” She attempted to recall a prayer but her lips disobeyed. Instead she heard from her daughter,
“I am not guilty! Leave me alone! My brother killed me! You did not save me!”
“Where will your grave be? I knew that this would happen!” reckoned Tessie.
In Tessie’ eyes her daughter was obsessed with becoming famous. Tessie understood that the most terrible thing for Ethel and Julius was to become deprived of fame.
Tessie could not stay in the apartment. She walked along the streets at night while people who knew her turned away from the mother of traitors. Neighbors hid, lowered their heads, and silently walked in a different direction. An agent from the FBI warned her,
“You’re in the streets again, Mrs. Greenglass. Look, they can kill you, especially those, who lost their sons in Korea. People do not know that you condemn your children’s actions!”
The next morning she went to the governor’s office and said,
“Kill me! My son and daughter have become enemies of the United States. I am a mother, I consider myself guilty for what they’ve done. They may be traitors, but I love my children…”
The days were passing. Every first Monday of the month, Tessie went to visit Ethel in prison. The mother sat next to her daughter, weary of her daughter’s abnormal state. Ethel, thirsty for glory, spoke audaciously to her mother,
“I was born in this world to captivate people!”
Tessie watched through the prison window at the skyline of New York, the city, where she found love, and gave birth to her daughter and sons. The rays of the setting sun colored the skyscraper walls with a bloody paint; the window glass reflected an ominous glow. The entire city seemed to suffer from fear of an A-bomb attack. Tessie endured the knowledge that her daughter and son-in-law were guilty of this. They were so devoted to Communism that they were ready to die for it.
Being so desperate the mother wanted to escape somewhere. Without fatigue she wrote petitions. She hoped the new President would pardon her children.
* * *
Ted and Joan read about “the Rosenbergs case” with great anxiety. They saw the photographs of Rosenberg sons in the newspaper, and the fate of the children especially frightened them. Joan was disturbed that they could take away her child.
In contrast to Joan, Ted accurately knew, where death would come from and how it would unfold: an armchair with elbow-rests, a high back, and belts for restraining. Their hands fastened to the elbow-rests, and their feet tied with special clamps. The electricity would pass through the helmet. Their heads would be shaved before the execution, and another current would go through their ankles. Two switches would go down simultaneously by different executioners so neither would know who carried out the gruesome task. Ted had once read that in some cases the eyes left their orbits because of the high temperature, skin would char and hair sometimes caught fire. With horror he imagined the gloomy chamber of death where they would kill Julius and his wife…
“Did you see the execution of the elephant?” Ted asked his wife.
“No, but I’ve heard something. It seems this happened in New York, in Coney Island’s Astroland, in Luna Park?”
“Yes. The circus elephant went berserk and killed three people including an abusive trainer, who tried to feed her a lighted cigarette. It might have happened because the “actress” felt lonely and boring in the circus without her husband. And of course the trainer offended her.”
“What a son of a bitch that trainer was!”
“The elephant was sentenced by law court to the capital punishment. Though great inventor Edison was against capital punishment, he developed an electric chair. At that time Edison proposed “humane” method. Two thousand that purchased tickets came on Sunday to the Luna-park in Coney Island. There were 15 thousand who desired to watch, but the authority feared for the order. Can you imagine the blood-thirsty crowd, that wanted bread and circuses only, just like in ancient Rome?”
“Well, what happened further?”
“They tied a chain around the elephant’s neck and put on sandals made of copper as electrodes on her feet. Edison connected them with his power station and the elephant was electrocuted with 6,000-volts. Clouds of smoke appeared from under the soles of the elephant; the huge animal was shaken and collapsed to the ground. She died “without a trumpet or a groan", within seconds.
Spectators were dissatisfied by such a brief show, by the execution of a dangerous ‘public enemy’. The execution was a public spectacle, and Edison even filmed the event. I saw the movie in the cinema, there in the Luna-park…”
“It is difficult to say, who is the “enemy” and who is more dangerous: the elephant or the people? The elephant with her family could live a happy life in African prairies and harmed nobody.”
“Indeed.”
“What’s your opinion, does the government consider me a ‘public enemy’ also?”
“Don’t say stupidities…”
Time flew. This time Ted failed to pass security clearance. As a result Ted was discharged from the laboratory at Chicago University and found research work at the Institute of Radiology in Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York. However, he could not work peacefully. His conscience gnawed at him. He felt guilty about the fate of the Rosenbergs.
He asked Joan, “What should I do?”
When he could not suffer any more, he turned to the Russians. Hall asked about the encounter with the people of the Consulate of the USSR. Ted asked them for an opinion, “Should I go to the FBI and confess? What if I go to FBI and say: you intend to execute the wrong people! The Rosenbergs did not transfer nuclear secrets. I did it.”
The Russians did not approve of the idea. “This will give you nothing. They will place you next to the Rosenbergs.”
However, Ted went on suffering. He kept rereading CRIME AN PUNISHMENT by Dostoyevsky, “The criminal strictly judged himself, but his conscience found no especially terrible fault… He considered that his confession had been a mistake”.
* * *
The life of Ed and Edith was filled with mutual love, which had not tarnished through the years. The difference in their ethnic origins never spoiled their relations; they had sincere respect and mutual understanding for each other. Ed’s emotional connection to Edith evolved from the harsh times in England and transformed into a loving trust that he knew she would never betray. When Ed was not at work, they spent every minute together. An athlete and a tennis player, Edith gave birth to three children. Ed spent much time in service, while his wife looked after the children.
The Americans learned in 1952, that an anti-Jewish campaign had began in the Soviet Union. Ed and Edith as well as Ted and Joan did not believe it. The couples were shocked to hear the news of the “doctor’s plot” in the winter of 1953. It was incomprehensible to the Halls. The news from Russia left them distraught.
The brothers were completely confused and pondered in dismay, “How can this occur in a socialist country? Where are the ideals of the Russian Communist revolution?”
Long ago Socialist ideas led Ed to the numbers of left-wing intelligentsia; he even wanted to enter the Communist party. The first signal, which rotted something, was the pact of Stalin with Hitler. Its consequence Ed experienced on himself, warring on the side of England, which fought alone against Nazi Germany. The questions, to which Ed earlier had paid little attention, now began to slowly disturb him: repressions and executions in the Soviet Union, trials with no jury, without any proofs, prohibition to the activity of any political parties, the absence of free press and persecution on the religion. Ed’s wife Edith was absolutely indifferent to the Communist ideas. Gradually husband began to regain vision; he was disappointed by Soviet model of Communism especially in the course of the framed shameful “Kremlin doctors plot” and lost his belief in the Soviet Union. Ed understood that there is no validity in the USSR.
Ted also suffered a lot, as he had helped Russia so much. Dream that socialism can get along with democracy proved to be nonexistent. To lose the illusions was painful for him.
Ted greatly feared for Joan. She changed considerably, she was scared. He never remembered her to be so cautious. She did not permit speaking about the bomb even in the car, thinking there were microphones everywhere. Ted was afraid the FBI would learn everything, but tried to mask his fear. In his alarming dreams, Ted envisioned an approaching catastrophe. “What if everything is revealed and the authorities will take away our three year old daughter to an orphanage, like they did to the children of the Rosenbergs?” he thought.
When nightfall came and the sky lit up the timid stars, Joan’s smile saved him. She revived him with the smile of her beautiful eyes.
“I am happy to have Joan” Ted told himself, as he waited to buy a newspaper. “The main thing is that we love each other. Even now, my wife never reproaches me, though anything can happen.”
* * *
In January 1953 Stalin officially declared the “doctors’ case”. The US immediately predicted that the “the doctors’ case” would be the beginning of an anti-Semitic campaign as a sign of plight showed up in the Kremlin. Forty nine prominent Americans headed by Eleanor Roosevelt called upon President Eisenhower to protect the Soviet Jews. The Jewish community of America was disconcerted. Albert Einstein directed a telegram to the USSR concerning the rise of anti-Semitism. Winston Churchill expressed his sharp criticisms to the Kremlin. In Western Europe protestors marched to the streets and demonstrations took place. Prominent scientists warned that they would leave the Communist party. Stalin paid no attention to that.
* * *
In the winter of 1953, Stalin considered US as his #1 enemy. He was puzzled,
“Why does America, having huge superiority in the quantity of nuclear weapons, does not attack?”
The paranoid leader was convinced that a war with America was inevitable. On Stalin’s order more than ten thousand Tu-4 aircrafts, copies of American V-29 bombers had been assembled. He also ordered the construction of airfields in the Arctic. One hundred thousand servicemen were sent to Siberia. Stalin ordered a concentration of troops near Alaska.
Stalin believed that he was carrying out a great spiritual mission. Russia was the first country looking forward to a new way of life. The power of Communist ideas spread not only among its populace, but also captured the imagination of the entire world.
At the end of February 1953 the leader called a conference and he unexpectedly revealed that his Russian associates were not happy with “the case of the Jewish doctors” and showed no enthusiasm for it. He was severely upset. Several days later he suffered a stroke.
The Halls like all the people in the world learned the news from Moscow about the illness of the “Red Tsar”.
Stalin lay in his country-house and listened. All around was silence, not a sound, only the mantle clock testified that life continued. In the large room, in his gloomy solitude, instead of the usual tobacco aroma there was a vivid scent of medicine. Stalin was trapped between reality and sleep:
“Guards, call Beria! Where is Beria?”
“I am here, comrade Stalin.”
“Call doctors!” mumbled the half paralyzed old man. During the war, crowds of soldiers would charge having heard his voice and thus perished with the words “For Stalin!”
Stalin’s spite led to his ultimate downfall. “The doctors’ case” became the mine, which the tyrant placed under his own throne.
On March 5, 1953 Stalin died.
“Dear comrades, friends! Dear foreign brothers! Our Communist party, the Soviet people, all of mankind has suffered a grave, irreparable loss. Our teacher and leader, a great genius of humanity, Joseph Stalin has finished his glorious life,” the tyrant’s comrades announced during the burials.
The arrested doctors were freed by Beria a month after the death of “the Father of the peoples”.
Three months later the heirs of the deceased leader arrested the chief of the atomic and espionage matters, Marshal Beria. There also were rumors that Beria had poisoned Stalin.
To Be or Not to Be?
The Halls learned from the evening news about the Rosenbers. The Chairman of the United States Supreme Court called an emergency meeting and insisted on the delivery of the sentence. The Rosenbergs’ attorney immediately sent the petition to the President; it was quickly directed to Eisenhower, who put the negative resolution in effect.
The couple spent the final moments together, before the execution. In the room, where they waited for their death, the prison authorities put two telephone sets, directly connected with the Minister of Justice. In order to save their lives, it was enough for the Rosenbergs to confess to espionage. After looking at the phone, Julius Rosenberg said,
“Human dignity can not be sold. The world will remember that we fell as victims of American imperialism. We die with honor and confidence that History will justify us.”
Ethel tried not to think about her brother, who sent her to the electric chair.
“Once I loved my brother,” she whispered, “but I have changed my feelings.”
To the very last minute the couple insisted on their innocence. They could see each other only through a metal net. When they did not see each other in person, they communicated through correspondence. He wrote to her that the dramatization of their deaths had not broken him, but on the contrary, made him stronger. She responded that she madly loved him.
The authorities used their son’s future as leverage against the parents. In a letter to the attorney, Julius wrote that they would willingly meet their death in the name of peace and prosperity of all people.
Without seeing each other, the Rosenbergs sang songs they knew from childhood: Jewish and Russian ones. Ethel stopped to sing a famous Jewish song “A Yiddishå mamå,” because Ethel’s mother wanted the daughter to confess. Ethel sang romances and arias. She especially loved Chio-Chio-San.
Being amazingly young at heart, she wrote to her husband that she missed his arms where she belonged. The couple’s love knew no bounds, and they believed they’d be together throughout eternity.
Julius and Ethel were permitted to see each other behind a visitor's screen. Only once were they permitted to see each other without the separation of a metal screen.
"Ettie!" he cried. They rushed to each other and held each other in a tight embrace, covering each other's faces with kisses. On the evening of their execution, Julius and Ethel were permitted to sit on opposite sides of the screen and have a talk without witnesses. Forty minutes to their execution, they were again taken to separate chambers.
In the farewell letter to their children the loving parents asked their kids to believe that life was worth living. They assured them that their parents were not guilty.
Ethel asked her attorney, who played a fateful role in her life, (it is more accurate to say in her death) to give her a locket of the Ten Commandments, her chain as well as her wedding ring to the kids. She did not blame the lawyer for losing the case and said that History will absolve her and her husband. The couple considered their family to be the first victim of American fascism. She also requested the lawyer to tell her psychologist that she admired him with all her heart. Ethel hoped that he shared her “triumph” as she did not feel any regrets.
* * *
The Halls watched how the Rosenbergs’ attorney, realizing that the case was lost and that execution was on the horizon for his clients, attempted by all methods to attain a pardon. The Rosenbergs’ sons picketed everywhere with posters “Do not kill our mom and dad!” while thousands of people gathered for humanitarian reasons to participate in demonstrations throughout the world. They also wrote to the President and to the Pope.
In the evening of June 18, 1953, as sunset left the sky and the last rays of light lit up the horizon, the situation was dire for the Rosenbergs. From the first day of proclaiming the sentence the electric chair was a constant nightmare for two years. Julius looked at the telephone…
Rosenberg thought, “Should I confess? This will save Ethel, but Hoover will want to know everything!”
He became frozen from this prospect.
“Confess before it’s not too late!” The idea knocked in his head. “The FBI will find all your assistants anyway.”
“No! No!!! The archives of Russian intelligence will never be opened. Never ever, and, even through thousands of years, people will learn nothing!” he heard another voice.
Julius always trusted his subconscious, which usually suggested the right way out.
“But why are they going to execute Ethel for somebody else’s crime?” his internal voice spoke.
“Yes, I spied,” Julius acknowledged to himself, “But Ethel? She is not guilty at all! They must immediately let her go.”
“No! No! No!” The shrill was ringing in his ears. “How happy will the enemies of the party be if I give Hoover the names of my friends! No!”
Earlier in his childhood, Julius believed in God, but over the course of time he had abandoned his faith. Now before death, he did not know how to answer the difficult question, “If God existed, how I would be judged. What will God say? Actually, I do not care as I am an atheist.”
In prison the Rabbi unsuccessfully attempted to convince Julius that his belief in the Soviet Russia was foolhardy,
“It’s been more than three months since Stalin died. The new Russian leaders have freed the Jewish doctors, after recognizing they were framed and the whole case was set up. But who knows what could happen in Russia tomorrow?”
The Rosenbergs did not want to listen to the Rabbi’s pleas.
On June 19, 1953 in the New York Sing-Sing prison the guards took Julius from his cell. The fateful procession was directed to the chamber of executions. There, behind the dark glass, 14 witnesses were watching. They could see the condemned man, but Julius could not see them. He was wearing a T-shirt. They had shaved off his thin black moustache.
The guard came up with a cup of water, a paste and brush. He shaved a small square on Julius’ head and electrodes were applied to him.
The switches gave out two thousand volts; the eyes became white formless spheres, as though they jumped out from their orbits. Eyelashes and eyelids were burnt. Silence spread out…
In a couple minutes the doctor broke the somber atmosphere,
“He is dead. You may take him away.”
The prison attendants put Julius’ body on the stretchers. The corpse was removed.
Ethel was next. She was in her white cotton dress. She did not cry, and her demeanor seemed careless. She had the eyes of a hunted animal, but not a frightened one. Ethel smiled with her numb lips. She was sure that her young life would not collapse into darkness. She thought her spirit would let her erect a red flag on the largest skyscraper in Manhattan. It would bring the signal of the world revolution! She had no doubt it would happen.
But soon her thoughts turned to terrible reality, and her heart was cut into pieces. She did not look at the Rabbi. Ethel embraced the prison matron, who looked after her for two years. She removed a golden chain from her neck as well as her ring. Death stared directly in her face. Ethel made no statements. The switches turned on…
In a minute the doctor approached her. Suddenly he jerked back his stethoscope, and exclaimed,
“Oh, my God! She is still alive!”
The executioners exchanged glances. Ethel proved to be more tenacious than her husband. Reporters whispered they understood that the dose of electricity was not sufficient. The switches were again pulled down, and the execution was repeated!
The electric chair cut short the lives of the couple, which, in the opinion of the majority of Americans, opened the Pandora’s Box which lead to an arm’s race. The crowd was restless in the streets in the preceding hours of the execution. Some blamed the Rosenbergs, others did not believe in their guilt.
The Rosenbergs could not confess to espionage. They wanted the people who supported them to believe they were innocent or at least speculate so. Otherwise it would be a catastrophe. They would receive disdain from the public, and Communists would start a mass exodus from the party. America simply would burst from anger. For the Rosenbergs there was a fear greater than death: they were afraid to lose their image as martyrs.
On the night of the execution, a representative of the FBI was on duty, based on Hoover’s orders. Everyone hoped that the Rosenbergs would talk. The FBI had data on dozens of spies in this network and it would be a triumphant breakthrough for them to reveal their contacts. But instead, the Rosenbergs preferred death to confession. The courageous couple was blind. They refused to recognize the grief that Stalin brought to all, including Jews. They did not want to hear the criminal activities of their exalted leader, who they wholeheartedly believed in.
* * *
Ethel’s mother was convinced that the only person responsible for her daughter’s death was her attorney. He has persuaded her not to confess, and to seek the help of the world’s public.
The mother was very sick after learning of the execution; she told her sons that she will not attend the burials, since she thought Ethel did not love her, or the children. Before the funeral day she said, “I will not go! I do not participate in political meetings.”
Bernie approved David’s confession. Bernie wrote to his brother who was in prison that the Rosenbergs wanted to be not only the masters of their own lives but also of David’s and his wife’s.
“They wanted you to die for their “stinking” ideas. Believe me, David, for hours I spoke with Ethel, but in vain,” wrote Bernie, “Although I consider that they did not deserve this severe end, nevertheless they had the right to choose their destiny.”
Much later the Halls watched David Greenglass in a TV interview, honestly say,
“To me it would be detestable to be buried, seeing that the Rosenbergs chose death for martyrdom. They could have confessed… My wife stated before the jurors, that Ethel had printed a report. What was I to say? To say that my wife lied? My wife is my wife. She is dearer to me than my whole family. She is the mother of my children.”
Under Damocles’ Sword
Usually the hour assigned for an execution is at night, but in order not to kill the Rosenbergs on a Jewish Saturday, the execution occurred on Friday before the sunset. At this time, Ted and Joan were invited to visit Ted’s associate from Sloan-Kettering Hospital. They went by car. The road was parallel to the Hudson River near the Sing-Sing prison. It was 8 o’clock, and Joan switched on the radio. The station began transmitting Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”.
Joan and Ted greatly loved this music. They were driving, observing the moody sunset, and their feelings were melancholy.
From the first sounds of the musical masterpiece, Ted and Joan could not rid themselves of a penetrating fear. Juliette’s death sequence reminded them of the frailness of human existence. Each score sound entered their heart like a jagged piece of glass.
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
The music strongly influenced the Halls.
“Say, Joan, what better music is there to express the inevitability of death, and the desperation of eternal loss?”
“Undoubtedly, only this music,” the wife agreed.
Ted’s imagination grew dark. He could hardly see the badly illuminated road. Far below, the bridge appeared out of the fog. The city was behind them. In the depth of the darkened sky thick gray clouds came into view. Ted tried to overcome his fear.
“The FBI would not touch me, this fear contradicts all logic,” he was convincing himself. The trees were flickering by the car’s window, and Ted continued to evaluate the complexity of the situation. Ted could hardly switch his foot from the gas pedal to the brake as though he was a student driver…
“Fear him! He is dangerous. The Rosenbergs already perished because of him,” Hoover’s voice hummed in Ted’s ears. “Your young wife is wrong! You are a traitor. You are a physicist, aren’t you? Do you have a job?” Hoover asked scoffing.
The rain gained strength. Ted’s thoughts took him back to Manhattan; he imagined that the trial was still in process. The court sessions of the Rosenbergs case still continued. At the entrance of the courthouse the photographers waited for him and the Rosenbergs. Ted saw their gloating faces. The guards brought him to his seat but he stopped and hesitated to sit down. In the corner he noticed Ed and his wife Edith sitting with their heads down. And suddenly Ethel yelled, “It was not my husband who gave out the secret of the bomb!”
“Who is the traitor?” the prosecutor asked.
“Here he is. His name is Theodore Hall!” Ethel directed her finger at Ted.
“Ted Hall was spying at the same time as Julius.”
Ted was bewildered.
“I do not want problems, we have a child,” Joan protested.
“Babies are born each day!” Ethel objected to her.
The sound of thunder was heard outside the car. The hurricane did not weaken. Ted was in control of the car but he tried to think about anything else. In vain his thoughts returned to the Rosenbergs. Suddenly the road was illuminated by a burning light; a gigantic mushroom-shaped cloud appeared deep in the sky, reminiscent of a nuclear explosion.
Strong wind had struck and was accompanied by a terrible roar. Ted felt chest pain and leaned his head. A tall figure resembling Ed, appeared at a crossing point, illuminated by the explosion. Ted stepped on the brakes and lost control; the car twisted and turned…until Ted pulled over.
Not yet realizing the danger they were really in, the couple continued their trip with pale faces and silence. They were more concerned and tormented by the terrible fate of Ethel and Julius who were executed for a crime they did not exactly commit.
“Yes,” Ted thought, “Julius Rosenberg was a spy, but it was not he who gave the Russians the secret of the bomb. Oh my god! I must have been in his place!”
* * *
Approximately a month after the Rosenbergs’ execution a cease-fire agreement was signed in Korea. The US lost approximately 50 thousand soldiers in the conflict. Both parts of Korea had suffered two and one-half million losses and injuries in the war.
Many scientists proved to be not only great thinkers, but activists for the containment of nuclear weapons. With deep regret Albert Einstein spoke after the war, “If I knew that the Germans would not succeed in the creation of the A-bomb, I would not send a letter to the President, asking him to order the beginning of the A-bomb construction”.
In 1955 the Nobel Prize winners composed the document and sent it to Albert Einstein, who placed a signature under it, and thus became one of the participants of this historic act just several days before his death. The manifesto on refusing to use the nuclear weapon was made public in London,
“The world is full of conflicts… Everyone knows how powerful the new weapons are. One A-bomb destroyed Hiroshima, one H-bomb would be sufficient to erase from the face of the Earth the largest cities, such as London, New York and Moscow… Most specialists unanimously assert that a war involving H-bombs can completely destroy mankind.”
Colonel Edward Hall –
the Art of Constructive Management
While Werner von Brown was developing large rockets with liquid fuel, the leader of the program “Thor,” Ed Hall, was analyzing engines with solid fuel. The talented Colonel Hall, after a detailed study, prepared a design of a new rocket.
On October 4, 1957 a meeting was arranged for American scientists and servicemen in the Soviet Embassy in Washington. Ed was among those who had received an invitation. Suddenly the Soviet ambassador ran into the hall and joyfully declared to the stunned guests,
“Ladies and gentlemen! Now above us, at a height of a thousand kilometers, a Soviet satellite is orbiting the earth! We call it Sputnik”
At first Ed and others present at the event were shocked. It was the same reaction as when the Russians tested their A-bomb. In October of 1957, American newspapers again shouted the headlines, “New triumph for Moscow!”
The Satellite was a symbol of breaking nature’s boundaries, a concept that was riveting to the world’s public. It became clear to everyone that the Soviet Union was dominating the space race with an alarming rate.
The Sputnik impacted American complacency with their way of life, showing that the Russians were in the forefront of technological development. The U.S. government started a search for answers. After several days, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Hall and his supervisor were called into the Pentagon. The Defense Minister went straight to the point,
“President Eisenhower is very distraught by the Russian success. It is necessary to immediately advance the creation of a new generation of rockets. You actively participated in the creation of Atlas, Titan and Thor. Can you propose something new?”
“Yes, sir,” Ed answered. “I propose a new rocket with vertical placement in the underground silos. It will be cheaper than previous designs and more reliable. It will utilize solid fuel, and constant maintenance will not be necessary. It‘s possible to prepare the rocket without human intervention. The combat readiness will be provided not in days or hours, but in minutes. It will be a worthy answer to the enemy. I call it “No-Man Minuteman”.
“Excellent,” the Defense Minister smiled. “Let us instead of “No-Man Minuteman”, call it just “Minuteman” in the name of our historic heroes.”
“Ok. Also I think we can build many empty silos,” Ed went on. “Since multiple missiles were needed to ensure the destruction of one of our silos, the enemy had to build more missiles than we have targets. We can also reduce the weight and the length of the missiles to load on heavy trucks. We can drive and store them along the highways.”
The project was approved within 48 hours, with Lieutenant Colonel Ed Hall as the head of the project. The success of the Russian Satellite insured that the project was going to be unquestionably financed by the U.S. government. Boeing was given the assignment of assembling the rockets. All firing tests were completed successfully. The “Minuteman” possessed excellent technical characteristics. The rocket was transferred into production, and in 1958 it was part of U.S. official armament. The authorities decided that the rockets would also be placed in the NATO alliance. In 1959, the US Senate declared the “Minuteman” program a national priority. The White House affirmed the program by putting thousands of rockets on standby alert. The improved “Minuteman” would carry several nuclear warheads with a total power of 6 megatons, which exceeded anything that was used during World War II.
After learning about the U.S. technological advancements, the Russian head of the Soviet rocket program, S. Korolev, began to act. He gathered a group of scientists to discuss the missile after learning of its design. Korolev issued a call to his associates to create a Soviet solid fuel rocket.
The American missile advantage with regard to nuclear payload was about five to one. Soviet industry was not able to produce such rockets yet. It took the Russians seven years to make a rocket like Ed’s “Minuteman.”
Ed’s deputy Colonel Francis Hale said, “There would not have been a Minuteman program without Ed Hall.”
His burden was not easy, which might have been because of his brother. Ed later withdrew from the Thor program, having difficulty dealing with the Redstone Arsenal supervisor. The administrator apparently expressed his feelings to the General and Ed was no longer welcome at Huntsville. Colonel Hale went to the chief, and asked if he could continue working with Ed, but he was told that it would not help Hale’s career to do so.
* * *
Russian chief designer Korolev was in a hurry. Academician Korolev was in a great hurry, since there was data that the Americans could be in the Space first.
On April 12, 1961 Korolev sent Yuri Gagarin into Space. Aboard the spacecraft, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to complete the flight, traveling around the Earth for 108 minutes.
The Soviet cosmonaut became a hero. Neil Armstrong said of Gagarin, “He called us all into Space.”
President Kennedy said that for the United States to achieve space supremacy it was necessary to land on the Moon by the end of the decade. He called for the entire nation and for each American to make a contribution to the realization of the flight.
Homo Homini Lupus est: Man is a Wolf to Man
The radio stations of the entire world still continued to devote all their attention to Russia’s new triumph, when alarming news from Cuba reached United States. Immigrants, supported by Americans, attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro. The Cubans, using Russian consultants and Soviet weapons, destroyed Castro’s political enemies.
Russian Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy met; however, this encounter did not settle their differences. Vice versa, Khrushchev made the tough decision to place Russian nuclear rockets next to the US.
In September, rockets and aircrafts began to secretly arrive in Cuba. The American intelligence at first did not notice this, but soon spy planes photographed the positions of Soviet rockets. The nuclear warheads were noticed and reported to President John Kennedy. The military proposed to immediately bomb Cuba. Some USA generals called the President a coward. Fidel Castro declared a state of alarm and general army mobilization.
At this time, Ed’s project had run into failure: one of intercontinental “Minuteman” rockets fell down mid-flight. Next day “Atlas” rocket was sent into Space and a nuclear explosion was set off to show the strength of the United Sates. Kennedy made a statement to the American people about the Russian nuclear rockets in Cuba. The USSR responded that the delivery of weapons was made exclusively for defensive purposes…
In Moscow there was a Russian Colonel wanted to become a spy; no one recruited him. He had access to top secrets and gave away the plans of the location of rockets in Cuba to Americans. This allowed Pentagon analysts to accurately determine where they were situated, since it was difficult to see the missiles in photographs taken by the spy aircraft. A spy reported to the CIA that the Soviet nuclear and rocket arsenal is considerably weaker than it had been assumed by the Pentagon.
On one of these days, Ed and Ted Hall read fragments from Khrushchev's speech, in which the Russian leader stated that if the USA attacked Cuba, then the USSR would deliver a retaliatory attack. It was a bluff. Khrushchev, in contrast to the Cuban and Soviet people, knew perfectly well of the overwhelming nuclear superiority of the Americans.
When Kennedy entered the White House as the new President, “Atlas”, “Thor”, “Jupiter” and “Titan” were ready put into action. The first ten “Minutemen” were almost ready. If one out of every five American rockets, which were equipped in Europe, would reach Russia, up to 35 million people would be dead. That number would join the 27 million Soviet people killed during World War II. Russia suffered the largest human losses in the war.
However, Kennedy feared that Russian nuclear warheads could fall on New York. The fear controlled both sides. Khrushchev placed the world on the brink of World War III. John Kennedy declared a naval blockade of Cuba and demanded that the Russian rockets be removed. 238 American ships had left their naval bases. Thanks to secret operations, the Pentagon knew what type Soviet nuclear warheads were placed in Cuba and how far Krushchev’s brashness could go. Kennedy knew that the Russians could not win the war; however, the USSR threatened a powerful retaliatory attack. The countries of the world were closer to nuclear war, than in any other postwar period. In the critical minutes of the conflict, the first ten “Minuteman” rockets were primed and ready to launch.
In New York, at the height of the crisis, Ted Hall thought, “My God! Now I might be responsible for a terrible fate for my wife and children. The bold Russian devil Khrushchev will kill me and my entire family with my weapon! Thank God that Ed has organized a shield against the Russians. Ed and his friends are our only hope now.”
Kennedy refused to back down. He finally proposed a compromise: dismantling and removing the Soviet rockets from Cuba in exchange for the promise that America would not invade the island. The Russians agreed.
Soon, according to the agreement with Khrushchev, the “Thors” and “Jupiters” located in Europe returned to America. Fortunately, the crisis was solved without a nuclear catastrophe.
In the next several years the number of Ed’s “Minuteman” reached almost a thousand.
Some years passed. Russians and Americans were guided by the idea that he, who is the leader in space, controls the entire world. Under the leadership of Werner von Braun the number of NASA employees reached 25 thousand people; ten thousand of them were scientific researchers.
On July 16, 1969 “Apollo-11” left for its space mission.
N. Armstrong, M. Collins and E. Aldrin entered into the world history. Armstrong and Aldrin stayed on the Moon for 21 hours. America was celebrating, the same way the Soviet Union did when it launched its first Satellite and Yuri Gagarin.
The first person to step on the surface of the Moon was a citizen of the United States of America.
“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” these were the words of Neil Armstrong that echoed around the entire world. The American success was an unexpected contingency for the USSR. Telecasts about the achievement were aired in every country except Russia. The live telecast was forbidden by the top establishment of the Communist Party. The Soviet people did not belong to the world community according to their doctrine. The national task placed by President Kennedy was accomplished. For the Americans this was a national victory and a holiday.
Epilogue
The Crime Without Punishment
Usually a burning repentance brings
visions of hanging or drowning…
But he did not regret his crime.
F. DOSTOYEVSKY. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
After the Rosenbergs' execution, Ted understood that in America a fatal danger threatened him. Thanks to Joan, Ted Hall refused to collaborate any further and gradually ceased communications with the Russians. Joan always considered that her husband did not betray the Americans, and everything he did was justified because of his concern for the citizens of the United States, and for all the people in the world. She had large respect and admiration for her husband. He had a great mind, and since she saw herself as a simple teacher, she felt it was an honor to be with him.
Although Hall was convinced that he would not be caught because the FBI had no proof, he was still unnerved by the situation. He feared that the investigation might be renewed. The threat of being exposed constantly loomed over him. Ted was scared and was tormented in his dreams.
After reading about Stalin’s crimes, Ted was shocked; it was hard to believe the charges were so monstrous. Then Khrushchev revealed Stalin's atrocities to the public; his speech was published in the West. Reading it, Hall almost cried because of the severity of his leader’s offences. He felt insulted and deceived. His trust and beliefs were crushed. Ted was stunned, after learning about the scale of Stalin’s repressions.
Ted greatly suffered and repeatedly acknowledged to his wife, “If I had known then, who Stalin was in reality, I would have never transferred atomic secrets to the Russians… I trusted the devil… Stalin could easily drop bombs on New York and London.”
A new life began for Ted Hall following 1962. After a couple of years in Greenwich, CT, the family with their three children left for Great Britain. British Intelligence Service learned of Ted’s past from the FBI. The British had enough of their own “red Communists” in Cambridge and asked Ted,
“What did you arrive for? Why Cambridge?” the agents asked, “The Cambridge Five” and Doctor May, isn’t that too many?”
Ted answered, “A great Cambridge educator once said, “Knowledge is power”. I am a scientist and am invited here for important work,”
He was allowed to stay and in a Cambridge laboratory, Ted Hall made several salient discoveries in the field of biophysics. “The Hall method,” the use of an electron microscope to analyze and treat cells, achieved world recognition.
When Ed learned about that he was very proud of his brother achievements, that prolonged life to thousands of patients with cancer.
After a certain time British Intelligence Service called Ted for an interview. He was now almost broke and was on the verge of confessing. His wife Joan, feared the consequences for the entire family,
“Don’t tell them anything! Keep your version of events. Let them think that they made a mistake.”
“Okay,” Ted obediently nodded his head. He understood that he would have to bear his heavy burden to the very end. He said nothing to the British, exactly as he did with the Americans 15 years earlier. Life moved on, as before…
Some years later, a scientific session on radiology was planned in Albuquerque. Ted obtained an invitation. Being absolutely confident, that his treachery would never be discovered, Ted with his wife decided to go to America.
The Aircraft carried them across the Atlantic Ocean, to their past life…
The husband and wife attended the scientific gathering in Albuquerque. The session marked Ted’s outstanding contributions in the medical field. The meetings were held near the University. Nostalgia had conquered caution, and the couple decided to visit the scene of the crime.
Ted and Joan went to the spot where many years ago, the young Lona waited for Ted. The bench where they met was in the same area, opposite the cathedral. Ted and his wife sat on the bench, and Ted shifted his gaze upward. The gilded top on the church shined through the autumn haze, exactly as it did on that distant day. The same bus picked up, and dropped off, the students from campus. Nothing changed in this sleepy town. Students wandered all around, paying no attention to the elderly couple.
Ted shut his eyes and remembered the courier distinctly. The young Polish girl Lona smiled, holding an issue of LIFE magazine, as an identification mark. Ted’s entire life ran before his eyes: childhood, parents, Ed, the rise of the mushroom cloud…
“What would Ed say if he would learn about my act?” Ted’s thoughts took him far away…
“Where did this occur?” Joan's voice returned her husband to reality.
“Here. It was precisely here, in this place. She was sitting on this bench. Here I gave Lona the bundle with those crucial papers. What would I pay for this to have never happened! But, what is done cannot be undone.”
“How far is Los Alamos from here?”
“Not far, couple hundred miles”
“Let’s take a trip?” proposed the wife.
Ted gave her an icy stare.
“Stop joking, Joan, that would be too much,” the husband answered calmly, as if these events had not actually happened to him. Ted wanted to forget what once had occurred, and found justification of his crime in Dostoyevsky’s hero,
“Why was my idea so irrational? If one looks upon the situation independently from a wide point of view, my actions are not so strange… It does not seem so ugly. Is it a crime? Anyway my conscience is calm, even if I had committed a transgression”…
Time changed. Now Hall's messenger, Lona, and her husband were serving their terms in the same British prison. Ted must have been lucky that the couple proved to be unusually steadfast and they did not expose him out, or any other secrets.
In 1972 Ted saw Edgar Hoover's funeral on television; this man was the director of FBI for almost half a century. American newspapers wrote that Hoover was a great American and no one contributed to the country as much as he did in the twentieth century. They also said that Hoover bequeathed all his possessions to his friend and had asked him to destroy all his personal archives. Indeed, Hoover’s death brought a certain relief for Ted.
The correspondence between Ted and Saville stopped, and Hall did not know in what condition his friend was. Though everything was quiet, Ted became ill because of constant stress, and by 1990 his health had finally betrayed him. A terrible event had occurred to the Halls in 1992: their third daughter perished in an automobile accident. Ted’s heart was heavy and he quietly lived out the rest of his life.
In 1991 the Soviet Union had reached its end. Freedom, which was unthinkable a couple of years before, was celebrated openly. Half a century-old secrets became available. Fragments of materials from the recollections of intelligence officers and from the archives, began to be published. However, in Moscow it was said in an interview, “the name of the person, who gave the secret of the A-bomb, will not be revealed for another hundred years”.
“Mlad” should have been at peace, since almost no one, who could uncover the secret remained among the living. Everything was quiet, until in 1995, the Hall’s lives were disrupted by the unexpected.
Once Ted was woken by a phone call from one of his colleagues at Los Alamos.
“Hi, old man!
“Oh! why do you call so early?”
“I have two pieces of news: good and bad. Which would you like first?”
“Begin with the good.”
“Some sections of ‘Venona’ were published in America.”
“What is ‘Venona?”
“That’s the operation involving the disclosure of the Russian code.”
“And what is a bad news?”
“The bad news is they say the Russian agent ‘Mlad’ is you.”
For several weeks the phone did not stop ringing. The reporters waited for hours at the doors of the family house in order to photograph Ted. Journalists became a huge problem for Ted and he asked his wife,
“If I refuse to do an interview, they will infer that it’s a confirmation of my guilt. What should we do?”
“Do not worry,” Joan calmed her husband. “If you agree to do an interview, you can place certain conditions on it. The interview could be published a year or two later, when everything settles down.”
“You understand, Joan, this still has political significance. If I worked for the Russians, this confirms that Communism had spread from Moscow, and it was not a fabrication of right-wing characters.”
At first, people in Cambridge did not believe the charges. Later people, including Ted’s former associates at Los Alamos, demanded revenge, “This was not a humanitarian report he transferred, but pure espionage. Hall is a traitor, he betrayed his oath, transgressed the law, deceived his country, and entrusted a nuclear weapon to Stalin. He must be taken to court!”
From this moment, Ted’s life became a nightmare. Ted was very sick. He suffered, gave an interview only when they promised not to question about the bomb. Journalists went on an attack. Each day Ted waited for new publications. And they followed, “Spies Among Us!”, “Ted Hall Helped the Criminal Stalin”, “A Quiet Scientist is Exposed as a Spy”, “He Must be Executed like the Rosenbergs!”
Some of them angrily demanded,
"This son of a bitch should've been shot!"
Newspapers wrote that Hall deserved pity, because he was heavily sick, but this didn’t lessen the severity of his crime. Hall feared the renewal of the investigation from the FBI and possible extradition to America. Ted could overcome all this, only because of the support of his wife. At the end of his life Hall began to hate the nuclear arms race. His views strongly changed from the previous times. The Soviet regime he once cherished, he started to characterize as a Fascist one.
Not long before his death, Theodore Hall broke his silence. He finally stated that he was too young and self assured; and did not believe the rumors of Stalin’s repressions. Ted did not recognize treason, for he believed that USSR and USA were allies against Hitler during the war. Hall spoke with his wife in bitterness about what kind of a beast Stalin really was. He recognized that he could easily have been swayed by wrong views. Nevertheless he stated that though he was no longer the person he used to be, he was by no means ashamed of himself.
The old intellectual became evermore of a cosmopolitan; he distanced himself from his native people. Despite the fact that he came from the Jewish community, Hall was no longer affiliated to his childhood traditions. The family did not want to live among the Jews. Cambridge was pleasing to the family with its love of freedom and tolerance. Ted searched for the charges’ validation that he was better than Rosenberg and did not deserve the same punishment. He tried to provide explanations for his betrayal, but never apologized before America. He was a citizen of the USA and he possessed an American passport until the end of his days.
Ted Hall lost his sense of humor and irony, which he had possessed in his youth. He said that while spies no doubt had existed, but they were never an integral part of American progressive movement.
Ted admitted that to prevent American monopoly on nuclear weapons, he contemplated a ‘brief encounter with a Soviet agent just to inform the Russians of the existence of the A-bomb project.’
Ted said, “If I helped prevent WWIII, I accept the charge.”
Ted and Joan stated that there had been no validity and equality, observed in America. This is true. Otherwise Ted Hall would have been placed on the electric chair.
Is My Brother My Enemy?
It happened on a regular warm California evening when Ed with his wife Edith watched the evening news. Suddenly an announcement said, that one of the main channels would show a documentary about a person named Hall, “a man who presented the Russians the A-bomb”. Ed and his wife had thought that it was somebody else with the same name. The family was sitting comfortably and their attention was fixed on the television set.
The movie started, depicting wartime Russia. The silhouette of the Kremlin flickered on screen, where Stalin was once located. The old atheist was a destroyer of churches, and a murderer of priests. Nevertheless, he convinced the clerics to move from one house to the next with their raised crosses, calling upon the people to fight for the Soviet Union and the Russians resisted the German invasion. In 1944 the Red Army finally prevailed, pushing the Nazis from their borders to Warsaw, and then to Berlin. The extraordinary cold helped the Russian Red Army and froze the Germans in their tracks. The film depicted thousands of communal graves of innocent civilians, destroyed cities, towns and villages. This made a heavy impression on Ed’s family. They saw the shocking photographs of death factories, concentration camps, which were liberated by the Russians and Americans.
The family watched the German prisoners, hungry, without their overcoats, without their gloves, with frost-bitten ears and noses. The Russian retaliation was in full force.
Ed closed his eyes and saw London, when “V-rockets” fell on the defenseless city, bringing destruction and panic. Ed recalled the time, when he attentively researched the rocket designs. The terrible memories of the bombings resurfaced, and he felt forgotten pain. His ears were bursting from the anti-aircraft sirens.
Ed opened his eyes. Edith was sitting next to the children, and the family continued to watch the telecast. The frenzied Fuehrer appeared on screen with his “weapon of retribution”. He called for total resistance against the Allies.
Then the family watched the creation of the nuclear weapon. For the first time on screen, the former secret project and its famous scientists appeared. Now everybody could see the place where the nuclear bomb was born. The scientists had feared that if Hitler obtained the A-bomb first, he would put it on Werner von Braun’s rockets. They saw the entrance of Los Alamos compound enclosed by barbed wire and machine gun towers. The film had started talking about the project’s tight security.
Then Ed saw him. Ted was in military uniform. Thin, tall, with a smile on his face. Ed’s dear brother.
The announcer said: “In 1944, the 18-year old graduate of Harvard, Ted Hall arrived at Los Alamos, to participate on the top secret “Manhattan project”. He was the youngest scientist in the rocky Los Alamos desert, the very center of nuclear research. He was given a uniform, took an oath, and given housing in the barracks. However this man had something else on his mind.”
Then the documentary depicted the fall of Berlin, the exhilaration when Russians and American troops met in Europe, the Germans signing their capitulation. All this flew before Ed’s eyes.
The announcer continued: “This man, Ted Hall, helped the Russians.”
Then the producers depicted the sharp turn in Allied relations; accusations and claims, the “Cold” war, the battle in Korea and thousands of coffins that arrived to United States from Asia…
“Ted, brother! Did you really help the Russians? So many American soldiers lost their lives in Korea!” Ed wanted to scream. Ed’s eyes turned dark.
Ed’s children looked at their father. He kept silent with only tears in his eyes… Possibly, they were tears of pain and betrayal. They were tears of inexpressible grief of a strange act by his brother, of wasted potential, of a displaced genius.
“He was so young, just a youth, what could he understand? If only I was with him at that fateful moment!” Ed admonished himself.
Ed recreated a historic scenario in his head, when a minister approached Napoleon,
“This was worse than a crime, Sire! This was a terrible mistake!”
What had happened could not be undone. Ed’s children were shocked by what they had seen. They understood the state of mind their father was in. They never approached him about the subject again.
The next day Ted called from England. There was no one in the room, neither Ed’s wife nor his children. Ed picked up the phone. Ted attempted to explain to his brother the unexplainable…***
* * *
Ed Hall, in contrast to his brother, elevated himself in the Air Force to a rank of Colonel. He was developing newer and better rockets. His “Minuteman” proved to be of such good quality that three new generations were put into production. It took years for Russia and China to make similar progress. The creation of the “Minuteman” rocket was considered of equal importance to the success of the Manhattan project.
Ted and Joan did not know much about Ed’s job, as it was top secret. Only when Ed resigned, Ted learned of his brother’s achievements. After Minuteman, Colonel Ed Hall worked with NATO to develop an intermediate-range ballistic missile. The result was the European version of such a weapon.
Although Ed Hall was not directly involved, part of his technology was used in the U.S. Navy's Polaris missile, which could be launched from a submarine, as well as the Titan III and IV rockets, which served not only as ICBMs, but also as launch vehicles for Gemini astronauts.
Ed Hall received numerous prestigious awards and twice received the highest order of America. He was called “The father of Minuteman” and was granted the second Legion of Merit for the rocket in 1960.
He worked for several Aircraft firms, and in 1999 was elected to the Air Force Space and Missile Hall of Fame.
After Ed left military service, he worked 14 years for the United Aircraft Corpîration and consulted on many projects. He was also interested in other fields of science. Ed wrote a book on «The Anomalies of Urban Requirements». At that time he foresaw the influence of television and computers, on the education and lifestyle of future generations. Ed prophesied that the skill “of telefaction” would make it possible to feel and manipulate objects, at a distance with the help of “telegloves”.
Ed also released a book “The Art of Destructive Management: What Hath man wrought?” Furthermore, he wrote several articles on aeronautics.
At a certain point, Ed watched Khrushchev’s son gave an interview on TV. It turned out that the son was also a missile engineer, as well as Beria’s son.
“Everything is changed in this world. The Russian leader Khrushchev wanted to destroy us. Now his son moved to our country and became a citizen of the USA. Khrushchev’s son did it after seeing Stalin’s daughter became an American citizen. How to tell now: who is a friend, and who is an enemy?” Ed shared his opinion with his children.
* * *
… As soon as the Americans acquainted Kim Philbi with the “Venona” encodings, he reported his findings to Moscow. Kim Philbi confirmed to the Russians that their code had been broken.
The Russians ordered to change the code, but they could not prevent Hoover from reading previous communications. The search for the spies went on.
At that time Kim Philbi reached such authority, that he was considered a candidate to be a chief of British MI-6.
At the end of the day Rudolf Abel was arrested in the USA, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He served five and then was exchanged for an American spy pilot.
After the arrest of the legendary Abel, the threat of being discovered had risen for Lona and her husband. The FBI found in Abel’s papers a photo of Lona and her husband, but did not realize immediately that they were Ted Hall’s couriers. The FBI sent out their photograph everywhere. Some time later they were arrested in England and were sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
Actually, Abel and the splendid “Cambridge five” completed “the golden age” of Soviet espionage.
* * *
Life proved to be difficult for Seville Sax. He went through tough times after leaving the University. Bewitched by the mysticism of espionage and a dual life, he could not adapt to reality. After 18 years of marriage he left his wife and three children. He preferred his wife’s best friend. Savy betrayed his wife, as he once was betrayed by Joan. Saville Sax worked in different professions; he was an instructor at a school and a taxi driver. He fell ill and died early. His son who is a PhD in philology later wrote about his father.
Ted Hall died in 1999, in Cambridge, England, at the age of 74 after a lengthy struggle with cancer and Parkinson's disease. His wife Joan and two daughters live in Great Britain.
Ed Hall and his wife Edith lived long and beautiful lives. Ed Hall died in 2006, at the age of 91. He lived almost 20 years longer than his younger brother. Ed’s wife, Edith, died in May of 2009, after living 96 years. They are survived by three children. The eldest son David is a physicist, Jonathan is a chemist, and the daughter Sheila runs a media business.
* * *
Gradually, it became clear in America as well as in the USSR what Stalinism and Communism were in fact. To people who remember the Rosenbergs case it brings out recollections of the “cold war”, the “hunting for witches”, of bitter times of the Korean War. Many considered the people who gave the secret of the A-bomb to the Russians are criminals. Yet the long-standing conflict between the two nuclear powers did not lead to World War III. Some see in this the evidence that life had some justification for Ted and the Rosenbergs.
Some of the spies’ children are proud of their parents; others consider their fathers made huge mistakes.
Someone ingeniously noted that if a man at the age of 20 is not a Communist, he does not have a heart. But if the same person at the age of 50 is still a Communist, he has no brains.
People all over the world learned about Stalin’s transgressions. Tens of thousands left the Communist Party.
It is very possible that the Rosenbergs could not confess in spying, because they were threatened the Russian agents would kill their children.
The Hall brothers had different fates.
Ed and Ted lived simultaneously, but in different worlds.
That page in world history is over. Yet never say never! Difficult times can always come back. The crises can return and fanatical ideologies like Communism might resurface.
It is not easy today to determine the relations between the United States and Russia. There are very few now in Russia, that see Americans as friends and partners. Majority consider Americans to be rivals and even enemies. The number of countries with access to nuclear weapon constantly increases, and the A-bomb now threatens the entire world, including U.S. and Russia. But what could be a reason to steal a new “bomb for Russia”?
Notes:
*The fragments from the documents are printed in italic.
** The information came from Ed’s Hall children.
Illustrations:
The Brothers: Ed and Ted Hall
Prometheus, by sculptor P. Menship
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, by R. Guttuso
Colonel Ed Hall and Ted Hall
Dan.Zuborev@verizon.net
SYNOPSIS
In August 1949 the Russians tested their own A-bomb. “How could it happen?” - President Truman made a reproach to the FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover. “Just a month ago you and the CIA assured me the Russians needed at least 5 or 6 years to make a bomb!” The samples of atmosphere taken by American pilots showed the Soviet bomb to be an exact copy of a “Fat Man” which President Truman dropped on Japan in 1945. It became clear that the secret of the bomb had been stolen. Soviet spies were among the American scientists.
Truman ordered Hoover to find the spies at any means. The operation named “Venona” broke the Russian code. Having read the messages sent by Russian Intelligence for the last decade, the FBI uncovered some of the spies. To prosecute them was not easy as the Russian code was not completely deciphered.
“Venona” proved that one of the spies was Julius Rosenberg. He had conspired with his wife’s brother, David Greenglass, who was an ordinary mechanic at Los Alamos nuclear center. Mr. Greenglass provided the Russian Intelligence with an approximate sketch of the design of the bomb’s detonator. As a result, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and executed by electrocution.
In reality the detailed plans of the bomb were given to the Russians by two scientists, who were not aware of each other’s complicity. One got 14 years in prison. The other’s name was Ted Hall. He is the main character in the book. He was not charged at all and escaped punishment. The title of the book could easily be “Crime without Punishment”. How, and why it happened, is the underlying subject of the book.
Ted’s brother Ed honestly served his country. Col. Edward Hall was one of the U.S. foremost rocket engine experts, and generally acknowledged as the "father" of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program for which he won a second Legion of Merit and placed in the Hall of Fame.
When Stalin died and his crimes were exposed, all the volunteers who were obsessed with Marxist-Leninist ideals realized how brutal and totalitarian his regime was in reality. Ted Hall learned about it and suffered greatly. He found himself deceived and betrayed.
Ted Hall during his life in NY and then in Greenwich, CT was afraid to be exposed. In 1995 Venona code breakings were published and all Hall’s colleagues learned who was really responsible for the covert operations at Los Alamos. Some people demanded Ted Hall to be prosecuted. Ted Hall could not stand that and died couple years after publications.