Lev Vasilevsky
Encyclopedia
Lev Vasilevsky, also known as Leonid A. Tarasov, was the KGB
Mexico City Illegal Resident during much of the period of the Manhattan Project
. In 1943, Moscow Center of KGB intelligence activities in North America, decided all contacts with J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos laboratory, would be through 'illegals' only. Vasilevsky operating from Mexico City was put in charge of running the illegal network after New York Resident Vasily Zarubin
had been recalled to Moscow. Vasilevsky instructions were to control the network from the Mexico City Residentura. Bruno Pontecorvo
was the conduit supplying the atomic secrets from Enrico Fermi
. Vasilevsky provided Pontecorvo with an escape route through Finland which Pontecorvo used in 1950 after the arrest of Klaus Fuchs
.
Kitty Harris
went to Mexico City in early 1943 to be a courier for Vasilevsky. She was further detailed by Vasilevsky to the Santa Fe drugstore safe house where she coordinated the front's clandestine activities.
In 1945, for his work in handling the Fermi line
in the United States, Vasilevsky was appointed deputy director of Department S. For a short period in 1947 he was the director of the department of scientific and technological intelligence in the Committee of Information
(KI).
In November 1945, when the Soviet atomic bomb project
was having difficulty starting its first nuclear reactor. Yakov Terletsky of the Soviet project and Vasilevsky travelled to Denmark to seek the advice of Niels Bohr
, another veteran of the World War II
Manhattan project.
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
Mexico City Illegal Resident during much of the period of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. In 1943, Moscow Center of KGB intelligence activities in North America, decided all contacts with J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos laboratory, would be through 'illegals' only. Vasilevsky operating from Mexico City was put in charge of running the illegal network after New York Resident Vasily Zarubin
Vasily Zarubin
Vasily Mikhailovich Zarubin Василий Михайлович Зарубин was a Soviet intelligence officer. In the United States, he used the cover name Vasily Zubilin and served as Soviet intelligence Rezident from 1941 to 1944. Zarubin's wife, Elizabeth Zubilin, served with him.Zarubin was born in Moscow...
had been recalled to Moscow. Vasilevsky instructions were to control the network from the Mexico City Residentura. Bruno Pontecorvo
Bruno Pontecorvo
Bruno Pontecorvo was an Italian-born nuclear physicist, an early assistant of Enrico Fermi and then the author of numerous studies in high energy physics, especially on neutrinos. According to Oleg Gordievsky and Pavel Sudoplatov , Pontecorvo was also a Soviet agent...
was the conduit supplying the atomic secrets from Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
. Vasilevsky provided Pontecorvo with an escape route through Finland which Pontecorvo used in 1950 after the arrest of Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
.
Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris
Kitty Harris was a Soviet secret agent. Born to a poor Russian Jewish family in London that emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, she became a dedicated socialist, active in the Industrial Workers of the World and a leader of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. After the IWW was crushed by the U.S....
went to Mexico City in early 1943 to be a courier for Vasilevsky. She was further detailed by Vasilevsky to the Santa Fe drugstore safe house where she coordinated the front's clandestine activities.
In 1945, for his work in handling the Fermi line
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
in the United States, Vasilevsky was appointed deputy director of Department S. For a short period in 1947 he was the director of the department of scientific and technological intelligence in the Committee of Information
Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
There was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka"...
(KI).
In November 1945, when the Soviet atomic bomb project
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
was having difficulty starting its first nuclear reactor. Yakov Terletsky of the Soviet project and Vasilevsky travelled to Denmark to seek the advice of Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
, another veteran of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Manhattan project.