Maurice Halperin
Encyclopedia
Maurice Hyman Halperin (March 3, 1906 – February 9, 1995) was an American
writer
, professor
, diplomat
, and Soviet
spy (NKVD
code name "Hare").
with the League of American Writers
to investigate possible human rights
abuses. Sometime during this period, Halperin joined the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA). In the late summer of 1941, Halperin went to work in the Office of the Coordinator of Information
which later became the Research Division of the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS), itself the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency
. Halperin became head of the Latin American Research and Analysis Division and Special Assistant to the Director of the OSS, Duncan Lee
. During this period, he became an espionage agent and agreed to provide intelligence for the Joseph Stalin
-era Soviet intelligence service
, the NKVD
. Halperin's NKVD code name was 'Hare', and he became a member of the Golos
spy network operated by the NKVD's chief of American espionage operations Gaik Ovakimian
.
With access to the OSS cable room, Halperin could secure copies of secret U.S. reports from any part of the world. Through the Golos spy network, Halperin provided Soviet intelligence with a large quantity of sensitive U.S. diplomatic dispatches, including reports from Ambassador
John Gilbert Winant
in London
on the position of the Polish
government-in-exile towards negotiations with Stalin, Turkey
's foreign policy toward Romania
, the State Department's instructions to the U.S. Ambassador to Spain
, the U.S. embassy in Morocco
's reports on that country's government, reports on the U.S. government's relationship with Vichy
and Free French
factions and persons in exile, reports of peace feelers from dissident Germans passed to the Vatican
, U.S. attitudes towards Josip Broz Tito
's Communist Front activities in Yugoslavia
, and discussions between the Greek
government and the United States regarding Soviet ambitions in the Balkans
. Halperin also distorted OSS reports with false information in order to reflect the views of Stalin, the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party of the United States.
courier Elizabeth Bentley
told agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) that from 1942 to 1944, when he was an official of the OSS, Haperin delivered "to MARY PRICE
and later to myself mimeographed bulletins and reports prepared by OSS on a variety of topics and also supplied excerpts from State Department
cables to which he evidently had access." She added that "some time early in 1945 'JACK', [Soviet agent Joseph Katz
] the Russian
contact at that time, told me that Halperin had been accused by General WILLIAM DONOVAN
[head of OSS] of being a Soviet agent..."
The next day, the FBI notified Harry S. Truman
's White House
that "according to a "highly confidential source," among those "employed by the government of the United States" who "have been furnishing data and information to persons outside the Federal government, who are in turn transmitting this information to espionage agents of the Soviet government," was "Maurice Halperin, Office of Strategic Services." Subsequent surveillance of Halperin disclosed that he was in contact with Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, Lauchlin Currie
, Philip
and Mary Jane Keeney
, and others.
After the OSS was dissolved in 1945, Halperin transferred to the State Department and worked as an adviser to United States Secretary of State
Dean Acheson
on Latin American affairs. Halperin was an advisor to the United Nations
at the first conference in San Francisco. He resigned from the State Department in 1946 to take the position of chair of Latin American studies at Boston University
.
In 1953, after Soviet cables were secretly decrypted by U.S. counter-intelligence, Maurice Halperin was called before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to defend himself on charges of espionage. Halperin denied the charges, but nevertheless fled to Mexico
and then, to avoid extradition, to the Soviet Union. Among the friends he made there was the British traitor Donald Maclean
as well as Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara
.
Disenchanted with communism in the Soviet Union, Halperin accepted Guevara's invitation to come to Havana
in 1962. There he worked for the Fidel Castro
government for five years before political tensions forced him to leave for Vancouver
, Canada
. He then became a political science
professor at Simon Fraser University
, and wrote several books critical of Castro's government and the socio-political situation in Cuba
.
He died in Canada on February 9, 1995.
decryptions of coded Soviet cables, as well as information gleaned from Soviet KGB archives, revealed that Halperin was involved in espionage activities on behalf of the Soviet Union while serving in an official capacity with the United States government.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spy (NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
code name "Hare").
Biography
Halperin was born on March 3, 1906. He studied Latin American issues, and in 1935 traveled to CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
with the League of American Writers
League of American Writers
The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA in 1935...
to investigate possible human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses. Sometime during this period, Halperin joined the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA). In the late summer of 1941, Halperin went to work in the Office of the Coordinator of Information
Office of the Coordinator of Information
The Office of the Coordinator of Information was an intelligence and propaganda agency of the United States Government, founded on July 11, 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, prior to U.S. involvement in the Second World War...
which later became the Research Division of the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), itself the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. Halperin became head of the Latin American Research and Analysis Division and Special Assistant to the Director of the OSS, Duncan Lee
Duncan Lee
Lt. Col. Duncan Chaplin Lee was confidential assistant to Maj. Gen. William Donovan, founder and director of the Office of Strategic Services , World War II-era predecessor of the CIA, during 1942-46...
. During this period, he became an espionage agent and agreed to provide intelligence for the Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
-era Soviet intelligence service
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"...
, the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. Halperin's NKVD code name was 'Hare', and he became a member of the Golos
Golos
Golos may refer to the following:* Jacob Golos, a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet secret police operative in the USSR* Golos, a Russian 1982 psychological drama set in Russia...
spy network operated by the NKVD's chief of American espionage operations Gaik Ovakimian
Gaik Ovakimian
Haik Badalovich Ovakimian , Major General, USSR , better known as "the puppetmaster" in intelligence circles, was a leading Soviet NKVD spy in the United States....
.
With access to the OSS cable room, Halperin could secure copies of secret U.S. reports from any part of the world. Through the Golos spy network, Halperin provided Soviet intelligence with a large quantity of sensitive U.S. diplomatic dispatches, including reports from Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
John Gilbert Winant
John Gilbert Winant
John Gilbert Winant OM was an American politician with the Republican party after a brief career as a teacher in Concord, New Hampshire. Born in New York City, Winant held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the position of the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
government-in-exile towards negotiations with Stalin, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
's foreign policy toward Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, the State Department's instructions to the U.S. Ambassador to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the U.S. embassy in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
's reports on that country's government, reports on the U.S. government's relationship with Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
and Free French
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
factions and persons in exile, reports of peace feelers from dissident Germans passed to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, U.S. attitudes towards Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's Communist Front activities in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, and discussions between the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
government and the United States regarding Soviet ambitions in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Halperin also distorted OSS reports with false information in order to reflect the views of Stalin, the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party of the United States.
Bentley allegations
In 1945, defecting Soviet espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
courier Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Bentley
Elizabeth Terrill Bentley was an American spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. In 1945 she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligence and became an informer for the U.S. She exposed two networks of spies, ultimately naming over 80 Americans who had engaged in espionage for...
told agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) that from 1942 to 1944, when he was an official of the OSS, Haperin delivered "to MARY PRICE
Mary Price
Mary Wolfe Price 1909—1980 was an American who was accused of being a spy for the Soviet Union.-Early years:Born in 1909 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, Price graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1931...
and later to myself mimeographed bulletins and reports prepared by OSS on a variety of topics and also supplied excerpts from State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
cables to which he evidently had access." She added that "some time early in 1945 'JACK', [Soviet agent Joseph Katz
Joseph Katz
Joseph Katz allegedly worked for Soviet intelligence from the 1930s to the late 1940s as one of its most active liaison agents. Katz was assigned management of the “First Line,” that part of the NKGB mission aimed at recruiting selected members of the Communist Party USA...
] the Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
contact at that time, told me that Halperin had been accused by General WILLIAM DONOVAN
William Donovan
William Donovan or Bill Donovan may refer to:*Bill Donovan , pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball*William Joseph Donovan , American soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services *Billy Donovan , head coach of the Florida Gators...
[head of OSS] of being a Soviet agent..."
The next day, the FBI notified Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
's White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
that "according to a "highly confidential source," among those "employed by the government of the United States" who "have been furnishing data and information to persons outside the Federal government, who are in turn transmitting this information to espionage agents of the Soviet government," was "Maurice Halperin, Office of Strategic Services." Subsequent surveillance of Halperin disclosed that he was in contact with Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, Lauchlin Currie
Lauchlin Currie
Lauchlin Bernard Currie was a Canadian-born U.S.economist from New Dublin, Nova Scotia, Canada, and allegedly an agent of espionage for the Soviet Union....
, Philip
Philip Keeney
Philip Olin Keeney , and his wife, Mary Jane Keeney, were librarians who became part of the Silvermaster spy ring in the 1940s.Keeney met Mary Jane when both were working as librarians at the University of Michigan in 1929. In 1931, he became head librarian at Montana State University at Missoula...
and Mary Jane Keeney
Mary Jane Keeney
Mary Jane Keeney and her husband Philip Olin Keeney were librarians and charter members of the liberal The Progressive Librarians Council. She worked at the Board of Economic Warfare in Washington D.C. during World War II...
, and others.
After the OSS was dissolved in 1945, Halperin transferred to the State Department and worked as an adviser to United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
on Latin American affairs. Halperin was an advisor to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
at the first conference in San Francisco. He resigned from the State Department in 1946 to take the position of chair of Latin American studies at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
In 1953, after Soviet cables were secretly decrypted by U.S. counter-intelligence, Maurice Halperin was called before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee to defend himself on charges of espionage. Halperin denied the charges, but nevertheless fled to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and then, to avoid extradition, to the Soviet Union. Among the friends he made there was the British traitor Donald Maclean
Donald Duart Maclean
Donald Duart Maclean was a British diplomat and member of the Cambridge Five who were members of MI5, MI6 or the diplomatic service who acted as spies for the Soviet Union in the Second World War and beyond. He was recruited as a "straight penetration agent" while an undergraduate at Cambridge by...
as well as Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
.
Disenchanted with communism in the Soviet Union, Halperin accepted Guevara's invitation to come to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in 1962. There he worked for the Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
government for five years before political tensions forced him to leave for Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He then became a political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
professor at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, and wrote several books critical of Castro's government and the socio-political situation in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
He died in Canada on February 9, 1995.
Legacy
After Halperin's death, the release of the Venona projectVenona project
The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
decryptions of coded Soviet cables, as well as information gleaned from Soviet KGB archives, revealed that Halperin was involved in espionage activities on behalf of the Soviet Union while serving in an official capacity with the United States government.
Publications
- Maurice Halperin, "Return to Havana". Vanderbilt University Press, Feb 1, 1994. ISBN 0-8265-1250-X
- Haynes, John Earl & Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-300-08462-5.
- Peake, Hayden B., OSS and the Venona Decrypts: Intelligence and National Security (Great Britain) 12, no.3 (July 1997): 14-34.
- CIA Publications, The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency, no date.
- Kirschner, Don S.,Cold War Exile: The Unclosed Case of Maurice Halperin Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1995
Further reading
- Alexander Vassiliev's notes from KGB Archival Records
- Haynes, John E.John Earl HaynesJohn Earl Haynes is an American historian who is a specialist in 20th century political history in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress...
and Klehr, HarveyHarvey KlehrHarvey E. Klehr is a professor of politics and history at Emory University; he is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America ....
, In Denial: Historians, Communism, & Espionage, Encounter Press (2003) - Schecter, Jerrold and Leona, Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History, Potomac Press, 2002 (ed. available via books.google)
- Peake, Hayden B., OSS and the Venona Decrypts. Intelligence and National Security (Great Britain) 12, no. 3 (July 1997): 14-34.
- CIA Publications, The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency, no date.
- Kirschner, Don S. Cold War Exile: The Unclosed Case of Maurice Halperin Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1995
- The Peak obituary
- Warner, Michael, The Office of Strategic Services: America's First Intelligence Agency Chapter: X-2. Central Intelligence Agency Publications (2000). "Research & Analysis Latin America specialist Maurice Halperin, nevertheless passed information to Moscow."
- Chairman's Forward, Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy (1997)
- Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy, Appendix A, 7. The Cold War (1997)