Morris Cohen (Soviet spy)
Encyclopedia
Morris Cohen also known in London
as Peter Kroger (July 2, 1910 – June 23, 1995) was an American convicted of espionage
for the Soviet Union
. His wife Lona
was also an agent.
. His father was from an area near Kiev
in present-day Ukraine
, and his mother was born in Vilnius
in present-day Lithuania
. Cohen received an athletic scholarship
as an outstanding rugby union
player to attend Columbia University
.
In 1937, Cohen joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion
and fought as a foreign national volunteer in the Spanish Civil War
with compatriot Amadeo Sabatini, veteran and career Soviet spy. Cohen was injured and in November 1938 returned to the United States where he began serving Soviet foreign intelligence.
who was an activist in the Communist Party USA
and a courier for Manhattan Project
physicist
Theodore Hall
, part of a ring of atomic spies
that was revealed later to have been far more damaging than the well-known Rosenberg ring.
In mid-1942, Cohen was drafted into the U.S. Army
and served in Europe. Cohen was demobilized from the Army in November 1945 and returned to the United States where he resumed his espionage work for the USSR.
As Soviet spy networks were compromised in this period, connection with Soviet intelligence was temporarily ended, but resumed in 1948, when the Rezidentura ascertained that Cohen could be approached. Together with Lona Cohen, they ensured the continued secret connection with a number of the most valuable sources of the Rezidentura. They began working with Col. Rudolph Abel up to 1950, at which time they secretly left the United States and went to the Soviet Union.
In 1954, the Cohens reappeared in London
, living at 45 Cranley Drive in Ruislip
, where they had numerous pieces of disguised spy equipment, and an antenna looping around their attic, used for their transmissions to Moscow. Their cover was as antiquarian
book dealers under the names of Peter and Helen Kroger, and they worked with Gordon Lonsdale
of Soviet intelligence. Morris became the British illegal resident
.
that had penetrated the Royal Navy
. Morris and Lona served eight years in prison, less than half of their sentences.
, a British subject held in the Soviet Union. Such exchanges had happened before. Notable examples included Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for U2
pilot Gary Powers
and Gordon Lonsdale for Greville Wynne
; but Harold Wilson
's Labour
Government was criticised by the opposition for agreeing to release dangerous Soviet agents like Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Brooke, a mere propagandist. Opponents claimed that it set a dangerous precedent and was an example of blackmail rather than a fair exchange.
, and Morris continued to train younger colleagues for intelligence gathering. It is said that Cohen once came across George Blake
, another spy whom he had met while serving in Wormwood Scrubs
prison. The two agreed to stay in touch but were then told by the Soviet authorities to stay away from each other. There is evidence that Blake was well acquainted with fellow defector Kim Philby
.
and the Order of Friendship of Nations
for their espionage work. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
, they also were given the title of Hero of the Russian Federation
by the Yeltsin
government. They lived out their lives on KGB
pensions until their deaths — Lona in 1992 and Morris in 1995.
The Cohens are referenced in Venona decrypts 1239 KGB New York to Moscow, August 30, 1944; 50 KGB New York to Moscow, January 11, 1945, regarding an erroneous report Morris had been killed in Europe. The Cohens helped pass Manhattan Project
secrets to the Soviet Union. His code name in Soviet intelligence and the Venona files is "Volunteer".
In 1983, the British playwright Hugh Whitemore
dramatized the case as Pack of Lies
, which was performed in London's West End theatre
district starring Judi Dench
and Michael Williams. It played on Broadway
for 3½ months in 1985, for which Rosemary Harris
won the best actress Tony award
for her portrayal of the British neighbor of the Cohens/Krogers. It was made into a TV movie starring Ellen Burstyn
, Alan Bates
, Teri Garr
and Daniel Benzali
(as "Peter Schaefer," i.e., "Peter Kroger," i.e., Morris Cohen) which aired in the U.S. on CBS
in 1987. The plot centered on the neighbors (and seeming friends) whose house was used as a base from which the security services could spy on the Cohens, and the way paranoia
, suspicion and betrayal gradually destroyed their lives during that time.
The Cohens cover as antiquarian book dealers Peter and Helen Kroger is mentioned in Helene Hanff
's The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street because they were friends of the London book dealer Frank Doel.
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...
as Peter Kroger (July 2, 1910 – June 23, 1995) was an American convicted of espionage
Espionage
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...
for the Soviet Union
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....
. His wife Lona
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
was also an agent.
Birth and education
He was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His father was from an area near Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
in present-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and his mother was born in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
in present-day Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. Cohen received an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
as an outstanding rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player to attend Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
In 1937, Cohen joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion
Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion
The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion or Mac-Paps were a battalion of Canadians who fought as part of the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. Except for France, no other country gave a greater proportion of its population as volunteers in Spain than Canada. The...
and fought as a foreign national volunteer in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
with compatriot Amadeo Sabatini, veteran and career Soviet spy. Cohen was injured and in November 1938 returned to the United States where he began serving Soviet foreign intelligence.
Marriage
In 1941, Cohen married Lona CohenLona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
who was an activist in the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
and a courier for 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...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
Theodore Hall
Theodore Hall
Theodore Alvin Hall was an American physicist and an atomic spy for the Soviet Union, who, during his work on US efforts to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II , gave a detailed description of the "Fat Man" plutonium bomb, and of processes for purifying plutonium, to Soviet...
, part of a ring of atomic spies
Atomic Spies
Atomic Spies and Atom Spies are terms that refer to various people in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada who are thought to have illicitly given information about nuclear weapons production or design to the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold War...
that was revealed later to have been far more damaging than the well-known Rosenberg ring.
In mid-1942, Cohen was drafted into the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and served in Europe. Cohen was demobilized from the Army in November 1945 and returned to the United States where he resumed his espionage work for the USSR.
As Soviet spy networks were compromised in this period, connection with Soviet intelligence was temporarily ended, but resumed in 1948, when the Rezidentura ascertained that Cohen could be approached. Together with Lona Cohen, they ensured the continued secret connection with a number of the most valuable sources of the Rezidentura. They began working with Col. Rudolph Abel up to 1950, at which time they secretly left the United States and went to the Soviet Union.
In 1954, the Cohens reappeared 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...
, living at 45 Cranley Drive in Ruislip
Ruislip
Ruislip is a suburban area, centred on an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.It was formerly also a parish covering the neighbouring areas of Eastcote, Northwood, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip in the area. The parish appears in the Domesday Book, and...
, where they had numerous pieces of disguised spy equipment, and an antenna looping around their attic, used for their transmissions to Moscow. Their cover was as antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
book dealers under the names of Peter and Helen Kroger, and they worked with Gordon Lonsdale
Konon Molody
Konon Trofimovich Molody was a Soviet intelligence officer, better known in the West as Gordon Arnold Lonsdale. He was an illegal resident spy during the Cold War and the mastermind of the Portland Spy Ring....
of Soviet intelligence. Morris became the British illegal resident
Resident Spies
In espionage operational techniques, a chief of station may be known as a resident. There may also be multiple chiefs; for instance, Russia probably still operates GRU military and SVR civilian. There are two types of resident spies: legals and illegals...
.
Arrest
British security officials arrested the Cohens on January 7, 1961 for their part in a Soviet espionage network known as the Portland Spy RingPortland Spy Ring
The Portland Spy Ring was a Soviet spy ring that operated in England from the late 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network was arrested by the British security services. It is one of the most famous examples of the use of illegal residents — spies who operate in a foreign country but...
that had penetrated the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Morris and Lona served eight years in prison, less than half of their sentences.
Prisoner exchange
In 1967, the Soviet Union admitted that the Cohens were spies, and, in July 1969, Britain exchanged them for Gerald BrookeGerald Brooke
Gerald Brooke was a British teacher who taught Russian. In 1965 he travelled to the Soviet Union. Brooke and his wife Barbara were arrested on 25 April by KGB agents for smuggling anti-Soviet leaflets....
, a British subject held in the Soviet Union. Such exchanges had happened before. Notable examples included Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for U2
U-2 Crisis of 1960
The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down over the airspace of the Soviet Union.The United States government at...
pilot Gary Powers
Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.- Early life :...
and Gordon Lonsdale for Greville Wynne
Greville Wynne
Greville Maynard Wynne was a British spy famous for his involvement with, and imprisonment as a result of, the espionage activities of Oleg Penkovsky.-Life:...
; but Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
's Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Government was criticised by the opposition for agreeing to release dangerous Soviet agents like Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Brooke, a mere propagandist. Opponents claimed that it set a dangerous precedent and was an example of blackmail rather than a fair exchange.
Moscow
The Cohens returned to MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and Morris continued to train younger colleagues for intelligence gathering. It is said that Cohen once came across George Blake
George Blake
George Blake is a former British spy known for having been a double agent in the service of the Soviet Union. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the USSR...
, another spy whom he had met while serving in Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
prison. The two agreed to stay in touch but were then told by the Soviet authorities to stay away from each other. There is evidence that Blake was well acquainted with fellow defector Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
.
Legacy
The Cohens were awarded the Order of the Red BannerOrder of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
and the Order of Friendship of Nations
Order of Friendship of Peoples
The Order of Friendship of Peoples was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons , organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in strengthening of inter-ethnic and international friendship and cooperation, for...
for their espionage work. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, they also were given the title of Hero of the Russian Federation
Hero of the Russian Federation
Hero of the Russian Federation is a Russian decoration and the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation is the main conferring authority of the medal, which is bestowed on those committing actions or deeds that...
by the Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
government. They lived out their lives on KGB
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...
pensions until their deaths — Lona in 1992 and Morris in 1995.
The Cohens are referenced in Venona decrypts 1239 KGB New York to Moscow, August 30, 1944; 50 KGB New York to Moscow, January 11, 1945, regarding an erroneous report Morris had been killed in Europe. The Cohens helped pass 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...
secrets to the Soviet Union. His code name in Soviet intelligence and the Venona files is "Volunteer".
In 1983, the British playwright Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore is an English playwright and screenwriter.Whitemore studied for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he is now a Member of the Council. He began his writing career in British television with both original teleplays and adaptations of classic works by Charles...
dramatized the case as Pack of Lies
Pack of Lies
Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore.Based on a true story, the plot centres on Bob and Barbara Jackson and their teenage daughter Julie The Jacksons are friendly with their neighbours, Peter and Helen Kroger, until the couple is...
, which was performed in London's West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
district starring Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
and Michael Williams. It played on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
for 3½ months in 1985, for which Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Ann Harris is an English actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Throughout her career she has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy, a Tony Award, an Obie, and five Drama Desk Awards.-Early life:Harris was born in...
won the best actress Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for her portrayal of the British neighbor of the Cohens/Krogers. It was made into a TV movie starring Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
, Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
, Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
and Daniel Benzali
Daniel Benzali
Daniel Benzali is a Brazilian-American stage, television and film actor.-Biography:Benzali was born in Rio de Janeiro to Brazilian Jewish parents...
(as "Peter Schaefer," i.e., "Peter Kroger," i.e., Morris Cohen) which aired in the U.S. on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in 1987. The plot centered on the neighbors (and seeming friends) whose house was used as a base from which the security services could spy on the Cohens, and the way paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
, suspicion and betrayal gradually destroyed their lives during that time.
The Cohens cover as antiquarian book dealers Peter and Helen Kroger is mentioned in Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff was an American writer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is best known as the author of the book 84, Charing Cross Road, which became the basis for a stage play, , and film of the same name.- Career :...
's The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street because they were friends of the London book dealer Frank Doel.
Further reading
- Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) http://svr.gov.ru
- Russian Federal Foreign Intelligence Service, Veterany vneshnei razvedki Rosii (Veterans of Russian foreign intelligence service), Moscow: Russian Federal Foreign Intelligence Service, (1995).
- FBI Morris and Lona Cohen file, 100–406659.
- Rebecca West, The New Meaning of Treason, New York: Viking (1964), pgs. 281–288.
- Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel, Bombshell: The Secret Story of America's Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy, New York: Times Books (1997) pgs. 244–253.
- John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, Yale University Press, pgs. 316, 317–319, 320, 321, 334.
- Richard C.S. Trahair and Robert Miller, Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations, New York: Enigma Books (2009). ISBN 978-1-929631-75-9.
- http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/kgb/deep/interv/k_int_svetlana_chervonnaya.htmInterview with Dr. Svetlana ChervonnayaSvetlana ChervonnayaSvetlana Alexandrovna Chervonnaya is a historian living in Russia specializing in the political history of the Cold War period and Soviet espionage activities in the United States of America. Along with Ellen Schrecker, Chervonnaya is known as one of the leading scholarly voices arguing against...
.]
External links
- BBC report on the case. Includes a video news report on the Krogers/Cohens' return to the Soviet Union and an interview with former Foreign SecretarySecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth AffairsThe Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
George BrownGeorge Brown, Baron George-BrownGeorge Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s...
over the issues. - Ruislip Online page on the Krogers. Includes comments from friends and neighbours and a picture of the bungalow lived in by them. Very detailed local information.