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List of Americans in the Venona papers

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Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Chairman of the bipartisan Commission on Government Secrecy, responsible for securing the release of Venona project materials, in the Introduction to his book Secrecy states, "The Venona intercepts contained overwhelming proof of the activities of Soviet spy networks in America, complete with names, dates, places, and deeds."(1) The release involved careful consideration of privacy interests of individuals mentioned, referenced, or identified in the translations. Some names have not been released when to do so would constitute an invasion of privacy. (2)

349 U.S. citizens, noncitizen immigrants, and permanent residents of the United States who had covert relationships with Soviet intelligence were confirmed in the Venona traffic. Of these 171 are identified by true names and 178 are known only by a cover name.(3) The persons identified represent only a partial list and many are listed below. An additional twenty-four persons targeted for recruitment into Soviet espionage remain uncorroborated as to the recruitment taking place. These individuals are marked with an asterisk (*).(4) The NSA followed Soviet intelligence traffic for only a few years in World War II and decrypted only a small portion of that traffic. The evidence regarding another 139 persons from sources other than Venona decryptions has been documented and many can be found within the list of Category:Soviet spies.


Notes

  • Note (1): Secrecy: The American Experience; by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New Haven: Yale University Press 1998, pg. 15.
  • Note (2): VENONA Historical Monograph #4 National Security Agency Archives, Cryptological Museum
  • Note (3): John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, Appendix A, Source Venona: Americans and U.S. Residents Who Had Covert Relationships with Soviet Intelligence Agencies, pgs. 339-370. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999)
  • Note (4): Haynes and Klehr, Appendix D, Americans and U.S. Residents Targeted as Potential Sources by Soviet Intelligence Agencies, pgs. 387-389.
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