! ?༽, [COMMITTEE PRINT] REPORT ON SOVIET ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES INVESTIGATION OF UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES IN THE Note.-Page numbering follows preceding reports to allow continuity in complete sets of reports for this session of Congress. II REPORT OF SOVIET ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE ATOM BOMB INTRODUCTION 1. These facts have been clearly established by the investigation of the committee to date: (a) During the war, diplomatic representatives of the Russian Government in the United States organized and directed several espionage groups made up of American Communists for the purpose of obtaining secret information concerning the development of the atomic bomb. (b) These espionage groups were successful in placing some of their members in highly strategic positions in various atomic bomb installations where they had access to the most secret and confidential information. (e) These groups were successful in obtaining and transmitting secret information concerning the atomic bomb to diplomatic representatives and espionage agents of the Russian Government. (d) The committee cannot accurately evaluate the importance or volume of the information thus transmitted. It has been established, however, that certain vital information was actually transmitted to the Russian Government, and that this information has been and will be of assistance to the Russians in their development of the atomic bomb. 2. The committee wishes to emphasize that this report tells only a very small part of the complete story of Russian espionage activities against the United States during the war. The committee has had access to only a portion of the information contained in the files of the investigative agencies of the Government. There is no question. but that those agencies have a great deal of additional information concerning Russian espionage activities not disclosed by this report. There can also be little doubt that, despite the efficiency of our investigative agencies, there were some Russian espionage activities which were not discovered, and which were successful. 3. The committee has been most careful in issuing this report to name as individuals involved in espionage activities only those against whom clear and convincing evidence has been presented and against whom a prosecution is warranted. The committee has excluded from this report the names of a number of other individuals against whom serious charges of espionage were made, pending further investigation and corroboration of these charges. 4. The committee wishes to emphasize that in issuing this report, it intends to cast no reflection upon that great majority of American scientists who are without question loyal to the United States. The committee is aware of the great debt which the American people owe to our men of science who are responsible for our world leadership in 161 the atomic field. This report is directed only against those individuals who deliberately would place in the hands of the most ruthless totalitarian dictatorship on the face of the globe a weapon which could be used to destroy our civilization. The committee believes that it has a solemn responsibility to the American people to continue its investigations until every disloyal individual who has been or is engaged in such activities is brought to justice. 5. This investigation has once more shown to the American people the true character of the Communist conspiracy in the United States. It has again demonstrated that those American citizens who are members of the Communist Party owe their primary loyalty to the Soviet Union, and will willfully violate the laws of the United States and endanger even our very security as a nation in order to serve the interests of the Soviet Union. This investigation again has shown the necessity and propriety of the committee's use of the question, "Are you a member of the Communist Party?" The issue involved in this question is not one of political affiliation; it is solely one of loyalty or disloyalty to the United States. 6. The failure to prosecute those who were engaged in this conspiracy is completely inexcusable. It is humiliating to any American to realize that our neighbors to the north detected, arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned the members of the Soviet espionage ring in Canada within less than 1 year's time, whereas the authorities in Washington have done absolutely nothing in the period of 3 years since the Canadian case broke. This failure of our Government to act is particularly difficult to justify in the light of testimony presented to the committee which clearly established that a complete report as to these espionage activities in the United States was made to the President over 5 years ago, and has been in the hands of the Justice Department and the administration since that time. A complete and forthright explanation is due the American people of the reasons for this failure, and proceedings should be immediately commenced against those who participated in these activities. Any further delay in proceeding with prosecutions of the members of these espionage groups could result in tragic consequences to the United States and to the world. The committee must point out that it has conducted its investigation only under the greatest handicaps. The lack of cooperation by the administrative branch of the Government has amounted practically to obstruction of the committee in conducting its investigation. This failure to cooperate with the committee is particularly unjustifiable at this time, in view of the critical international situation. We have developed and are following a completely bipartisan foreign policy in order to meet the threat of the Communist conspiracy abroad. We must also have a completely bipartisan domestic policy to meet the threat of the activities of the representatives of that conspiracy in the United States. GENERAL STATEMENT When the Canadian Government issued its report exposing the espionage conspiracy of the Soviet Government that was endeavoring in Canada to secure vital data on the development of the atomic bomb, the people of the United States were deeply shocked not only by the sinister operations of members of the diplomatic corps of the Soviet Government stationed in Canada, but likewise the disloyal operations of some of Canada's prominent citizens who were working in collusion with Soviet agents to place in the hands of the Soviet dictatorship a weapon which would destroy us all. The people of the United States applauded the vigorous and expeditious manner in which the persons involved were brought to trial and this ring broken up. Because of the fact that the major effort of developing the atomic bomb was being carried on in the United States and that this entire atomic espionage ring was linked to this country, it was presumed by every thoughtful American that there would soon be similar prosecutions in the United States, but those prosecutions never came. committee has been endeavoring to find out why. The On September 10, 1948, Gen. Leslie R. Groves, former head of the Manhattan Engineering District which developed the atom bomb, testified under oath before a subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities. In the course of his testimony he stated: I have no hesitancy in saying that there was continued and persistent and well-organized espionage against the United States, and particularly against the atom bomb project, by a foreign power with which we were not at war, and its misguided and traitorous domestic sympathizers, or perhaps stooges would be a better word * * * beyond that I will go no further. I am prohibited from answering your question for reasons which I can now give. * * * a Presidential directive was issued on August 5, 1948. It was amplified by an order from the Secretary of the Army, dated August 11, 1948, * * * From the wording of the Presidential directive and the amplifying order, it appears that it would be most difficult for me to discuss with you or your committee or any individual member or representative of the committee any information relating to the loyalty or integrity of any Government employee or former Government employee. * * * I would also appear to be barred from including in any material submitted to you any investigative data of any type. I, therefore, cannot disclose any information pertaining to the loyalty or integrity of any person now or formerly in the Federal service. * * * Mr. STRIPLING. General Groves, did you ever report the efforts of the Russian Government, Russian agents, to obtain information regarding atomic development to the President of the United States? General GROVES. Yes. Mr. STRIPLING. When was that? General GROVES. It would have to be in 1944 It was contained in a report to the President, which President Roosevelt read in my presence, and the matter was discussed with him. This was just before he left for Yalta * * * It was brought to the attention of President Truman in the first report that was made to President Truman after he took office, which was as soon after his taking office as the Secretary of War could make an appointment, and on that occasion, the written memorandum was read by Mr. Truman. Despite the efforts of the Executive to withhold from the American people and from duly constituted committees of the legislative branch, information as to the existence of the Communist espionage apparatus in the United States and as to its operations during World War II, the committee has been able to unearth important facts with respect to the activities of that apparatus in connection with the development of the atom bomb.1 The committee subpenaed to appear before it to give testimony one individual who entered the Army in the fall of 1942 as an enlisted man. While still a noncommissioned officer, he was assigned to counterintelligence and did some important intelligence work in connection with one of the matters the committee has under investigation. He was later commissioned as an officer and was mustered out of the Army shortly after the termination of hostilities. After conferring with officials of the Department of the Army, this individual stated that the President's directive, as supplemented by the order of the Secretary of the Army described by General Groves, prevented him from giving the committee any information. If this construc tion is correct, some 16,000,000 Americans have, by Presidential directive, had their lips effectively sealed. |