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Nathan Gregory Silvermaster
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Nathan Gregory Silvermaster
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster (November 27, 1898 – October 7, 1964) was an economist with the United States War Production Board (WPB) during World War II, during which time he was also the head of a large ring of Communist spies in the U.S. government. It is from him that the FBI Silvermaster File, documenting the Bureau's investigation into Communist Party USA penetration of the U.S. federal government during the 1930s and 1940s, takes its name. His wife Helen and stepson Anatole Volkov were members of his ring.
Silvermaster was identified as a Soviet agent in the WPB operating under the code names Pel, Pal, and "Paul", in the Venona decrypts; and as "Robert" both in Venona, and independently by defecting Soviet intelligence courier Elizabeth Bentley.
Silvermaster was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Russia (present-day Odesa, Ukraine) in 1898. He moved with his family to China, where he learned to speak perfect English with a British accent. He emigrated to the United States and earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle (where he was "stated to be a known Communist") and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where his thesis was entitled Lenin's Economic Thought Prior to the October Revolution. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1926. He was reported to be in contact with a very large number of Communist Party USA officials, and was active in a number of Communist front groups.
From August 1935 to November 1938, Silvermaster worked an economist in the Farm Security Administration. From November 1938 to July 1940, he worked on the Maritime Labor Board. From July 1940 to December 1944, he worked in the Department of Agriculture
While nominally remaining on the employment rolls of the Farm Security Administration, Silvermaster arranged in 1942 to be detailed to the Board of Economic Warfare. The transfer, however, triggered objections from military counter-intelligence who suspected he was a hidden Communist and regarded him as a security risk. On July 16, 1942 the U.S. Civil Service Commission recommended "Cancel eligibilities ... and bar him for the duration of the National Emergency." [citation needed]
Silvermaster denied any Communist links and appealed to Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson to overrule the security officials. Both White House advisor Lauchlin Currie (identified in Venona as the Soviet agent operating under the cover name "Page") and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Harry Dexter White (identified in Venona as the Soviet agent operating under the cover names "Lawyer"; "Jurist"; "Richard") intervened on his behalf. Silvermaster subsequently received two promotions and pay raises.
From 1942 to 1945, he was also assigned to the United States Treasury. In mid-1945, he joined the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (later War Assets Corporation). In March 1946, he resigned from government.
On August 28, 1950, Lee Pressman (a member of the Ware Group, a precursor to the Silvermaster and Perlo) said of Silvermaster, "I believe he was with the Maritime Labor Board when I was with the CIO, and in that connection I may have had some business dealings with him" (apparently referring to Silvermaster's time with that union 1938–1940).
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Nathan Gregory Silvermaster
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster (November 27, 1898 – October 7, 1964) was an economist with the United States War Production Board (WPB) during World War II, during which time he was also the head of a large ring of Communist spies in the U.S. government. It is from him that the FBI Silvermaster File, documenting the Bureau's investigation into Communist Party USA penetration of the U.S. federal government during the 1930s and 1940s, takes its name. His wife Helen and stepson Anatole Volkov were members of his ring.
Silvermaster was identified as a Soviet agent in the WPB operating under the code names Pel, Pal, and "Paul", in the Venona decrypts; and as "Robert" both in Venona, and independently by defecting Soviet intelligence courier Elizabeth Bentley.
Silvermaster was born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Russia (present-day Odesa, Ukraine) in 1898. He moved with his family to China, where he learned to speak perfect English with a British accent. He emigrated to the United States and earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle (where he was "stated to be a known Communist") and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where his thesis was entitled Lenin's Economic Thought Prior to the October Revolution. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1926. He was reported to be in contact with a very large number of Communist Party USA officials, and was active in a number of Communist front groups.
From August 1935 to November 1938, Silvermaster worked an economist in the Farm Security Administration. From November 1938 to July 1940, he worked on the Maritime Labor Board. From July 1940 to December 1944, he worked in the Department of Agriculture
While nominally remaining on the employment rolls of the Farm Security Administration, Silvermaster arranged in 1942 to be detailed to the Board of Economic Warfare. The transfer, however, triggered objections from military counter-intelligence who suspected he was a hidden Communist and regarded him as a security risk. On July 16, 1942 the U.S. Civil Service Commission recommended "Cancel eligibilities ... and bar him for the duration of the National Emergency." [citation needed]
Silvermaster denied any Communist links and appealed to Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson to overrule the security officials. Both White House advisor Lauchlin Currie (identified in Venona as the Soviet agent operating under the cover name "Page") and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Harry Dexter White (identified in Venona as the Soviet agent operating under the cover names "Lawyer"; "Jurist"; "Richard") intervened on his behalf. Silvermaster subsequently received two promotions and pay raises.
From 1942 to 1945, he was also assigned to the United States Treasury. In mid-1945, he joined the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (later War Assets Corporation). In March 1946, he resigned from government.
On August 28, 1950, Lee Pressman (a member of the Ware Group, a precursor to the Silvermaster and Perlo) said of Silvermaster, "I believe he was with the Maritime Labor Board when I was with the CIO, and in that connection I may have had some business dealings with him" (apparently referring to Silvermaster's time with that union 1938–1940).