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lo H8-HS r Albrecht Bethe ,
Dr. Bethe, well known nuclear physicist, who is now on the faculty of
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, advised Bureau agents that he has been a
close associate and frien 0! Fuchs since first meeting him in 1934 at the
University of Bristol, Bristol, England, where Fuchs was a graduate student and
Bethe a research assistant. Dr. Bethe stated that during this initial period
of association, which lasted for only six months, mny of the students and
research assistants often gathered for political discussions and the majority
seemed "tar to the left," but Bethe recalled that Fuchs never entered into these
discussions and did not appear to have an political leanings. Bethe declared
Fuchs appeared to have no particular friends or associates.
Dr. Bethe further remarked that he probably contacted Fuchs profes-
sionally in 1936 and 1938-in England and that his next contact with Fuchs came
in the Summer of 1944, when Dr. Bethe was in charge of the Theoretical Physics
Division at Les alamos, and continued until January, 1946, when Dr. Bethe
left the project. Some details of this association, as well as of later meetings
between Bethe and Fuchs, are included in this memorandum under the heading,
"Access to Scientific Information and Disclosures to the Russians."
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It was further learned from Dr. Bethe that while at Los Alamos, Fuchs
lived in a dormitory on the project and owned a second-hand automobile. According
to Dr. Bethe, Fuchs had no particular close friends at Los Alamos. Dr. Bethe
declared that during his association with Fuchs, he never had any reason to
suspect Fuchs of espionage activities or even to consider him pro~Russian. He
said Fuchs always remained aloof from political discussions, was very quiet and
reserved, and appeared to live for his work. Dr. Bethe advised that to his
knowledge Fuchs never attempted to elicit an confidential information from his
colleagues and he commented that Fuchs knew as much restricted information as
anyone, and really did not have to do much questioning in order to know just what
was going on. Dr. Bethe declared that Fuchs arrest came as a complete surprise
to him ad he remarked that he now feels that he does not know whom he can ever
trust since he had always regarded Fuchs as absolutely loyal and trustworthy. v,
- Serial 326!
The Bureau was advised confidentially by a press correspondent that,
folloing the issuance of a public statement on February 4, 1950, by a group of '
atomic scientists, including Dr. Bethe, on the subject of the hydrogen bomb,
Dr. Bethe commented off the record that he could understand wh Fuchs did what hedid, and that he sympathizes with Fuchs attitude because,§£ter all, a scientist
is of the world and works ior the world.! Serial 422!
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During the period of Fuchs interview by Bureau representatives in
London May 20 through June 2, 1950!, Fuchs srtated that he had worked under
Dr. Bethe at Los Alamos and visited Bethe in June or 1946 and in November of
1947 at Cornell Universi'ty_. Memo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and
Lamphere dated 6-6-50!I
2. Karl Pale: Cohen . _ .
Dr. Cohen was employed in the SAM Laboratories, Columbia University,
New York City, from July 1, 1940, to April 29, 1944, first as a contractor
with the Office of Scientific Research and Development and later with MED.
He informed Bureau Agents that he had frequent contacts with Fuchs from late
December, 1943, to April 29, 1944, when_Cohen resigned from his position.
It was explained by Cohen he regarded himself as Fuchs counterpart
in the United States atomic energy project, since Cohen was head of the
Theoretical Physics Division am Ihzchs held the comparable post in the British
group. as such, Cohen stated he had many meetings with Fuchs at the SAM _
Laboratories, and he acknowledged that he probably knew Fuchs better than any
of the American scientists employed on the atomic energy project in Newlork
City at that time. Cohen declared that with the exception of one social
occasion, all of his meetings with Fuchs were limited to official business
contacts. A _
Cohen mentioned a number of conferences held in the offices of
Kellen, Inc., New York City, in December, 1943, and January, 1944., at which he
was present along with General Leslie R. Groves, James B. Conant, Harold C. Urey,
various Keller officials and representatives of the British Ministry of Supply
Mission, including Fuchs. Cohen had further technical discussions with Fuchs in
the Spring of 1944 and next saw him when he made a trip to Ins alamos in January,
1946, by which time Cohen had taken a position with the Standard Oil Development
Company. Cohen next saw Fuchs in Novanber, 1947, when both attended the
Deolassifioation Conference in Chicago, Illinois. _
Cohen commented that he was astounded by the arrest of Fuchs and
stated that he had regarded him as a brilliant scientist. Cohen described Fuchs
-as a shy, quiet individual who had very little to say on eqrgiven topic and who
never expressed himself on the subject of politics. When asked if he had corre-
sponded with Fuchs between the time the latter left the United States in 1946
and the Declassificetion Conference in November, 1947, Cohen answered by saying
the agents should not have the idea Fuchs would want to recruit him for espionage
since Fuchs knew more about atomic energy problems than Cohen did at any time.
During interview with Fuchs in London in the period my 20 through
June 2, 1950, Fuchs advised Bureau representatives that he had known Dr. Cohen
during the period Fuchs was attached to the British Mission in New fork City.
He also saw Cohen in November, 1947, at a rggtaurant in New 1'01-1, 311,3 Fuchs
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rleft his hat in the restaurant and later reguehted Cohen to pickup the hat andreturn it to the home of Mrs. H._;=W. B. Skinner in New Iork City. According toFuchs, this incident had nothing to do with his espionage activities.
Memo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and Lemphere
dated 6-6-50! . . .I
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Hr. Feynman, who is a Professor of Physics at Cornell University,Ithaca, Bow York, and who was one of the leaders in the Theoretical PhysicsDivision at Los Ale-mos, while I'921chs was stationed there, informed Bureau agentsthat he was well acquainted with Fuchs"-at Los Alancs and that Fuchs would probablyconsider Feynman his closest friend. Feynman characterized Fuchs as a shy retiringindividual and said Fuchs was almost always in the compaw of the other members ofthe British Mission at Los Alamcs, particularly Rudolf Peierle. -
According to Feynman, he and Fuchs discussed almost nightly subjects such
as politics, security at Ios Alamos and frequent interchange of scientific data
among nations, but Feynman had no recollection of Fuchs opinion on such topics.Feynman said that although Fuchs knew he was making almost weekly trips toAlbuquerque to see his wife, Fuchs never asked him to deliver any mail or messagesor packages for him on the occasion of these trips. Feynman was unable to furnishany information about any trips Fuchs may have made from Los Alamos to Santa Fe,although he stated that he did not recall ever having gone into Santa Fe with Fuchs,and declared that it would have been an easy matter for Fuchs to have gone intoSanta Fe if he had so desired. Feynman recalled that he believes Fuchs was friendlyat los Alamos with Dr. Julius Ashkin who is presently at the University of Rochester
Rochester, New York, and with Robert Eugene Marshal: and his wife, Ruth.
Feynman did advise that on some unrecalled date, he met Fuchs and Peierlsin the office of Hans A. Bethe at Cornell University and he believes this meeting
occurred shortly before Fuchs and Peierls returned to England. Feynman recalledthat when he asked Fuchs why he did not remain permanently in the United States,
Fuchs replied that he felt he had an obligation to continue his work. for Greatsmash. Les Angeles letters to Bureau dated 2-24 and 2-2'2-so! Serials 844, 845!
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the periodHer 20 thrwsh -Ivne 2, 1950. Fu.chs"advised um-. he knew Feynman at los Alamos andalso saw him in November, 1947, at Cornell University. He lmew of no espionageor Communist activities on the part of Feynman. Memo to the Director from Messrs.
Clegg and Iamphere dated 6-6-50!
4. Victor Weisskopf _
Professor Weisskopf, who is on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute
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of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, advise/d agents that he was employed at
Los alanos from June, 1943, to February, 1946,»-and that he first met lhzchs there
then Fuchs arrived with the British 1-ssion. _
He continued that subsequently he had s. great deal of contact with
Fuchs on a professional level in connection with the theoretical physics work
at Ios Alamos, and also attended numerous social gatherings there at which Fuchs
was also present. He recalled that Fuchs was very close, both professionally and
socially, with Rudolf Peierls and that Martin Deutsch, now Associate Professor
of Physics..at llassachusetts Institute of Technology, who was also at Los Alamos,
had some social contact with Fuchs. Weisskopf further declared that he himself
did not worlcwith the same group of physicists with whom Fuchs was associated
at Los Alamos. Weisskopf was unable to furnish any information regarding the
activities of Fuchs while the latter was away from Les Alamos. In addition to
his association with Fuchs at los Alamos, Weisskopf saw Fuchs once and this
resulted from a telephone call from Fuchs some time in 1947, while the latter
was visiting the home of his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and In-s. Robert Block
Heineman, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Weisskopf accepted the invitation of Fuchsto visit him in the Heineman home, and described the occasion as a purely social
visits '
Weisskopf declared he gained the impression that while Fuchs was not
rabidly pro-Russian, he had shoma disposition to "favor" the Russians to s
limited degree. Weisskopf explained that his only recollection on this point was
that Peierls appeared to him to be quite "anti-Russian" and in discussions re-
garding the Allies relationship with Russia, Fuchs would answer critical appraisals
of the Russians by Peierls with the statement, "Well, there is the other side to it "
Weisslcopf declared, however, that he had never gained the impression that Fuchs is
a Communist or an ardent supporter of the USSR.
Weisskopf volunteered the opinion that Fuchs was in a position to know all
there was to know at Dos Alamos as s. result of his work there and had a detailed
knowledge of the atomic bomb. Further, that Fuchs could best have served the Soviet
Union scientists by telling them which scientific efforts should be ignored in the
development of an atomic bomb, thereby saving them considerable time in their
research and development work. It was Weisskopf's opinion that in order for Fuchs
to deliver orally pertinent information gained by him at los Alamos, the recipientof this information would have to be a highly skilled scientist. He did say however,that in his opinion it would have been possible for Fuchs to deliver in a nunber
of pages of memoranda, vital information which, upon receipt by scientists working
for the Soviet Union, would have given them intimate knowledge of the construction
of an atomic bomb. ' '
I-Ie commented that he was considerably shocked and stunned by the
revelation that Fuchs had been an espionage agent for the USSR.
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During interview with Fuchs in Iondbn by Bureau representatives in
the period May 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated that he knew Weisskopf at
Los Alamos and also saw him in/194'? when Fuchs visited HIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He knew of no Communist or espionage activities on the part of Weisskopf.
Memo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and
' Lamphere dated 6-6-50!
5.15. -rtin Deutsch
Professor Deutsch, who was employed at Los Alamos from January, 1944,
to January, 1946, and who is now on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, advised Bureau agents that he became
well acquainted with Fuchs at Los Alamos.
He declared that after meeting Fuchs at Les Alamos, he observed that
the latter was a shy, reticent individual who appeared to be somewhat lonely,
and accordingly Deutsch and his wife entertained him frequently in their home.
Deutsch continued that he and Fuchs were not employed on -the same phase of the
project at Los Alamos and that his associations with Fuchs accordingly were of
a social nature. Deutsch said further that after leaving Los Alamos he next
saw Fuchs in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when he learned that Fuchs was there
visiting his sister. o
Deutsch further stated that on the occasion of a trip he made to
England during the Chris tmaa holidays in 194.8, he saw Fuchs at acocktail party
in the home of Rudolf Peierls. According to Deutsch, he asked someone at the
cocktail party if the British were having any trouble with the "extreme left
wingers," and someone then remarked that it had been discovered that prior to
World War II, Fuchs had been a member of the Communist Party of Germany, and
further that the extent of his activities and associations in that movement were
then the subject of a British security inquiry. Deutsch commented that this was
the first knowledge he had had of Fuchs political sympathies, and that the fore-
going information surprised him.
Deutsch declared further that there was considerable discussion in _
191.1. and 1945 among the scientists at Los Alamos concerning the various problems
raised by the creation of the atomic bomb and that there were a number of the
scientists who felt that inasmuch as effective international control of the atomic
bomb -was impossible without participation of the Russians in such an endeavor, the
Russians should be fully apprised of all developments in atomic research. This
particular group of scientists, according to Deutsch, allegedly expressed the
opinion that if the proper officials in Washington were not wise enough to realize
that the Russians should be so advised, then it was incumbent upon some of the
scientists "to advise the Russians without further consultation with Washington
authorities. Deutsch continued that to his best recollection, almost every
scientist in Los Alamos participated in such discussions, and that the only scientist
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whom he knew not to have participated in such discussions and who made no comment
along the line of fhrnishing suchsecret information to the -Russians, was Fuchs.
Snzanne Deutsch, wife of Martin Deutsch, was unable to furnish any
pertinent information concerning Fuchs although, as noted above, she did see him
socially at Lcs Alamos. Bostonreport, 2/22/50! Serial 1.1.6!
During interview with Fuchs by Bureau representatives in London in the
period Hay 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated that he knew Deutsch at Les Alamos
and also saw him in November, 1947, at MIT. He =sa.id that Deutsch may also have
visited Kristel Heineman's home in Cambridge during that time. -Fuchs stated he
also knew Susie Deutsch, the wife of Martin Deutsch, and knew of no Communist or
espionage activities on the pert of either In-. or Mrs. Deutsch. Memo to the Director-
from Messrs. Clegg and Lamphere
' dated 6-6-50!
6. Hanson 0. Benedict
Dr. Benedict is presently a Director of Hydrocarbon Research, Inc. , New
York City, and was an employee of Keller, Inc. in 1910 and 1944. Benedict informed
agents that he had approximately eight meetings with Fuchs, all in the Keller
offices, in 1943 and 1941., am all concerned the process design of the K-25
Oak Ridge, Gaseous Diffusion! Project. He described Fuchs as a brilliant scientist
who was polite, businesslike, dreamy and "abstract" and stated he knew-nothing of
Fuchs associates outside the office and never saw him outside the Kellex offices
except at luncheons attended by various members of the British Mission and Keller
employees. Benedict declared that he had no contact with Fuchs after the Spring
of 1941..
It was also learned from Benedict that he again saw Fuchs in September,
1949, when he attended a. conference at Harwell, England. Benedict could furnish no -
infornstion of apparent significance with reference to this occasion and commented
that he noted no perceptible change in Fuchs demeanor, saying that he was his same
"dreamy, abstract" self. Benedict made the observation that Fuchs was a shy, retiring
brilliant man who seldom committed himself on any subject and never discussed politics.
Benedict regarded Fuchs description of himself as a "controlled schizophrenic" as
most accurate. New York report 3/15/50! Serial 642! _,.~- .
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the period
Hay 20 through June 2, 1950» Fhchs stated that he had lcnovm Benedict during the
period that Fuchs was attached to the British Mission in New York City. He did not ' '
know of any Communist or espionage activities on the part of Benedict.
- Memo to the Director from Messrs. Glegg
and lamphere dated 6-6-50!
7. Tansy l-iilton Boyle Sgyrge
Skyrme is presently located at the Institute For Advanced Studies,
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Princeton, New Jersey, and advised agents that he became acquainted with Fuchs
at the University oi "Birmingham, Birmingham, s_.-igienu, in July, 1943, when both
were working on the Atomic Project under Rudolf Peierls. Skyrme stated that he
arrived in the United States as a member of the British L.nistry of Supply Mission
in February, 1944, andworked with Fuchs and -Peierls at 37 R1111 Street, New York
0113', until they all departed to;-_Los Alamos in approximately August, 1944. after
Sky:-ms returned to England about February, 1946, he met Fuchs there occasionally
and recalls spending a he-week holiday with Fuchs and the Peierls family in
Switzerland. -
Slqrrme declared that he never had any suspicions whatsoever of Fuchs and
never knew him to contact unlmcmn individuals. He did recall that Fuchs was
frieradly at Los Alamos with Evelyn Kline and Jean Parker, both of whom were gade
school teachers there. 5-58805-378! '
- lichs, during interview with Bureau representatives in London during the
period my 20 through June 2, 1950, stated that he knew Skyrme when they were both
attached to the British Mission in 19-M. in How York City. He knew of no Communist
or espionage activities on the part of Skyrme. Memo to the Director from Messrs.
Clegg and Iamphere dated 6-6-50!
8. Evelg Jones mine _ A
In Fuchs address book, made available to British interrogators, there
appeared the name "Evelyn Klein, Box I539, Santa Fe, N. 1!." This notation
undoubtedly refers to Evelyn Jones Kline who is presently employed by the Ins alamos
Scientific Laboratory. Miss Kline advised agents that she had become acquainted
with Fuchs in the latter part of 1945 through introduction by Mrs. Robert Marshal-c,
who had been teaching school with her at that time. Miss Iine stated that she had
several dates with Fuchs, but furnished no further information concerning him.
ss-5ssos-3v4!/
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the period
May 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated that he had known Evelyn Kline at
Ins Alamos and had dated her on a few occasions. He did not know of any Communist
or espionage activities on the part oi Kline. Memo to the Director from Messrs.
Clegg and Lamphere dated 6-6-50! ,-
9. gg_r_1§tqp!;.er__ Frank Kearton - B
It will be recalled that Kearton was a member of the British Ministryof Supply Miss n grams to the United States in December, 1943. g was
interviewed by MI-5 when he was told that evidence was available ch indicatedthat Fuchs was a Soviet spy, he was incredulous of the suspicions attaching to Fuch%
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e described Fuchs as a completely negative personality in 1944, Said he wascompletely absorbed in his work, content to reaain in the background, and anextension, as Kesa-ton phrased it, of the brain of his more forceful colleague,
Professor Psierls. Eearton declared that Fuchs lived alone in a small furnished
flat, appeared to have no social life outside the office, and very little socialcontact even with his colleagues. He seemed to have no interest in politics and,in fact no convictions oi any kind outside those arrising directly from his dire
._ Kearton observed, however, that Fuchs post--war advancement in thefield of science was reflected in the undoubted widening of his interests and
confidence in himself. Kearton was able to recall only that Fu.chs, during his
stay in the United States, had visited some relatives in this country whose
names he could not remember undoubtedly Robert and Kristel Heineman! but
Kearton could offer no information as toiany other friends Iichs had in this
country. He did mention that Fuchs had contact with one Cohen who was
connected with the Research Group at Columbia University undoubtedly Karl PaleyCohen!. The interview of Kearton developed nothing further of interest concerningFuchs. gs;-58805-52! /-
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the periodMay 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated that he had known Kearton when they
were both attached to the British llission and at one time Kearton was in
charge oi the Mission. He knew oi no espionage or Communist activities onthe part of Kearton. Memo to the Director from Messrs. Olegg and Lsmphere
dated s-6-50!
10. Edward, lgifchaeil _Co;s9§
In a letter which he stated was to be published in a lhrch, 1950,
issue of the "Journal oi the American Physics Society,!! Corson made the
statements, among others, that "I had worked closely with Fuchs in America
during the two-year wartime period of Anglo-American cooperation on the
Manhattan Project, and I believe that the essential workings of this man's
mind were reasonably clear to me. His political allegiances were 1J.nkn0wrn
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to me, but I was fully convinced that he was not capable of betraying any
trust - personal or national."
Oorson stated further in his letter that on reading in the British
Press of the arrest of Fuchs for violating national security regulations,
he was shocked and could not believe it possible; that he immediately Irote
a letter to Sir John Oocln-oft, Director of the Harwell Laboratories, setting
out his acqoaintanceship with and faith in Fuchs, and asking to be apprised
of the exact nature of the Fuchs case. Professor Cock:-oft replied by letter
that he could not comment on the matter since it was sub Jndice. On February
3.0, 1950, Corson telegraphed Fuchs at the Bow Street Jail as follows: "HAVE
URITTIEIN GOOKROFT. HMTIRALLY D0 NOT BELIEVE TEE AOCUSATICNS. I-F I CAN BE OF
AN! SERVICE CALL ON IE." Oorson's letter continued that he received the
following telegraphic reply: "IHANK YOU. THERE IS NOTHINGIOU CAN D0. THEE}IU§NC.? WILL CHANGE TOUR MIND. FUCHS." lclosurc nith Hhitsors letter,
2 25 50.!
Special Agent Whitson advised that although Fuchs initially denied
having had any communication with Corson, records at the Bow Street Jail
verify the exchange of telegrams between Gorson and Fuchs, and that Fuchs
new recalls such massages.
On April 12, 1950, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer volunteered to Bureau
Agents that he had just been contacted by Dr. Edward Corson who, in Dr.
0ppenhsimer's opinion, was obviously distraught and mentally deranged.
Oppenheimer advised that Corson talked with him about a position as a research
student at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton and that Corson
declared that he was going to Russia with some other scientists on a mission.
Dr. Oppenheimer also reported that Gorson then informed him there were other
scientists in England as dangerous as Fuchs. Oppenheimer also declared that
Corson told him he had made public some letters and telegrams in which he,
Corson, maintained that Fuchs was innocent. Corson also told Oppenheimer
that his nits was missing and that there was a l5 state alarm out for her.
Mr. Ike Stewart, Vice President of the United Carbide and Carbon
Company reported to the Bureau that one of the scientists with his company
had informed him that Corson had said he has been under the care of a
psychiatrist and that his wife and family had returned to their home in
Springfield, Ohio. According to Hr. Stewart's informant, Corson is definitely
a mental case. The employee who furnished this information to Ir. Stewart
was concerned about the fact that Corson possesses a great deal of information
about the atomic energy program and the consequent possibility that Oorson
might become a security risk by reason of his mentalcondition.
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The information furnished by Oppenheimer with respect to Oorson'e
statement that he planned to go to Russia es furnished to the State Department
by Bureau letter dated April 20, 1950.
Gorson was interviewed April 28, 1950 by Bureau Agents in New York
City. When informed that one purpose of the interview was to determine the '
nature of his association with Fuchs and any knowledge he night have of Fuchs
activities in the United States or elsewhere, Oorson became mildly indignant,
stating that he had been "grilled" for days by III-5 before leaving kland
due to the fact that he had written a letter to Sir John Cock:-oft regarding
Fuchs and had sent a telegram to the latter, offering his assistance. He
stated that he always had been "followed all around Hagland" prior to the
interviews by HI-5 as a result of these communication.
He declared he had met Fuchs in or about December, 1916, when Fuchs
came to the United States as a member of the British Scientific Hission and
while he, Corson, was employed on the K-25 Project at the SAM Laboratory,
Columbia University and Kellex Offices, New York City. He stated that his
association 1:Lth Fuchs was casual and business-like and did not extend to
any social contacts. He described Fuchs as an intelligent.» but not brilliant
physicist who worked hard and diligently on all scientific problems presented
to him. Corson characterized Fuchs as a "typical scientist" with little
practical appreciation of life. He stated he had never seen Fuchs outside
of the BAH Laboratory or Kellen Offices and knew nothing of Fuchs social
activities or contacts while in New York City. He stated that he did not
see Fuchs after the latter left Newlork City until November, 191.9, when Fuchs
attended a Scientific Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Corson expressed the opinion that he thought agents should be more
interested in "what may still be going on in England," adding that "there
may be others like Fuchs." He immediately followed those statements, however,
with the admission that he had no documentary proof for any of his statements
and further, would not "contravene" his integrity by naming names. He declared
that he believed that Fuchs did not deserve the high place that he had held in
the British Atomic Energ setup and that Fuchs was assisted in obtaining and
holding the high position which he occupied at the time oi his arrest. He
declared further that he had "learned" that the British Government and the
British Scientific Field are riddled with "soiree pinks", "parlor pinks", and
Just plain Communists. Further, he thought that "he knew" that the British
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Home Office records currently chow that Fuchs had gone to Great Britain in
1932 or 1933 from Germany as a communist refugee. _He also remarked that
llax Born, a scientist when he knew in Edinburgh, had informed him that Fuchs
was an outspolcen and "pamphlet distributing" Ccsmuuist when he first came to
Greet Britain and was .wor1d.pg"on' a scientific project at Bristol, England.
Gorson stated that Born had told Fuchs that he wanted him to desist from
Communist activities in Edinburgh a'n_d'that from that point forward, according
to Born, Fuchs had gone into his shell and became e non-entity politically.
Carson vigorously criticized what he termed the "British tolerance"
of Fuchs and others like him. Doreen inferred very strongly that the British
Government, led; as it is by such individuals as Bevin, Cripps and Strachey,
probably was endeavoring to cover up for its shortcomings already with the
handling of the Fuchs case by having Fuchs describe himself as a controlled
schizophrenic to make it appear to the world that detection of Fuchs under
those circumstances use difficult, if not impossible. Gorson remarked that
he was sitting in a public house in London on the dav Fuchs was sentenced
in the company of the editor of the London Daily Nail" when a reporter from
that newspaper entered with the newsethat Fuchs had been sentenced to
ll, years in Jail. He stated that the editor of the paper, whom he would
not identify further, had cemented upon hearing of the sentence, "Well,
I see they've killed it,"- meaning the Fuchs case and the attending * publicity,
according to Cor-son.
Carson declared that he has come to the conclusion the British should
be barred from further conferences on atomic energ in which the United States
might be a participant since the British have nothing to contribute and their
scientists may be security risks. Throughout the interview, Gorson gave the
definite impression that there were numerous individuals in the British atomic
Energ organisation with Ccnummist backgrounds and he stated that their records
are available in the British Home Office "for all to see." When Corson was
requested to furnish names, however, he reduced his estimate to 4 scientific
figures in England, 2 at Harwell and 2 outside Harwell. He refused to identify
those individuals. 7
Oorson declared that after receiving Fuchs reply to his telegram,
he concluded that Fuchs was e criminal who had done more to destroy faith in
scientists and contributed more to Russian atomic progress than anyone in
history. He stated he believed Fuchs contribution to the Russians had
speeded up their progress in atomic research by several years, and that by
1952, they will be on a par Iith the United States in atomic development.
84A
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He said that Fuchs had apparently also inforésd the Russians of an atomicEnergy Operation which involved efforts of the United tates and theAllies to determine scientifically whether the Russians bad exploded anatomic bomb. Ooreon said that the realisation by the Allies that Fuchshad given this information to -the Russians lead to President Truman'sannouncement of the fact that the Russians had exploded an atomic bomb.Corson claimed also to have learned in England that the so-called tokenpayment of 100 pounds which Fuchs accepted from "the Russians was nothingless than a shortage of personal funds occasioned by Fuchs fondness for
"fast cars and fast women."
Regarding Fuchs visit to Edinburgh in November, 191,9, Go:-sonsaid that his scientific colleagues who had gone there for .a conferenceIers ignoring Fuchs and that the latter was sitting off in a corner byhimself most of the time. Corson then declared that apparently the peopleat Harwell were aware at that time that the axe was about to fall" on Fuchs.
Corson was pressed repeatedly by agents to identify those individualswhom he suspected at Harwell and other scientific establishments in Englandbut persisted in his refusal to name them, reiterating that he had no documentaryproof and did not desire to make any wild accusations. He finally stated,however, that Fuchs successor at Harwell and the "First Lieutenant" to thehead of Harwell should be investigated. He claimed that he had learned thatFuchs successor had the same Comnnmist backgound as Fuchs and hadi stated
that he would do the same as Fuchs had done if afforded the opportunity.Regarding the other individual whom he stated should be investigated, he saidhe thought this man might be the head of the Theoretical Physics Departmentat Harwell but subsequently denied that it was Rudolf Peierls. He then saidthat he was not certain of the position this individual holds but that thelatter was a.Svriss emigrant. Carson declared that he objected strenuouslyto the so-called "parlor pinks" and outlying Communists in the scientificfield imposing their views on immature student minds. He said that this wellcoull be going on in England and that these "parlor pinks" were gainingnumerous followers and that any effort by him to name a few would be ratherfruitless since their influence is already wide spread. He indicated that thesame possibility exists with respect to the United States but refused to 'be specific on this point. He stated that "for all he knew" possibly J. RobertOppenhe:Lmer's background was subject to question}. In this connection he statedthat he haddiscussed with Oppenheimer the matter of barring English scientistsfrom Atomic mergy Conferences but had received little encouragement. New York letter dated 5-3-50!
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ha the even!-npg of April 28, 1950, Carson telephonically advisedagents of the New York Division that he would depart by air on Hay 3, 1950,to attend a nesting of the French Academy of Scientists in Paris, France.
By letter dated lav 2, l950, the State Department was advised of Oorsors
intention to make that trip. Considerable publicity has appeared in various
newspapers concerning the lifting of Gorsonfs passport by an agent of theState Department on Hay L, 1950. In statements to the press, Corson has been
quoted as blaming "allegations of a personalinature" for the action of the State
Department in taking up his passport. Newspaper accounts reflect that the
State Department had given as a basis for its action the reason that Co:-son's
proposed trip to France was "not in the national interest."
0n May 8, 1950, Dr. Corson was reinterviswed by Bureau Agents at hisspecific request. He made many disjointed irrational statements concerning his
personal status resulting from his offer of help to Fuchs and his letter to
Sir John Cockroft. Corson complained to agents that he is being unduly
penalized by the United States Government and he expressed irritation at the
action of the Stats Departmentfor taking up his passport. He made veiled
threats to do some "mud slinging" of his own through the release of a "story"
he claims to have given to the editor of the "London Daily Hail" immediately
after Fuchs arrest. He claims this "story" has not been published and said
he did not know how long he could suppress it. He refused to give any indication
of the contents of this alleged "story." '
During this interview, Corson occasionally asked if the State Department
would be happier ii he committed suicide since State Department officials seemed
bent on wrecking his life. He threatened to withhold what he termed "further
cooperation" in view of the Irshabby treatment" given him. He was, of course,
informed that this Bureau has no jurisdiction over passport matters.
- Bureau files reflect Carson was the subject of an atomic Energy
act - Employee investigation conducted by this Bureau between September 22,
19147, and October 22, 19147, resulting from Corsore applying for a position
as consultant with the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Camp Upton, Long -
Island, New York. His application recited that he was born 6/27/21, Long
Island, New York, that both his parents were naturalised United States citizens
of Russian birth, that he holds a Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University,
and was previously employed as a research physicietby the Union Carbide and
Carbon Corporation in New York City and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from l9h3 to 1916'.
During the investigation or Carson, a munber oi his neighbors, acquaintances, and
fellow employees spoke Ifsvorably of him and considered him entirely loyal to theUnited States. It is noted, however, that Gharles H. Shaw, Professor or Phvsics,
Ohio State University, who was well acquainted with Gorson, said he had heard
84 C
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him make statements which led Shae to9o ',/"-
believe Gorson to be in sympathy with
Russia during the war. Shaw knew oi no subversive elements with which Gorson
vas connected and -did not think him disloya.l,[r although he said he had a
tendency to be unreliable, and he declined to recomend for employment.
It was developed theinvestigation of Go:-son that on 12/2/M
he directed a letter to one Pierre Boutsky, in care of the Russian Students
Fund, Inc., New Iork City, andenclosed a check for $100.00. new Intelligence
reported that Routslq was known to bea radical and that the Russian Students
Fund, Inc., was composed or various on-American groups, some pro-radical and
pro-Soviet, others pro-German and Ihite Russian llonarchists and proponents
of the Russian National Patriots of the Kerensky type.
D1. Jo C.
advised during the investigation that
with the Russian Students Fund, Inc. ,
tuition. A loan oi about $500.00 was
msnted that Corson was radical in hisProiessor at Johns Hopkins University,
at Co:-son's request he had corresponded
requesting a loan for Corson for
received by Gorson. Dr. Hubbard com.-
views and he is a very outspoken person
who saws Just what he thinks. He also declared he feels Carson is violently
opposed to Communism and Socialism and that he believes Gorson is loyal to
the United States. 16-3£.55-l,6,8,l3!
With further "reference to 0orson's letter mentioned hereinbefore,
which letter consists of approximately ten and one--third double spaced
typewritten pages, it appears to represent 0orson's analysis of the Fuchs
case. Coreon asks himself the question shy Fuchs betrayed the trust of
his friends and of his adopted country, and first speculated that Fuchs
might be "a strange complex 01 confused idealism which somehow superseded
an oath... ," but later, after Oorson learned that Fuchs has long been a
fanatical Communist, he attempts to examine the reason for such fanaticism
which was so strong that he admits tohaving given detailed technological
atomic information to agents or a. foreign power. Corson then observes that
Fuchs is clearly a brilliant psychopathic personality, perhaps made so by
the torture and murder oi members of his family by the Nazis. He comments
that it is s. small wonder that Fuchs could be deranged, and declares the
fantastic element is that Fuchs was not found out on the basis of his actions
when he first went to England.
The question is then asked by Go:-son in his letter if security
officials are not the basically guilty ones, and if society is not on trial
along with Fuchs for having made it possible that Fuchs might, indirectly
and in some measure, be responsible for the millions" of person who will
die in the onrushing holocaust. After stating the direct issue of this
case to be not that of the "Psychotic Fuchs versus The State," but rather
one of "llankind versus 0-od in the form oi truth, beauty, ethics and logic,"
Corson makes a fervent plea that all scientists stop new theoretical work -
on perfecting more terrible weapons oi destruction. Enclosure with IIhitson's
letter 2/ 25/ 50
.. '-2¢~/M4- Kain /'-La;:;;:%:*';We-If/9
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911 Ray 17, 1950, Hr- R- Grdn Arneeon, Special Assistant to the
Under Secretary of State, furnished to a BuI,"eau representative a copy of a
letter written by Michael G. C__oz-son, 610 West JJ¢2nd Street, New York 31,
New York, father of Edward Michael Ce:-son, to Secretary oi State Dean
Acheson. The text of this letter is quoted as follows:
"Bear Sir , I
"I am the father of Dr. Eduard iijézhael Qoraon a professor of
mathematical physics, whose nam I understand is known to you.
"Not being on speaking terms with my eon, I have only a very
feeble idea of his plans etc., I assume, however, that he got the
idea that his efforts might be oi value in promoting peace between
the west and the east.
"I do not wish to be critical of either his ideas or those of
your dept. It seems that it ieeufficient to be born or raised on the
soil of America to become utterly blind to the fact that freedom and
peace can be won only on thebattle-field after the enemy is destroyed
or routed. I am afraid, however, that my son's ideas can lead him to
an untimely and useless end.
"The point is that the present government of Russia is well
aware, that I am its implacable enemy and that I swore to destroy
Stalin ii ever I shall get the necessary financial backing. Your dept
knows it too, for I was discussing the possibility with one of its
higher members officially in l%O and so does the British intelligence
service. In fact it must be known in Soviet Ru_S5i8'S official circles
that even in 3.917 I offered my services to the party I belonged to in
order to destroy Lenin and Trotsky. The party, being far less sagacious
than I am, forbade it.
"30 if my boy happens to go to Russia he is not likely to everback, He mi ht. disappear and the govermnent there would declarecome . gthat they are not responsible for the movements of an adult person. land
I do not wish to let my talented boy to perish so foolishly, thoughwould gladly sacrifice him or anyone else in this world in order to
destroy Stalin.
"Therefor, I ask you not to let him go to Russia -- not to grant"him 3 permlsaibn to go there. He should stay in science and help thecountry to develop super-super bombs etc. in order to protect our freedomith r Stalinus mania grgndi, or from some, even more dangerousfrom e epersonality, that might arise in years to come in China.
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' =1 hope, the oontenta of this letter e111 never be mqde mm to
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"Respectfully yours
ll. G. Garcon-
5-'$3,@5-126O! '
' Under date at June 5," 1950,g1lI-zjiarniehed to the Du-em a memo-
randum setting out the identities-of e our individuals in the atomic
energy field in Englsndjho Iere described b Co:-eon during an interview -by Bureau Agents on-April 28, 1950, ea having Oonmmiet backgrounds. The
carried out by the%1nburgh Poliorthe request of HI Sn they succeeded
with ifficulty in extracting from Goraon the names these individuals.They are .ea".fol1owstc $ ' 92 $E£I-memorendumere tee that after otracted intezfeve with Coreon, Q
1. Professor J. D. Bernal, described byli-Sjtgs e well-known
Gonmuniet eympethizer and prominent participant in e Communist PeaceCampaign. He is not connected with the Atomic Energy Program. Q
2. Oscar Bunemnn, presently employed in the atomic energy
es bli hment at Harwell, and the subject of current invest:l.gation ' AWEI-5?]oQ
3. Professor N. . ott, e Professor of Theoretical Physicsat Bristol University; HI-5 lg no derogatory information concom-
l.. Professor Herbert Skinner, e former ample s t I-I;erns&~who resigned his appointment there in April, 1950; g-Ejbea noderogatory infornntion concerning this individual. 3In its memorandum of June 5, 19so,[1u-qt.>¬%.rJea um. "He do notattach e high degree of reliability to Professor orsore allegations." $
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During the investigation of Robert Heineman in 1946 and 1947, a
neighbor of the Heinemans advised that Kristel Heineman had told her that
her father and brother had spent some time in German concentration camps and
her brother later went to England and became a British subject. &e further
stated that her brother was a. very brilliant scientist and Einstein had
sent for him to help work on the atomic bomb but he had recently returned to
111e1=*I1d- _ 00-346228-6! -"
The Washington "Times Herald" of February 6, 1950 carried an article
in which the father was reported to have stated at a secret rendezvous in
Eastern Germany on February 5, 1950, that his son, who was a lifelong Communist,
was released from a Canadian internment camp for enemy aliens on the recommenda-
tion of Professor Albert Einstein, who did not know Fuchs was a Communist. After
Einstein had read Fuchsi papers on nuclear energy, he considered him valuable
to the Allied war effort.
The same article indicated that Helene Dukes, Einstein's secretary,
stated that neither she nor Einstein had any recollection of the case.
5-58805-A! .~- .
An article in the New York "Herald Tribune" of February 8, 1950
indicated that on February '7, 1950, Dr. Einstein's secretary said she knew
nothing of Dr. Fuchs. She said she could find no record of any such appeal
on behalf of Fuchs and could find no mention or references to him in Dr.
Einstein's correspondence file. 5_588O5__A! /-'
The Washington "Star" of February 9, 1950 reported a telephonic
interview with Fuchs father, at which time he denied that he had ever stated
that his son was a Communist , and further that he had never talked by phone
with anyone from Berlin. However, no mention was made of Einstein.
5-58805-A! ,-
On Lia:-oh ll, 1950, Robert Heineman advised that his wife had once
told him that Albert Einstein was instrumental in gaining the release of
Klaus Fuchs from internment in Canada and also in-gaining membership for Fuchs
in the Royal Academy of Science, London, England, so that Fuchs could work on /
the lmhatm l==°-le'=1=- 5-seeos - Letter to London 3-1'2-50!
gs-
85
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Kristel i-Iaineman, on March 3.-6, 15150, advised that when Fuchs arrivedin the United States in 1943 he stated that his release from the Canadianinternment camp followed a letter of intercession in his behalf written byEinstein to the British Home Office. She! alleged that Einstein wrote the
letter without knowing Fuchs} personally, but after having read of his electionto the Royal Academy of Science, which occurred sometime during his internment;she am not know whether Fuchs ens Einstein had ever met but presumed they did.
- _ 5-sssos-sea!/'
n March 16, 1950, the Legal Attache in London was requested todetermine whether Einstein wrote to either the Home Office or the Royal Academyof Science on behalf of Fuchs. _ It was also requested th£t!92:chs be questionedas to his relationship with Einstein. 5-58805-682!
On lkrch 3l, 1950, the Bureau's Legal Attache in London advised bycable that Fuchs denies personally knowing or meeting Einstein,_ but admittedthat he had correspondece on scientific matters with Einstein after the war.Mr. Cimperman further advised that the records E»: the British Home orrieejile!were being checked and the Bureau would be advised of the results. K '
*" 5-5aso5895! /-
By letter s t April 12, 1950, the Legal Attache advised tuet]'i_'_s.W. J. Skardon 16. - rted that he had questioned Fuchs as to hisassociation with Professor Albert Einstein. Fuchs had been corresponding withEinstein in connection with scientific subjects, but so far as Fuchs is awareEinstein made no move to obtain his liberation from internment in 1940. ake:-dor'1_] could find no record that Einstein made any official ova in thisconnection, but bad not yet reviewed theome Office, filee%_gl;]§ IA!
Letter Lends? 4/12/5o!On April 18, 1950, the Legal Attache cab %s1etE_n - ghee naw wadvised that there is ncthingtn Home Office rilelte indicate E stein atany time in rested himself in Fuchs affairs in the manner claimed by theHememeeeg London Gable 458 dated 4/18/50!
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the periodMay 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated he had never met Professor Einstein.He knew of no activity on the part of Einstein in his behalf nor did he know
of any Gomnmnist or espionage activities on the part of Einstein.
Memo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and
Lanphere dated 6-6-50! .
12- J,-._.39,!¬££,92P9¥1hBiE§£ ' A
Dr. Oppenheimer who was formerly in charge of the Atomic Project
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at Dos Alamos and who is presently Director the Institute for Advanced
Studies, Princeton, New 'Jersey,_= advised agents that he became acquainted with
Fuchs after the latte:-'s arrival at Loe Alamos but said that he was not nearly
as well acquainted 1rithFuchs as he was with the other top scientists at the
Project because of Fuchs late. arrival. He explained that Fuchs did not hold
an;y' administrative position there, such as Group or Section leader, and
therefore, Dr. Oppenheimer did not have frequent occasion to some in contact
Iith him. He commented, however, that Fuchs was regarded by other scientists
at the Project as a man of exceptional ability and he recalled one instance
when Fuchs presented a paper in connection with his experiments on the atomic
bomb which caused the Project leaders to realize that they had been approaching
a specific problem from the wrong angle.
Dr. Oppenheimer declared that Fhchs impressed him at that time as a
man who was carrying the "woes of the world" on his shoulders and that he had
thought of Fuchs as a "Christian Democrat" and a_ religious man but not as a
political fanatic. or a member of the Communist Party. Dr. Oppenheimer could
not recall ever having seen Fuchs in the company of an; particular individual
at Ins Alamos other than one of the Project employees and said that he had
no personal knowledge whatsoever oi the personal movements of Fuchs while the
latter was at Los Alamos. He asserted that Fuchs never gave him any reason to sus-
pect him of espionage activities.
~
Dr. Oppenheimer remarked during the interview that he has had no contact
with Fuchs since a scientific conference in London in September, 1943, where he
renewed his acquaintance with Fuchs while visiting Harwell. He did state, however,
that he has received a letter from Dr. Skinner, former member of the British
Mission at Los Alamos and presently Assistant to Sir John Cockroft. In this
letter, Skinner stated that Dr. Peierls had expressed the opinion that Fuchs
had never actually transmitted any information to Russia but had surrendered-
himself and created the story of his espionage activities in order to compel
the Atomic Energ' Commission to relax. its restrictions and declassify further
information on atomic energy. Dr. Oppenheimer's expressed reaction to this
opinion was that he thought it was "a lot of balony." He elaborated on his
expression by stating it was known to him that the atomic bomb exploded by
the Russians was very similar to the American atomic bomb and that in view of
limbs recent confession that he transmitted atomig bomb secrets to Russia,he could readily understand why the Russian bomb was so ?m.1.J.s_r to ours.
' 5-58805-1060!
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the period
my 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs advised that he knew Oppenheimer during
the time that the latter was one of the leading officers at Les Alamos. He
knew of no espionage or Communist activities on the part of Oppenheimer.
Memo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and
Iamnhere dated 6-6-50!
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Br. Placsek, who is now a member of the faculty of the Institute §
for Advanced Studies, P1-inceton,_ New Jersey,_sdvised agents that he first
met Fuchs in August, 1942 when he was the Scientific Officer of the Department 5
of Tube Alloys stationed at the University of Cambridge, England, and Fuchs '
was connected with the same project. Dr. Placaek declared that he conferred
from time to time with Fuchs but that such conferences were concerned solely
with official atomic research matters. Plaesek remsrkved that he himself was
at that time a citizen of Czechoslovakia.5
Dr. Placsek continued that he came to the United States in November,
191.2, as a member of the British Scientific llission and occasionally saw Fuchs I
in New York subsequent to that tins. I-ls said that he knew Fuchs resided somewhere a
in New Iorlc but had no knowledge of the location of Fuchs residence and also
mentioned that inasmuch as he himself spent-a-sgood deal of time in Canada between
November, l9l.2 a.nd llarch,'l91.5, it was possible that Fuchs had visited him at his
apartment in Canada although he could not so state definitely nor was he aware
of any residence Fuchs may have maintained in Canada. Be declared further that
when he arrived at Les Llsmos in February or March, 191.5, Fuchs was already
stationed there and that the two became very sell -acquainted and saw each other
socially a great deal. -_
Placzek stated that Fuchs was very highly regarded by his fellow
scientists at Les Alamoe both on a personal and professional basis. Placzek
declared that he never heard Fuchs engage in any discussion whatsoever of
political matters and said that hi interests seemed confined to science.
He said that because of Fuchs great ability, it would not have been necessary
for Fuchs to have stolen or "borrowed any plans or documents to supply valuable
information to an outsider. He explained that Fuchs could easily have made
a few notes at the project and then subsequently compiled more thorough notes
for subsequent transmittal to his contact. In this connection, Placzek
advised it is his opinion that Fuchs had enough information in his-head so
that he could write out fornulas for transmittal at any time he desired. He
said also it would have been possible for Fuchs to have given information orally
to his contact, providing the latter was another scientist of the same type
Q3 Fuchs-o ' p
Placsek said that Fuchs visited him in New York City in 191.6 after
he Plaozek! had undergone surgery and that he next saw Fuchs at a meeting
of the London Physical Society, probably late in 191.6. He said these meetings
- est
' 1
in London with Fuchs were of a very casual natwlre. In the Fall of 1947,
he returned to England .in connection with his research duties for the
General Electric Company and Fuchs at Harwell, staying overnigzt rith
him there. He again saw Fuchs in November, l9l»'7, when Fhchs visited him
at Schenectady, New York. On this occasion, Placzek arranged a tour through
the General Electric Plant and Ihzchs gave a speech before scientists there,
it being e resume of scientific work under way at Harwell. He said that
Fuchs, during his stay at Schenectady, lived at his home but he could not
recall the exact duration of this visit. He said that he has never met
Fuchs sister Kristel Heinemen and that she,= at no time, visited his home
nor has he visited Fuchs or the 1atter's relatives at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Placzek stated that since the publicity surrounding the arrest of
Fuchs he has reviewed the matter thoroughly in his mind and is unable to
remember any incident or contact of Fuchs which would create any suspicionin his mind regarding mchs. He also advised he had netr noted Fuchs with
any outside individuals at Iaosealamos. 5-58805-699!
During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the period
May 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs advised that he knew Dr. Placzek at Los
Alamos and also saw him in the General Electric Plant at Schenectady, New York,
in November, 1947. He knew of no Communist or espionage activities on the/part of Placzelc. lbmo to the Director from Messrs. Clegg and Iamphere dated 6-6-50!
14. 1l'1,_BlQ1>§rt Eugene, F
Dr. Larshak who is now Chairman of the Physics Department, University
of Rochester, Rochester, New York, advised agents that he arrived at Ins Alamos
in May, 1941., to conduct research relative to the development of the atomic
bomb. He could not state definitely whether Izchs was already at Los Alamos
by that time but did state he was assigned to a different Group in the
Theoretical Physics Division at Ins Alamos than Fuchs. Accordingly, he did
not have a very close connection with Fuchs at Los Ale-mos although the members
of the respective Groups were acquainted with each other i_n a general way.
He could furnish no infornetion relative to Fuchs specific duties at Ins
Alamos. He declared that he and his wife associated with Fuchs socially,
attending picnics and various Outings held at Ins Alamos and that as a result
of this social association with Fuchs,he and his wife became quite well
acquainted him-
He declered that Fuchs never did or said anything to cause him
to have any reason to suspect that Fuchs might have been engaged in espionage
activities and stated definitely that Fhchs never, to the best of his
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recollection. attempted to obtain information from him relative to his
duties at the project. ,He recalled Foch visit to Rochester, New York,
in the Spring of 1948 or l949,___"the exact year not recalled, and said that
it is his impression that Fuchs had visited Dr. Hans Bethe at Cornell
University on this occasion. ' _K! =-9 :
Dr. Marshal: and his wife saw Fuchs socially on_this occasion
but Harshslc said that Fuchs made noattempt whatsoever to obtain any
information relative to atomic energr matters. Dr. Marshal: could sup lyno further information of interest concerning Fuchs. 5-58805-l0'?7§ 92/
l During interview with Bureau representatives in London in the peri
Hay 20 through June 2, 1950, Fuchs stated that he became acquainted with
Dr. Marshal: at Los Alamos and visited Marshal: in the Physics Department at
the University of Rochester in November, 1947. He knew of no Communist or
espionage activities on the part of Marshals. Memo to the Director from Mes
- Clegg and Lamphere dated 6-6-
15. Dr. Richard Ehrlich .
Dr. Ehrlich who is presently connected with the Knolls atomic
Power Laboratory, Niskayuxla, New York, advised agents that he had worked
in the same Group of the Theoretical Physicists under Hans Bethe at Los
Llamos with Fuchs and had considerable contact with him th-ere. He stated
that his wife also had known Fuchs at Los Ala:-nos, having worked with a
Group which had occasional contact with the Section in which Fuchs was
employed. He recalled the visit of Fuchs to Schenectady, New York. in
November, 1947, and mentioned that he had attended a luncheon arranged by
Dr. George Placzek at which were present a number of scientists who had .
worked together at Los Alamos. He could not give any information, however,
with respect to Fuchs visit to Schenectady other than to recall the
luncheon and the fact that he attended a lecture given by Fuchs. Dr."
Ehrlich stated that he was very much surprised at the arrest of Fuchs on
espionage charges and stated that in all his contacts with him in Les Alamos
he never had any reason to suspect Fuchs of espionage activities. He
declared that Fuchs,_. to his knowledge, had never engaged in any political
discussions and had never expressed any ideas to indicate any disaffection
for his responsibility in atomic research. Dr. Ehrlich recalled that Fuchs
had very few social acquaintances and that while at Los Alamos, his
closest associates were Dr. Peierls and Dr. Robert E. Harshak. Hrs. Ehrlich
could provide no information of interest concerning the activities and conta
of Fuchs. 5-58805--578! 1/
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Mrs. Rowen advised agents that she assumed employment at or about
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February, 1.944, with the British Ministry er/supply ieeeeen in. New York and
jrorked until August, 191:4, as a_= Mathematics Computer under Fuchs and Peierls.
She declared she had no information relative to the contacts and acquaintances
of Fuchs, nor the location of his residence in New York. 5-58805-914! I/'
17' #5: ,R;!1=?19<?=f<1P_n Genres
ltrs. Groves informed agents upon interview that she was hired by the
British ltission in Washington, D. C. in 1942, and went to New York in September,
1943, where she worked for the Censorship Division of the British Mission
after which she transferred to the Scientic Mission. During her employment
with the Scientific Mission, she typed scientific reports for Fuchs and Peierls.
She could provide no informtion concerning the social contacts of Fuchs; she
said she never knew his New York address and could not recall that he ever had
any. official visitors. She had no knowledge of any trips Fuchs may have made
and described himas a quiet, studious, absent-minded scientist who had little
to do with his fellow employees. 5-58805-911.! ~"
18. Ronald Wilfred Gurnex _
Gurney informed agents he first met Fuchs when the latter was one of
four refugee Gernsn students at the University of Bristol in 1935. at that time
Gurney wa on the faculty of the University of Bristol. He stated he has no
recollection in particular of Fuchs at that time other than in connection with
the other refugee students. He next saw Fuchs when the latter visited the
Argonne laboratory at the University of Chicago in November, 1947. This
meeting was extremely brief and consisted merely of an exchange of greetings.
Gurney commented that his recollection of Fuchs at that time was that Fuchs
had grown somewhat conceited, considering his age, and seemed impressed by the
fact that he had three secretaries working under him. It was Mr. Guz-ney's
recollection that his meeting with Fuchs at the Argonne Laboratory came about
through Dr. Edward Teller who usually entertained foreign visitors at the
Laboratory. Gurney next met Fuchs in September, 1949, when he visited Harwell
at the request of Sir John Cockroft. Gurney recalls no conversation with Fuchs
on this occasion.
Gurney declared that he and his wife, Natalie, were members of the _
Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR, Bristol, England Branch, but
said he did not know if Fuchs had been a member of this organization although
he said that since Fuchs was a "poor refugee student" he may have been allowed
to participate in the group without being a member. He likewise did not lcnow
if Fuchs had been associated with the Young makers Society at Bristol. He .
could furnish no further infocrmti.on with respect to Fuchs. 00-24628-11,38! /
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During interview with Bureau repre/sentatives' in London in the period
May 20 through June 2, -1950, Fjuchs stated that he became acquainted with
Ronald Gurney and his wife, Natalie Gurney, in Bristol, England, in about 1933
and was closely acquainted with them until at least 1937. He also met the
Gurneys in Chicago, Illinois, in November of 1947. SI-ls stated that consideration
had been given to the employment of Dr. Qurney at Harwell, England, on the
atomic energy research program there. Fuchs said that he would regard Dr. Gurney
as a security risk. He based"-this on the fact that Gurney and his wife both
belonged to the Society for Cultural Relations with the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics in Bristol during the 1930's. Fuchs said that he had ,
attended meetings of this organization and knew that Hrs. Gurney was particularly
active in the organization. Fuchs regards this organization as a Goszmunist front
organization. He stated that his regarding Dr. Gurney as a security risk may
have been somewhat prejudiced because Gurney was turned down for employment
at Harwell and Fuchs believes the question of loyalty possibly entered into
this rejection of Dr. Gurney but he does not know that this is absolutely_a
fact. Fuchs sa-id that he would question the loyalty of ltrs. Gurney more than
that of Dr. Gurney. However, he did not know of any espionage activity on
her part nor that she would actually engage in such activity but believed that
other people might get in contact with Soviet espionage through her. He was of
the opinion also that she was not sufficiently discreet. Memo to the Director
_ from Messrs Clegg and Lamphere dated 6-6-50!1-.._ -_ .-._~4n.__.. -»_-__.._-..- _. -.. -.--. .... 1- -
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19. Natalie Gurngz ' I
Mrs. Gurney who is the wife of Ronald Wilfred Gurney and who is presently
a student at the Walter Hines Page School of International Relations , Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, lhryland, advised agents that she met Fuchs when
he was a student at the University of Bristol in 1935, at which time her
husband was on the faculty of that University. She said that she has never noted
any indication of espionage activities or Russian sympathies on the part of Fuchs.
She said that she had not seen Fuchs from the time she left England in 1941 until
the Summer of 1948, believed erroneous reference to Fuchs visit to the Argonne
Laboratory in November, 1947! at which time Fuchs visited Br. Edward Teller who
was associated with the Argonne Laboratory. Hrs. Gurney recalled that Dr. Teller
brought Fuchs across the street from his house to the residence of the C-urneys
at which time they visited with Fuchs for approximately ten minutes and the
conversation wa concerned solely with mention of various mutual acquaintances
in England. ' ._
. Mrs. Gurney was able to recall that Fuchs had been aemember of the
Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR during the years 1935 and 1936
when he was in attendance at the University of Bristol. '
Information furnished by Fuchs during interview with Bureau
representatives concerning Mrs. Gurney has been set forth above under the
caption of her husband.
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By letter dated Hersh 11, 1950, the Boston Otfiee reported that on
interview with Yiktor Ieisekopt the letter bed steted that Professor Philip
¢ Isllaoe, heed of the lethemeties Department, Ileill University, lent:-eel,
Oeneda, had indieated that he had been eequainted with Puehs. By letter
1 deted lay 12, 1950, the Bureau: liaison representative in Ottawa, Oenede,
me requested to have Ielleee interviewed, sin! on am» 36, 1960, he furnislndthe reeulte of such an interview.
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lnasnuoh as the report or Special igent J. Jerome Enroll, Albuquerque
New Iezioo, dated larch 14, 1950, indicated that Jean Parks lie-recon, a teacher
at the L0! ilamos schools, was probably identical with a Jean Parker who had
been stated by Tansy Hilton Royle Sky:-ms, employee ct the British llission with
Fuchs, to have been friendly with Fuchs in hos Limos, Ire. Bereccn was inter-
Iieeed on June 12, 1960. She advised that she had known Fuchs at Les Alanna and
lad not his through llfr. and Ire. Rudolph Pcierls. She explained that one oi
her students in the Lee ilamos grswmr school was the son of no-. and Ire.
Peierls and that both she and Evelyn Kline, who passed the Polaris residence on
the way hone tron school, were frequently asked to stop at the Peierls hone for
tea. In addition, she Md been invited to the Peierlv hone for dinner ca tee
or three occasions and that Fuchs was there st each of these tines. After one
of these dinner parties she attended a dance in one of the dormitories with
Fuchs. She also recalled seeing Fuchs on the streets, in the cafeteria, and at
other dormitory parties, but that she had no other close association with him.
She advied she did not knee who Fuchs close associates were at Los Llsmos
other than the Peierls and that she knew of no trips he had node away from Loo
Alamos. She described Fuchs as a very quiet -person who never, to her knowledge,
discussed his own background or polities. 5..533Q5..1397! /J
22. Frederic do Hoffman
By letter dated llarch 8, 1950, the Loo ingeles Office advised that
William Graham, Security Officer, atomic Energy Commission, reported that Dr.
Fred Hofoan, a very responsible scientist, had been very insistent that Fuchs
be brought to Les Alemos.
Ir. Frederic do Hoffman, Alternate Aoeitent Director for Ueapon
Developsent, advised on July 5, 1950, that he had come to the Loo Alsmcs Project
from Harvard ¢olloge in about January, 19%. He stated that he use assigned to
the Physics or P Division and that he did not believe tint Fuchs was at the Les
ilanos plant at that time. He advised that he knew nothing about Fuchs prior
to Fuchs coming to Les ilsmoe and did not lmce who night have been instrumental
in bringing Fuchs to 1.». ilamos. He stated can no an not 1- .11 when he :1»-so
not Fuchs, but believed that it was probably several months after Fuchs arrived
at Les A-lance. Be explained that Fuchs was in a different division from the onein which he sorted; that Fuchs was a top physicist at that tinsvshereee do
Hoffman had just left college and held a relatively minor position; and that
they didnot belong to the sane social circles. He stated that he had had
practically no contact with Fuchs at Lee Alamo: until a tee months before Fuchs
returned to England and that during these last few months they had had some
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contact on matters of declessification, Hoffman said that he knew of
no close friends that Fuchs had at Loo Llano: and that he knee of no '"
associates of Fuchs other than the people with when he worked at Les Alanna,
De Hoffman continued that he had really gotten to know Fuchs after
Fuchs return to England after the war when they not at declassificaticn
conferences held by mgland, Canada, and the United Staten 5 stated tint
he and other members of the Les -Llenos Bcientifie laboratory lad specically
requested that Fuchs he sent as an English representative to the first de-
olassifiostion conference held in Washington, D» 6», in llcvenber, 194?. Re
stated that this was done because of Fuchs work at Loo Alanos and that he
seemed to be one of the logical persons to represent England at this con-
ference. Be advised that he recalled seeing Fuchs at this conference, but that
he knew nothing of his activities in this country during this visit to the
United States» according to do Hoffman, the British repreentatives were not
given any new information at this or later declaesification conferences.
- De Boiinan stated that he had seen Fuchs in England on several
occasions, but that on none of these occasions, nor at the dsclscsification
conferences, did Fuchs ever do anything which might arouse suspicion that
he was furnishing information to the Ruesiens.- 5-53305..1597! /'
£3» Donald II. Kerst '
on July 6, 1950, Donald I. Kerst, who had reportedly been acquainted
with Fuchs and who reportedly had stated that Fuchs was a very thorough men
and would have turned over information in great detail, was interviewed
during hie vacation at Havernn Haven, lndington, llichigan» Karat, Director of
the Belatron Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbano, Illinois, r =
advised that he had been employed in the Expo:-imntal Division at Loo Llano:
during the period that subject was attached to the Theoretical Division there.
Ke continued that he, Kerat, had also been treasurer of the Ski club and said
that he had a vague recollection that he had had a conversation with Fuchs on
one occasion when he collected his does for the Ski Hub. However, he stated
that it no possible that he was entirely wrong about this and that Fuchs might
not even have been a msnber.oi' this club. He said that beyond this he was
unable to remember any conversations with Fuchs other ian chance meetings as
they passed in the corridors at hos dlamoa. He said that he res unable to rc-
oall the occasion in Ihioh he and Fuchs first net» He continued that he last
see him at a breakfast in Harwell, England, in the Fall of 1948. He explained
that he, Kcrst, at that time was attending a nuclear physics conference at
Birmingham, England, and that they only engaged in small talk at this break-
fast. He said he spent no other time with Fuchs in Eigland. He further
explained that he believed he no living in Loe llamas with his family when
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Fuchs originally cane to Les Lflamoe and at Fuchs probably lived in the
dormitory during that period as he was single and that he was sure he
never knew anyet Fuehv triends or even who they were.
Ieret advised that he visited Lee Llsnos in larch, 1950, and
that during this visit to Lee Alanna Dr. Edward Teller made the remark,
Is can be sure that In Fuchs is a very thorough man and it he were to
eonnunioate aw information, it would be a report including a great dealof detail. Ir. Kerst explained that this 1-mark was nade 1% teller in
the way or emphasising the importance or the mount or hare uohs has
possibly caused and further explained that teller had felt that the interest
in this work among scientists outside Los Alamos has waned in the pest too _ ,_
years and no making the point strongly regarding Fuchs to arouse interest. _ N
E continued that there has been a tendency among scientists outside of loo
Alamo: to minimise the ham that Fuohs had done, although he personally felt
that he could have eontributed an immense amount of aid to the Russian cause.
He pointed out that there were two types of information that Fuchs might
have passed on. Firstly, he could have supplied which of the parallel
do-relements in this work were paying off and that such information would
lave released en enenseus amount of Russian nanpower to be devoted to more
fruitful ehanne1s- Secondly, he eaid Fuchs might have ooosnunioated engin- '
eering details to the Russians, although he emphasised that would have taken
a much longer oontaot or much longer report. He oontinued that Fuohs had
aocess to a vast amount of information, "particularly on bombs. He said
that it was interesting to epeoulato on how nuoh he was able to oomaunioate.
He further reflected that there 1: some concern among United States scientists
that Fuchs may still be a potential giver of information if he has not already
passed all of his information to the Russians.
Kerst stated that Fuohs could have been systematic about technical
things and at the some time have been a Torgetter of names. He also stated
that the remark made by Dr. Teller was more in the may of emphasising Fuels
thoroughness rather than stressing his memory.
Kerst stated that he quoted or paraphrased the remark nade by Dr.
Teller in liar-oh,l95O,to perhaps e. half dozen people when he was asked to char-
eoterise Fuchs. Hoeeve:-,he asserted that. personal oontaots with Fuchs were very_.
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pressed tobad s smoh greater opportunity to know lhaohsdie also etated that he
the impression tron his ohanoe meetings with Fuchs in the halls at
that Fuchs was a sour puss. Hoe'ever,he said he has since learned
find Fuchs extremely jovial when he met hin at the aforementionedscientists that this was erroneous and was,hineelf,eurprised and im-
bresicfest in haglend in the Fall of 1948. Kerst also stated he had the imp;-eaeien
Fuchs was about to be married when he was apprehended in kgland-Hmrever,he said
he was unable to recall the souroe of this information and remarked~that this
may have cone out of Beasweek ". e5..sssos-1W_/1 .,_
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Dr. Jooeph Lehnez, Associate Professor or Mathematics, University
of Pennsylvania, formerly an employee oi the Kalle: Corporation, Iev fork
City, im-ing the period. from am-en, 191:3, to larch, 191:6, ulvioed thathe had. numerous business contact; with Fuchs at Kalle: during the approxi-
uto period rm Boptember, 191$;-to April, 191:1». um: pllo advisedthat he had Jamohed with Fuchs with otherion only one occasion tollowing
1 conference. He and he had no social contacts irith ruoha or private
luncheon: with him. Be said he knew nothing of Fuchs nocial or private
lite. Be knew nothing concerning Fuchs that night be pertinent to espionageactivity. ' 5_568°5in26! /.
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As indicated shove, lhohs ti1etarrive_d men» United States onDecember 3, 1943. He work in commotion with etoiic energy developmentin the United States em nedlvided into three periods: Pirst, the periodIron his errivel on December 3, 1943 to Ingest, 19413, during which timehe was enployed with e group of British scientists in Iew Iork Iarking
with representatives oi the llenhetten Engineer District end Iellex Inc.on the K-25 Project, vhich related to Gaseous Ditinsiong -secondly, the
period tron August, 1944 to Jens, I946, iaen he Ins eorking st Lea Alenewith e group or British scientists in the fields of theoreticelend
experimental physics md high explosive development; end third, his visitto the United States during 1947 to ettend decleeiiicstion conferencesoi representatives of the United States, Great Britain end Quads. Duringthis letter visit he else made e trip to the 1;-gonna Ietionsl Laboratoryin Chicago end the General Electric Oonpsny in Schenectady, New Io!.-k, bothof which had been engaged in work for the Atomic Energy commission.
Inquiries by the Bureau indicate the and later the Atomic
merg commission apparently never made eny investigation or Fuchs or otherBritish scientists who cane to the U. S. on the etcnio energy program hnteccepted British clearance or such persons in accordance with e reciprocal
easement. Bureau ribs ted]. to disclose that any request was made or theBureau for e check ct its tiles against the none of Fuchs duringhis
presence here from 1943 to 1946 or at the tine he attended the decle-ssitication
conference in 1947- they do disclose, as is set out below that in response
to our request IE1! furnished us, beginning in larch 1944, with the namesof British Scientists in the U. S. working on the Ainslie Energy program.
Fuchs nsne was incluied in e list dated larch 28, 1944. The Bureauees also
advised by RED "when Fuchs transferred to Loe llsnos in ingest 1944.
The inquiries have disclosed ;the :rol1o1n.ng pertinent imr-nation
relating to clearance for Fuchs tor his work in the United States.
According to intonation furnished by the Atomic Emery Gomiesion,Major General George Y. Strong, A.O. or 5., Q2, directed e letter datedNovember 20, 1943 to the Chis: or the Vise Division, Department or State,
soliciting assistance for the issuance ot visas tor seven persons in Londonto be In-ought to the United States for special work on e. mtter er importanceto the Iar Department. One or the individuals lited was "K. Fuchs, horn
German and nsiarel iced British." It use requested that visas he issued tothem in order thet they night leeve London on November 22, 1943. /92p..,,j92e<.s Genoa 92:-rk1- $92g'923¢92 - 5-58805;-133!
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Information furnished by the itosdc Energy Commission indicatedthat s letter dated December ll, l943 from I. L. libiter, of the British i
Supply Council in North marine, to General L. R. Groves, of the Uar
Depertaent, forwarded to General Groves s letter from W. A. are, of the
British llinistry of Supply llission, in which it was stated that special
clearance. is required in England for anyone brought "into this won! even - -
though they bad already been cleared for work on ordinary secret ear
projects. The letter listed individuals on ton this "special clearance"had been carried out. Included on the list was II. F|§:1:!.x Ibdd.-236 Exhibit! I
On February 25, 1941. Bureau l1ipO1'Y.llOIl, Ge gs C. Burton and
Liah Uhitson had e conference eith General Groves of the Office of the Ghief
of Engineers, Iar Department, who was in charge of the etowic bomb project.
At that tine General Groves Ian requested to furnish the Bureau with the
names of all individuals in the British ilsaion attached to the project
together with background information in his files as well as photographs
men were available. loo-looeos-s45! /'
By letter dated llarch 2e, 1941., Colonel John Lemdale, Jr. of the
Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department, furnished information
concerning British scientists in the U. S. and engaged in work of interest
to the Manhattan Ehgneer District. Included was the name K. Fuchs. It
was indicated he arrived in the 11.8. December 3, 1943, Ies in possession
of BIB]! British Ministry of Supply Mission! peas number 8795, end was
located in New York. It Isa also stated in the letter "Representatives of ;
the British Government in this country lave assured this office that all of
ebb individuals who are in this country were cleared by British Security
1 1'10 bh 11 £1 fr lih United Kin Cl ." 193625-8 2 pr or e aperture! on aw M vague; _a_ 5 J
Correspondence in the Atomic Energy Gem. sion file relating to
Fuchs indicates that Dr. K. Fuchs was issued Pass No. 8795 by the British
Ministry of Supply liission while he was employed in New York with the group
of British scientists under Br. R. E. Peierls. 1 letter to General Groves
from W. L. Webster of the British Supply Council in_North lmerica, dated
larch 16, 1.944, referred to the movements of British personnel -to and from
the Urdted States. In this letter it was indicated that Dr. K. Fuchs wasstill in the United States. The following is quoted from the letters WI
"With regard to the security status of British personnel
visiting the {EA in connection eith our project, I have referred
this nutter to our London office and have been instructed by the
Director of Tube Alloys that I em to give you an assurance that
each person visiting the USA as an employee of the BritishGovernment, has been subjected to a special clearance by the / /-British Security Organisation in Great Britain." 5=£n!s-23e,n:nno1t!EM c92».s.s QM ~92 be we q92~492,;,<92 Q !* See Exhibit #2 attached. _ Q _'
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In e memorandum from Captain Glands G. Pierce, Jr.-, to the District
Engineer, Isnhetten District, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, dated larch 28, 1944 it
was pointed out that K. Fuchs ea:-rived" in this country on Decmber 3, 1943
and had BIB! British linistzy of Supply ssion! Peel Ho. 8795. This
senor-endnn stated that Generel Groves bed been assured by the E-itish Suppl;
council in North America that all the British aliens in the United States
engaged in work of interest to the Hm had been cleared by the British
security prior b their departure. for the United States iron the United 'nngece. 1 Q runes-e,p.1!__ ' ' '
1. L. Baker, Vice President of Keller, Inc., in New York, advised
Bureen Agents on interview es reflected in New York report February 9, 1950!
that Fuchs sss s nber of s hritish delegation oi scientists who cans to
the United States in Decenher, -1943 st the invitation of the Manhattan
Engineers "Project." Prior in their errivel, employees of Kellen, Ine.,
prise contractors for the llanhattan mgineere "Project," were infoned by
General Leslie R. Groves or his representative, that the Keller officials
could discuss any-thing with the British delegation regarding the progress on
the atuic bomb vhich vas then presently lcnoen to both groups. He explained
that prior to the arrival of the British delegation, Kalle: had exchanged
viess on fuaion and related problem Iith the itish. Ike Kellen officials
were specically earned not to go beyond the scope of utters which had
been discussed and also were specifically told not bdiecoss e.nyth:Lng with
the British regarding long range atomic plans. q n>1a.-253!/'i w -1
Examination of the le on the British Supply llission maintained
in the Retired Records Sectionof the M-onic Energy Commission files at
Oak Ridge disclosed that O. F. Kearton, who was one of the British scientists
nor-king Iith Kellen, Inc., in New Iork, had on two occasions been granted
clearance by MED for visits with representatives of Keller, Inc. Both of
the clearance msnorands indicate that British clearance had been recognised
by the Manhattan Bzginesrs District. u, Ib1a.-394!
Another letter from W. L. Webster to General Groves on August 9,
1944 referring to movements of British personnel in the United States listed
Dr. K. Fuchs, sho was referred to, as having been transferred officially non
New Io:-k to "II Les slsmos!. He was scheduled ta leave New Iork on Augustll, 1944 and was to report at "I" ebout ingest. 14,1944. pg
The letter contained the following statement: 3 '
"All the officers listed above have been subject to the uusual U K Security clearance for T.A."1lork " ilbid.-236 Exhibit!§,Lm92cc. soc 921:k!§$7~.. z92g92&92- '1! *1,
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By letter dated ingest ll, 1941,, Colonel John Lansdale Jr. of the
Office of the Chis! or Engineers advised Bureau oi noveinezz-to of British
personnel in the U. S. It use stated "Dr. I. Fuchs has boa: transferredfrom News Iork b I. Ins Alamos! He plans to leave New York on ll ingot /"and should arrive for duty at I on or abouts]-4 August." 00-190625-1053!
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Ir. Sidney Bewburger, Jr., Chief Security Operations Branch,Atomic Ens:-Q Commission, Ins ilanoe, Hes lterico, advised Bureau agentsthat members or the British llission who were stationed at Loe Alemos during
the war were cleared by the British "dove:-msnt prior to coming to the United
States and that our Government had made no investigation ccncerning then. ' .
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It would appear tron the above that it was the recognised procedure
for the llsnhattan mginosr District to accept British clearance of British
scientists employed on the Ltouic mergy program in the United States and
that no investigation was conducted by the U. S. Government concerning then.
This is home out by the response to the Bureau's question by Ir. Frank
Hamnack of the LEG referred to above, indicating that the LEO accepts British
and Canadian clearances Just as they accept ours.
The Atomic Energy Commission has advised that dnri BB 1947 considerable
attention was given to the problem rising from discrepancies in the
declsssification or informationamong the United States, the U. K. and "Canada.
is s result, it was decided to holds declaesification conference in
Iashington in order to establish uniformity. The conference was held on
November 11., l5 and 16, 191.7 and K. Fuchs was one or the five British
representatives attemng the conference. According to tin atomic Energy
Commission, the conference did not involve supplying to the British or
Cenadians any restricted data not alreacbr known to then. In connection with
the conference, Hr. Keller, assigned to declassification at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, requested ct the Atomic Energy [email protected] in Iashington, a
security check of three individuals, including "Dr. K. Fuchs British!."
A memorandum prepared by an atomic Energy Commission employee, referring
to a chedc oi the Washington Records of the IEO! indicated that Fuchs was
a member of the original British llission that came in the United States in
1943. It was stated, "The member-s_ or this Mission were never" investigatedby the United States Government. Their special investigation as conducted
by the British Government was accepted by General Groves as IID clearance."-* lg. see92~=es c>-~92>¢>& who M a°92<I=1 --=8
Apparently, the previous clearance was accepted and no further
action was taken to clear Fuchs and other Hitih representatives for the
declassirication conference.41-See Exhibit #5 attached /' f '
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Atondc Energy Comndssion files also reflect that while Fuchs was
in the United States in connection with the declassification. conference, he
was given clearance roar 'a visit to the Argonne National Laboratoxy, Chicago,
I_lJ.inoie, and the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. A
letter dated October "22, 191,7, from L. G. Ralfe, of the British Commonwealth
Scientific Office, Washington, D. C. , to Ir. Carroll 1.. Wilson, General
Manager 01' tin AEC, indicated that one of the British representatives, Dr.
H. W. B. Skinner, desired to visit four establishments, including "Chicago
University to discuss the subject oi neutron spectroscopy with Dr. ' f
H. L. Anderson. It was stated that he would be accompanied by Dr. K. Fuchs
on the -visit to "Chicago Ilniversity. He requested clearance for these
visits. By letter dated November 7, 19147, Hr. Wilson advised Mr. Ralie in
part: _ . I
"He have no objection to the visits and discussions proposed
for Dre. Skinner, Fuchs and Ihmworth on the basis that no Commission
restricted data sill be involved." *
On November 18, 191,7, Wilson by letter advised Rolfe that there
was no objection to Dre. Skinner and Fuchs seeing the "chystal spectrometerand mechanical velocity selector during their forthcoming visit withProfessor; Anderson at Argonne." XE Ibid.-155!
The Atomic Emery Commission advised on February 6, 195°. to
the effect that on November 18, 191.7, Fuchs was authorized to visit the
General Electric Company, Schalectady, New York, by Captain W. A. Brook, United
States Naval Inspector of Machines at the General Electric Plant. The
object of his visit was to see the machine described as "70-LED Synchroton."
It was stated that at that time the General Electric Company was doing no
work for the Atomic Energv Commission, but was apparently engaged on work
for the Navy. L.92 Ibid.-160! /
It should be noted that according to the Atomic Energy Commission
there were actually three declassification conferences held in connection
with the atomic energy program. The first was held in Washington from
November ll, through November 16, 191+?» Fuchs was in attendance at this
conference. The second was held in Harwell, England, on Septenber 6 through
8, 1911.8. Fuchs also attended this conference. _The third was held at Chalk
River, Camda, on September 26 through 28, 191.9. - Fuchs did not participatein this conference because of illness. 92 §bid.-155 and 156! /-n- See Eldiibits NoCe$ Z£_l|- :j3
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iii-h reepeet" to the clearance at Fnehe tor nor: on Atomic energyresearch in the "mm State! la eet m-an hereinhetore the following utm-received tron Senator Brien lolahon, Chairmen, Joint Committee on itenie
Energy dated April 5, 1950 it-oi interest: . '
. "the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, in its coneideretiou
and reviemci the Fhche caee, would greatly benefit tron a written enewer
to the following questions -- in-the tom of e. statement or _a point-byh
point reeponee, ee you prefers .
. '1. Ihen did the FBI tiret euepeot that the wartime British
llieeion might have included 5, epy!' lien wee thie into:-nation trans-
nitted to the Atomic Energy Oomieeion or to any member oi the
Gonnieeion etain -t ' '
'2» hen did the FBI Ii:-at euepect that Fuchs might be the
spy in queetion? Ylhen nae Fuchs name made known, in this context, to
the ltomic Energy Oomieeion" or to any member of the Gomieeicn eteif
'3. Bid 'Ha1perin'e notebook in the Canadian spy cane!
contain Phone name? It ec, -Ihen use thin fact made known to the FBI?
Did the Canadian government in any may call Fuchs to the attention of -
our government? - -
91» Did captured German records contain any informtion
eeeting doubt upon Fuche? It eo, when did this feet become known to
the FBI! 92 - 92
' ' "5- Doee the FBI have any knowledge as to how it happened
that the British cleared Fuchs? If eo, what are the circumtanoee?
"These mattere figured in e closed Committee meeting held
recently and one manner mggeeted that I might mention Section 15 !
of the llclhhon lot, which reade, in part, The Committee in authorized
to utilise the services, information, facilities, and pereonnel of thedepartments and eetebliehnaente or the Government. ' Your cooperation, as
alwaye, will be very keenly appreciated." - 4 ' "
The reply to Senator lkllahon dated April 6, 1950 eet forth the
following: _ *
I
' "In reeponee to your inquiryof April 5, 195°» tor
inrormtien regarding the caeeinvolving Dr, Emil Julius ElenaIt l @ t / ' 1' - '1 7 .
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Fuchs, I wish to advise as follows: '
"The investigation of Fuchs originated upon ascertain-ing in ingest, 191.9, tron confidential sonreesot kaolin reliability-that'aEighly restricted document in the IBII Series on atosio energyhad been furnished to an agent of-the Soviet Government in 1951.. Thefirst indication that the person responsible for the disclosure tothe 8'eriets might be a Qritish subject occurred in Ingest, 191.9. itthe sane time, however, the intonation did not exclude the possi-bility that the responsible party could have been an American citizen
or a person'o1'- other mtional1.ty.__ Mt-er the receipt or this inform-ation, lir. O. A. Rolander, Jr. , Security Qicer, Atomic he:-gy
Commission, Iashington, D. 0., nae contacted and he advised onhamst 29, 191.9, that the IBH Series were documents on atomic energy
research prepared by the British lttssion attached to the lhnhattanEngineer "District in New Iork City during 191.1» Q: thgjasis ct ydoccmsnts subsequently made available by llr. Rolsnder,92__the particulardocument i.n.question' was identified as use-12, entitled Trmemumsand the Efficiency of e. Diffusion Plant, Part; III, thelauthor ofwhich was x. hchs jg - - .
' DJ. of the naeniaers out the British lli-seionin New York
City during the pertinent time, innasdiately became suspect. "Inaddition to Fuchs, who was the most logical suspect on the basisof information set out hereinafter in this letter, the Britishllission in New York City included Dr. Rudolf Ernst Peierls,
Christopher Frank Kearton, and Toney Hilton Boyle Skyrme. Investi-gation was instituted immediately to single out, if possible, whichof the four members of the British llission night be the responsible
party by means of developing information concerning them and compar-it with the meager facts made available by the original inter t.canier we had mrniehed British Security uthoritiee with the name oiDr. Fuchs on September 22, l9£»9, as the individual believed to be »responsible for the disclomres of atomic secrets to the Russians,they advised on October 29, 19b9, that they concurred in our beliefand that they contemplated interviewing Fuchs. On December 22, 191.9,they reported that on the previous day Fuchs had been interviewed, buthad flatly denied he had acted as an espionage agent. Ga January 31,1950, the British advised that under protracted re-interrogationhchshad-pjmleseed to continuous espionage iron the end of 19141 to Febmary,19590 u I
_ On October 21, 191.9, a letter sand-'1-1'°°t'°-d by nu to theAtomic Energy commission, atte:;tion llr. C. A. Rolander, J:-., advising /
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that an eepienage investigation wee being conducted .rogerding- Roche,
who ,waa then enployed as the senior research worker at the Atomic
Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, hglend., In this letter there
wee set torthintormation retleoting that the name at Fuohe appeared-
in the-address book at Israel Helper-in and in a captured Ge:-mn_
document. --/ ' - - ' . _ '
With reepect to Israel Halperin, documents abstracted
tron the _8oviet Embaeey at Ott-ale," Canada, by Igor Goaaenkc, Soviet
Code" Clerk who detected to the Canadian authorities on September 5,
19h5,~ supported by the testimony oi Gooaenloo himself, eetablished
that-lialperin nae a amber of the Soviet llilitary Intelligence
espionage neteox-k operating in Canada during the period wl9L2-l9!,5.-
ipprehended -in Febmary, _l9!|.6, Halperin. subsequently wae placed on
trial for conspiracy to violate the Canadian Citicial Secrets Act.
However, on larch Ir, 191,7, charges against him were dismissed upon
refuse]. of e co-coaspirator to testify against him and the consequent
Iailureon the part of the'Crcwn attorneys to link him with the con-
epiz-aoyf through independent evidence, a condition precedent to the
admieeibility of the Soviet documents.
~' ' 1 "On llarch 12, 191,6, the Bureau liaison representative"
in Ott-e'ee., Canada, to:-worded photoetatic copiee or an address book
and diary found in Helped-in'e poeeeesion at the time oi hie appre-
hension. The addreea book and diary contained several hundred namee
of individuals living in the United States and other parts of the
world. Among the entries appeared. the mane or Klanellaohe, Lest.
to 1L'Born, 84 Ge01'geI-nae, Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland, Camp H
Camp L.! II1tB1BlMlltoP6I'8-tillle -
' "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have advised the
Federal Bureau of Investigation that thie__deta also wee mode
available to British Security bathe:-itiee. No investigation was
conducted by the Bureau regarding persons listed in the address hook
ea not residing in the United States inasmoh as both the Canadian
and Britieh authorities were conducting inveetigationa in connection
with the ramifications oi the Canadian espionage network, and -
pertinent infornntion being developed by the reepective services nae
billg GD!-h-GIlgQ '1¢ r v '
. "The only known link betleen the widely publicized
Canadian espionage. case and espionage activity or Fuchs is the
Halperin address book entry. Recent preee articles setting out that
the United States, in 191,6, waefadvieed or Fuchs activity through
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the Canadian Royal Commission, have absolutely" no basis in fact.The Royal Canadian 1iO92mtod"P9l___ios have advised that neither the RoyalCommission nor the Royal Gensdian Ionnted Police had any-
informtion regarding Fuchs espionage activity in as stated in
5 ' Hmong the thousands of Ge:-can documnte captured atthe end of.ths war, there were two documents which apparently wereprepared by the German Security Police in the Spring of 19l;l,. priorto the invasion of Russia.-. These docmmnts contained thousands of
names and were indexed for future reference in this Bu-sen: filesin the Spring of 191,3. Included in the lists were the following: -
. 'Klens Fuchs, student of philosophy, Dec. 29, l9ll,
hhaeselshein, RSHA-IVA2, Gestapo Field Office Kiel.
Gerhard Fuchs, October 30, 1909, Rasselshein,student, e - _
Eln-IVA2 Gestapo Field Office Kiel.
"Gerhard Ehchs is the brother of Emil Julius Klaus Fuchs.The RSHL reportedly stands for the Oentrel Office of the SecurityPolice in Germany, and the names on the lists were reportedly ofpersons suspected by the Germans as Communists or Soviet agents.After the investigation of Fuchs was initiated, an examination oi thedocuments reflected the names of Fuchs and his brother.
"This Biresu does not know the basis oi the clearance ofFuchs by the British authorities prior to his coming to the United
States in connection with atomic energ research in 191.3 insemch asthe responsibility of security rested on the Manhattan EngineerDistrict, end Federal Bureau of Investigation responsibilities were
not fixed by lee until the Atomic Energy not oi 1914.6 becasn effective
January 1, 19l+7. when Fuchs came to the United States in 1%? he usecleared by the Atomic Energy Commission without reference to the FBI.,4
' "In connection with the above, I desire to dram to your
attention the fact that the informtion contained herein is of e.
strictly confidential nature, particularly with reference to theoriginal informant, and should be considered,-as oi Top Secret classi-fications" - '
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It is imposible to determine exactly how much information of a
scientific nature was acquired by Fuchs during his work on atomic energy in
England and the United States. It is also impossible to ascertain exactly how 1
much information orknowledge he passed to the Russians and the value of such -
information to them. in evaluation in this regard can best be arrived at froman examination ofgchsh statement to Dr. Michael W. Perrin, atomic scientist
connected with th ritish Ministry of Supply, which statement is quotedverbatim below; a summarisation oi the nature oi. his work in the United States Lu ,
and his access to scientific information; and an examination of statements of 'other scientists in e. position to estimate Fuchs: knowledge of atomic energzg %
it the outset, it should be pointed out tnstjsis Percy Sillitoe, Head
of MI-5, _haa advised that the technical information wh ch Fuchs admittedly passedto the Russians included the know-how oi the atomic bomE x W!
Fuchs statement to Dr. Michael ii. Perrin, referred to above, is quoted
as'follows:% Erirstérsrits. From 17942_to__D£§:ember, 1945.] M LL!
"Fuchs told me that his first contact was early 1942. 92By this
time he had joined Professor Peierls' team. at Birmingham '
University which was working under a contract from the Directorate
of Tube Alloys. Fuchs sit-plsissc that during this first period,
he had been at considerable pains to give the agents only the
results of work which he himself had done. He was engaged on a
study oi the basic theory of and the mathematical treatment of ,
problems connected with the gaseous diffusion process for
separating the uranixm isotopes, and was also doing some work
on the development of mathematical methods for evaluating the
critical size and efficiency of an atomic bomb. He was only
concerned with the possibility of separating and using pureuranium 255 and told me that'at this time he knew practical?
nothing about the possibilities of the pile reaction other han
what had been published in the scientific literature, and he
certainly did not appreciate any possibility of using plutonium
as an er. ternative to U-235 in an atomic bomb. He regarded this '1
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part of the atomic energy project as, at the best, e. 1%,-term_possibility for the production oi pmermu!
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"In accordance with his intention to give the results of
his own work, his main activity with the Russian agent was to
hand him copies of all the reports which he wrote while at
Birmingham University. These were in the 'l!.8.' Series and he
usually handed over a spare carbon copy which he had typed.
The agent with when he was in contact clearly understood none
oi the technical details but, according to Fuchs, was in no way
surprised.'to hear work directed to the production of an atomic
bomb, and on one occasion asked Fuchs what he knew about the
electrc-magnetic method as an alternative means of separating
the-uranium isotopes. This very much surprised Fuchs who, at the
time, knew of any work: on this method and had never con-sidered 1% }
"Apart from the detailed papers oi which he was himself the
author, Fuchs did tell the agent in general terms that work on
the project was being actively prosecuted in the United Kingdom
and that a small pilot unit to test out the principal of the
diffusion eparation process was being put up at th?'Ministry
of Supply factory; valley in North Wales. He said that he gave
no details of the design or mechanical construction of the equip-
ment in this pilot pls.nt.. He also reported that similar work was
being done in the United States and that there was collaborationbetween the two countries%
"Apart from the question about the electro-magnetic separation
process, Fuchs did. not remember much about questions put to him
and thought that they were very few and were sometimes so garbledas to be almost meaning1ess u I
"Fuchs was a member of the British Diffusion Mission which we
New York in December, 1943, End he stayed on there when the majority
came back to the United Kingdom. During this period Fuchs learned a
good deal more about the American program and, in particular, that a
large production plant for the gaseous diffusion process was being
built which would be worked in conjunction with a second large plant
using the eleotro-magnetic process. He knew that both of theeplants would be at Site X but he has told me that he did. not thw¬Seccnd Period. York. Dec_ember:,_l9{l§;,_ to A11@stLl§4§ u!- . , ,
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"know there this was and could not, therefore, report it to the _n_er__|y_
Russian agent with when he was in contact in the U.S.A, Be did,
however, know the general scale of effort of the American program
and the approximate timing, and this information was passed over.
By new his original intention to Pass on only such information
as was the result of his own work had been dropped and he did
provide some technical information about the American gaseous
diffusion plant, He told me that he had given the agent some
general information about the membranes and had told him that
these would be made of sintered nickel powder, though he did
not know any technical details. Hie main contribution was to
pass over copies of all the reports prepared in the New York
Office of British Diffusion Mission. These carried the serial
letters 'M,S.N.' and he handed over, usually, the manuso iptof each report after it had been typed for duplication-wc
"During this period Fuchs said that he still had no real knowledge
of the pile process, or of the significance of plutonium, He paid
one short visit to Montreal and knew that the teams there were
engaged on the desig and construction of a small, heavy water pile.
He took: no great interest in this work and imagined it could only
be related to the long term possibility of the development of atomic
energy as a source of power. as far as he could remember, he did
not pass any of this to the Russian agent as he regarded it as of
little interest. He told me that during this period he got the
impression from the agent that the Russians had a great general
interest in the project and that its importance was fully appre-
ciated, but he did not believe that anything very serious was being
done by the Russians themselves ue W L 7 :1!EThirdPeriod. lg-as giggles, August, 1s>;4s;,_t9H1_=1;*e_ §_u;71m2_e1r_,:of 1_e4§%
"When Fuchs went to Les Alamoe he realized for the first time the
full nature and magnitude of the American atomic energy program
and the importance of plutoniuqn as an alternative of U-235 became
clear to him; He also learned then that it was intended to build
large plutonium-producing pile as an a1ternati've to the U-235
production plant at Oa1_c_r_idg;e u "elm/h
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"The first contact with the Russian agent after he went to Les
Alemos was in February, 1945, when he met him at Boston;
Massachusetts. While there Fuchs wrote a report, which he said. -
would have covered several pages, summarizing the whole problem
of nnking an atomic bomb a he then saw it. This report included
a statement of the special difficulties that would have to be .
overccme in making a plutonium bomb, He reported the highly g
spontaneous fission rate of plutonium and the deduction that a
plutonium bomb would have to be detonated by using the implosion
method rather than the relatively simple gun method which could
be used with U-235. He also reported that the critical mass for
plutonium was less than that for U-235 and that about five to
fifteen kilograms would be necessary for a -homh. Lt this time the
issue was not clear as to whether uniform compression of the core
could be better obtained with s. high explosive lens system, or
with multipcint detonation over the surface of a uniform sphere
of high explosives. He reported the current ideas as to the need
for an initiator, ihough these, at the time, were very vague, and
it was thought that a constant neutron source might be sufficient.
Finally, when he wrote his report in February, 1945, hereferred
only to the hollow plutonium core for the atomic bomb as he d dnot then know anything about the possibility of a solid corew
"He met the Russian agent again in Santa Fe at the end of June,
1945, and this time handed him a detailed report which he had -
already written in Los alamos with access to the relevant fi eso he could be sure that all figures mentioned were correoiawc
"This second report fully described the plutonium bomb which had,
by this time, been designed and was to be tested at Trinity He
provided a sketch of the bomb and its components and gave all the
important dimensions. He reported that the bomb would have a solid
plutonium ccre_and described the initiator which, he said, would
contain about fifty curios of polonium. Full details. were given of
the temper, the aluninum shell, and of the high explosive lens
system. He told the agent that the two explosives to be used in
the system were Be-ratol' and Composition B, though he himself
did not know what this really meant in terms of H. E. Technology-
The Russian agent was told that the "J.rinit_y' test wasexpected to
produce an explosion-equivalent to about ten kilo tons of T.H.i-
and was given details of the date and an approximate indication of
the site
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"Fuchs told me that, at this time,
design, construction and operation
were, therefore, not passed to the
further meetings with him in Santa Fe in the auttunm of 1945 and
spring of 1946, but could not remember precise dates. During
these meetings he gave some information on the delta phase of
plutonium and probably! made some reference to the use of l
gallium as an alloying constituent, but he was insistent that
he gave no other information on the metallurgy oi plutonium and
that he did t ascribe the techniques on its preparation or
fabricationdetails of production of pile
were still unknown to him and
Russian agent. He had several
"During this la tor period at Les Alsmos, or perhaps soon after
he returned to the United Kingdom, Fuchs gave the Russian agent
some general information about the possibility of developing a
mixed bomb. In particular, he emphasized the advantages oi this
for the United States because they already had both plutonium pro-
duction pile an ' otope separation plant, and could make use of
both materials _
"The Russian age with when he was in contact during his whole
period in the United States while in New York and Lcs slams! was
rather more capable of understanding the information which he wasgiven than had been the case with his contact in the United Kingdom.
Fuchs described him as being perhaps an engineer or chemical engines
He clearly had no detailed knowledge of nuclear physics or of the
sort of mathematics with which Fuchs was competent to deal.EF_ourthPe:-iod. garwell. c£fl_9}:{3 to gprilng of _l§Td§.$
"Fuchs explained that during this last period he was having in
creasing doubts on the wisdom of passing information to the
Russians, and he assured me that he did not give them all the
_in:£ormation that he could have given and that he did not always
answer questions that were put to him. He was, for instance,
several times asked for the American rate of production and
stockpile oi atomic bomb, and about the Unitedhingdoun program.
As to the first, he only repeated the information which he had
had at the time that he left Los Alsmos and said that he knew
nothing thereafter. On the United Kingdom program he reports
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the arguments which had led to the decision to build air-cooled,
rather than water-cooled, piles and gave the_ design figures for
the plutonium output from the two windscale piles that were under
construction. Later he told the agent of the plan to build an
L.B.D.' sotope separation plant in order to economize on rawmt erial. I ' _
"While Harwell Fuchs filled in the picture of the plutonium
bomb that he had already given from Les A1-amos and provided
mathematical details such as those relating to the equation of
state, the probability of pre-detonation, and the blast calcula-
tions of the Hiroshima and Hagasajd. bomb. He was asked some
questions about the Bikini test and gave the formula for
radiation intensity as a function cf distance, but he I8. asked
no questions and gave no infomntion. about the Eniwetok test. At
the end of 1946 or early 1947 he gave the net yield from the
referenced formula for the efficiency of an atom bomb explosion.
Up to February, 1949, he was several times asked to gi e the fullderivation of this formula, but never provided 1%!
"During 1947 Fuchs was asked on one occasion by the Russian agent
for any information he could give about the tritium 'b0mb.' He
said that he was very surprised to have the question put in these
particular terms and it suggested to him as had the earlier
request for information about the electro-magnetic isotopes
separation pro s that the Russians were getting information fromother sources . Ll! '
"In reply to he question Fuchs gave the T-D cross-section value
before this was declassified, and he also gave all that he knew
from his Les Alamos period on the methods for calculating radiation
loss and the ideal ignition temperature. He also described the
current ideas in Les Alamos when he left on the design and method
of operation of a super bomb, mentioning, in particular, the
combination fission bomb he tritium initiating reaction andthe final deuterium ong A J .
"Fuchs told me that during 1948 he did not pass to the Russian
agent a great deal of information that was then in his possessionas s. result oi his work at Harwell on the ems: and method W La!
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operation of plutonium production pile, He was surprised that
very few questions were put to him-on this subject, though, dur1948, he was asked how the uranium natal rods were fabriqated
"He did not give this information and was impressed at the time
with the peculiarity that this one specific detail had been.
asked for while there were no questions about the recovery of
uranium frcm its ore, the preparation of pure uranium complements
or metals, canning techniques, dimensions of uranium rod or the
preparation, purity and dimensions of graphite. He told me that
he believed that he might have given the lattice spacing for
one particular pile while hewas in the United States, but he did
not give the lattice formula, nor was he asked for information
on how to calculate a pile ttice, and he gave no informationon exponential etperimentsk bl} .
"He was never asked anything about Wigner expansion, though he
did give, at some period which he could not precisely remember,
Los Alamos information on the possibility, which was thenbeing
considered, of the release of energy from graphite used as
moderator in a pile, and may have mentioned the problem of
noveme in the graphite as affecting the alignment of cooling
tubes u !
fFuche told me that he was never asked, and never gave fundamentalnuclear physics data relating to the fission reactiomwr U}
"During this last period Ehchs said that he had given the agent
general information on the idea current at Harwell on new types .
of reactors, including the flame trap design, the " 1 andsandwioh reactors, fast reaction and breeders LL!
"During the latter part of 1948 he was asked on one occasion for
a specific Chalk River report, dealing with neutron distribution
in the N.R.X. pile, which he,had never seen. He was also told
that there is a report on mixing devices and was asked whether
he could get it. He had not, at the time, seen this report but
identified it at Harwell and provided extracts from it. This
information refers to a particular desigz detail t t is relevantonly to the windscale air-cooled }_J1'O1il10'Ci.On'pi1e. M !
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"He was also asloed about the solvent extraction process. He knew _ -
hardly anything of this. but was able to get some very limited
infomation from Harwell reports and passed this e though hebelieved that this was of no great sigeificanoe !
All these questions confirmed his opinion that the Ru s had I
access to information fran another source or sources. /
"Finally, I discussed with Fuchs the nature of the 'atomic
explosion that had taken place in Russia in the Autumn of '
1949. Heetold me that he would have expected this to be due
to a plutonium bomb in the light of all the information he had
passed to the Russians. He, personally, believed that this
conclusion was confirmed by the measurements on the airborne
fission products that had been collected, though he reccgiized
the doubt in thi interpretation due to the lack of chemical
evidence for the presence of plutonium in the cloud. He said
that he was, however, extremely surprised that the Russian
explosion had taken place so soon as he had been convinced that
the information he had given could not have been applied so
quickly and that the Russians would not have the engineering .
design and construction facilities that would be no ebuild large production plants in such e. short me
"I formed the impression that, throughout the interview, Fuchs
was genuinely trying to remember and report all the information
that he had given to the Russian agents with whom he had been in
contact, and that he was not withholding anything. He seemed,
on the contrary, to be trying his best to help me to evaluate
the present position of atomic enerw works in Russia in thelight heuinformtion that he had, and had not, passed to
them. ! _ l
In connection with theEecond period eferrod Fuchs,lti trea ng 00
v!92 Energy Commission reflects that in 1943 arrangements were ma e for a group of
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i S9'" British oientists to come to the United States and work with representatives of
W Kellex, Inc., of New York, prime contractors for the Manhattan Engineer Distriot,and MED representatives on the scientific development of the gaseou dif.'1uJ1'
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E-eject which was also known as II-25__.J Ehis project r lated to the gaseous -diffusion process for separating the uranium isotopemohs was one of the
members of the British tees: assigned to work with Kc ex. The British scientists
had offices in room 2401-E at so Ibcchange Place, New York City. '*"".
es-saaos-ass Ecol. and 255! _ "
The British scientists undertook analysis of the following theoretical
problensa
l! Cascade of cacades flow sheets
! Exact calculation of equlibrium timex ca Control of main cascade e.g., frequency of use of automatic
control valves!-! Control of purge cascades . ' ' " - e
Reports of these theoretical studies were summarised in e. series of
reports, referred to as the MEN Series, which were described as having been
helpful in anticipating problems of plant design. The MSN Series were prepared
by the scientists belonging to the British Mission. The "H" referred to the NewYork Office of the Manhattan Dist uses, s and 156!. 92£3; Loss or separation due to surges
4
It should be noted thatr¬<1chs,Ep his statanent to Perrin, admi ted 'that all of the M511 Series of reports were made available to the Russians. K
' In evaluating the importance of this series of reports, it should be
noted that Dr. Paul I.*IcDe.niels, a physicist assigned to the Atomic Energy"
Commission Building, Washington, D. 0., according to reports from the Atomic
Energy Commission, has stated that the one report prepared by Dr. Fuchs, entitled
"Fluctuations and Efficiency of a Diffusion Plant, Part III, The Effect of
Fluctuation in the Flow of N ," i a skilled, technical, theoretical discussion
covering refinement of plant zoperstions. He stated that this document, along
with others such as barrier production, operating characteristics, seal develop-
ment, and pumps, would be helpful in determining over-all plant operatingtechniques. gs , 156! -=isIt she be noted that the report referred. to by Mcllaniels is MSN-12,
referred to by the original informant in this case as having been furnished tothe Russians by Fuchs. g .p _
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Various meetings were held among members of the British teem of
scientists, Kollex employees, and MED representatives, which were attended by
Fuchs while he was in New York from December, 1943 to August, 1944. Various
subjects were discussed at these meetings, Mr, A. L, Baker, Vice-President of
KBIIOI, In-0 J,stated to Bureau lgents that after the meeting of Jamie:-y 5, 1944
which Fuchs attended, there was no part of the American pl!-I1 to construct e.
plant at Oak Ridge for the mmufsyture of e.tomi_o bombs that no not known to
the British, Ibid, ass and ass Exhibit! -» '
In cementing on the custody of documents available to the British
teem of scientists in Ken York. Christopher Frank Keerton, e. member of this
British team, when interviewed by the British stated that probably only three
officers, Peierls, Fuchs, end himself, would have had xmrestrioted access tosuch documents, including the HEN Se_ries,3&'§bid, serial 52!
With respect to the third period o Fuchs activltyst Los Alamos
from August, 1944 to June, 19-L6, Mr. Ralph C. Smith, Assistant Director for
Clessificetion and Security of the Ins Alsmos Scientific Laboratory, stated
that Fuchs and his associate, Peierle, were two of the smartest men who were
ever at Los Alemos and both contributed heavily to all phases of the weapon
development program. Both of them worked in the Theoretical Physics Division
of the Laboratory under the direction of Hens Bethe, During the letter pert
of his stay at Loo Alemos, Peierls wee the senior collaborator of theBritish
Mission there, Smith stated that both Fuchs and Peierls had almost unlimited
access to highly classified information while at Los Alsmos. He stated that
both of them,as well as Roy-le Skyrme, another British scientist, had written
e great number of reports while at Les Alemos and had contributed heavily to
the technical
of the atomic
fam.i.1ia.r with
all phases of
refers to theseries, Fuchs and Peierls were not only familiar with all phases
bomb perfected while they were at Los Alemos, but were also
the planned long-range research program. They contributed to
etomio weapon development, including implosion and super, This
future long-range program of research and the H-bomb research-!
Smith stated that they and Robert Christy headed the teem which did the
hydrodynamics work which made the plutonium implosion method possible, He-
continued that they did considerehle no:-1: on the efficiency of the design of
the lhiwetok model of the atomic bomb» The members of the British Mission
probably, according to Smith, had complete information concerning, all phases
of atomic energy research in this country up through the latter pert of 1946,
with the possible exception of the details of the design of the Oak Ridge and
Henford plants, The information furnished by Smith was classified es secret.!
Ibid, 13--pp. s,a,1o!»/ ' ,
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Records of the Atomic Energy Gomission reflect that as of January
12, 1949, there was uede e. compilation of the Canadian Staff, scientific and
technical, and United Kingdom Staff, scientific and technical, who participated
in the atomic energy program under the former Manhattan Exgineering District
frcun 1943 to 1.946. This compilation included, in soihr as possible, a statement
as to the installations visited and degree of access afforded to these groups.
It is stated that records available inthe security files of the Atomic Emery
Commission give a general picture as to the fields of activity in which the '
British Mission participated, but that the available records do not provide V
detailed. infornation as to their particular specialties, nor do the records
clearly indicate what familiarization the British group may have had with other
programs in which they did not actually participate, but undoubtedly became
acquainted with by reading technical reports available to them. The following
statanent appears in the records" of the Atomic Emery Commission concerningthe British group at Lea Alamos: Y W _
"Inasmuch as it was the policy of the laboratory to make all informa-
tion available to this group at Lce Alemcs, and as the British personnel had
general acces to the Document Roan, various local sites, and the organized
meetings of the local project, it is believed that the group had substantially
ccmplete knowledge of the gun assembly and implosion assembly of fissile material,
the actual design of the aerial bombs employing these principles, the possible
future developments, including the Super-' or Thermo Nuclear Reactions, the
auxiliary equipment at the various local sites including the Water Boiler. The
British Group probably did not obtain detailed infomation concerning the final
ohemical work at Los Alemos, however, the general aspects were known to them because
they would be discussed in colloquiums or staff meetings. The exact extent oi the
technical knowledge about sites other than the Los Alamoe project by British
personnel at Los Alamos cannot readily be determined since work directly relat-
ing to Los .iIe.mos activities such as basic physics as well as pile design which
members of the Mission would use in their daily work is undoubtedly known to them.
Such items as Hanford chemistry would have reached the group by inference only
since the laboratory as such did not have detailed access to such information,
During their stay at Les Alamos, they also had access to the general physics
and chemistry principles involved in the operation of the Chicago and Hanford
piles, the physical construction oi these piles, but only e. of the
engineering details. They had, however, complete access to all general theoretical
work on pile design. It is assumed that they had rather complete knowledge of the
mass spectrometer application used in the Galutron and gaseous riffusion processfor separating uranium isotopes."-I $ Q9 ' '
e See Exhibit # 6 attached / pk 9, y;-,1-£1,-,<> 3151311
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According to the Atomic Energr Commission, the "Super" refers to the
hydrogen bomb, and, therefore, Fuchs: had knowledge of that development as
indicated in the statements above. Ibid, 256 Encl!
Inquiry of the Atomic Energy Commission at Les ilamos disclosed thatFuchs had attended numerous technical meetings while at Los Alemos. The datesof the meetings and the subject matters discussed and a brief summary of the
discussion were furnished to the Bureau and this material is attached as
Exhibit # '7 .. It should be noted that Fuchs attended several conferences,beginning April 18, 1946, relating to the "Super." Many of the other meetingsobviously referred to highly important scientificmatgdrls. £ Ibid, 185! .
- In commenting upon the work of the British scion at Les alamos. Dr.J. R. Oppenheimer, in a memorandum dated July 15, 194.9, prepared for the AtomicEmery Commission, stated that Dr. Fuchs was associated with Professor Peierls
in the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos; that Dr. Peierls was head of a groupin the Theoretical Division assuming responsibility for the calculation anddesign of the explosion components of the implosion weapon. He played a largepart in the determination to use lenses for the explosive system and in thetheoreticalfiguidance of their experimental development. He was fully informed
about the m-Rdllurgical peculiarities of plutonium and participated in thedecision to use the metal in its delta phase. He stated also that the UK '
l-Iission had complete access to all information and reports.
Dr. Morris E. Bradbury advised the Atomic Energy Commission on July18, l9i9, concerning the participation of the British Mission personnel, asfollows: They contributed to the success of the Los Alamos war effortprimarily in the field of theoretical and experimental physics and secondarilyin the field of high explosive development. It should be noted that the BritishMission supplied the major portion of experience in the field of theoreticalhydrocwnamics which was of fundamental importance to the development of theatomic weapon...." He,also stated "All developments underway at the time were
known to the British. personnel, as well as the probable course of future lines
of activity."
Dr. Hans Bethe advised the Atomic Energy Commission on July 18, 1949,with regard to Fuchs, in part as follows: "Contributed directly to the successof Peierls' group, especially in the theoryoi the jets, which in the earlytimes constituted a major difficulty with implosion practice, and to the theory
of the initiator." e .- I no -who %92892,,,-_m,@!H&_ d9292.<!92/em ca 8; &*921
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- Mr. R» G. Smith, referred to above, advised the Atomic Emery
Commission on July I8 1949 that Fuchs made efficiency estimates on various 11; s 1o1=»=1~= d@=1e=- o- ~r the '
corresponding rather close y _o -ray o s. Euiwetok. He stated that Fuchs
1 . and Peierls provided two-thirds oi the team which handled the hydrodynamics '
;__ __ l in "T-Division, which made the implosion development possible. They both '
$1-fi " contributed heavily to all phases oi the weapon development, including implosion = lbid. 124! __ b0E.LlJ:dA',g.-f.fQ I
e--~"s_Dr."lPe.u.l Mobaniels, referred to above, advised the Atomic Energy
_;_§_;Qompissiongthat some of the reports prepared by Fuchs dealt with detonation .,=>,_~.:-g~;P~;;~;_'_~;.;;§s.§§cssseob1y of the atomic bomb. He stated that Dr. Fuchs participated consider-
the desig anddevelopment of the atcsnic weapon. Ibid, 156! _ .M-...e_-gs -V wno-nzg 1 _ __"F?--i92 - '
. . Dr. Hans Bethe, under whom Fuchs was employed at Ins Alsmos and
7§_*e's"éntl§'T-dttelched-_tc the Nuclear Laboratory, Cornell University, advised Bureau.
4'-;H;?'{m' _ '1__.°i1.§E1o_l2I'§!Ar'3f;_14=,_l95O, that he was in charge of the Theoretical Division
§;;'"-'1?-'}}T.;'j31fLoi§AIamos*1_¥*T11is Division performed the calculations ahead oi time as to how
was to be made and assembled and how it would work. As e. result of the
%.~*?§§g;%§e-Queheoiigremnent; England furnished several top scientists to work in this
;";i;- _D§§§£@._mThw were about twelve in number and it was Bethe's belief that the
_~__;: ;_';?5;_f~"¢5l5os;3§_{;wT_65uld not have been completed as soon as it was without their assistance.
£5-.7"-_;:_I.___T:_'_ B§'p5-T}1,Bj"'h&Ii: personally requested that Dr. Rudolph Peierls, of the University of
_;92;_:"ffBir:§§g1iani,,_§'be7ass1gned to the project. Peierls accepted with the stipulation
o _bri'ngj_with_ihim two of his best collaborators. Dre. Fuchs and Skyrme.
Aeriiaiwscientists, were assigned to the particular task of determin-
l§{est'way oi bringing together parts of materials so that after assembly
:E_--;;'::'_*_;_-_:1_3_lj1_.8__.l.§ would be" more than the "critical mass ." The work oi this group is still
information and was about the mot highly confidential work done. As
tr"-" __: "'s_'ssm1»e1- of this group, Fuchs was in as vital a position as anyone on the entire
_._-7,-21;;-é _-pp;-_o,ject and had access at all_jj.mes to all parts oi the Laboratory and all
except perhaps some top secret documents. Dr. Bethe pointed out that
not that he could not examine the top secret documents, which were
1ie3:sf{ssar;§§:§cF;;_ispwork,_- upon the proper clearance and permission. Ibid, 526!
statedithat in June or July 1946, Fuchs visited him at
1i?fT£;§ffth§;§ehé'ralZEl¬'ctric Company in Schenectady. New York. Fuchs was on his way
'Ed"g'l eTnId2 ' He did not question Dr. Bethe concerning his work and it was
Bethe's recollection that Fuchs sister frcm Boston came to Schenectady to meet
5 "# him. Since that meeting, Bethe has seen Fuchs on two occasions. One was in
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England during the Summer of 1948, when Bethe spent a day and a half at Harwell.
Fuchs talked with Bethe and "showed him around. He also told him sanething of
the theoretical work being done there. Bethe was under orders from the atomic
Energy Commission not to talk of retrioted matters, so the conversation was
one-sided. In the Spring oi either 1948 or 1949 this probably actually refers
to 1947!, Fuchs visited Dr. Bethe at Ithaca, New York. He had come from ihgland.
to attend Declassification meetings which were held in Washington. His visit
was at Bethe's invitation. He stayed one day. Their main topic of conversation
was nuclear reactors and declaeeification. again, Dr. Bethe was uhder rrders
not to speak: of restricted information, so the conversation was one-sided.
Ibid, sac!
|-Q
The Atomic Energy Commission has advised that Roland A. Anderson,
Chief of the Patent Branch, advised that the records at Los Alamoe indicated
that in a memorandum of March 7,1945, it was stated, "Under the present setup
ue British personnel have been given full access to all documents and data at
this Site." Ibid, see! l
In connection with Fuchs trip to,the United States in 1947 to attend
the Declassifi-cation Conference, which was held in Washington from November 14
through 16, 1947, the Atomic Ens:-gr Commission haeadvised that the Conference
did not involve supplying to the British or Canadians am; restricted data which
was not already known to them. Ibid, ass!
It is noted above that while in this country Fuchs made a visit to
the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago on November 28, 1947. Records of
the Security Force at the Laboratory indicate that he was there from 2:50 PM
to 4:00 PM on that date and at all timawss escorted by a mmzber of the
Laboratory staff. In accordance with the clearance issued that he was to
discuss unclassified and declassified matters, necessary steps were taken to
,g'uars.ntee that he was only concerned with unclassified matters while there.
He was shown the crystal spectrometer and the mechanical velocity selector.
These instruments, according to the Atomic Energy Commission, were described
in Volumes 71 and 72 of the "Physical Review," dated Jxme l and October 1, 1947.LEM, 369! :
Investigation has disclosed that the records of the Inspector ct
United States Naval Material at the, General Electric Cmxpany, Schenectady,
New York, reflect that on November 1.7, 1947, Foch, as a member oi the British
Atomic Margy Research Establishment, visited Dr. Herbert C. Pollock, Research
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Laboratory oi the General Electric Company, for the purpose of discussing
cyclotrons, synchrotrons, and betatrons for a. tno day period. Pollock wasdescribed as Research Associate in the Physics Division of General Electric,
assigned to the Synchrotron Projct. As noted above, the Atomic En-ergCommission has advised um the ptrpose of Fuchs trip to the General Electric
Company ms to see amachine described as "70-MED Synchrotron." Also, accord-
ing to the Atomic Energ Commission, the General Electric Company in
Schenectmh was not doing work for the Atomic Energy Commission at the time of
Fuchsl visit. Ibid, 426 and 5'78! .
on February 8, 1950, charles H. J. Wende, of 22 Somerton Avenue,
Kenmore, New York, who is presently employed by the DuPont Corporation, Buffalo,
New York, advised the Buffalo Office of the Bureau that he was formerly in
charge of the Technology Division of the atomic energy installation at Hanford,
Washington. During the Spring of 1943, while in this position, he and two
associates, who are presently associated with the Atomic Energy Commission, made
a trip to England for secret technical conferences on atomic energ. He said
that Fuchs participated in these conferences. Upon his return to the United
states, he and his associates prepared a top secret report on the conferences.
He related that the contents of the report are known to about twelve persons in
the United. States and are of a highly technical nature. Air. Wende indicated
that the discussions in England related to the British "pile program."
Ibid, 442!
on March 6, 1950, the Bureau Liaison Agent delivered a letter to
Commissioner Pike, Acting Chainnan, Atomic Energy Commission which reported
information obtained from Fuchs by Dr. Perrin. Mr. Pike was requested to
furnish to the Bureau any evaluation the Commission might make.
Mr. Pike advised he intended to immediately instruct the scientific
personnel of the Commission to make a detailed study and evaluation of this
information and he would furnish the Bureau the results.
{Memo Keay to Belmont 3/s/50! Serial 730!
Attached as Exhibit # 8 is a list of reports prepared by Fuchs as
reflected in the records of the atomic Energy Commission.
Investigation by the Albuquerque office in February, 1950, reflectedthatgtent disclosure papers on file in D Division, Los Alamos Scientific
Labo cry, Los Alamos, New ;_'-zexico, reflected that Fuchs with John VonNeuman as "co-investor," had a disclosure entitled "Method and Apparatug G4do-<J92~=.sq,-_92>oeb;Id@_$92392892 . 1
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' Another disclosure with Rubby Sher: as eo-inventor, is entitled - -1
ll in Implosion "Timed Neutron Source and its application is given as Use
type bombs." 09 . _ 7. 5-53805-189 p. n.!
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ihe only access of Fuchs toinformationv concerning the
Hydrogen Bomb occurred while he was at Ins lamos, according to Dr. liicheel
I. Perrin, who has stated that the British did not have any so-called H-Bomb
theoretical plan during the time Fuchs was at I-Iareell. It is to be noted
that the terne Hydrogen Bomb, H-Hem, tiun Bomb, and duper, mentionedherein, are synonyneos.x65-58805-6-hzlj ._
Former Atomic Baez-gr Commissioner Strauss advised on February 16,
1950, that llr. Bennett Boskey, Deputy Chief Counsel for the Commission, had
Just returned from a declassiticetion conference in London. British atomic
energy scientists told Boskey that Fuchs had revealed every secret involving
atomic energy, and that Fuchs knew as much about the Hydrogen Bomb as any
luserican scientist. 5-58806-31:7! / i
On Kay 19, 1959, British authorities made available to Assistant
Director H. H. Clegg and Special Agent R. J. Lsmphere a copy of a record of
an interview with Fuchs on larch 22, 1.950, by Michael U, Perrin. _Thie inter-
view was condmted in accordance with questionnaires prepared by the Joint
Atomic 5nBrgy Intelligence Committee, which were prepared to elicit more
information from Fuchs concerning what atomic information use furnished to
the Russians by him. ilh re rd of interview is classified top secret andis quoted as follows: s D!
*1 had an interview with Dr. Fuchs at Wormwood Scrubs on 22nd
March, 1950 lasting for about an hour. as in the case of cw earlierinterview on 30th January, 1950; Hr. Skardon of ll.I.5 was present. W
"This second interview nae arranged with Dr. Fuchs consent,
and its object was to try to get more information from him a to what
he had passed over to the Russian agents with whom he had been incontact here and in the U.S.A. l
"'1he questions which I put to Dr. Fuchs were based on discussions
of the record of my earlier interview with Sir John Oockcrott and
Comnander Welsh, and were designed to get answers, it possible, to a
list or 24 questions arising ,£'rom consideration of the record or the
first interview which had been forwarded to us from the Nuclear
Energy Division oi the C.I.A. Tnese questions were the result of
consideration by the American Joint Atomic Energ Intelligence
Committee which includes representatives of the Intelligence SectionOf B110 U0-SIAIEIGQ ! I I
"I would first emphasise too general points arising from myinterview with Fuchs. a 1 .JW ,2
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"Yhile he shoned _e1rery sign of willingness ts help in any
way that he could, he strongly maintained his inability to remember
in detail mush of the information that he had passed over to the
Russians. '1'hie eeeae surprising hut may perhaps be due to his
having, subconsciously, forced himelf to forget his disloyalty.
I'1'he second general point is that Fuchs made it clear that, from
his first contact in 191.2 until his last in the at-1; part of 191.9, he only
had about a dozen meetings with Russian agents here and in the U.-3.1.
At any one of these meetings he might have been asloed two or three
questions, and these were generally of a very vague nature. It is
therefore extremely difficult to assess, from the natnr of the questionsput. to mm, the real interest of the Russians. % ¬ ,{//
"As an example of this of. 0.1.1. question No. 10!, Fuchs said
that, so far as he could remember, the question about the E. ll. pro-
cess put to him in the U.K. in 191.3 was reed out from a piece of
paper, and the words were something like: What do you know of theelectro-magnetic method for separating isotopes? u}
- "Fuchs told me that he was never asked any questions on heavy
water, and none about uranium production until 191,8 when he was askedhow the uranium metal rods for a pile were fabricated. WW
"Fuchs confirmed his earlier statement that the information
given to the Russians on the gaseous diffusion process while he use
in the U.K. during 1914-2 and 19b3, and in New York during the first
part of 191.1,, was fairly complete as far as the theory was concerned.
He did not have much practical knowledge or engineering know-how and
did not pass this over, nor did he give the Russians information onconstruction materials in a gaseous diffusion plant. W u!
"Fuchs was asked no supplementary questions on this subject other
than a general question about the barriers. As he told me at the first
interview, he did say, during the time when he was in New York, that
these were made f sintered nickel powder. cf. O.I.A. questionsno. 3 e 1+.! 2% LU e"Fuchs to d n , in amplification of what he had said at the first
interview, that he was fairly sure that, either at the and of the
Les ilamos period or early in the final Harwell period, he had told
the Russian agent eomethingeabeut the relationship between the spon-
taneous fission rate of Pu 2&0 and the exposure time of lnranium in a
pm... He believed that he had /quoted 2% Pu 21.0 as being the permissible
upper limit due to difficulty that would be encountered from spontaneous
fission neutrons from this isotope in the detonation of a bomb. cf. 0.1 Aquestion No. 5.! ! _10¢. Q t;' -. Q. 1' ' ,
- - _- -A-ti...
Qty
"Fuchs was very clear in his recollection that he had never
given, or been asked for, information about the fusing and firing
techniques in any kind of atonic bomb. The detailed information '
about the Trinity Test _bomb which he had written out and pas edover in June 191.5 etpped short of the a. s. lens system. % IU
"Few, if any, technical production details or know-how were
given in the Santa Fe meetings about weapon components, but Fuchs
did describe in detail the deeig: of the initiator and possibly the
nickel carbonyl process for plating H0 did not, however, e any infornntion on the- manufacture of beryllium metal. ;
"Es did not remember giving any details about delta phase
plutonium or phase diagram, but only referred in rather generalterns to its existence. cf. 0.1.1. questions No. 12, 13 & 22.! u!
"lbs calculations of blast etc. that Fuchs passed over were
based on reports which he had written for Dr. Penney. Ibis informa-
tion was mostly passed in the form ofwshort summaries, but 'soms
of the actual reports may have been passed over. cf. 0.1.!»questions e,20, a 21.! -M u} . g
"As far as the 'nixed' bomb is concerned, Fuchs repeated that he
had only given the agent some general information about its possibili-
ties. He thought that he had pa-obably' referred to a 2-to-1 ni:t:n~e
as a particular case, and had mentioned th critical mass that wouldbe involved. Ho sketches were given. W u!
"In my first interview with Fuchs he had told ms that he believed
that he might have given the lattice spacing for one particular
pile while he was in the U.S.l. _ On thinking this over, however, he
felt more certain during the second interview that the lattice which
he had passed over was that designed for the Windscale piles, and
um this information had been given early in 191,7. cf. 0.1.1.
question No, 16,! At that time he gave, as he had said at the first
interview, the deei fig s' for the plutonium output fron theHindscale pilese % E7 ,.
Furing the Harwell period he was also asked about the U.-3.
rats of production and stock pile of atomic bombs. The information
he gave was based on the knowledge that he had when he left Doe
Alanos, and his recollection is that he would have reported e U. S.
production rate of something not more than 100 kilos P61 mth °f
U 235 and about 1 kilo per day of plutonium. This information wouldprobabl§ have been passed over earl; in 191:7. cf. C.I.A. question
No. 1.1.W u! 107:: H H
e "
ls
"Fuch.s told as that only general statements were given about
possible advanced types of reactor. such as the flame trap, bell _
and sandwich designs. Ihe question he- was asked about the report
en mixing devises tomerds the end of 191,8 refers to e psrtiedesign mm. relevant to the Ifiudscsle air-cooled p110. I
"Fuchs knew hardly anything about the solvent extraction pro- *cese am! cannot renelber the details of any information that he may Ihave passed about solvents, resins, etc. used in connection with it.?§r§°§?§A'.'m<;=5sE%'§6.ui9f igii I33 °d °° "*7 m'*'1°' i
is regards information about the hydrogen bomb, Fuchs p1'01i¢l0d,
in response to the question put to his during 19147. e note which use
based on a sunlsery of the lectures which Fermi had given on this
subject during the time when Fuchs had been at Los Alamo. He
explained that the initiating fission bodamould be most likely to
use U 235 and the gun technique. ichs did not go into any great
detail and, as far as he can remember, wrote his note against the
general background that a hydrogen bomb would be s very difficultweapon to make but that it was perhaps possible. 1% L U!
"Fuchs was asked no further questions other than a rather general
one about what is the problem of tritium production. He did not
provide any answer to this, nor had any information been passed
earlier on light element or the:-mo-nuclear reactions. cf. C.I.A.questions Ho. 6 & 21+.! W Q! ' .
"It i.s most unlikely that Fuchs had knowledge of aw significance
about_long-range detection techniques, or of any programme that was
being follosed. I therefore avoided this subject in aw interview,
but feel fairly confident that, if any questions had been asked or .
information had _been given, he would have referred to it at the first
interview when I did discuss with him the nature of the atomic explosion
that had taken . lace ussia in the autum of 191;!. of. C.I.A. question Ho. 233 . . _
' _ Es] ll. W. Pe_rrinj %
, Letter from H. H. Clegg in
Inndon dated Hay 22, 1950!
Mi' 4
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As indicated above-, on March 6, 1950, the Acting Chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission was furnished with information obtained from Fuchs
by Dr. Michael W. Perrin, and he was requested furnish to the Bureau anyevaluation which the Gomiesion might make.
92/ By letter dated May 19, 1.950, Hr. Francis Hammack, Acting Director,
Division of Security of the Atomic Energy Commission, forwarded to the Bureau
portions of a report prepared by e cosmittee of Senior Responsible Reviewers
who had considered the effect of Fuchs disclosures on the AH} declassification
P011-¢;7. QQ -
This report indicates that it was concluded that the information
turned over by Fuchs concerning the diffusion plant was largely theoretical
and that probably the bulk of it has since been declassified. The information
disclosed by Fuchs concerning barriers also appeared to have dealt essentially
with theoretical aspects and did not contain significant information concerning
fabrication and performance of barriers. It was indicated that only one
document of the USN series reports of the British Mission -- New York! namely
MSN-l8, contained production figures for the K-25 plant Oak Ridge!. It was
further indicated that there is some uncertainty, however, as to whether LEN-18was included in the documents passed to the Russians by Fuchs.
In evaluating the Los Alamos aspects, the report indicates that Fuchs
turned over to the Russians very important information concerning weapons.
With respect to the Trinity plutonium implosion! type weapon, it was stated
that it was clear that the essentials of the bomb, in adequate detail, were
turned over either while Ihzchs was at hos Alamos or later. it also appeared
apparent that considerable information was turned over regarding gun-typeweapons. l ' ' '
The report discussed participation of Fhxchs in the work on
thermonuclear weapons at Los Alamos and a list of the meetings on this subject
which were attended by Fuchs was set forth. It is believed that this refers tohydrogen bomb. 3' J
It was in cated also that officially, Fuchs had little information
concerning other phases of the United States project; for example, the Hanford
project, and it appears that the information in this category which he turned
over was relatively "minor." It was further indicated that Fuchs did not
pass a great deal of information to the Russians concerning "pile technology"including the British work on this point. J _
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It was also noted that Fuchs did not admit the transmission of
information relative to the "fission process" itself, except for specific 5information such as the spontaneous fission problem. It was stated that I
this might possibly be interpreted to mean that fundamental nuclear data - _
were not needed by the lbxsaians because of their can efforts in this fieldor because the information was being furnished to than frourother sources. #4 J i
A copy of this report furnished by the atomic Energy Commission ~
is attached as an exhibit. See exhibit #9! -/
Letter from Francis Hammack,
Acting Director, Division of
_ Security, AEC, dated llay 1.9,
_ 1950!
' During the interview of Fuchs in London, in the period llay 20 through
June 2, 1950, by representatives of the Bureau, Fuchs furnished a sunmary of the
information which nae furnished by him to the lhssians. He stated that generally
infomation of a technical type was given to "Raymond" in writing and that
"Ramona" would have been unable to understand technical information furnished
orally. I-Ie did give some information to "Rwmond" orally dealing with personalities,
the identities of scientists, plans for the test explosion at Alamogordo and other
things that were within the. scope of comprehension by "Raymond." He advised that
"Raymond" never took notes at any meeting. /'
He stated that his best estimate is that the information furnished by
him speeded up the production of an A-Bomb by Russia by several years because it
permitted them to start on the development of the explosion and have this ready
by the time the fissionable material was ready. He concluded that the Russian
scientists are as good as scientists in England and the United States but there
are fewer good scientists in Russia that the other two countries. He stated that
he gave the Russians nothing that would speed up the production of plutonium and '
estimated that if he had given the same data which he gave the Russians to the
United States as of the date of his arrival in the United States, he would have
speeded the U.B. production of the A-Bomb only slightly. He did pass on to
his Russian espionage contact what he learned concerning the production of plutonium
during the final period of his work at Los Alamo. He stated that the information .
furnished by him alone could have speeded up the production of an'A-Bomb by Russia
by one year at least. He indicated that if the Russians had information on the
plutonium process from any other source, the data furnished by him could have been
of material assistance on this plutonium phase. V '
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p Fhchs claLmed- not to have furnished information to the Itissians concern- ;
ing the H-Bomb while he was in the United States. He did some research work during V
the late period of his stay at -Los Alamos relating to the H-Bomb including hydro-
dynamics as involved in the United States work. He did subsequently pass on to
his espionage contact in England what he had learned in the United States but ;
considered the paper which he prepared in this regard as a "confused picture."
There.is set out below a summary of the information furnished to the I
Russians by Fuchs as stated by him during the "interview: _
I-af9rm1=1<>n_Be1-averse bzeP921=h=J-a_<i<>1<_1. Lnliaaafssk ,Qitz..Da<zam921@r £9.43 ta Mane; an
Written Infomation Furnished: ' gr
l. H18" longhand drafts of the l3 IISN papers prepared by him, and
all of the information contained in those papers at the time
he delivered them was classified.
2. He furnished what he knew, and that was quite much, concerning
gaseous diffusion, which was later applied in the production
process at Oak Ridge, but he knew hardly anything about the
electro-haagnetic process, although he furnished what he did know.
3. '-He furnished general information concerning membranes and the
composition of sintered nickel powder. Although he did not know
much about the technical details, he furnished the information
as to the principle. .
1.. He furnished information concerning the general scale of the effect
of the American program, with the approximate timing of this program. .
5. He furnished information from time to time, as received by him,
concerning the over-all and general effect and activities in _
connection with his own work relative to the production of fissionable
material and its potential use as an eJqJ].0B.'LVa in the war effort.
Oral Information Furnished:
l. Information as to the address of his sister, Kristel Heineman in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, for contact purposes. '
2. At each meeting in New York he and Gold agreed orally as to the
details of time and place for the next; planned meeting.
3. He furnished information concerning the identity of officers and
the identity of leading research personnel at The Kellex Company
and The Manhattan Engineering District in New York. He also
furnished information conceming personalities and the general
personnel situation at these establishments.
J.
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A. He furnished information that a plant was to be established for
the production of fissionable material, to employ both the gaseous i
diffusionand the electro--magnetic processes in the development g
of fissionahle material, such materials to be used in the develop-
ment of an 1.-Bomb, and the plant was to be built somewhere _in the
southeastern part of the United States later at Oak Ridge!.
msmtien Fhrni-"éhsijat, Gaabridzs. Has=sshn=et!=ae§@araw_ Q42 /
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Fuchs stated that he passed nonrittsn information to Gold at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, during e meeting at the home of Fuchs sister, Kristel Heineman.
He did furnish the following oral information:
1. Oral plans for s. meeting soon afterwards in the City of Boston.
2. Oral plans for a meeting to be held in June, 191.5, at Santa Fe,
New llecxico, and in making these plane a detailed street map was
eocamined. He agreed to prepare for delivery to Gold at Boston
a paper containing additional confidential, classified information. _
He agreed that the information contained therein would bring the C?-_ information which he possessed up to date as far as passing such 1
information to his contact was concerned.
3. He received an oral offer of money from Gold; he does not recall
_ the specific amount, but he turned down this offer and stated he
would not do such a thing.
Information _Del:i_1_ered _at Best on ,;_1{assachusett,s _ Feb;_u_a:;[_j.35j
r I.
Fuchs claims that he furnished no classified oral information at the
Boston meeting, held within a fen days after the meeting at his sister's home,
but that he did prepare a written paper which, he oelieves, was prepared by him
in his sister's home and which he delivered at the heretofore described meeting
in Boston. This information was all in writing and consisted of:
l. Details of thevprinciple of=A-Bomb construction.
2. The principle of the lnethod of detonation.
3. The decisions made up to that time as-to the type of core -
he lcnen nothing then concerning a solid core. _
L. The principle of the lens system, although it had not yet been
definitely adopted. - -
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5. The outer dimensions ot the high eaqaloeive and the lens system» /
6. The possibility oi making a plutonium bomb.
7. Host of Ihat was then known concerning implosion - this was the
main point covered by this paper.
- 8. That high explosive was the type of material tor compression
being considered, although it had not been entirely decided upon.9. The difficulties" of multiple-point detonation, on which Fuchs .
was then working. '
10. The sequence of timed explosion.
ll. The agreed-upon, as well as the prospective, plane for the
construction and the production of an A-Bomb, as was then known
to him. .
12. The high spontaneous fission rate of Plutonium 2&0. Although
he did not know the material as Plutonium 2140 at that time, he
knew it was a type of plutonium.!
1.3. The critical mass of plutonium as compared with Uranium 235.
ll». The approximate amount of plutonium necessary :l.ori such" a bomb.
3.5. The current ideas as to the need for an initiator.
He does not believe that he disclosed at that time the amount of U-235that was required in the production of an A-Bomb. Likewise, he did not lcnorwhether mention was made at this-meeting oi the sintered nickel ponder.
Infqreéise Bsliteesi at $;=r!-epic, Ne~__1Ied<=e°= ~£va=_1$i2
Written Information Furnished:
1. A description of the plutonium bomb.
2. A sketch of the bomb and its components, with important
dimensions indicated.
3. As much up-to-date information concerning the bomb as he then
knew. .
1|. Additional information concerning implosion.
5. Additional informtion concerning ignition - although this
research was not yet nished.
6. The principle of IE! calculations.
7. The method of efficiency calcuJ.at1ons".'_
8. The results of efficiency calculations, his estimates being
- from a small percentage to fifty percent.
9. The size of the bomb.
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The intention to use the bomb against Japan.The type of core.
A description of the initiator.
Details as to the tenper._
Oral Information Furnished: '
The names of the types of explosives to be used in the bomb.
The fact that the Trinity test explosion of the A-Bomb was soon
to be made, and the approximate site of the test.
That the explosive effect of the A-Bomb would be vastly greater
than TF1 , and s. comparative statement as to the amount of TNT
was actual]; furnished. He knew at this time that work on the
gun was going on, but he knew very little about it
Information _[§eliv{sr_ed at Santa Eu !{e1IJ!exico.§eptembe:'_,lf1§j
1.0.
ll.Written Information Furnished:' .
That the production rate of U-235 was about 1.00 kg. per month.
That the production of plutonium was -about 20 kg. per month.
Infonnetion developed by him in connection with his work,
concerned with figuring out where things might go wrong.
Information concerning blast waves, especially the tail end of
the blast waves, as he was doing work on this.
Results of the 'Irinity tests and whether the English were
keeping up with the U.S.A. in developments.
His work on the initiator.
The rate of production.
He may have furnished something concerning the pro-assembled
core and compass, and the chances are he did, he advised.
The critical size, which would have been important only if
someone wanted to know how many bombs were being made, based
upon the rate of the production of materials.
He believes he passed information that the barriers were to
be of "sintered nickel."
The special technical phase of plutonium, and the uses of a
special alloying constituent.
107 JI __ l .I
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Fuchs stated that, as of the time of the September, 1945', meeting,the uranium bomb at Les slamos was an appendix andnot too much interest was
shonn there in this type of bomb, and he knew of no one at Ins Alamos concerned
with the gun. He advised that he knew of no stock pile of L-Bombs in 1946
since there were only a very fen available, and that the diversion of the
isotopes material into medical and industrial research was very little. Hewas about twenty miles from the A-Bomb fission trial at Alamogordo, New Mexico,and observed what could be seen from that distance. He advised that only so
far as it entered into the interpretations of experimental results would heknow of the effect of an atomic explosion on human life. He knew nothing at
this time as to the change of desip concerned with gaseous diffusion or -
electro-magnetic forces, although he knell a small amount about making a compactmachine for gas." V /
Information Delivered in-&1gla;;d;after_R,eturn from U.5.a., between {use .256,and Februsgg, 1952 V - '
l. Data on the probability of predetonation, and he relied on his -
!l18IlI.O2'J'.l.I1 furnishing this information.
2. Working on the calculations involved in the tests in connectionwith the Japanese explosions, although the information possessed -' by him and furnished by him was not the accepted figure, he /
believes .
For added pertinent information, he made the following cementsconcerning the delivery or nondelivery of information to his Russian espionagecontacts in the United States or in England, and it would appear that perhapsmost of this information which was delivered would have been in England sincehe claims to have had no contacts for delivering espionage information in the
United States after September, l'-345:
1. As to the document referred to s.s[l;lSN-L8, entitled "Adaptationof K-25 Plant for Partial Operatic on the Cascade of CascadesPrinciple - - - Flow Sheets, VIII, a, b, c 3% , advised that he JU does not remember this report. He recalls atuthe problem wasdiscussed, but he did not know a paper had been issued concerningthe subject. He had heard nothing concerning K-25 at Lcs Alsmos,
and if he passed any information at all concerning K-25, it would
have been prior to his going to Los Alamos. The Cascade of
Cascades principle was considered in England previous to his
coming to the United States and was transmitted to his Russian3 1
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espionage contacts in Exgland prior to his arrival in the-
11.3.1. He furnished no infomation dealing with the work
at Hanford, Iashington.-2. He did gi1'e.more'than an indication as to the composite bomb
and its economic features, this information having been given
at the last meeting in Santa Fe in September, l9la-5; and the
first meeting in Emgland thereafternards. The information was
transmitted in writing. He furnished no information concerning
the problem of achieving a non-equilibrium reaction and he
does believe that he furnished information concerning the inverse
Compton radiation cooling effect.3. Concerning thermo-nuclear weapons, he advises that he furnished,roughly, the information which was in the Fermi lectures as
distinguished from the information set forth in the "Super"
Handbook. He furnished some information relative to reactions
in England as well as a certain limited amount of information
concerning barriers, but no information concerning conditioning
in the diffusion plant problems.A. Concerning the first "Super" conference in Hr. Bradbury's office,
which was addressed by Hr. Teller, he furnished no information; which was discussed there. He furnished no information concerning
the second "Super" meeting, presided ever by I-lr. Teller, and
information discussed by ilr. H. Hur-site. Fuchs claimed to have
been the one who suggested the ignition of the "Super" bomb by
the implosion process. He furnished no infomation concerning
the suggestion of the cylindrical rather than the sphericalimplosion gadget. He furnished no information which was discussed
at the third and fourth "Super" meetings. He cannot recall the
subject matter at the fifth "Super" meeting. He did furnish the
identity but not the details concerning the development of slowexplosives as discussed by Hr. Stout in Roche presence. l~le_cou1.dnot identify the subject matter of Hr. llilo Sampson's talk at a
meeting held on June 3, 1946.
There is attached an exhibit which is a signed statement obtained from
Fuchs by the Bureau representatives , including information concerning scientificdata which he passed to the Russians. In addition, there is attached as anexhibit, a signed form listing a number of reports -prepared by Fuchs during hiswork on atomic energ with notations thereon placed there by Fuchs as to whether
or not the particular report was passed to the Russians by him. Memo to the Director fromilessrs. qlegg and Lamphere dated 6-6-50!
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~ In connection with his initial adisissions of espd;ons-gs activity,
Fuchs declrecl that he met his first espionage contact is hgland in late Q
1941 as s result of his melting it lcsosn to e. Qomsmist friend that he desired '
to assist the Russian. He at rst refused to name this latter individual, contending his, identity was inmates.-ial, but has nos identied his as Jargon I
Kucsynski. . . . '
Jargon Knseyneld. was born on September '7, 1904, in Elber old,Germany, and is a statistical writer and lecturer by proteesion. ég has been ~¢_ '
characterized 'sa_a prominent German Communist, and his site, llergueriteBteinfeld is ;-épo1-m to he a former employee st the German Gonmnist P?-t ,in Berlilrmieis repicrted to have been in the United States on agillnl |-is
occasio . Although little is known oi his activities while here. The dateor his first in the United States is not known, but he is said to E
have been employed at" one time by the American Federation or Iebor, Iashing- . 5ton, D. 0-, and it is known that he and his site were co-authors of e. pamphlet / E
entitled_"'I'ages and ,1ebor's Share, published by the American Fgderatien oi ;
Labor in 1927, The most recent intonation in the Bureau's tiles refhgts '
that in 1949, Kucsynski was reportedly on the faculty 3; the UniversityBerlin, Berlin, Germany. 00-16776-25 t-'200-241-491»; 65-301-3665f'100-57453-405; '
100-3-23-1028; 61-756,2-2-1465; 100-51453-313!
Available information reflects that%isynsk:i's sister, Ursula,was formerly married to Rudolf Hamburger, an ttsd Soviet agent _ d was UL!h If S vi t t i vclved in the Rote Drei espiona e netnorltlnother arse s o e agen n g
sister, Brigitte, is reported to have recruited Alexander Foote and eon-CharlesBeurton for eepio e work under Ursula Kurt ti. The latter/subsequentlyma-me Houston. 3oo-210002-17:1; 100-suns:-2oo,a93:100-344753-384 enc . p.73 Kucsynski is the subj t of 1. Bureau inv ts. tion conducted 658}-92 _ _ from Hay, 1941 to august, l944,t the request o determine whet r Em-w392
there had beeneny money transactions between Kuczynsld. p uspected Communist 3% - L
then in London, and Di. Hans Gaffron, a physicist than a ached to the Uni- ;
varsity of Chicago. .It was determined through :Lnterv'ie|r of Gaffron on
November 12, 191,3, that when he left Germany in 1937, he gave to Kuosynslds
wire a Power of Attorney to handle certain securities for him, and that she
was able to have the securities transferred through London to Lima, Peru,
where relatives of Gatfron resided. During this interview, Gaffron stated
that the Gestapo questioned him thoroughly in 1935 or 1936 because his Berlin
residence had apparently been used by suspected espionage agents daring his
absence. 00-16776-1,30! __ ..
although Garfron did not identity these espionage agents or the
Government for which they were 1ror_king, an acquaintance of Garon later
reported to ?the.;Buresu that the Gestapo had searched Ga££ron's home and
questioned his because of his association Iith Jargon Kucsynsld.. loo-lame-31!108 -= -1
F -- -
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i Bureau tiles reect that Kneegneld. reportedly ed tron Germsqrand arrived in with his nii'e;_on- snuary 21, 1936. In 133:7, he nae
said to be Iorlring as a statistician for -the British Government end was eeid
to have visited the'United States that same y although his activities orthe length of hie alleged stay are hot known. Béetoher, 1944, it was saidi that the Economic In-tore Difieion of the U. B. baeey in London had apgeihg Kuceynehi in regard to econupic conditions in Germany and in August, 194
i inrometicn was received alleging that Kuesynehi had been hired by some
; the U. 8. Gorermental agencies, particularly the Office ct Strategic Services. It has also been reported that during 1945 Kueeyneki nae recruited for eup1cy-
ment with the _0iiiee of Military Government in Berlin, however, the enact year
cr length of time-of this enploymmt is not known. Infcmation has been received
that shortly after his arrival in Berlin he resignedfrua the position and tooki a post with "'II.'ajeliche Bunc1schoI," the otricial newspaper of the Sew: military
L administration in Berlin. 00-16776-2,30; 65-30136-651/100-96104-1 62-6442'?-ll
, 121-10619-25! _ ' _
j Bureau tiles also disclosed that in 194?, 'en informant was toldt that Kuczyneld. had renounced his British citizenship in order to repatriate
himself ac a German citizen, and he Iae said to be teaching at the University
ci Berlin in 1947- In the Fall of 1949, an informant reported that Kuczynsld.
~ and his rife had made a lecture tour of the United States but neither the
date of suchelleged tour nor theitinerary was u'ni.shed. Kucsynski appears
' _ to have been an active writer on economics, and the International Publishers
_ Company, New York City, which is cperateday Alexander Trachtenberg, well-knmrn Communist Part? funotionary, has published several of his pamphlets V, and bock1ets."; l2l-9733-8,20: 100-279704-89; $00-57453-405; 100-72924-646;
100-155569-39; 61-7559-2-3950: 61-7562-2-1633: Bureau Library H1! 7025.195]1'
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/ After Fuchs stated his firt espionage contact was ofdueeian
nationality used the cover name "Alexander," there was displayed to him
: a photograph i:'fSinon Devidovitch Kroner, Secretary of the Soviet Military
, Attache in London in 1.942, and he identied Kramer as hie first contact.
Fuchs declared he rst met him at a house south of Hyde Perk, London, the
address oi which has not yet been established, and later at the Soviet Enbasey,15 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, K-8. .
With respect to further meetings with Eremer, 1Mche' handwritten
notes furnished by him to hie British interrogators reflect that such meetings
was arranged to suit Fuoh'e convenience, were held in the evening and usually
on week-ends. After the initial meeting mentioned» above, the meetings were
._ held generally on quiet, residential streets or at busy bus stops, the location"' of each meeting being different. K:-inner was said to have arrived and departed
on foot each time exc on one occasion when he had left a private car in aA neighboring street. £6
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Fuchs-' notes also disclosed that the information he transmitted
to Inner consisted primarily of spare copies or his own" papers, which at
that time he was typing himself, and which he handed to Kremer in an envelope
or wrapped in packing paper. Fbrther details ct Fuchs matings with Kroner,
particularly Iith respect to the nature of the data transmitted, appear in -
Fuchs statement to hr. Michael I Perrin, the tut of which is set outelsslrhere in this memorandum. -_
Review of Bureau £' s has disclosed that the only pertinent
identifiable data concerning imon Davidovitch Krennr are those containedin_theEl_1-itish Intelligence _1olloIing inform-tion appears therein:
lb
Simon Davidovitch Kramer, with alias Hr. Alexander, was born
in Gomel, Russia, in 1900. His wife's name was Eugenia Gavrovna, nee
Noeov. Kramer arrived in the United Kingdom Iith his rife and BIO children
on February T, 1937, and the date or his departure is unknown. It was noted
that Kramer's name did not appear on the libreign Office list from early 19142
until October, 19115 , when his mane appeared again. In September, l9h6, it
was learned ti-at his name did not appear in the lists of Secondary Diplomats
issued by the Foreign Office. It is set forth that Kremer was the Secretazy
to the Military Attache and was alleged to be a Fourth Department SovietMilitary Intelligence! Legal Resident Agent at the Soviet Embassy in London. é!
A physio ' escri on and photo or Kramer were made available by the
British. .. E, ;+;.;LQ 1 pie. . ék request from iéated February 26, 191$], a photograph ofKreme was exhibited to Elizabeth T. Bentley and she iree unable to effect G!an sgtirisauoga check of the-records of the United States DBp9I't1rBnt u_!
or State and of e Inmigratinn and Naturalization Service disclosed no
identiiiable data concerning Simon Davidovitoh Kramer. Immig-ation and
Naturalization Service files do contain a Form #257 filed under Central
Office File #1!-328958 reflecting that one Eugueniia Gavrilove-., who was born
December 25, 191.1 in Moscow, Russia, accompanied by her husband in transit
to the USSR from Brazil, was admitted to the United States in New York City
by plane on November 5, 1914?. Such file contains no reference to the nameKremer nor does it disclose any evidence oi dearture from the United states.= <65-s 02- 191 <s- 333! 15!By memorandum dated February 114, 1950, vised they had C J
been informed by General Erigitsky in February, O that Kramer was anAgent oi the Fourth Department. Krivitslcy tel had known Kramer ¬-Iwhile'in Russia a en he had worked at the lligence Center of the S!Kiev Conmand. w unable to advise the date Kremer departed from
England but eta t appears possible he may have left towards the end ofthe war when a number of Russians departed by military rtransport. 3
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Fuchs informed the British that his second contact ias a womn
whom he met in a country lane near Banbury, oxfordshire, England, during
the period of his employment at the University of Biznnnglmza, Birmingham,
England 9416-43L He haastated that," in his opinion, this uomn was an
alien, although she spoke good English, this be the language in whichhis espionage transactions were carried out. _
Fuchs has described this woman as a short, unpnepossessing woman
in her middle 30's, and although he has been shown a number of photographs
in an effort to id her, he has been unable to date to make an identi-fication of her. §§?p-3
In the handwritten notes he furnished to his British interro-
gators, Fuchs declared that all of his meetings with this woman, with one
exception, took place on week-ends, usually in the afternoon, on a country
road just outside of Banbury. On one occasion she came to Birmingham and
Fuchs met her in a cafe opposite Snow Hill Station. Fuchs notes reflect
that the infomation he gave this woman was oi the same type as he gaveKramer;-iflthough in Later meetings he handed over original manuscripts to
hB1"a
Fuchs expressed the opinion that this contact had underground
experience, although he said he could not be te on this because all
but one of the meetings were in the country. U-
Vlhile Messrs. Clegg and Ismphere were in London, England, duringthe riod may 20 to June 2 , 1950, they were advised by representatéis of
Hr Clegg's cable dated 5'-31-50! [m is woman has not as yet been identified by the British
' December 2'1, 1950, the British advised that Rmhs had identi-
fied his second contact in England during 194.2 and 1943 as Ursula Beurton.
The identification was made without hesitation and from a photograph pre-. viously shown to Fuchs and xejecdi. He had no explanation as to why he
0} 92had not identified her earlier. ' . 5-58805-1432!
The following history of Ursula Beurton, ee Kuczynski, brotherof Jurgen Kuozynslci, was furnished by the Britishogb {up}
"Ursula Beurton was born on May 15, 190'? in Berlin, Germany, the
eldest daughter of Professor Rene Robert Kuczynsld.. Professor Kuczynslciwas a Geman Jewish statistician oi some note who took refuge in this countr-y !
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"in 1933, became naturalised British subject in 1946 and died in London,
England, on April 2'7, 1947. Jhrgen Kuc s the well imoirn Semencommunist, is Ursula. Beurtonis brothers??? D 4
"Ursula Beurton was already a communist atthe age of twenty,
and was a leader of the Gonmmist Youth Ortsgruppe at Berlin Zehlendorh.
it some time between 192'?-1930 she was anployed by the Ullstein Publish-
ing Firm. In about 1930 she married. 8. German named Racial! Albert Ham-
burger and vent with him to Sknnghai, where he was employed by the
Municipal council. Her first child, u'.io1'n.e1 Pitt Hamburger, was born
in Shanghai on February 12, 1931. Between 1931-1935 Ursula and Rudolf
Hamburger were working in Chins for the Russian Intelligence Service. .
it some time in 1935 Ursula left Chins. and on October 21, 1935 she ar-
rived in the U.K. from Ieningrad, accompanied by her child. In 1936 she
went to Poland. where she carried out a. successful mission for the R-.I.S.,which involved the use of 'l/ T equipmenz April '7, 1936 her second child,Janina Hambnrger res born inwarsawnl
qn 1938 Ursula Hamburger was living in Geneva with her two child-
ren and a. German nurse, Olga Muth. She was in charge of an R.I.S. network
engaged in worlcing against Germany, and was in W/'1 comumnication with Moe-
con. me network consisted of herself, under the alias of "Sonia", Alex-
ander Foo-be , and Leon Beurton alias "John" . In the summer of 1.939 she was
instructed to cease work by Moscow, but she remained in Switzerland, and
in October of that year she obtained a divorce from Rudolf Hamburger. on
February 23, 1940 she married Leon Charles Beurton, a British subject, and
shortly afterwards applied for s British passport. In the summer of 1940
olga Muth, who disapproved of her marriage to Beurton, attempted to de-
nounce Ursula. to the British Consul. She was unable to -make herself under-
stood, but Ursula learned of the attempt and reported it to Moscow , and was
instructed to lave Switzerland and return to the U.K. On February 1,, 191,1,
she arrived in England accompanied by her two children. Alexander Foote re-
ceived messages from her, via. Moscow, after her arrival in England. Leon
Ben;-ton joined her in England on July 31, 1942 and they lived together in
or near Oxford for the next ei ears. A third child, Peter John Beurton,was bom on September 8, 1943-%% ll! y .
It is not known whether Ursula Beurton remained in touch with
the R.I.S. from 1941 onwards, but she definitely was in contact with them
throughout 1943, during which year she met Klaus Fuchs at regular intervalsfor the es of receiving secret information from him on behalf oi theH.I .8. ' WM *
Ion September 13, 194? Ursula. and Leon Beurton were interviewedby two members of this office as a result of the information that had just ffu!
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" been received from Alexander Foote about their activities in Switzerland. p
She was completely uncooperative and no information whatsoever was obtained
from her. It was thought, however, that her flat refusal. to talk must be
regarded as a tacit admission of her guilt. For this reason her case has
been reviewed from tine to time but no evidence of espionage activity ob-
tained. -Both Ursula and Leon Beurton are known to ha been engaging inlocal Communist Party activities in the Oxford area."% u_! -
On January ll, 1.950 Ursula Beurton applied for a llilitary Permit
to go to Gemaqy fora visit, and it has since been reported that she is
employed in some capacity at Berlin University» Leon Beurton followed herin July 1950 and their home at Great Rollright, Oxfordshire, was sold up»" $[u!
- Ursula Beurtoms history has been arranged in Chronological. order
for the sake of convenience, but most of the irifonnation on which it is
based reached us comparatively recently, and the major part oi it was con-
tained in the story told by Alexander Foote in 1947- Klaus Fuchis identi-
ficatio of her as one of his espionage contacts was made on November 30,1950¢"&! u92
. Rudolf Albert Hamburger is a German national who was born on
may 8, 1903 at Iadunshut. In 19¢3 we received a report which stated that
Hamburger had been arrested by the American Security Authorities in Persia.
They believed him to be engaged in espionage on behalf of the Russians.
He had been interrogated by American and British Securitar Authorities-Todthei British he tacitly admitted zitc was ggldng g thgfgussiaggan e matter was taken up with the o Hus Sec 0 ceru
denied any personal knowledge of Hamburger but who, a few days later, ad-
mitted that Hamburger was employed by the Russians and asked that he should
behanded over. Before this took place Hamburger talked quite freely to
his British interrogators and admitted that he was a professional agent
for Russia and had been for a long time and would continue to be, He said
that he was first recruited by the Russians in China and worked for themthere and was sent by 'bhemf:0 Persia to dgioilect lgl::eliI.;lhap c;l.:J.ti0_z;'ldhggr-nation from allied Army Oi cers. He a ted t ung e swork but showed no alarm at the i2?!%f being handed over to the Russians
and this eventually took placed , R]
In 194? we learned that Hamburger was serving a sentence in a
labour camp in Russia. He was d to be working as an engineer and was
due " for release in 1.952-l I1!
"Leon Charles Beurton was born at Barking, England, on February 19, _1914- His father was a French waiter, who deserted his British wife when
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"Leon was an infant. Leon was adopted by a tamily named Fenton and some-1
timee called hinselt by that name. ,-He was an alutcnobile engineer by trade.
He went e Spain in 193'? and served with the International Brigade mu"
December 1933. After his return to the UJ. iron Switzerland he enlisted
in the 11.1.1. in November 1943. .1-ate:-_ he was transferred to the Army and
wee posted to the Brigade oi Guards on June 2.8, 1941.. He was demobilised
on January 7, 1947. Econ July 1947 until early in 1950 he res employed atthe Northern Aluminium Works at busy. He tas e- member of the BanburyB.-anch of the Comminist Party." $[u '
111 mcmmmj Q9 5 !
Fuchs has inionned the itieh that, although he had been given
instructions in the United States by Harry Gold! for a rendezvous Iith
his Russian contact at llornington Crescent, London, N.W., he in fact
never kept this rendezvous and he thus had no contact with Soviet Agents
tram the time he left t United States {June 28, 1946! until the endof 194.6 our ;ea.rly 191.7. @?! a!
Wishing then to resume contact with Soviet Intelligence, he
attempted unsuccessfully to locate Js:-gen Kuczynslct, who had originailly
placed him in touch with Soviet Intelligence. Failing in this, he approached
Johanna. opetech, when he described as e. member of the Communist Party of
either Germany or Czechoslovakia. and whose identity he refused initially todivulge, and requested her to locate Kuezjynsld. for him. She was unable to do
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this, and Fuchs then adn:l.tted to her that he desired to resume contactwith the Russians. She agreed to help, and it nae through "her that hereceived instructions from the mzssiane for bie'first meeting with contactih, Ibo, he states, was his espionage contact. This individual hasnot been tified to date.&k q! ~ . - .
. only infozmationrin the Bureau's files which appears torelate to Johanna-Klopstech is-that. set out in a memorandum prepared byDr. Robert .11. I. Kempner, fomer employee of the ..hiJ.adelphin Division!,dated December J5, 19111;, wherein one Johanna Klopstech is listed as Managerof Social Affairs of a London group of the Freie" Beutsche Kulturbund. Free
German league of Culture.! min organization is an affiliate of the Free
German liovement in Great Britain which in turn is part of a world-widepopular front movement favoring the establishment of e post-rsr Germany onpopular United! front lines in close collaboration with the Communists.!
. . 00-7292!;-198, encl. pge. 1,"Fuchs has described him as being 30 years of age, 5' 3 or 1;"in height, fairly heavy build, fairly tell dressed, and speaking EnglishIith a definite accent. The British have expressed the opinion that by
Fuchs account, this contact was almost certainly a Russian. Fuchs first
meeting Iith contact #1; occurred at a "public house" in suburban Iondon inlate 19146 or early 191:7; and subsequent meetings usually took place in one
or two "public houses" on Saturday evenings at Fuchs convenience. In hishandwritten notesg Fuchs set out that on observing this unknown individualat the designated "public house ," Fuchs could follow him from there and thetlro men would thenneet -on side streets and I811: through the streets togetherFuchs also recited that this contact arrived and left on foot and Fuchs coneluded that he definitely had associates nearby since he would take sway
written material given him by Fuchs and reappear a fer minutes later. This
material, according to Fuchs, consisted of hendsritten or typewritten notesand sometimes manuscripts, and was handed over in an envelope or a package.
Fuchs noted that the unknown contact probably followed the prac-
tice of arriving at the designated "public house" before Fuchs arrived and
watching for his arrival, inasmuch as the contact always appeared a fewminutes after Fuchs and the latter surmised that e watch was thus maintained
to determine if anyone was following him. Fuchs noted further that this
contact and his associates probably had a car to take easy the papers hedelivered, and that the contact was prepared to meet him anywhere else, suchas Didcot our Reading, if Fuchs wished. At his last meeting with Fuchs, the
contact asked him again to suggest s location where they could meet more
often, perhaps on Sunday mornings, in e place Fuchs could reach by car.
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It is of interest to note that on the occasion of his first
meeting with this unlmcmn individual, Fuchs was criticised very severely
for having re-established his espionage connection through the communist
Party, and it thus became clear to him that Johanna Klcpstech had in fact
approached the Russians on,his behalf via the medium of someone in the
British Communist Party, _
With further respect to the modus operandi employed by this un-
known Soviet agent and Fuchs, the latter has stated that if for am! reason
a planned meeting failed to materialize, arrangements were ands for it to
be kept at the same time and at the some place exactly me reek, later.
Should this substitute arrangement not materialize, arrangements were made
for a third possible meeting exactly one month from the first, at another,
"public house," with a fourth alternative in the same "public house one
week after that date-
If all the arrangements described above broke down, Fuchs in-
structions for arranging a new rendezvous were that he should throw a copy
of the periodical "Men Only over the wall of a house in suburban London,
the address of which the British have now ascertained. On the tenth page
of the abcvensmed periodical, Fuchs was to write instructions for the
next meeting, with alternatives. His message would be confined to such in-
st:-notions and would contain no technical information. He was informed that
the owner of the house would collect the periodical but ms gven to under-
stand that he might be an innocent party in the an-augment.
After taking this emergency course of action, Fuchs was instructed
to complete it by chalking a cross at a. given spot in the neighborhood, thus
indicating that the periodical was to be found at the agreed address. Both
Fuchs and his contact could cancel any plennedrendezvcus, if for any reason
it appeared to be dangerous, by placing a chalked cross at still another
spot in the same neighborhood.
During the interview of Fuchs in London by Bureau representatives
in the period May 20 through June 2, 19-50, Fuchs stated that his meetings
with the Soviet agent referred to above took place alternately at the Spotted
Horse pub on High Ken London-
51 Yi§5s11!1, T: §QFE5i°i :,1-1Y!§- .
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1- at approximately the time Fuchs re-established his espionage
connections with Soviet Intelligence in England in late 1946 or early 194'!
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through Johanna El-.0pst-och, as deccribod above, it was suggested to him
presumably by his lash contact! that if he were to call upon a certain H;
Smdzonlin, 2 Rue Adolphin Bartholdi or Barbholdy, Paris, Franco names as
spelled by Fuchs! he would there be put in touch with peruons possessing
technical knowledge. It was indicated to mcha that he could discuss his
scientific d:!.sc1oa:"n~ea more fully nth such persona than he could with his
contact in mglande - . '
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The Pe.ris'address mentioned above was again fumished to Fuchs
in 19149, as an address he might consider using in the immediate future, but
Fuchs contends he nsfer need" that address, although he admittedly visited
Peri: thereafter. - '
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Review of Bureau files reflect Ir; SukhcrnJ.in," ie undoubtedly
identical with Vaesili V.» Soukhomliue, a well known Russian Social Revolution-cry Journalist. agile oasis of information mmmd by the Bureau,Ehe bBritish interrogated Fuchs about Soukhonlice but he denied 8V81'_j'hBVlll£ nethim or contacting in any manner whatsoever}/i '
mccrde or the Immigation and Naturalization Service reflect
that Vessili Sockhomline entered the United States on September l2, 19141,
at New York City, at which time he indicated his last permanent address as
Paris, France, and departed from the United States August 21, 1916, via
the S.S. "Argentina" from New York City destined for Paris, France. Such
cords reflect no other arrivals in or departures from the United States on
e part oi this individual, and ihrther that he resided in New York City
uring his stay in this country. FIFO letter dated 3/10/50! /' F
Soukhcmline executed an Alien Registration form Hay 1, l9l;l,
reflecting his proposed United States address as 115 Eastéth Street,
New York City, and his biz-thdate as April 26, 1885, leningrad, USSR. He
described himself as a journalist, and the purpose of his visit to the
United States as "visiting relatives." Under the section "Relatives in
the U. 5.," however, he listed "none." Under organizations laet5 year
prior to May 1, l9l|,l, Soukhomline listed the Russian Social and Revolutionary
Party. 1/
In an application to extend the time of his temporary stay in
the United States, dated March 10, 19112, Soukhomline stated "I am a political
refugee and have no country in Europe to which I could return." He further
stated he was mt employed in the United States and was not engaged in
business. His source of income was set forth as "free lance writer and
lived on proceeds of my articles." He claimed to be a political refugee
living in exile since 1913.» and declared he was anxious to become 8n American
citizen. w »/79% t
7' ?///¢{;;_,, ' .._;s,i<}@z,c?5 /'1' MW 114
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Little |u0IH$j.|,Uhp #4. 1-=r-81 P 10-'1-17In an application for Exit Permit, dated April 13, 19b5, whichappears to be in the handwriting and handprinting of-Vassili V. Soukhomline,his address was listed as L8 West 89th Street, Nan York City, and his lastU. S. e
…[truncated]