Judith Coplon
Judith Coplon | |
---|---|
USSR, Democrats | |
Service branch | NKVD |
Service years | 1945–1949 (arrest) |
Judith Coplon Socolov (May 17, 1921 – February 26, 2011) was a spy for the Soviet Union whose trials, convictions, and successful constitutional appeals had a profound influence on espionage prosecutions during the Cold War.[1][2]
In 1949, three major cases against communists started in the United States: that of Coplon (1949–1967), that of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers (1949–1950), and that of the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders (1949–1958).
Background
Judith Coplon was born on May 17, 1921, to a Jewish family in
She was recruited for Soviet espionage at Columbia University by Flora Wovschin and Marion Davis Berdecio.[citation needed]
Career
In 1944, Coplon obtained a job in the
Espionage
Evidence later emerged that Coplon was recruited as a Soviet spy during the early months of 1945. Coplon had a meeting with Vladimir Pravdin, the NKVD station chief in New York City on January 4, 1945.[4] Pravdin was impressed by Coplon who was described as "very serious, shy, profound girl, ideologically close to us." He went on to argue:
We have no doubts about the sincerity of her desire to work with us. In the course of the conversation (Coplon) underlined how much she appreciated the credit we gave to her and that, now knowing for whom she was working, she would redouble her efforts. At the very first stage of her work (Coplon) thought she was helping the local compatriots (the CPUSA).... She thought the stuff acquired by her couldn't represent an interest to the compatriots but could for an organization like the Comintern or another institution bearing a relationship to us. She added that she hoped she was working specifically for us, since she considered it the highest honor to have an opportunity to provide us with modest help."[5]
Soon she was recruited as a Soviet spy (codenamed Sima).[6]
Coplon became one of the NKVD's most valued sources. Her main attention was focused on the main Justice Department counterintelligence archive that collected information from the various government agencies: FBI, OSS, and naval and army intelligence. She passed to her NKVD contact a number of documents from the archive. That included FBI materials on Soviet organizations in the United States and information on leaders of the Communist Party of the United States.[7]
Detection
She came to the attention of the
FBI Special Agent
Trials and appeals
Coplon's attorney was Archibald Palmer[9] and Gubitchev's was Abraham Pomerantz.[10]
Coplon was convicted in two separate trials, one for
The appellate court, sitting in New York, concluded that while the evidence showed that she was guilty, FBI agents had lied under oath about the bugging. Moreover, the opinion said that the failure to get a warrant was not justified. The court overturned the verdict, but the indictment was not dismissed. In the appeal of the Washington trial, the verdict was upheld, but because of the possible bugging, a new trial became impossible. For political and evidentiary reasons, it never took place. The legal irregularities ensured that she was never retried, and the government ultimately dropped the case in 1967 along with the return of her bail money of $40,000.[8]
National attention
The Coplon trials commanded nationwide attention. After her arrest but before her trials, Coplon received earnest attention from the media.
For example,
Personal life and death
In 1950 Coplon married one of her attorneys, Albert Socolov, and they remained married until her death in 2011. The couple had four children.[14][15][16][17]
Once the trials concluded, Judith Coplon disappeared from the public space. She went on to pass a master’s degree in education, published bilingual books and taught creative writing to women in prison.[8]
See also
- Preceding case: Hollywood Ten(1947)
- Concurrent cases:
- Hiss–Chambers Case (1949–1950)
- Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders (1949–1958)
- House Committee on Un-American Activities(HUAC)
References
- ^ Fitzgerald, Jim (March 2, 2011). "Judith Coplon Socolov -NY woman convicted of spying in '49 dies at 89". The Associated Press. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Judith Coplon '43, political analyst, dies". Barnard College. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ^ a b "Baby Face". TIME. March 14, 1949. Retrieved March 3, 2011.[dead link]
- ISBN 0-679-45724-0.
- ^ Vladimir Pravdin, report on Judith Coplon (January 8, 1945)
- ^ Athan Theoharis, Chasing Spies (2002) page 46
- ^ John Simkin. "Judith Coplon". Spartacus Educational.
- ^ a b c d e Roberts, Sam (March 2, 2011). "Judith Coplon, Haunted by Espionage Case, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ Leab, Daniel. "Coplon, Judith". American National Biography Online. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- ^ "Abraham Pomerants, 79, Pioneering Lawyer". The New York Times. November 21, 1981. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ a b "Venona". FBI. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ^ a b Samuels, Gertrude (May 22, 1949). "American Traitors: A Study in Motives" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (March 4, 2011). "ArtsBeat: A Cold War Spy Trial, Before McCarthy and the Rosenbergs". The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ^ "NY woman convicted of spying in '49 dies at 89". The Wall Street Journal. March 2, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.[dead link]
- ^ Fitzgerald, Jim (March 2, 2011). "NY woman convicted of spying in '49 dies at 89". AP via Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Jim (March 3, 2011). "Judith Coplon, accused and cleared of being a Soviet spy, dies at 89". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ^ "Judith Coplon, NY woman convicted of Cold War spying, dies at 89; convictions were overturned". Guardian. March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-300-08462-5
- Robert J. Lamphere and ISBN 0-86554-477-8
- Marcia Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell, The Spy Who Seduced America: Lies and Betrayal in the Heat of the Cold War – The Judith Coplon Story (Invisible Cities Press, Montpelier, 2002) ISBN 1-931229-22-8
- Alexander Vassiliev and ISBN 0-375-75536-5