Morris Cohen (spy)
Morris Cohen | |
---|---|
Harlem, New York City, U.S.[1] | |
Died | June 23, 1995[1] | (aged 84)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Mississippi State University
USSR |
Service years | 1939–1961 (arrest) |
Codename | Peter Kroger (while in the UK) |
Morris Cohen (Russian: Моррис Генрихович Коэн, Morris Genrikhovich Koen; July 2, 1910 – June 23, 1995), also known by his alias Peter Kroger, was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.[2] They became spies because of their communist beliefs.
Early life and education
Morris Cohen was born in
Career
International Brigades
In 1937, Cohen joined the Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion and fought as a foreign national volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, as did others who were sympathetic to the anti-Franco movement. He met Amadeo Sabatini, a career Soviet spy who recruited him. After being injured, in November 1938 Cohen returned to the United States. He began serving Soviet foreign intelligence.[1]
Soviet espionage
In mid-1942, Cohen was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Europe. He was discharged from the Army in November 1945 and returned to the United States where he resumed his espionage work for the Soviet Union.[1]
Among other things, the Cohens delivered detailed blueprints on the nuclear bomb to Moscow in 1945.[2]
As Soviet spy networks were compromised in this period, connection with Soviet intelligence was temporarily ended, but resumed in 1948, when the
In 1954, the Cohens moved to 45 Cranley Drive in Ruislip, London where they had numerous pieces of hidden equipment for espionage, and an antenna looping around their attic, used for their transmissions to Moscow. Their cover was as antiquarian book dealers under the names of Peter and Helen Kroger working with KGB agent Konon Molody who used the cover name Gordon Lonsdale.[1]
Arrest and trial
British security officials arrested the Cohens on January 7, 1961, for their part in a Soviet espionage network known as the Portland Spy Ring that had penetrated the Royal Navy. They were convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Morris and Lona served eight years in prison, because they were subjects of a prisoner exchange.[1]
Files released by the National Archives in September 2019 indicated that MI5 had found "espionage equipment hidden inside an oversized Ronson cigarette lighter" in a bank safety deposit box according to The Times; this became the breakthrough required to close down the spy ring.[4]
Prisoner exchange
In 1967, the Soviet Union admitted that the Cohens were spies. In July 1969, Britain
Moscow
The Cohens lived in Moscow, where Morris trained spies for the Soviets. He and Lona were later given pensions by the KGB, and remained in the city for the remainder of their lives.[1]
Personal life and death
In 1941, Cohen married
During some period, Cohen was an employee of Amtorg.[7]
After training Soviet agents in Moscow for decades, Cohen retired on a pension, as did his wife. He died in Moscow on June 23, 1995. Lona had died in 1992.[2]
Awards
The Cohens were awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Friendship of Nations by the Soviet Union for their espionage work. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they also were given the title of Hero of the Russian Federation by the Yeltsin government.
Venona
The Cohens are referenced in
Representation in other media
British playwright
The play was adapted as a TV movie starring Ellen Burstyn, Alan Bates, Teri Garr and Daniel Benzali (as "Peter Schaefer," i.e., "Peter Kroger"/ Morris Cohen) which aired in the U.S. on CBS in 1987. The plot centered on the neighbors (and seeming friends), whose house was used as a base from which the British security services could spy on the Cohens. It explored the way that paranoia, suspicion and betrayal gradually destroyed their lives during that time.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Моррис Коэн. svr.gov.ru
- ^ a b c "Morris Cohen, 84, Soviet Spy Who Passed Atom Plans in 40's". The New York Times. July 5, 1995. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 9781611688092
- ^ "Portland spies undone by a giant lighter". The Times. September 24, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
Between 1956 and 1961 secrets extracted from the Portland Underwater Detection Establishment enabled the Soviet Union to construct a quieter submarine class.
- ^ BBC (July 24, 1969). "On This Day: 24 July 1969: Briton freed from Soviet prison".
- ^ MR. GERALD BROOKE (RELEASE)
- ^ "Red Files: Amtorg". PBS. 1999. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
Further reading
- Albright, Joseph; Kunstel, Marcia (1997). Bombshell: The Secret Story of America's Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy. New York: Times Books. pp. 244–253. ISBN 9780812928617.
- ISBN 0-300-08462-5.
- Russian Federal Foreign Intelligence Service (1995). Veterany vneshnei razvedki Rosii (Veterans of Russian foreign intelligence service). Moscow: Russian Federal Foreign Intelligence Service.
- Trahair, Richard C.S.; Miller, Robert (2009). Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations. New York: Enigma Books. ISBN 978-1-929631-75-9.
- West, Rebecca (1964). The New Meaning of Treason. New York: Viking. pp. 281–288.
- Recollections of Ruislip neighbors: http://www.ruislip.co.uk/kroger/kroger.htm
External links
- BBC (March 13, 1961). "On This Day: 13 March 1961: Five Britons accused of spying for Moscow". Includes a video news report on the Krogers/Cohens' return to the Soviet Union and an interview with former Foreign Secretary George Brownover the issues.
- Chervonnaya, Svetlana. "Red Files: Secret Victories of the KGB – Svetlana Chervonnaya Interview". PBS.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Subject: Morris and Lona Cohen, File Number: 100-406659".
- Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) (in Russian)