Atomic spies

Atomic spies were people in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada who shared secret information about nuclear weapons with the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold War. This information included details about how to make and design these powerful weapons. The spies had different reasons for doing this. Some believed strongly in communism and wanted to help the Soviet Union. Others were paid money, while a few might have been forced or threatened. Many spies also wanted to be important in history and shape the future of the world.

The truth about who did what and how much they shared is still debated by experts today. Important clues came from the Venona project, which decoded secret messages sent by the Soviet Union. These messages helped identify several spies, including Klaus Fuchs, Harry Gold, David Greenglass, Julius Rosenberg, and physicist Theodore Hall, all of whom worked at places like Los Alamos.

More information came from documents written by a former Soviet officer, Alexander Vassiliev, and the story of spy George Koval. These spies gave the Soviet Union details that helped them build nuclear weapons much faster than they might have otherwise. Their actions changed the course of the Cold War and the story of nuclear weapons in the world.

Importance

Before World War II, scientists around the world were very interested in the idea of nuclear fission. They wondered if it could be used for powerful energy or even weapons. However, they thought creating an atomic weapon was very hard and not possible at the time.

Because of this interest, the United States, together with Britain and Canada, started a big project called the Manhattan Project in 1942 to try to build an atomic bomb. This project needed a lot of money, materials, and smart scientists.

The Soviet Union also wanted to build its own atomic bomb. They had fewer scientists and resources, so they tried to get secret information from the Manhattan Project to help them. Some people, known as atomic spies, gave this information to the Soviets. These spies included scientists and others who worked on the Manhattan Project and shared details about how to build the bomb.

Because of this secret help, the Soviet Union was able to build its first atomic bomb much faster than if it had to figure everything out by itself. This competition for nuclear power became a big part of the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Notable suspected spies

Some people were thought to have shared secret information about making nuclear weapons with another country during World War II and the early Cold War. Exactly what they shared, and whether they actually did, is still debated by historians.

• Haakon Chevalier and George C. Eltenton were linked to a 1943 event where Robert Oppenheimer was asked to share information about the Manhattan Project with the Soviet Union. This request later contributed to Oppenheimer losing his security clearance in 1954.

• Morris Cohen, an American, shared important technical details about the United States atomic bomb project with the Soviet Union. He and his wife, Lona, served eight years in prison before being released in a prisoner exchange. He passed away without revealing the name of the scientist who helped him.

• Klaus Fuchs, a British physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project and was later arrested and sentenced to fourteen years in prison for sharing information. He was released after serving nine years and moved to Dresden.

• Harry Gold, another American, helped pass secret information from Klaus Fuchs to the Soviets. He was arrested, confessed, and served over fifteen years in prison before being released in 1966.

• David Greenglass, an American machinist, admitted to sharing some details about experiments with the Russians during World War II. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but served 10 years.

• Theodore Hall, a young American physicist, shared important details about the bomb development with the Soviets. He moved to England after the war and was not charged until many years later.

• George Koval, who was born in America but returned to the Soviet Union, worked for the Soviet military and obtained information about bomb materials while serving in the United States Army.

• Irving Lerner, an American film director, was caught taking photos of a scientific instrument in 1944 and was later blacklisted.

• Alan Nunn May, a British scientist, was one of the first to be discovered sharing secrets and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an American couple tried for helping share secret information. They both were executed in 1953 after a controversial trial.

• Saville Sax helped deliver information for Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall while they were roommates at Harvard University.

• Oscar Seborer worked on the Manhattan Project and later moved to the Soviet Union, living there under a different name until his death in 2015.

• Morton Sobell, an American engineer, was convicted along with the Rosenbergs and served nearly 18 years in prison.

• Melita Norwood, a British secretary, worked for many years sharing secrets with the Soviet Union without ever being caught.

• Arthur Adams was another person who shared information about the Manhattan Project.