Jacob Epstein, also Jake Bermanen, (10 November 1903 – 10 February 1998) was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

of Russian parents. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1924, where he became friends with Anna Colloms, who was also a student. In 1938, Epstein volunteered for the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, and was badly wounded. Epstein married Ruth Beverly Wilson, whom he met while convalescing from his injuries, and both allegedly served as Soviet intelligence operatives. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Epstein was stationed by Soviet intelligence in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Epstein was put in charge of the Gnome Project, which was the secret plan to free Ramón Mercader,

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

's murderer, from jail. Epstein is referenced in

Venona The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (later absorbed by the National Security Agency), which ran from February 1, 1943, until Octob ...

decrypt 800 New York to Moscow 28 May 1943, and another decrypt on 30 May 1943. The material cites Epstein as having placed two agents in the prison where Mercader was held. The plan called for moving Mercader out of Mexico once the jailbreak was made. Venona decrypt 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944 identifies Anna Colloms, while on a courier mission to Mexico, reporting the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

detected surveillance of Ruth Wilson, Epstein's wife, and Colloms, who went to Mexico for liaison with Jacob Epstein, but achieved nothing.

Venona

Jacob Epstein's code names in Soviet intelligence are "Harry" and "Garri". Epstein is referenced in the following Venona decryptions: *800 KGB New York to Moscow, 28 May 1943; *816–817 KGB New York to Moscow, 30 May 1943; *899 KGB New York to Moscow, 11 June 1943; *1142 KGB New York to Moscow, 10 August 1944; *174–176 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 29 December 1943;
193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.1

193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.2

193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.3

193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.4

193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.5
*212 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 25 March 1944; *261–262 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 16 April 1944; *281 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 21 April 1944; *553–554 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 29 June 1944; *893 KGB Mexico City to Moscow, 28 November 1944; *237 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 20 April 1944; *248 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 27 April 1944; *288 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 11 May 1944; *511 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 24 August 1944; *626 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 29 October 1944; *634 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 5 November 1944.

References

* FBI Silvermaster file, serial 3187, New York FBI memo, 1 April 1948 * John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', Yale University Press (1999), pgs. 280–281, 282, 348, 450. {{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Jacob 1903 births 1998 deaths Cornell University alumni American spies for the Soviet Union American people in the Venona papers American people of Russian-Jewish descent International Brigades personnel