Jacob Epstein (10 November 1903 – 10 February 1998), also known as Jake Bermanen, was an American-born Soviet spy. Epstein was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

of Russian parents. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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 () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Epstein was stationed by Soviet intelligence in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where he was a "student" at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

.''U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947'' Epstein was put in charge of the

Gnome Project GNOME Project is a community behind the GNOME desktop environment and the software platform upon which it is based. It consists of all the software developers, artists, writers, translators, other contributors, and active users of GNOME. The GNOM ...

, which was the secret plan to free

Ramón Mercader Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río (; ; 7 February 1913 – 18 October 1978)Photograph oMercader's Gravestone/ref> was a Spanish communist and NKVD secret agent who assassinated the revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in August 1940. Mercad ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

'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 and later absorbed by the National Security Agency (NSA), that ran from February 1, 1943, u ...

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 Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

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 National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni