Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America (27 page)

Fitin immediately transmitted this information to the KGB New York
station with orders to contact Fuchs as quickly as possible:

"`Rest' [Fuchs] was recruited by the neighbors [GRU] in August 1941 on the
recommendation of a senior worker of the fellowcountryman [Communist] organization in Germany. He worked on an ideological basis. He did not receive
regular pay from the neighbors. Occasionally, gifts were made. When offered a
monetary gift, however, he would not turn it down. In accordance with an agreement between the Island [UK] and the Country [USA], reached in the second
half of last year, when a special delegation from the Island came to the Country
a number of leading scientific workers from the island have moved to the Country including Chadwick, Frisch, Oliphant, Peierls, et al. At the beginning of November, `Rest' went there as well.... As an agent, `Rest' is a major figure with
considerable opportunities and experience in agent work, which he acquired
over two years of work with the neighbors. Once you have determined his position in the Country and his opportunities at the initial meetings, you can immediately switch over to practical work receiving information and material."

Fitin also sent the rendezvous information GRU had provided, along with
critical remarks about the "neighbors"' tradecraft:

Rendezvous in NY-to establish a connection with "Rest" [Fuchs]. Meeting
place:... at the front door of Henry Street Settlement, in Henry Street,
Down Town, East End, Jewish Quarter, NY. Time: at 16.oo on the 1st and 3rd
Sat. of every month, starting in Jan. 44. Recognition signals: "Rest" will be
holding a green book and a tennis ball. Our man will be wearing gloves. He
will be carrying a third glove in one of his hands.

OUR MAN: What is the way to the China Town?

"REST": I think the China Town is closed at 5 o'clock.

Meeting place-a well-known Jewish philanthropic center.

"Note: From our point of view, the rendezvous is very poorly conceived.
Periodically showing up on certain days and waiting around in the same place
for a person carrying objects as unusual as the ones indicated could easily at tract anyone's attention. Nevertheless, we are obliged to follow the accepted
rendezvous terms."

If you are unable to establish a connection by 1.04.44, then go through his
sister, Heineman, who lives on 144 Lake View Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Married, she and her husband-fellowcountrymen. Password:

OUR MAN: I bring you greetings from Max.

SHE: Oh, I heard Max had twins!

OUR MAN: Yes, seven days ago.

Moscow specifically suggested Harry Gold, a veteran KGB liaison with
American technical sources, as "the most suitable handler for `Rest'
[Fuchs]."10'

Gold met with Fuchs in New York on Saturday, 5 February 1944, and
wrote:

"We were both at the appointed place on time at 4:00 P.M.: he had the green
book and the tennis ball and I had the four gloves. I greeted him and he accepted my offer of a walk. We strolled a while and talked. He is about ,5 ft., i0
in., thin, pale complexioned, and at first was very reserved in manner; this last
is good. K. [Klaus] dresses well (tweeds) but not fancily. After a ride on the
subway we took a taxi and went to eat. As I kept talking about myself, he
warmed up and began to show evidence of getting down to business. For instance, I would say that I had felt honored at having been told to meet him,
and he said that he `could hardly believe it' when he had been told that we
would like him to work with us (this was in England, of course). The following
developed about K.: He obviously has worked with our people before and he
is fully aware of what he is doing. Also, he is apparently one of us in spirit. K.
has only been here since September, but he expects to be here for at least the
duration; he may be transferred out of New York, but it is not very likely-in
any case he will be able to let us know in plenty of time. He is a mathematical
physicist and a graduate of the Universities of Bristol and Edinburgh; he is
most likely a very brilliant man to have such a position at his age (he looks
about 30). We took a long walk after dinner, and he explained the `factory'
[Manhattan Project] setup."

Fuchs went on to describe the Manhattan Project's major lines of research on uranium separation-electronic at the University of California and gaseous diffusion at Columbia University-and practical bomb
work to be carried out at "Camp Y," which Fuchs thought was somewhere
in New Mexico. Although the work was being conducted in "`water-tight
compartments,"' Fuchs agreed to "`furnish us with everything"' in his division "`and as much of the other as possible.' "102

Three weeks later Kvasnikov cabled Moscow with the news that
Fuchs had turned over a report on his own work on "Enormous." Three
weeks after that, Harry Gold explained that at his ii March meeting in
Manhattan, Fuchs, after providing another fifty pages, had asked how his
report had been received. When Gold said there was only one flaw, the
absence of a more detailed context and how his work fit in with the overall project, Fuchs was "`not very pleased"' because he had already done
this with his British contact and he was concerned that taking such documents might endanger him "`if such explanatory material were found in
his possession, b/c his work here has nothing to do with such materials.
Nevertheless, he agreed to give us what we need as soon as possible."' In
a report to Moscow Kvasnikov sniffed that "it is obvious that in their work
with `Rest,' the neighbors [GRU] did not guide him or report any conclusions based on his materials." 03

At the end of March, Gold and Fuchs met on the Grand Concourse
in the Bronx and had dinner together. Fuchs complained that the Americans were withholding information from the British scientists and British
authorities might send him back to Great Britain by July. The other option was that he might be sent to Los Alamos, but he could not guarantee that possibility. On 4 May they met in Long Island City, and Fuchs
promised to find out the details about the three-week trip Rudolf Peierls,
his boss, had just taken to Los Alamos, the key site where the bombs were
actually being built. In early June, Fuchs handed over another report but
thought his tenure in America was coming to an end. Wrangling between
the two countries over the British decision to build its own diffusion plant
had sparked plans to send the British scientists home. He thought he had
only about six more weeks in America. On 15 June Gold gave him specific questions to answer and heard that the situation remained uncer-
tain.'04

Moscow was delighted with Fuchs's intelligence; at last the KGB had
a highly placed source within the Manhattan Project, but remained critical of his handling by the New York station. Even though it acknowledged receiving regular reports he had provided, Moscow complained
that the reports did not have sufficient information from Gold about the
personal relationship between the two, about Fuchs's personality, his
place of work, where he lived, the cover story to account for their meetings, and "`terms of contact for `Rest' [Fuchs] in case the connection is
suddenly lost."'ros

The Center's fears proved prescient. The KGB New York station
learned in July that Fuchs was probably moving to England and in structed Gold to arrange future communications, but Fuchs did not show
up for a scheduled meeting in New York on 5 August. Gold was too busy
to come to the next meeting, and Fuchs was not present at the next
scheduled one (he had arrived at Los Alamos on 14 August and had no
way to contact Gold). When Gold went to Fuchs's apartment in New
York, he was told that Fuchs had left for England. Gold tried to find
Fuchs through his sister but was unable to contact her. Informed by cipher telegram on 29 August that contact with Fuchs, the only high-level
source in the Manhattan Project, had been lost, Moscow Center was outraged: "`The liberty taken by Goose [Gold] (failure to appear at a meeting) is outrageous. A stern warning and reprimand must be made to
Anton [Kvasnikov] and Goose for losing contact with such a source, and
as a result a search for R. ["Rest"/Fucks] that violates the rules of covert
work is beginning."' The New York station defended Gold, reminding
Moscow that he frequently missed meetings due to his job responsibilities and that such occurrences could not be fully anticipated. Only providing a more flexible cover for Gold "`that would take up as little of his
time as possible and allow him to use most of his time for our work"'
would resolve the problem.106

In late September 1944 Gold traveled to Boston and went to the
home of Fuchs's sister. The Heineman family, he learned, was away on vacation. He returned in late October, waited for a period when her husband was out, and introduced himself with the verbal recognition signals
arranged earlier. She told him that she thought her brother had returned
to England, but she had not heard from him. Gold came back in early
November to see if she had heard anything and reported: "`I arrived in
the morning and again went out to Camb. [Cambridge], laden with candy
and a book ("Some of My Best Friends Are Soldiers" by Margaret
Halsey). She had very good news: Rest [Fuchs] had called from Chicago
and had said that he was there on business from New Mexico, where he
is stationed-he did not go to "Ostrov" [Britain] after all. Further, he will
be home to Cambridge for two weeks during Christmas. So I can see him
then. I was so overjoyed that I stayed for lunch."' Gold arranged to return
in a month or so. When he did, on 7 December, Kristel Heineman told
him there was still no word about exactly when Fuchs would arrive, but
in a phone call he had also told her that in addition to visiting the Heinemans in Boston, he might have to go to New York for a day or so. Gold
judged this indicated that "`Klaus expected us to get in touch with him.
I gave her a small piece of paper with the message for him carefully printed out, and Mrs. Heineman said she would give it to Klaus as soon
as he would arrive."' Gold's instructions were for Fuchs to call the telephone number of "Hudson" [unidentified] with news of his arrival.107

Christmas of 1944 came and went, and there was still no word of
Klaus Fuchs. Moscow Center proposed that Gold go back to Boston more
frequently, but Kvasnikov pointed out that such meetings might raise suspicions with Kristel Heineman's husband, whom the KGB did not want
to involve. Fuchs finally arrived in Boston during the second week of February and called the number Gold had left for him. Anatoly Yatskov got
the news and promptly went to Philadelphia to inform Gold. On Monday,
1g February, Gold arrived in Boston and Fuchs was there, but Mrs.
Heineman warned him that her husband was home and a visitor from
the British Consulate was expected. He went back to Philadelphia and returned on Wednesday. Gold's report read as follows:

"This time the trip was a complete success. I arrived again at the sister's home
at exactly the same time in the morning, and K. [Klaus] welcomed me most
warmly. After distributing the gifts I had for the children and K's sister-as
well as the opera wallet for K.-we went back into Boston while K. bought
some small items for his friends in Santa Fe, and of course we talked while he
explained the situation to me.

It is this: i. He was not granted a leave at Christmas and so was unable to
come to Boston till now. The traveling time took away six days so that all he
was really left was just a day over a week. K. was due to leave Thursday night.
z. Since he is supposed to make a written report on all people he meets (and
in fact even on those at work who speak of the project outside of the actual
working hours and outside of their own particular field), he did not want his
brother-in-law to meet me-particularly since the man from the Brit. Consulate was supposed to visit K. either Monday or Tuesday. But for some reason, which K. does not know, this man did not come-which is probably just
as well. g. K. said that he had made a very careful check and was certain that
he was not being watched.

We returned to Cambridge about i o'clock and had a very fine lunch with
K's sister. Then we went upstairs and K. outlined the setup at the camp to me:
a) When he went there in August, there were only z,5oo to 3,000 people. Now
it has expanded to 45,000! b) The work being carried on is the actual manufacture of `factory' bombs. Employed there are physicists, mathematicians,
chemists, engineers: civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, and many other
types of technical help, as well as a U.S. Army Engineer Detachment. c) They
are progressing very well and are expected to go into full-scale production in about three months-but K was hesitant about this date and said he would not
like to be held to it. d) The area is about 40 miles N.W. from Santa Fe and covers the grounds of Los Alamos Ranch, a former Ranch School.

R. ["Rest"/Fucks] is allowed only one day a month off to go shopping in
Santa Fe (as are all others), and we made a date for the first Saturday in Santa
Fe. I am to get off the bus station at Shelby and San Francisco and set my
watch by the large clock on San Francisco. Then I am to meet him at 4 P.M. on
the Castillo St. Bridge crossing Santa Fe River. The waiting time is io minutes. If we do not meet, the same procedure is to be repeated month after
month. Should a substitute have to come (though he would very much prefer
me), he is to be identified as follows: the man will have a yellow pencil between two blue ones in his lapel, and he will be carrying a copy of Bennett
Cerf's Try and Stop Me. K will say to him, `How is your brother Raymond?'
and the answer will be, `Not well, he has been in the hospital for two weeks.'
The final identification is to be by means of two sections of paper torn in a
jagged pattern, one of which K has. K was really prepared and gave me a bus
schedule and a map of Santa Fe-he advises me not to go directly there but to
a nearby city such as Albuquerque. He also gave me the material which I submitted, and we parted at 3:30 P.M.