This article is part of the Venona Venona project The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II... series.

Secret apparatus

U.S. Service and Shipping Corporation

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Rae Elson, also Ray Elson was employed in the Civil Rights Committee in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

  in the 1930s and was a very active dues paying member of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). Communist Party dues amounted to ten percent of a member's income.

Elson was active in the CPUSA underground secret apparatus as a courier. Elson seems to have always had direct contacts with Soviet intelligence

Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies

There was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka"...

. By May 1945, Elizabeth Bentley

Elizabeth Bentley

Elizabeth Terrill Bentley was an American spy for the Soviet Union from 1938 until 1945. In 1945 she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligence and became an informer for the U.S. She exposed two networks of spies, ultimately naming over 80 Americans who had engaged in espionage for...

 had several messages with Soviet contacts communicated through Elson. When Bentley sought to remove herself from her position as Vice President of the U.S. Service and Shipping Corporation, a CPUSA and Comintern

Comintern

The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...

 front organization for Soviet espionage activities, Joseph Katz

Joseph Katz

Joseph Katz allegedly worked for Soviet intelligence from the 1930s to the late 1940s as one of its most active liaison agents. Katz was assigned management of the “First Line,” that part of the NKGB mission aimed at recruiting selected members of the Communist Party USA...

 selected Elson to replace Bentley. Earl Browder

Earl Browder

Earl Russell Browder was an American communist and General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.- Early years :...

, General Secretary

General Secretary

The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...

of the CPUSA, helped Elson acquire interest in the firm by selling his stock to her.

In late November 1945, Elson met with Bentley and they discussed the difficulties both were having meeting with their Russian contacts. Bentley defected within days after this meeting.

Source

• Alexander Vassiliev, Untitled Notes on Anatoly Gorsky’s December 1948 Memo on the Failed American Networks (2003)
• FBI Silvermaster file