June 17: Truman Halts Investigation

On this date in History.... June 17, 1943:

Sen. Harry Truman is asked not to investigate a suspicious war plant in Washington State. 

Truman was chairing a committee on possible war profiteering when this plant caught his attention. FDR’s Secretary of War, Harry Stimson, was one of the very VERY few who knew this plant was secretly involved in activities connected to the Manhattan Project. When asked to curb the investigation with no real explanation given, Truman, who was described as “a veteran and a patriot”, told Stimson to “say no more”, and the inquiry stopped.  

It was only after FDR’s death and Truman became President did he find out the nature of the Manhattan Project.

December 20: Soviet Code Broken

On this date in History ..... 1946:

Meredith Gardner broke a Soviet code that revealed Soviet espionage in the Manhattan Project, and Soviet activity in the Treasury Dept, the State Dept and even the White House. The code breaking, a collaboration between the US and the UK to break Soviet coded messages, was known as the VENONA Project. It was so secret that Pres. Roosevelt and Truman knew nothing about it and led to evidence used in such spy cases as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

 

While Mr. Gardner was the key man in breaking this code, most of the code breakers were young women.

December 9: Manhattan Project Spies

On this date in History .... 1950:

Harry Gold

Harry Gold is sent to prison and is sentenced to 30 years in prison for espionage, starting a chain of events that would uncover a string of spies for the Soviets on the atomic bomb technology. 

Gold was a chemist from Philadelphia who had been a courier between Klaus Fuchs, (a British scientist who was stealing atomic bomb information), and the Soviets. Gold’s confession led to the arrest of David Greenglass, who was employed at Los Alamos where the Manhattan Project was being developed. Greenglass implicated his sister and brother-in-law, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, telling officials they were actively spying for the Soviets. 

The Rosenbergs

The Rosenbergs became the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed at Sing Sing for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day.   Click here for video.

Harry Gold was paroled in 1965 after serving about half of his sentence.  He died in 1972.

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