Red Spy Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth Bentley

285 Pages·2002·1.538 MB·English

by  Kathryn S. Olmsted

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QUEEN
A Biography of
ELIZABETH BENTLEY
Kathryn S. Olmsted
TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
ChapelHillandLondon

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6 ©2002
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TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
Allrightsreserved
SetinCharter,Champion,andJustlefthandtypes
byTsengInformationSystems,Inc.
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesfor
permanenceanddurabilityoftheCommitteeon
ProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityofthe
CouncilonLibraryResources.
LibraryofCongress
Cataloging-in-PublicationData
Olmsted,KathrynS.
Redspyqueen:abiographyofElizabethBentley/
byKathrynS.Olmsted.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn0-8078-2739-8(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Bentley,Elizabeth. 2.Womencommunists—United
States—Biography. 3.Communism—UnitedStates—
1917– 4.Intelligenceservice—SovietUnion.
5.Espionage—SovietUnion. 6.Informers—United
States—Biography. I.Title.
hx84.b384o45 2002
327.1247073'092—dc21 2002002824
06 05 04 03 02 5 4 3 2 1

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5 To
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my mother, Joane,
and the memory of my father,
Alvin Olmsted

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65 Preface ix
6
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter1.TheSadandLonelyGirl 1
Chapter2.VitallyImportantWork 20
Chapter3.CleverGirl 36
Chapter4.ASeriousandDangerousBurden 57
Chapter5.GetRidofHer 89
Chapter6.TheBlondeSpyQueen 114
Chapter7.FalseWitness 140
Chapter8.SomewhatHysterical 172
Epilogue 202
Notes 205
SelectedBibliography 245
Index 257
Asectionofillustrationsfollowspage80.

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65 OnanunseasonablychillydayinAugust1945,aConnecticutYan-
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kee named Elizabeth Bentley stole into an industrial building in
NewHaventhathousedafieldofficeoftheFederalBureauofIn-
vestigation.Lookinganxiouslyoverhershoulderfortails,sherode
the elevator to a top floor, then slunk down the stairs. She took
a deep breath and entered the small government office. Just two
weeksearlier,theSecondWorldWar—andthegrandalliancebe-
tween the United States and the Soviet Union—had come to an
end.Bentleywasnowthinkingofendingherown,illegalalliance
with Soviet intelligence.
Whenshefinallybegantotellhertaletothefbi,Bentleywould
namemorethanfiftyAmericanswhoshesaidhadhelpedherspy
for the Soviets. She would describe and identify the most power-
ful Soviet spymasters in the United States, as well as the Ameri-
cangovernmentofficialswhoservedastheiragents.Herdefection
wouldeffectivelyshutdownSovietespionageintheUnitedStates
for a period of years.
She would also help trigger an earthquake in American poli-
tics.TheAlgerHisscase,theSmithActprosecutionsofCommunist
Partyleaders,andSenatorJoeMcCarthy’sdenunciationsofState
DepartmentRedsallstemmedfromBentley’sdecisiontowalkinto
thatforbiddingfbioffice.Herallegationsseemedtoprovidehard
evidence that the Soviets had undermined the American govern-
ment—that there was, in McCarthy’s words, a ‘‘conspiracy so im-
mense’’ to destroy the United States from within.
Despiteherimportance,Bentleyhasbeenneglectedbyhistori-
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ans. Inpart,thisneglecthasbeenduetothedifficultyofassessing
hertruthfulness.Now,though,newdocumentscomingoutofRus-

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