Isaiah Oggins
Encyclopedia
Isaiah Oggins (July 22, 1898 - Summer 1947) was an American communist and spy in the Soviet underground who worked in Europe with his wife and in the Far East before being arrested, sentenced, and eventually executed under the orders of Joseph Stalin
.
near Kovno (Kaunas
), Lithuania, who had arrived in New York in 1888.
He entered Columbia University
in February 1917 under current Jewish quota
policies. Classmates included publishers Bennet Cerf, Donald Klopfer, and Richard Simon
; historian Matthew Josephson
; novelist Louis Bromfield
, critic Kenneth Burke
, and author William Slater Brown
. Professors included John Erskine
, George Odell, Robert Livingston Schuyler, and Charles A. Beard
. After receiving his B.A. in History, he began a doctorate in History while working at history reader there, then night school in the New York Public School system.
In 1923, Oggins became a Communist by joining the Workers Party of America
. The same year, he changed jobs to work for Yale University Press
as a researcher. On April 23, 1924, he married Nerma Berman (1898-1995), a Rand School
student and Communist activist originally born the Skapiskis
shtetl (also near Kovno). She became secretary of the New York division of the National Defense Committee of the Rand School for Red Scare victims Scott Nearing
and other professors.
, Germany. Their job was to maintain a low profile and inhabit their residence, so that other Soviet agents could periodically use it as a safe house for various espionage related activities. To accomplish this mission, Cy and Nerma had to avoid any appearance of being interested in Communist politics; they had to avoid even reading Communist newspapers. Friend Sidney Hook
spotted Oggins in the Gendarmenmarkt
, as described in his autobiography Out of Step (1984). Oggins had to resist the temptation to have meetings with his old friend, although he did not always resist this temptation fully.
The Ogginses moved from Berlin to Paris in the Spring of 1930. In Neuilly-sur-Seine
, they watched White Russians
, Trotskyites (including Trotsky's Paris-based son, Lev Sedov, and the family of Michael Feodorovich Romanov
. After exposure l'affaire Switz (1933-1934, involving Robert Gordon Switz, Lydia Stahl
, and Arvid Jacobson
), the Ogginses left Paris (September 1934) and returned to the States with their young son Robin (b. 1931). After a brief stint in New York, they left for San Francisco. Leaving his wife and child behind, Cy Oggins set off for China in September 1935—never to return.
In Shanghai, Oggins reported to Grace and Manny Granich (brother of Mike Gold
). In 1936, he worked in Dairen during the Manchukuo
and traveled to Harbin
. He reported to Charles Emile Martin (AKA George Wilmer, Lorenz, Laurenz, Dubois—born Matus Steinberg of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky) and wife Elsa Marie Martin (AKA Joanna Wilmer, Lora, Laura). (Martin later served in the Red Orchestra, spying on Nazi Germany.) By October 1937, the Martins and Oggins fled separately after Chiang Kai-Shek
attacked Manchuria
in July.
Oggins met his wife and son in Paris in February 1938, only to leave again in May. Nerma Berman Oggins left Paris with their son in September 1939 and returned to New York.
and took him to the Lubyanka
. His case received a hearing on January 5, 1940. Ten days later, he received a sentence of eight years.
Next day, Oggins shipped out to Norillag
where fellow inmates included Jacques Rossi
. He became known there as "The Professor." Nerma Berman Oggins requested the U.S. Department of State to investigate her husband's disappearance. On December 8, 1942, Oggins received visits from American diplomats at the Butyrka prison in Moscow. By May, 1943, the Soviets reneged on his release.
In the summer of 1947, overdue from release, Oggins was taken to Laboratory Number One
(the "Kamera"), where Grigory Mairanovsky
injected him with the poison curare
, which takes 10–15 minutes to kill.
, the name "Oggins" arose again, 1945-1946.
On February 10, 1949, FBI investigators questioned Esther Shemitz Chambers, wife of Whittaker Chambers
, about the Oggins. Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Oggins had both attended the Rand School
and had worked at the ILGWU and The World Tomorrow
magazine.
. Overseeing the investigation was Dmitri Volkogonov
. On September 23, 1992, Boris Yeltsin
handed an Oggins case dossier to American diplomat Malcolm Toon
: Oggins had been liquidated on Stalin's orders.
area. She retired in 1965 and lived for a time in the Lower East Side
at the Henry Street Settlement
. She later moved to Vestal, New York
to be near her son. She died in Vestal on January 27, 1995.
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
.
Early life
The third of four children, Oggins was born 1898 in Willimantic, Connecticut, the son of Simon M. Oggins and his wife Rena, both Jewish immigrants from the David "Reuben" Abolnik shtetlShtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
near Kovno (Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
), Lithuania, who had arrived in New York in 1888.
He entered Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in February 1917 under current Jewish quota
Jewish quota
Jewish quota was a percentage that limited the number of Jews in various establishments. In particular, in 19th and 20th centuries some countries had Jewish quotas for higher education, a special case of Numerus clausus....
policies. Classmates included publishers Bennet Cerf, Donald Klopfer, and Richard Simon
Richard Simon
Richard Simon was a French Oratorian, influential advanced biblical critic, orientalist, and controversialist.-Early years:...
; historian Matthew Josephson
Matthew Josephson
Matthew Josephson was an American journalist and author of works on nineteenth-century French literature and twentieth-century American economic history.-Biography:...
; novelist Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield was an American author and conservationist who gained international recognition winning the Pulitzer Prize and pioneering innovative scientific farming concepts.-Biography:...
, critic Kenneth Burke
Kenneth Burke
Kenneth Duva Burke was a major American literary theorist and philosopher. Burke's primary interests were in rhetoric and aesthetics.-Personal history:...
, and author William Slater Brown
William Slater Brown
William Slater Brown was an American novelist, biographer and translator of French literature. Most notably, he was a friend of the poet E. E...
. Professors included John Erskine
John Erskine
John Erskine may refer to:*John Erskine of Cardross , Scottish soldier and politician*John Erskine of Carnock , Scottish jurist...
, George Odell, Robert Livingston Schuyler, and Charles A. Beard
Charles A. Beard
Charles Austin Beard was, with Frederick Jackson Turner, one of the most influential American historians of the first half of the 20th century. He published hundreds of monographs, textbooks and interpretive studies in both history and political science...
. After receiving his B.A. in History, he began a doctorate in History while working at history reader there, then night school in the New York Public School system.
In 1923, Oggins became a Communist by joining the Workers Party of America
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,...
. The same year, he changed jobs to work for Yale University Press
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
as a researcher. On April 23, 1924, he married Nerma Berman (1898-1995), a Rand School
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
student and Communist activist originally born the Skapiskis
Skapiškis
Skapiškis is a town in the Kupiškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is situated on the shores of Lake Mituva and near the road and railway connecting Panevėžys with Daugavpils. According to the 2001 census, it had population of 496....
shtetl (also near Kovno). She became secretary of the New York division of the National Defense Committee of the Rand School for Red Scare victims Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, and advocate of simple living.-The early years:...
and other professors.
Soviet Underground Espionage
As of August 26, 1926, when he applied for his U.S. passport, Oggins had joined the Soviet underground and was readying for his first overseas assignment in probably Germany and France. In April 1928, Nerma applied for her first U.S. passport. The couple departed from New York on May 5, 1928, for a villa in the Zehlendorf district of BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany. Their job was to maintain a low profile and inhabit their residence, so that other Soviet agents could periodically use it as a safe house for various espionage related activities. To accomplish this mission, Cy and Nerma had to avoid any appearance of being interested in Communist politics; they had to avoid even reading Communist newspapers. Friend Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
spotted Oggins in the Gendarmenmarkt
Gendarmenmarkt
The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The centre of the Gendarmenmarkt is crowned by a statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the...
, as described in his autobiography Out of Step (1984). Oggins had to resist the temptation to have meetings with his old friend, although he did not always resist this temptation fully.
The Ogginses moved from Berlin to Paris in the Spring of 1930. In Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
, they watched White Russians
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
, Trotskyites (including Trotsky's Paris-based son, Lev Sedov, and the family of Michael Feodorovich Romanov
Line of succession to the Russian Throne
The Monarchy of Russia was abolished in 1917 following the February Revolution, which forced Emperor Nicholas II to abdicate. The issue of who is the current Pretender is open to debate.-Line of succession in March 1917:...
. After exposure l'affaire Switz (1933-1934, involving Robert Gordon Switz, Lydia Stahl
Lydia Stahl
Lydia Stahl was a secret agent who worked for Soviet Military Intelligence in New York and Paris.She was born Lydia Chkalov in Rostov, in the south of Russia, in 1890. Once the wife of a Tsarist officer, she later married Baron Stahl, a Baltic nobleman, and emigrated to the United States where...
, and Arvid Jacobson
Arvid Jacobson
Arvid Jacobson was a Finnish-American Communist who spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s.-Biography:Jacobson was working as a high school teacher in Detroit when, n the fall of 1932, he was recruited to work for the Soviet Military Intelligence by the Comintern agent "Mrs...
), the Ogginses left Paris (September 1934) and returned to the States with their young son Robin (b. 1931). After a brief stint in New York, they left for San Francisco. Leaving his wife and child behind, Cy Oggins set off for China in September 1935—never to return.
In Shanghai, Oggins reported to Grace and Manny Granich (brother of Mike Gold
Mike Gold
Michael "Mike" Gold is the pen-name of Jewish American writer Itzok Isaac Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist and literary critic, his semi-autobiographical novel Jews Without Money from 1930 was a bestseller.- Biography :Gold was born Itzok Isaac Granich on April 12, 1894 on the...
). In 1936, he worked in Dairen during the Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and traveled to Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
. He reported to Charles Emile Martin (AKA George Wilmer, Lorenz, Laurenz, Dubois—born Matus Steinberg of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky) and wife Elsa Marie Martin (AKA Joanna Wilmer, Lora, Laura). (Martin later served in the Red Orchestra, spying on Nazi Germany.) By October 1937, the Martins and Oggins fled separately after Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
attacked Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
in July.
Oggins met his wife and son in Paris in February 1938, only to leave again in May. Nerma Berman Oggins left Paris with their son in September 1939 and returned to New York.
Detention, Arrest, Imprisonment, Death
On February 20, 1939, Soviet secret police arrested Oggins at the Hotel MoskvaHotel Moskva (Moscow)
The Hotel Moskva name has been used for two identical buildings on the same spot in Moscow, Russia located near Red Square in close proximity to the old City Hall. The first Hotel Moskva was originally constructed from 1932 until 1938, it opened as a hotel in December 1935...
and took him to the Lubyanka
Lubyanka
Lubyanka or Lubianka may refer to:*Lubyanka Square, Moscow*Bolshaya Lubyanka Street, Moscow*Lubyanka Building, former KGB headquarters and prison at Lubyanka Square, Moscow*Lubyanka , a metro station in MoscowPlaces in Poland called Lubianka...
. His case received a hearing on January 5, 1940. Ten days later, he received a sentence of eight years.
Next day, Oggins shipped out to Norillag
Norillag
Norillag, Norilsk Corrective Labor Camp was a gulag labor camp set by Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia and headquartered there. It existed from June 25, 1935 to August 22, 1956....
where fellow inmates included Jacques Rossi
Jacques Rossi
Jacques Rossi , was a Polish-French writer and polyglot. Rossi was best known for his books on the gulag....
. He became known there as "The Professor." Nerma Berman Oggins requested the U.S. Department of State to investigate her husband's disappearance. On December 8, 1942, Oggins received visits from American diplomats at the Butyrka prison in Moscow. By May, 1943, the Soviets reneged on his release.
In the summer of 1947, overdue from release, Oggins was taken to Laboratory Number One
Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services
Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, alternatively known as Laboratory 1, Laboratory 12, and Kamera which means "The Chamber" in Russian, was a covert research and development facility of the Soviet secret police agencies,which notably also developed antidotes and internal...
(the "Kamera"), where Grigory Mairanovsky
Grigory Mairanovsky
Grigory Mairanovsky was a Soviet biochemist and poison developer.He was head of secret laboratories in the Bach Institute of Biochemistry in Moscow . As the head of Laboratory No. 1 of the NKVD , he initiated the secret "scientific" poison program conducted by the Soviet secret police services...
injected him with the poison curare
Curare
Curare is a common name for various arrow poisons originating from South America. The three main types of curare are:* tubocurare...
, which takes 10–15 minutes to kill.
FBI Investigation
FBI investigation into the Oggins affair commenced in March 1943. After the defection of Igor GouzenkoIgor Gouzenko
Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on September 5, 1945, with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West...
, the name "Oggins" arose again, 1945-1946.
On February 10, 1949, FBI investigators questioned Esther Shemitz Chambers, wife of Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
, about the Oggins. Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Oggins had both attended the Rand School
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
and had worked at the ILGWU and The World Tomorrow
The World Tomorrow (magazine)
The World Tomorrow: A journal looking toward a Christian world was an American political magazine, founded by the pacifist organization Fellowship of Reconciliation and published in New York City by FOR's Fellowship Press at 108 Lexington Avenue.-Main Editors:The World Tomorrow seems to have had...
magazine.
Joint Russian-American Investigation
In early 1992, the U.S. and Russia formed the U.S - Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAsU.S - Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs
The U.S. - Russia Joint Commission on POWs/MIAs was established in 1992 by the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin...
. Overseeing the investigation was Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov was a Russian historian and officer.-Biography:...
. On September 23, 1992, Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
handed an Oggins case dossier to American diplomat Malcolm Toon
Malcolm Toon
Malcolm Toon was an American diplomat. He graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1938, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Toon was the ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1969–1971, Yugoslavia from 1971–1975, Israel from 1975–1976, and the Soviet...
: Oggins had been liquidated on Stalin's orders.
Wife's Later Life and Death
Nerma Berman Oggins drifted from job to job and lived in the New York CityNew 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...
area. She retired in 1965 and lived for a time in the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
at the Henry Street Settlement
Henry Street Settlement
The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founded in 1893 by Progressive reformer Lillian Wald.The...
. She later moved to Vestal, New York
Vestal, New York
Vestal is a town within Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2000 census, the population was 26,535, estimated to have grown to 27,369 in 2009....
to be near her son. She died in Vestal on January 27, 1995.
External links
- The Official Site for The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service
- The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service, Meier, Andrew. New York: W. W. Norton, (August 11, 2008). ISBN 978-0-393-06097-3
- New York Times article updating Isaiah Oggins' casehttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/world/europe/08oggins.html?ref=europe
Reviews of The Lost Spy
- WhittakerChambers.org (2008-07-04)
- Boston Globe (2008-08-10)
- New York Times (2008-08-22)
- Richmond Times-Dispatch (2008-08-24)
- Washington Post (2008-08-24) * Los Angeles Times (2008-08-25)
- Норильлаг - Ресурсы Интернет