Theodore Hall
Encyclopedia
Theodore Alvin Hall was an American
physicist
and an atomic spy
for the Soviet Union
, who, during his work on US efforts to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II
(the Manhattan Project
), gave a detailed description of the "Fat Man
" plutonium bomb, and of processes for purifying plutonium
, to Soviet intelligence. His brother, Edward Hall
was a leading rocket scientist who worked on ICBMs.
, but his family soon moved to Washington Heights
in Upper Manhattan
.
While his father struggled to find work during the Great Depression
, he changed both his and Theodore's last name to Hall in an effort to avoid anti-Semitic
hiring practices.
Hall attended Public School 173 in Washington Heights
during the Depression and then Harvard University
, from which he graduated at the age of 18.
, where he was the youngest scientist at Los Alamos
.
Trying to balance his age and lack of experience with the great value of the information he supplied to the Soviets is difficult. It is not unlikely that he was supplying the Soviets with information provided to him by someone else, someone much more knowledgeable and much higher up in the Manhattan Project organization.
While on a vacation in his hometown, New York, he entered the Soviet consulate and volunteered to pass information on the Manhattan Project to the Soviet government. (After his death, Hall's wife Joan said that he had begun to adopt strong feelings, current at the time, against the possibility of a militarized United States having a nuclear monopoly very early in his time working at Los Alamos.)
Unbeknownst to Hall, Klaus Fuchs
, a Los Alamos colleague, and others still unidentified were also spying for the USSR; none seem to have known of the others. Harvard friend Saville Sax
and Lona Cohen
acted as Hall's couriers. Igor Kurchatov
, a brilliant scientist and the head of the Soviet atomic bomb effort, probably used information provided by Klaus Fuchs to confirm corresponding information provided earlier by Hall. The Soviet scientist's great fear was that he was intentionally being fed false information by the Americans. His boss, Lavrenti Beria, would not have forgiven such a mistake.
Hall, with the help of Sax (who had open communist sympathies) together visited New York
, where Hall, after some searching, arranged a meeting with a Soviet diplomat. He presented a detailed sketch of the "Fat Man
" nuclear device to the official, who transmitted the information to the NKVD
from New York using a one-time pad
cipher
. Hall's code-name was MLAD, a Slavic root meaning "young".
nuclear weapons program was attributed to Klaus Fuchs
. Hall was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
in March 1951 but wasn't charged. Alan H. Belmont, the number-three man in the FBI, decided that the Venona project
would be inadmissible as hearsay
evidence and not worth compromising the program.
, where he switched to biology. There he pioneered important techniques in X-ray microanalysis. He went to work at Cambridge University
in England in 1962. Hall later became active in obtaining signatures for the Stockholm Peace Pledge.
became public information, starting in 1995.
In a written statement published in 1997, Hall came close to admitting that the accusations against him were true, although obliquely, saying that in the immediate postwar years, he felt strongly that "an American monopoly" on nuclear weapons "was dangerous and should be avoided":
He repeated this near-confession in an interview for a Cold War documentary on the Cable News Network in 1998, saying,
, although he died of renal cancer
at the age of 74.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and an atomic spy
Atomic Spies
Atomic Spies and Atom Spies are terms that refer to various people in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada who are thought to have illicitly given information about nuclear weapons production or design to the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold War...
for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, who, during his work on US efforts to develop the first atomic bomb during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
), gave a detailed description of the "Fat Man
Fat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
" plutonium bomb, and of processes for purifying plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
, to Soviet intelligence. His brother, Edward Hall
Edward N. Hall
Edward N Hall born in New York CityHe received a Bachelor in engineering from College of the City of New York in 1935 and a professional degree in chemical engineering in 1936. In 1948, earned a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from California Institute of Technology.Hall entered the...
was a leading rocket scientist who worked on ICBMs.
Early Years
Theodore Alvin Holtzberg was born in Far Rockaway, 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...
, but his family soon moved to Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
in Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...
.
While his father struggled to find work during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he changed both his and Theodore's last name to Hall in an effort to avoid anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
hiring practices.
Hall attended Public School 173 in Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
during the Depression and then Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, from which he graduated at the age of 18.
Manhattan Project
At the age of 19, Hall was recruited to the Manhattan ProjectManhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, where he was the youngest scientist at Los Alamos
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
.
Trying to balance his age and lack of experience with the great value of the information he supplied to the Soviets is difficult. It is not unlikely that he was supplying the Soviets with information provided to him by someone else, someone much more knowledgeable and much higher up in the Manhattan Project organization.
While on a vacation in his hometown, New York, he entered the Soviet consulate and volunteered to pass information on the Manhattan Project to the Soviet government. (After his death, Hall's wife Joan said that he had begun to adopt strong feelings, current at the time, against the possibility of a militarized United States having a nuclear monopoly very early in his time working at Los Alamos.)
Unbeknownst to Hall, Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
, a Los Alamos colleague, and others still unidentified were also spying for the USSR; none seem to have known of the others. Harvard friend Saville Sax
Saville Sax
Saville Sax was the Harvard University roommate of Theodore Hall who recruited Hall for the Soviets and acted as a courier to move the atomic secrets from Los Alamos to the Soviets.-Biography:...
and Lona Cohen
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
acted as Hall's couriers. Igor Kurchatov
Igor Kurchatov
Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov , was a Soviet nuclear physicist who is widely known as the director of the Soviet atomic bomb project. Along with Georgy Flyorov and Andrei Sakharov, Kurchatov is widely remembered and dubbed as the "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" for his directorial role in the...
, a brilliant scientist and the head of the Soviet atomic bomb effort, probably used information provided by Klaus Fuchs to confirm corresponding information provided earlier by Hall. The Soviet scientist's great fear was that he was intentionally being fed false information by the Americans. His boss, Lavrenti Beria, would not have forgiven such a mistake.
Hall, with the help of Sax (who had open communist sympathies) together visited New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where Hall, after some searching, arranged a meeting with a Soviet diplomat. He presented a detailed sketch of the "Fat Man
Fat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
" nuclear device to the official, who transmitted the information to the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
from New York using a one-time pad
One-time pad
In cryptography, the one-time pad is a type of encryption, which has been proven to be impossible to crack if used correctly. Each bit or character from the plaintext is encrypted by a modular addition with a bit or character from a secret random key of the same length as the plaintext, resulting...
cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
. Hall's code-name was MLAD, a Slavic root meaning "young".
FBI investigation
Until the release of the Venona decrypts in 1980, nearly all of the espionage regarding the Los AlamosLos Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
nuclear weapons program was attributed to Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
. Hall was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
in March 1951 but wasn't charged. Alan H. Belmont, the number-three man in the FBI, decided that the Venona project
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...
would be inadmissible as hearsay
Hearsay
Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience. When submitted as evidence, such statements are called hearsay evidence. As a legal term, "hearsay" can also have the narrower meaning of...
evidence and not worth compromising the program.
Later career
Hall left Los Alamos for the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he switched to biology. There he pioneered important techniques in X-ray microanalysis. He went to work at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in England in 1962. Hall later became active in obtaining signatures for the Stockholm Peace Pledge.
Statements in 1990s
The Venona projectVenona 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...
became public information, starting in 1995.
In a written statement published in 1997, Hall came close to admitting that the accusations against him were true, although obliquely, saying that in the immediate postwar years, he felt strongly that "an American monopoly" on nuclear weapons "was dangerous and should be avoided":
- To help prevent that monopoly I contemplated a brief encounter with a Soviet agent, just to inform them of the existence of the A-bomb project. I anticipated a very limited contact. With any luck, it might easily have turned out that way, but it was not to be.
He repeated this near-confession in an interview for a Cold War documentary on the Cable News Network in 1998, saying,
- I decided to give atomic secrets to the Russians because it seemed to me that it was important that there should be no monopoly, which could turn one nation into a menace and turn it loose on the world as ... as Nazi Germany developed. There seemed to be only one answer to what one should do. The right thing to do was to act to break the American monopoly.
Death
On November 1, 1999, Theodore Hall died in Cambridge, England. He had suffered from Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, although he died of renal cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at the age of 74.
See also
- Klaus FuchsKlaus FuchsKlaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
- Saville SaxSaville SaxSaville Sax was the Harvard University roommate of Theodore Hall who recruited Hall for the Soviets and acted as a courier to move the atomic secrets from Los Alamos to the Soviets.-Biography:...
- Lona CohenLona CohenLeontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
- Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
- Los AlamosLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
- J. Robert Oppenheimer
External links
- FBI: Memo Prosecution: Disadvantages (1 February 1956)
- "A Memoir of Ted Hall" (by Joan Hall, wife)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory: History: Spies
- Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues: Annotated bibliography for Theodore Hall