Venona


The U.S. Army's Signal Intelligence Service, the precursor to the National Security Agency, began a secret program in February 1943 later codenamed VENONA

The mission of this small program was to examine and exploit Soviet diplomatic communications but after the program began, the message traffic included espionage efforts as well.

Although it took almost two years before American cryptologists were able to break the KGB encryption, the information gained through these transactions provided U.S. leadership insight into Soviet intentions and treasonous activities of government employees until the program was canceled in 1980.

The VENONA files are most famous for exposing Julius (code named LIBERAL) and Ethel Rosenberg and help give indisputable evidence of their involvement with the Soviet spy ring.

The first of six public releases of translated VENONA messages was made in July 1995 and included 49 messages about the Soviets' efforts to gain information on the U.S. atomic bomb research and the Manhattan Project. Over the course of five more releases, all of the approximately 3,000 VENONA translations were made public.

ImageTitle
 25JAN_ALEKSANDR.PDF"ALEKSANDR" to be given news of family on next trip to Montevideo
 29SEP_ALEKSANDR.PDF"ALEKSANDR" to be warned not to use ANNA COLLOMS' address 29 September 1943 (Release 5)
 11JUL_APRAKSIN_REQUESTS_INFO.PDF"APRAKSIN" requests information regarding his grant 11 July (Release 5)
 1SEP_BENS_REPORT.PDF"BEN's" report on the Australian Security Service 1 September (Release 5)
 21SEP_BOB_MTG_S.PDF"BOB" ordered to exercise special care in meeting "S" 21 September (Release 5)
 12JAN_BROTHER-IN-LAW.PDF"BROTHER-IN-LAW" and "UCN 32" 12 January 1942 (Release 5)
 8JAN_BUBI_REPORT.PDF"BUBI'S" report on political discussions following Moscow conference: PETKOV, BOSWALL, BARNES, A. BUROV, BYRNES
 7JUL_CARLOS.PDF"CARLOS" ships out for PORTUGAL 7 July 1943 (Release 2)
 21DEC_CHANCE_LEFT.PDF"CHANCE" left for the USSR via Finland 21 December (Release 5)
 30SEP_THROSSEL.PDF"CLAUDE" reports on THROSSEL 30 September (Release 5)
 5MAY_CLAUDE.PDF"CLAUDE", "BEN" and "SISTER" 5 May (Release 5)
 4MAR_CYLINDER.PDF"CYLINDER's" Report on a secret session of the Finnish Sejm
 22JUL_DAEDALUS.PDF"DAEDALUS" check various French officials 22 July 1943 (Release 2)
 22JUL_DAEDALUS_REPORTS.PDF"DAEDALUS" reports 22 July 1943 (Release 2)
 8JUL_DAEDALUS.PDF"DAEDALUS" reports on French committee in Algiers 8 July 1943 (Release 2)
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