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
 20DEC_IRINA.PDF"IRINA" to meet a subject for recruitment 20 December 1943 (Release 5)
 9JUN_IVANOV_INSTRUCTS_BERLIN.PDF"IVANOV" instructs Berlin to discover details regarding American Intelligence Conferences 9 June (Release 5)
 20JUL_KHARON.PDF"KhARON" leaves for Vladivostok 20 July 1943 (Release 2)
 19SEP_KIM.PDF"KIM" 19 September (Release 5)
 21JUL_KLOD.PDF"KLOD" preparing data on selected persons, as instructed and "TEKhNIK" and YOUNGER 21 July (Release 5)
 8MAR_KLOD.PDF"KLOD" reports on : A British Defense Planning Committee document; His friends in the "NOOK"; ASHBEY's trip to Vladivostok; Reactions to events in Canada: and Captain MITCHELL of Counter-Intelligence
 1JUL_STUDY_INTERNAL_AUSTRALIAN_AFFAIRS.PDF"KLOD" to recommend sources from progressive parties for study of internal Austrailian affairs 1 July (Release 5)
 18AUG_MALONEYS_REPORT.PDF"KLOD", MALONEY'S report 18 August (Release 5)
 31JUL_SUICIDE.PDF"KRUG" informs Moscow of a suicide(?) at sea 31 July 1943 (Release 2)
 28AUG_K_DENMARK_SWEDEN.PDF"K's" information: Communications between Denmark and Sweden
 10DEC_GERMAN_TANK_ARMY.PDF"K's" INFORMATION: Mention of The German 1 Tank Army (1941)
 21NOV_K_KEMI.PDF"K's" information: reference to Finnish activity at Kemi
 30JAN_GERMANY_ARMY_HIGH_COMMAND.PDF"K's" Information: Reference to German Army High Command 30 January 1942 (Release 5)
 25AUG_K_KARLSKRONA.PDF"K's" information: reference to KARLSKRONA
 28NOV_K_FORCES.PDF"K's" information: report on certain German and Finnish forces
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