- Helen Lowry
Elza Akhmerova, also Elsa Akhmerova was an American citizen, born Helen Lowry. She was a niece of
Earl Browder ,General Secretary of theCommunist Party of the United States (CPUSA).Died of leukemiaFrom 1936 - 1939, Lowry worked with
Iskhak Akhmerov , a SovietNKVD intelligence agent. Iskhak Akhmerov operated an espionage network in the United States, and both of the Akhmerovs are referenced in VENONA decryptions of Soviet cable traffic: Lowry is listed under the Soviet code name "ADA" (later changed to "ELZA" (ELSA)). As a native-born American and English speaker, Akhmerova was able to freely operate on behalf of Soviet intelligence. She was a full partner in her husband'sespionage activity, and is referenced in severalVenona project decryptions. In 1939, she married Akhmerov. ["Essays on the History of Russian Foreign Intelligence," vol. 3.] . In 1945, Lowry was named by Soviet intelligence agentElizabeth Bentley as one of her contacts.References
*Robert Louis Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00039.cfm VENONA Historical Monograph #3] : “The 1944–45 New York and Washington-Moscow KGB Messages.”
*Haynes, John Earl and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. Yale University Press. (2000)
*Schecter, Jerrold and Leona, Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History. Potomac Books (2002)SHe is Lois Lowry's older sister ♥External links
* [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page44.html Aleksandr Vassiliev's Notes from KGB archives on Akhmerova]
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