Soviet Espionage Activities in Connection with Jet Propulsion and Aircraft

[Soviet Espionage Activities in Connection with Jet Propulsion and Aircraft]
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SOVIET ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH
A /> 7 JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

HEARINGS

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

EIGHTY-FIEST CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JUNE 6, 1949

Printed for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities

111918

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICB

WASHINGTON : 1949

' -». S. SUfWimEMWtT m UUW<«W»

JUL 19 1949

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
United States House of Representatives

JOHN S. WOOD, Georgia, Chairman

FRANCIS E. WALTER, Peimsylvania J. PARNELL THOMAS, New Jersey

BURR P. HARRISON, Virginia RICHARD M. NIXON, California

JOHN McSWEENEY, Ohio FRANCIS CASE, South Dakota

MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri HAROLD H. VELDE, Illinois

Frank S. Tavexnek, Jr., Counsel

Louis J. Russell, Senior Investigator

John W. Carrington, Clerk of Committee

Benjamin Mandel, Director of Research

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Testimony of— Pas®

Franey , Leoua Vivian 102

Franey, Joseph John 111

Haas, Loren G 116

SOVIET ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH
JET PROPULSION AND AIECRAFT

MONDAY, JUNK 6, 1949

United States House of Representatives,

Committee on Un-American Activities,

Washington, D. C.

The Committee on Un-American Activities met pm-suant to call at
10:30 a. m. in room 226, Old House OfRce Building, Hon. Francis E,
Walter presiding.

Committee members present: Representative Francis E. Walter.
John McSweeney, Morgan M. Moulder, Richard M. Nixon, and
Harold H. Velde.

Staff members present: Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., counsel; Louis J.
Russell, senior investigator; William A. Wheeler and Courtney Owens,
investigators; John W. Carrington, clerk; and A. S. Poore, editor.

Mr. Walter. The committee will come to order.

Mr. Russell, I believe you have the agenda worked out.

Mr. Moulder. I move that we conduct the proce-edings in open
session.

Mr. McSweeney. I second the motion.

Mr. Walter. It has been properly moved and seconded that the
proceedings be conducted in open session. All in favor signify by
saying "Aye."

("Aves" by Mr. McSweeney, Mr. Moulder. Mr. Nixon, and Mr.
Velde.)

Mr. Walter. Opposed, ''No."

(No response.)

Mr. Walter. So ordered.

Mr. Tavenner. I might say that several of these witnesses will
probably mention names of individuals who have not been investi-
gated, and it might be proper that questions relating to those matters
be in closed session, as distinguished from their testimony generally.

Mr. Walter. We will leave that to your discretion.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. and Mrs. Franey.

Mr. Walter. Will they both testify? "^

Mr. Tavenner. Yes.

Mr. Walter. Will you raise your right hands, please. Do you
both solenmly swear the testimony you are j-bout to give is the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Franey (Joseph John). I do.

Mrs. Franey (Leona Vivian). I do.

101

102 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

SWORN TESTIMONY OF LEONA VIVIAN FRANEY

Mr. Tavenner. Mrs. Franey, will you state your full name?

Mrs. Franey. Leona Vivian Franey.

Mr. Tavenner. \Miat is your present address?

Mrs. Franey. 200 Sixtieth Street, Niagara Falls, N. Y.

Mr. Tavenner. Where were you born?

Mrs. Franey. Dixon City, Pa.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you give the committee a brief resume of your
employment background?

Mrs. Franey. In 1930 I was hired by the Scranton school district
in the capacity of a clerk. I worked there until 1942. During that
period of time I was promoted to secretarv to the principal. In June
1942 I left to go to Niagara Falls.

I started to work at Bell Aircraft in August 1942, to establish a
library. They had no engineering technical library at the time.

Mr. Tavenner. Just a moment. Explain to us the nature of this
library where you worked. It was a library of what type of books
and periodicals and records?

Mrs. Franey. Well, as I said, it was an engineering technical
library. Most of it constitutes reports, which, of course, ar^ classified.
Contrary to some other libraries, the books are not as important as
the reports are, of course.

Mr. Walter. What was the nature of the reports?

Mrs. Franey. These reports emanate from our National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, the War Department, all of the bureaus
under it, the Bureau of Ordnance, and at the present time most of
them emanate from the manufacturers which have Government con-
tracts for guided missiles.

Mr. Tavenner. When did your employment in that capacity begin
and end, if it has ended?

Mrs. Franey. It began August 3, 1942, and I am still employed.

Mr. Tavenner. I hand you a photograph and ask you if you are
able to identify it?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. Whose photograph is that?

Mrs. Franey. Andrei V. Schevchenko.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, the records of our committee show
that Andrei Schevchenko is a Russian citizen who was born at
Kharkov, Russia, on November 24, 1906. In 1936 and 1937 he was
a student at the Aviation Institute at Moscow. His employment
background reflects that he was engaged as an engineer in the Peoples
Commissariat of Aviation Industry in Moscow.

He entered the United States on June 19, 1942, and until Septem-
ber 15, 1945, as an engineer he represented the aviation department
of the Soviet Purchasing Commission. During the above period of
time, he acted as liaison man between Bell Aircraft Corp., Buffalo,
N. Y., and the Soviet Government.

On September 15, 1945, the Russian Government transferred the
subject individual to the Amtorg Trading Corp., New York City.
His date of departure from the United States was on January 2,
1946, and his present whereabouts and occupational assignment are
unknown.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IjV JKT PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 103

Mr. Walter. Do the records disclose whether or not Bell Aircraft
were making airplanes that we were sending to Russia under lend-
lease?

Mr. Tavenner. I think this testimony will dev^elop the type of
aircraft that the Russian agent was interested in purchasing.

Mr. Walter. Very well.

Mr. Tavenner. Was Mr. Schevchenko known to you as a repre-
sentative of the Russian Government?

Mrs. Franey. Yes, sir.

Mr. Tavenner. In what capacity?

Mrs. Franey. He was purchasing agent.

Mr. Tavenner. When did you meet him?

Mrs. Franey. It was October 1942.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you state to the committee the circumstances
surrounding your meeting wTth Mr. Schevchenko?

Mrs. Franey. In October 1942, Bell Aircraft moved to a new plant
which is located on the Niagara Falls Boulevard, and of course they
included provisions for our library. At that time there was nothing
in the library except about 25 books and 4 files containing NACA
reports, and I wasn't to do any buying until we moved to the new
location.

In October, Mr. Schevchenko appeared in the library and asked
for some textbooks, and I gave him a few textbooks, including a copy
of Diehl's Simple Aerodynamics, which you can find in any library.
He took those and kept them for the limited time and returned them.

Up to that time we didn't have any highly classified material.
There were a few classified reports from NACA in the files. He made
no attempt to ask for them at that time. His visits were not very
frequent at first, and he never asked for anything in classified data.
He was merely interested in textbooks or the few periodicals we had.

The library started to grow and expand from that time on.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you tell the committee; in your own way,
what occurred in the course of your various meetings with Mr.
Schevchenko?

Mrs. Franey. I think in the first place he started coming to the
library more frequently. He bought tickets to the theater in Buffalo
for the librarj^ staff. At that time the library had grown. He did
not attend the theater, he merely gave the tickets to the library staff.
He began to bring little presents, perfume, candy, and so on.

Finally he asked if I would go out to dinner, he wanted to meet my
husband. We went to a restaurant in Buffalo. I am not positive
of the name of it. We had dinner and he didn't have any leading
conversation as to what he was looking for at that time. The idea
was to meet my husband, that was all.

Then he asked if we would go to dinner with him again on Sunday,
he wanted us to meet his wife. On Sunday he came to the Falls with
the excuse his wife couldn't come; they had gone to a party the night
before and she couldn't make it, and so forth. Then we sat in a park
and he began talking about our going to Russia. He explained to
my husband that in Russia their compensation laws are so wonderful
that if you have an industrial accident of some kind they take care of
you beautifully the rest of your life, and so forth. And he explained
their vacation system, that you get an award if you have a high pro-

104 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

duction record, and they send their citizens to these very beautiful
summer resorts, and so forth.

Up to that point he had not asked for anything classified, anything^
that woukl make you suspicious of what he was looking for. But just
about that time he began asking for data on jet propulsion, and that
had nothing to do with the P-39 airplanes they were buying, that had
reciprocal engines. Our P-59, as jou know, was the first jet-propelled
au"plane.

That was when the FBI contacted me. I was getting to the point
where I was wondering why he was asking for material, and I had to
ask the other girls in the library not to issue material on jet propulsion
to him, that if he asked for it to just walk to the files and pretend the
material was out, whether it was or not.

The FBI agents looked us up at that time, and from that time on we
worked with them.

Mr. Walter. At that time the material on jet propulsion was
highly classified?

Mrs. Franey. It was at least confidential.

Mr. Tavenner. The type of planes in which the Russian Govern-
ment was interested was what type?

Mrs. Franey. The P-39, which is called the Airacobra.

Mr. Tavenner. Is that the type of plane that was being constructed
by Bell Aircraft at that time?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you state what occurred with reference to
requests that Mr. Schevchenko made for documents and information?

Mrs. Franey. At various times he asked for data on different sub-
jects. It always seemed to me that he was prompted by someone else.
If swept-back mngs, however, was his particular problem, he would
ask me for that particular data. If compressibility was the problem,
he wanted reports on that. The first time we met him in New York
City he was particularly interested in spring tabs, and wanted aU the
material he could get on that. He asked me for data on swept-back
wings almost before our own engineers were doing work on some of it.

Mr. Tavenner. Do you have a record of the subjects he requested
information on, or the titles of documents he desired turned over
to him?

Mrs. Franey. Yes, I have. I have a typewritten list which is
actually the only written record I ever kept. He did not know the
particular titles of reports, but they cover the subjects he had asked
me for information on, swept-back wings and compressibility, and
so forth.

Mr. Tavenner. A statement has just been handed to you. It is
not the original that you just spoke of, is it?

Mrs. Franey. No; it is not.

Mr. Tavenner. Can you identify that list as being a correct list of
the items which appear on your original document?

Mrs. Franey. Yes. This is a list which I turned over to the
FBI. We used this as a priority basis. It was covering the subjects
which he was very vitally interested in at that time, and we were to
work on that as far as photostating was concerned. We started, of
course, with the unclassified reports, and then worked up to the confi-
dential. This contains a list of titles of reports on high-speed measure-

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 105

meiits on a swept-back wing, landing-gear design considerations, and
so forth.

Mr. Tavenner. Wlien did yon prepare the hst?

Mrs. Franey. In the summer of 1945.

Mr. Tavexn'er. Mi". Chairman, I just have received an emergency
telephone call. I think possibly I should answer it.

Mr. Walter. Very well.

Mr. Tavexner. In the meantime, may I ask the witness to see if
she can locate the original document.

(Short recess.)

]\Ir. Tavenner. Mrs. Franey, I believe you have the original report
in front of you?

Mrs. Fraxey. Yes, I have.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you tell us when that was prepared?

Mrs. Franey. In the summer of 1945.

Mr. Tavenner. Explain to the committee your reason for preparing
that, and how it happened that you prepared it.

\Irs. Franey. In July 1945 when we went to New York and met
Mr. Schevchenko, he listed the subjects in which he was mterested,
and of course when I came back and contacted the FBI, we thought
it was a good idea to make a list of reports covering those sub-
jects, with their classification, to give us a basis on which to work for
photostating.

Mr. Tavenner. I wiU ask you more about the photostating
presently. That is an accurate list, then, of information which Mr.
Schevchenko asked you to produce?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. Was that request made at one time, or was it made
from time to time?

Mrs. Franey. This specific request was made at one time.

Mr. Tavenner. There were other requests, then?

Mrs. Franey. Yes, there were others. Sometimes it was almost
on a daily basis, and at other times it would be on a weekly or semi-
weekly basis.

Mr. Tavenner. And in each instance did you advise the Federal
Bureau of Investigation of the request?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. I desire to introduce that document in evidence
and have it marked "Franey exhibit 1."

Mr. Walter. It will be received.

Mr. Tavenner. And I request that it be incorporated in the record
at this point.

Mr. Walter. So ordered.

(The document above referred to, marked "Franey exhibit 1,"
is included at the end of this hearing.)

Mr. Tavenner. Mrs. Franey, you have stated that the request
was made for those particular documents. WiU you state just how
Mr. Schevchenko made the request, whether by document number,
by title, or just general description?

Mrs. Franey. At one time he asked just by general description or
subject matter. Toward the end of 1945 he would ask for a NACA
report actually by the NACA arbitrary number.

Mr. Tavenner. Tell the committee what you mean by NACA
report.

91948 — 49 2

106 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

Mrs. Franey. It is our National Advisory Committee for Aero-
nautics report. Most of those reports are classified, and they have
a code which they use. For instance, 8A10; the 8 would signify the
report was written in 1948; the A would be January; and 10 would be
the number of the report written during January 1948. Mr. Schev-
chenko even knew those numbers by the end of 1945, and they would
be numbers of reports which we had not even received yet in the library.

Mr. Walter. Those code numbers were devised somewhere else?

Mrs. Franey. By NACA; yes.

Mr. Walter. So that when he asked for a document by code
number, he was asking for a number that had been fixed for that
particular document in Washington?

Mrs. Franey. He actually had seen a list which gave the code
number of that report.

Mr. Moulder. Did you have that report at that time yourself?

Mrs. Franey. Not at that time.

Mr. Tavenner. .A.bout how long after the receipt from Mr. Schev-
chenko of the request would the document be received in your library?

Mrs. Franey. From 2 weeks to 2 months.

Mr. Tavenner. The code numbers that were assigned to various
reports that are described on your list were assigned to the documents
by what branch of the Government?

Mr. Franey. They are assigned by the National .A.dvisory Com-
mittee for .A.eronautics, I presume.

Mr. Tavenner. Located where?

Mrs. Franey. 1724 F Street NW. Of course they circulate acces-
sion lists which are classified, from which he may have gotten that
number.

Mr. Tavenner. Tell the committee what you mean by circulation
of the list.

Mrs. Franey. They simply make a list of all the reports which
have been issued during a specified period.

Mr. Tavenner. And how is that list disseminated?

Mrs. Franey. It is disseminated to authorized agents, who would
be most of the aircraft companies, of course, and anyone actually
who was doing any aeronautical research.

Mr. Tavenner. The lists of the documents themselves are not
considered classified material?

Mrs. Franey. They are classified; yes.

Mr. Tavenner. Did you make an examination of each of these
documents at the time they arrived, and before turning them over to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to determine what classification
they had; that is, whether classified, confidential, or any other classi-
fication?

Mrs. Franey. Yes; I did.

Mr. Tavenner. Does the classification appear on your list?

Mrs. Franey. Yes; it does.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you let me see the list?

(Franey exhibit 1 was handed to Mr. Tavenner.)

Mr. Tavenner. The first column on your list, which is Franey
Exhibit 1, shows the classification of each document. Did you put
that on the report at the time you prepared it?

Mrs. Franey. Yes; I did.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 107

Mr. Tavenner. And then the second column, which is the center
column, shows the title of the material.

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. And the third column shows what information?

Mrs. Franey. That is the source of the report and the report
number.

Mr. Tavenner. Do I understand you to say that Mr. Schevchenko
knew the code numbers in some instances, and the subject matter or
title in other instances?

Mrs, Franey. He never gave me the exact title. He would tell
me the general subject matter.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you state what arrangement was made bv
Mr. Schevchenko with you and your husband as to how this material
was to be furnished him?

Mrs. Franey. Well, in July 1945, on our vacation week, he invited
us to stay at his apartment because he was out at Rye Beach. He
never would talk in the apartment. Once we got in he always pointed
to the walls, meaning, I suppose, there might be microphones con-
cealed. He always talked in the open. He took us to Central Park
and said he was interested in obtaining 35-millimeter microfilm of
classified reports. He told us he would give us a camera before we
went home. I was to take the documents home and my husband was
to photostat them, and he promised he would pay $25 to $30 for each
report we w^ould photostat, and he would not limit the number as
long as they covered the particular subject in which he was interested.

Mr. Tavenner. Did you furnish the reports to him on that basis?

Mrs. Franey. We furnished microfilm on some of the reports, but
on unclassified ones. The first shipment was all unclassified data.

Mr. Velde. Did you say classified or unclassified?

Mrs. Franey. Unclassified.

Mr. Tavenner. Were all those matters cleared with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation before they were turned over to Mr. Schev-
chenko?

Mr. Franey. All of it was done under their supervision. They
used that list, as I said, on a priority basis. We chose the unclassified
hsted reports. We particularly chose the ones that looked very
inviting, as if, from the title, they might be classified. The FBI
came to the house and they actually photographed two sets. They
used their own film for one set for their files, and then they used the
film which Mr. Schevchenko had given us. Incidentally, that was
the best film that was manufactured, and you couldn't buy it in this
country. I don't think ordinary citizens could buy it at that time.
Mr. Schevchenko told us it came from Russia.

Mr. Tavenner. What kind of camera did he give you?

Mrs. Franey. A Contax, I think No. 1. It was one of the older
models of the Contax camera.

Mr. Tavenner. Was this material so supervised by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation as to insure that you were not giving to Air.
Schevchenko information that would be harmful to this country?

Mrs. Franey. That is right.

Mr. Tavenner. Did Mr. Schevchenko pay you for it? That is,
did he pay for the deliveries that were made?

108 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

Mrs. Franey. Yes. On the delivery of that first shipment he
gave us, I think, $200 or $250. They were all $20 bills. He gave
that at the time the film was delivered.

Mr. Tavenner. And what was done with the money?

Mr.s. PAPAIN! EY. It was given to the FBI.

Mr. Tavenner. On how many occasions did 3^011 meet Mr.
Schevchenko after yon first began the delivery of these documents or
photostats of these documents to him?

Mrs. Franey. I think I only saw him three times after he actually
made arraTigements; I mean, after he actually declared what he was
looking for.

Mr. Tavenner. Diu-irig this period of time, did he take any pre-
cautions, to your knowledge, to prevent any disclosure that he was
an agent of a foreign country?

Mrs. Franey. Re was always very cautious. When we got in a
car with him. lie m ver would talk, lie would point to the dashboard,
and so forth. He never talked in a restaurant. He came to the
house one time because he said the first shipment of microfilm was
not clear. He was very nervous. He would stand away from the
windows. He would stand in the middle of the floor. He was
always very, very nervous. He smoked one cigarette after another
and seldom listened to what you had to say. He liked to issue the
orders and have you move as he said.

Mr. Tavenner. Over how long a period of time did you carry on
these transactions with Mr. Schevchenko?

Mrs. Franey. The first shipment was in the summer of 1945.
We met him then periodicallv Until just before he left the country in
February 1946.

Mr. Tavenner. Do you recall the last occasion that you saw him?

Mrs. Franey. Yes. The last time I saw him was at our house
when he came to check on the first shipment because we had not
done it to please him, and he stayed for just a short time and we had
to drive hiui to Buffalo.

Mr. Tavenner. How were the deliveries made to him?

Mrs. Franey. My husband delivered the film.

Mr. Tavenner. How were these deliveries of film made to Mr.
Schevchenko and by whom?

Mrs. Franey. The deliveries were made by my husband. He
simply carried the 35-millimeter film, and usually traveled by airplane
to New York to meet Mr. Schevchenko at his apartment.

There is one thing I probably might insert. In July 1945 when
he had asked us to stay in his apartment during our vacation week,
we had to go down to the Amtorg Corp. I thought that would
prove very interesting, because we had guessed what that facihty
was doing here in the United States. That was like trying to get into
a foreign country. We had to get past the reception desk and so
forth. He had asked my husband to get data from the Hooker
Electro-Chemical Co., and under the supervision of the FBI the
officials of the company had given him a brochure of the products
they manufactured, and we carried that package into the Amtorg
Corp.

The first thing Mr. Schevchenko did was point to the wall, meaning
we were not to talk, and we sat very, very close to him. We handed
him the package and he nervously took it and unpacked it, and then

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 109

he immediately grabbed a book on the window sill which was about
the same size of the package we had brought in, and we had to carry
that out of the building, just as we had carried some information in.

Mr. Tavenner. I believe, Mr. Chairman, that is all I desire to ask
this witness.

Mr. Walter. The material you made photostatic copies of was
not classified; is that correct?

Mrs. Franey. The first shipment was all unclassified. I am not
positive, but I think the second shipment included some restricted
data, because of course he could not be convicted or picked up unless
he actually had classified data. If he was picked up and had only
unclassified film, he could say: "You can't hold me for that." The
point was to build it up to confidential or secret so that he could be
convicted.

Mr. Walter. By "unclassified" you mean material available to
the public generally?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Walter. Did he ever complain that the information you were
furnishing him was of no value?

Mrs. Franey. Yes, he did, in no uncertain terms.

]Mr. Walter. Any questions? Mr. Moulder.

Mr. Moulder. I understand that the associations you have de-
scribed were with the cooperation of the FBI?

Airs. Franey. Always.

Mr. Moulder. Did the FBI contact you, or did you contact them?

Mrs. Franey. They contacted us, actually, just about the time
when Mr. Schevchenko started to ask for information in the library
which he really had no business to ask for, and I was just at that point
becoming suspicious.

Air. AIouLDER. He was being investigated by the FBI?

Airs. Franey. Evidently they had been having him under their
surveillance.

Air. AIoulder. That is all.

Air. Walter. Air. Nixon.

Air. Nixon. You said he had the confidential code numbers and
called for documents by code numbers?

Airs. Franey. Yes.

Air. Nixon. Did he also indicate that he had these code numbers
even before Bell Aircraft got them?

Airs. Franey. Yes.

Air. Nixon. And sometimes even as much as a month before you
received them?

Airs. Franey. Yes.

Air. Nixon. Where did you get these code numbers from in
Washington?

Airs. Franey. Wlien I received them they came directlj" from the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

Air. Nixon. In Washington?

Airs. Franey. Yes. They are sent out monthly. They are
monthl}^ lists.

Air. Nixon. Were the lists classified?

Airs. Franey. If they contamed classified documents they were
stamped "Restricted." Usually the first page is classified documents.

Air. Nixon. Did Air. Schevchenko at any time ask you for confi-
dential documents by code number?

110 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

Mrs. Franey. Yes; toward the end. He had not done that in the
very beginning.

Mr. Nixon. In other words, at the end he in some way obtaining
access to these hsts?

Mrs. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Nixon. Confidential hsts?

Mrs. Franey. That is right. Either that or there may have been
someone stationed at some other point where they got the reports
earher than we did as an aircraft company. I have no basis to even
know this, but you know his cohort, Nicolai Ostrofsky, was a mihtary
man, and he very often went to Wright Field at Dayton, Ohio, and
I often wondered if he was working at that end and trying to find out
titles of reports that were being issued.

Mr. Nixon. However the lists were obtamed, whether someone
got them at Wright Field or in the office in Washington, they were
in their hands illegally?

Mrs. Franey. That is right.

Mr. Nixon. Because they contained confidential information?

Mrs. Franey. That is right.

Mr. Nixon. So, as I understand it, the implication from your
testimony is that at some other point, either at Wright Field or in
Washington, they were successful in getting some individual employed
at Wright Field or ui Washington to turn over information of this
kind to them?

Mrs. Franey. The first time I noticed that it was so alarming,
because one of the first reports that was issued on compressibility
was a particular one he asked me for, and it was one that was very
important at that time and which most of our engineers were very
glad to receive.

Mr. Nixon. Do you loiow whether or not the individual who was
responsible for turning over these reports, either to Mr. Schevchenko
or to some other Russian agent, has been apprehended or was
apprehended?

Mrs. Franey. I have no idea.

Mr. Nixon. You have never discussed that with the Bureau agents?

Mrs. Franey. No.

Mr. Nixon. That is all.

Mr. Walter. Mr. Velde.

Mr. Velde. Did Mr. Schevchenko speak English fluently?

Mrs. Franey. Not at the beginning. In 1942 he was very difficult
to imderstand. But by 1945 he spoke more clearly.

Mr. Velde. At the time you and your husband were approached
to act as agents to get these confidential documents photographed, did
Mr. Schevchenko indicate to you that you were acting on behalf of
the Russian Government, or that you were to act on behalf of the
Russian Government — realizing that you are a loyal American and
were working with the FBI.

Mrs. Franey. You mean that Mr. Schevchenko thought that we
were?

Mr. Velde. Did he leave you with that impression?

Mrs. Franey. We were just helping a wonderful ally.

Mr. Velde. That is the general impression he left with you as to
why you should give him these confidential documents? Did he
leave with you the impression you were doing anything wrong?

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT HI

Mrs. Franey. No. The idea was, he worked so hard, he worked
all niglit, on the problems and couldn't solve them.

Mr. Velde. You are not familiar with the circumstances smTound-
in^ his disappearance from the country?

Mrs. Franey. I don't know anything; except the date he left. I
know the FBI called me at work to tell me he had just left the country
and had gotten out of the country without being convicted.

Mr. Velde. He was never arrested?

Mrs. Franey. Never.

Mr. Velde. That is all.

Mr. Walter. Any further questions?

Mr. Tavenner. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

Now I would like to ask a few questions of Mr. Franey.

Mr. Walter. Proceed.

SWORN TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH JOHN FRANEY

Mr. Tavenner. What is your full name?

Mr. Franey. Joseph John Franey.

Mr. Tavenner. Where do you live?

Mr. Franey. 200 Sixtieth Street, Niagara Falls, N. Y.

Mr. Tavenner. Where are you employed?

Mr. Franey. Hooker Electro-Chemical Co., as rubber repair man.

Mr. Tavenner. Is that the company with which you have been
emploj^ed since the beginning of the negotiations with Mr. Schev-
chenko?

Mr. Franey. Yes. I have been there since 1942.

Mr. Tavenner. Will you tell the committee just what occurred —
without repeating too much in detail what your wife has stated — with
reference to your dealings with Mr. Schevchenko?

Mr. Franey. In 1942, after my wife started working at Bell Air-
craft, she came home at different times on different days and told me
about this Russian, about his coming up and asking her to help him
out with his English, and so on, and that she said "Yes" through
sympathy more than anything. So he asked my wife if I was in the
service, and she said "No." He wanted to know where I worked,
and she said: "He works at a chemical factory in Niagara Falls."
And she told him it was the Hooker Electro-Chemical Co.

He asked if we would go out for dinner with him. We had dinner
this one evening at Buffalo. Then he asked if we would have dinner
the following Sunday, which we did.

The following week the FBI men came to the plant and talked to
me, and I told them, after I found out what the}^ wanted, that they
were there about this Russian agent, that they would have to talk to
my wife, that she knew more about him than I did, she had contact
with him all day.

From that time on we worked right with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and tried to cooperate the best we could. I felt I could
not go in the service, because they would not accept me, so I felt we
could do our part by helping the FBI.

After we had dinner with him the last time we had just a few little
meetings with him. I, for instance, would pick her up after work and
he would be in the car. That was about the time that he was leaving
the Bell Aircraft and going to New York. Then we went to New

112 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

York on our vacation. We talked to him and he talked about the
camera. The following trip he sent for us — and his way of sending
for us was to send us a post card with the Empire State Building on it,
and that would be the cue to be in New York and meet him the follow-
ing weekend, which we did. We would walk through Central Park,
and at that time he asked me to have my wife get information on
spring tabs, and I said I would. He presented us with the camera the
following trip, and gave us information on how to take the pictures.
He gave us a little typewritten card explaining about the opening of
the lens, and how far to keep the camera away from the documents,
and so on.

\^^ien we got the camera we came back to the Falls and turned the
camera over to the Federal Bureau, and they took the camera and
said they were going to send it to Washington. They had the camera
checked. There was something wrong with it, and they had it re-
paired.

Mr. Schevchenko gave us eight or nine rolls of film, and we spoiled
a few because he said there were supposed to be 36 exposures on each
roll, and there were only 34, and we ran them off and spoiled practically
the whole batch on the first roll of film.

The FBI would take duplicate pictures, and they said they could
not buy film like the film that Air. Schevchenko had given us, in
this country.

We lived in Lewiston, a little town outside of Niagara Falls, for
about 3 months. After the first and second trip the FBI wanted us
to hold up and not go to New York with the film, and I said: "Well,
all right, but what is the idea?" They said they got orders from
Washington, and would we please cooperate and hold it up. At that
time I used the excuse my wife was sick and I couldn't leave her, and
we were looking for a house.

We bought a house in the Falls, and I had to make a trip at the end
of September 1945, and he wasn't quite satisfied with that film, and
then a week or two later he came to Niagara Falls and he wanted to
see the camera. So I had the camera, and we used to use the flood-
lights the FBI used, and they had taken them back to their office.
When Mr. Schevchenko came to our house we had no floodlights, the
FBI had taken them, and I told him I had been at some relations
taking moving pictures and had left the floodlights, and if he wanted
them I would run out and get them. He said never mind. At that
time we were in a spot, and he was very, very nervous. We took him
back to Buffalo.

The next time we were supposed to go to New York, the FBI wanted
us to cancel the trip again. I told them I didn't think we should
cancel the trip for the simple reason he might get suspicious, because
' we had canceled one trip and he was very, very nervous. They said
that was their orders. We talked at that time about giving up the
whole affair, because it was rather nerve-racking as far as we were
concerned.

Mr. Schevchenko sent a man to the Falls into our home one Sunday
afternoon who was a runner, and he wanted "all the junk," he called
it. This man had a letter and a brief case. We had never seen him
before. I asked my wife to sit down and write Mr. Schevchenko a
letter and tell him this material he wanted didn't come in and there
was some microfilm coming in and it was just the stuff he wanted.
That was all right. He left.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 113

Then we got a telegram about a month or so later asking if we would
come to New York. It asked me to come to New York and he wanted
to interview me for a job that I was supposed to get at Amtorg Corp.

I went to his apartment and he wasn't there. He was out at school
that morning. He had a class on Sunday miorning. I waited about
3 hours in his apartment. His wife spoke no English at all. When
he came back I handed him the film. In his apartment he would
turn the radio on, and sit on a chair, and I would sit on a hassock
very close to him. He went to the kitchen and opened the package
immediately, and he came back and handed me $260. Then he took
me over to the park and we sat on a bench and he told me that instead
of us going to New York, because he said they checked the airlines
and they would get suspicious of us making so many trips to New
York, he would have a runner come to Buffalo and we would meet
his runner in front of Kleinhaus' [store], and we were supposed to be
there on two dates. It was in December 1945, and after each trip
we contacted the FBI and went over the whole trip, and the money
we received we would initial and give to the FBI and at a later date
they would return it to us.

We went both Saturdays that we were to meet him or his runner
in front of Kleiiiliaus' [store] i.n Buffalo, and they never showed up.
Later on the FBI called my wife at Bell Aircraft and told her the
Russian had left the country.

Mr. Tavenner. In your conversation with Mr. Schevchenko, did
he elaborate on the type of material that he was Interested in receiving?

Mr. Franey. He knew very well that I didn't understand aircraft
at all, and he knew Leona understood it all, and he asked me to ask
her for material on spring tabs. He said: "You tell her to get the
data on spring tabs." I told him I would. I said: "I will get you
the information. She will bring it home and I will take the pictures
of the documents and rettirn the film to you."

Mr. Tavenner. Did he indicate any interest in other industries
besides aircraft?

Mr. Franey. When Leona told him I worked at the Hooker
Electro-Chemical Co., he was very interested at that time and he
told us that there were different industrial plants in Niagara Falls
that their agents were going to contact, and they were going to buy
up this equipment and send it to Russia and build the same type of
plants we had here. He was very interested in Hooker Electro-
Chemical Co., and wanted some material, and I told the FBI agents
and told him the Hooker Co. had one of the best S-type cells in the
country, and furnished all the arsenals with their own cells.

At that time, which I did not know, we had several buildings built
at our plant during the war and they were working on the Manhattan
project. Later on I found out why the FBI was so interested in
the Hooker Co., because of the Manhattan project.

Mr. Tavenner. Did Mr. Schevchenko at any time leave informa-
tion with you as to the name of any other person that you should
give information to or contact in his absence?

Mr. Franey. No. He did to my wife.

Mr. Tavenner. Then I would like to interrupt your testimony
and ask Mrs. Franey that question.

Air. Walter. Verv well.

IM SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

Mrs. Franey. In February 1945 he heard someone say it was my
birthday, and he wanted to know if he coukl take me out to dinner.
He took us to a restaurant in the Falls, and there were two other
people there at that time. Neither one spoke English. One was a
young chap, Vladimir Mazurin, and the other was Nicolai Ostrofsky,
who actually was Mr. Schevchenko's assistant, but from a military
standpoint he was a captain in the Russian Army. Mr. Schevchenko
told me, after w^e had had dinner and started home — incidentally, he
handed me a carton of Camel cigarettes — we started up Niagara
Falls Boulevard and he told me he was being recalled to Russia, and
while he was gone I was to give any information Nicolai Ostrofsky
asked for, I was to give it to Nicolai. He indicated he would be in
Russia and would cable Nicolai what he wanted, and I w^as to give
Nicolai any reports from the library, and so forth; and at that time
he wanted to know what he could bring me back from Russia, whether
a fur coat or jewelry.

Mr. Tavenner. Did either of those two men contact you at a
later time?

Mrs. Franey. Neither one came into the library afterward.

Mr. Tavenner. Do you know" anything about those two men now,
as to their present location?

Mrs. Franey. Vladimir Mazurin went back to Russia before
Schevchenko did, and I know eventually Ostrofsky did.

Mr. Tavenner. As a matter of fact, Schevchenko did not go to
Russia at that time, but took employment at Amtorg?

Mrs. Franey. Yes. Nothing happened, and in the next few weeks
he announced he was leaving Bell Aircraft to go to Amtorg.

Mr. Tavenner. And what you have told us occurred between you
and your husband and Mr. Schevchenko continued while he was at
Amtorg?

Mrs. Franey. Yes. There was more activity, actually, after he
left Bell Aircraft than while he was there.

Mr. Tavenner. All right.

Now, Mr. Franey, when was the last time you saw Mr. Schevchenko?

Mr. Franey. It was in the late fall of 1945. It was about November.

Mr. Tavenner. About November?

Mr. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Tavenner. And what did he tell you on that occasion?

Mr. Franey. That was the occasion that he told me he would have
one of his runners come to the Falls, and at that time I told him that
the fellow that was there, I said: "Don't forget you told me not to
ever give anything to anybody but you, and that is why I didn't
give him the camera." He said: "Well, I understood that." He
was very, very nervous.

Mr. Tavenner. Did he tell you at that time anything with regard
to his future plans?

Mr. Franey. No.

Mr. Tavenner. Did he endeav^or to contact you later, as far as
you know?

Mr. Franey. No; he did not.

Mr. Tavenner. That is all for this witness.

Mr. Walter. Any questions? Mr. Nixon?

Mr. Nixon. I don't think so.

Mr. Walter. Mr. Velde.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 115

Mr. Velde. You have mentioned runners. Did he have more than
one runner?

Mr. Franey. He talked of his runners, but there was only the one
man we saw. He was a young chap who came to our home on Sunday
afternoon and wanted the ''junk," and he spoke very poor English.

Mr. Velde. You never did get his name?

Mr. Franey. Yes; he did tell us his name. I think his name was
Vishinsky.

Mr. Velde. You mentioned, too, that Mr. Schevchenko became
nervous and made a statement or gave some indication that "they"
were checking. Do you know whom he meant by "they"?

Mr. Franey. No.

Mr. Velde. I will ask you the same question I asked Mrs. Franey:
Did he leave you with the impression you were acting on behalf of
the Russian Government — realizing, of com'se, you are a loyal Ameri-
can and were working with the FBI.

Air. Franey. He told me about the compensation laws in Russia
and so on, and I snickered under my breath to him and told him that
was wonderful and Russia must be a wonderful place to live in, and
so on. He went on and told us the awards they received and how they
would be sent on vacations, and he said that anyone like me, with my
hand bemg amputated, I would never have to work any more in
Russia.

Mr. Velde. Did he ever indicate to you that he thought he was
being investigated by any of our intelligence organizations?

Mr. Franey. No.

Air. Velde. You said he was very secretive?

Mr. Franey. Yes; he was very secretive and very nervous and
wouldn't talk in a car or in his home unless he had the radio blasting.
The only place he would talk was in the park.

Mr. Velde. Did he ever state definitely his reason for wanting to
talk in the park?

Mr. Franey. No.

Mr. Velde. You say the last time you saw him was in November
1945?

Mr. Franey. Yes.

Mr. Velde. Did he indicate at that time to you that he was intend-
ing to leave this country?

Mr. Franey. No.

Mr. Velde. Do you know why he left the country, Mr. Franey?

Mr. Franey. Well, only that the leak came out, and he got it just
like he got everything else. He had information before the library
got it, and he got information from somebody that this leaked out,
and that is why he left the country.

Mr. Velde. Do you know why he was not arrested before he left
the country?

Mr. Franey. The FBI, when they asked us to cancel the trip, said
they got orders from Washington that the State Department Avanted
to hold this up and appease them a little bit, and asked us if we would
cooperate. I told them at that time I was getting sick and tired of
cooperating; that the State Department didn't have to face him, that
I was the one who had to face him. The agent said they could see
my side of it and wouldn't want to be in the same shoes I was in at

116 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

that time. But they said after all they got their orders and they had
to pass them on to us.

Mr. Velde. In any event, Mr. Schevchenko escaped the country
without ever having been under arrest in this country for violation
of the espionage laws?

oMr. Franey. That is right. The FBI told us that the Nev/ York
office wanted to pick him up and the Buffalo office wanted to pick him
up, and they told us they couldn't do anything, that their hands were
tied, that they just had to go along a little bit longer and hold off a
little bit longer. They said they had enough information to pick
him up on.

Mr. Walter. Who were the agents who made those statements
to you?

Mr. Franey. There were several agents on the case. I don't
remember which agent it was. I think we worked with six or eight
different agents on the case.

Mr. Walter. Who were the agents who told you the State De-
partment wanted to hold this up?

Mr. Franey. Agent Roberts.

Mr. Walter. Do you know his first name?

Mr. Franey. We called him Buz Roberts.

Mr. Walter. Any further questions?

Anything further, Mr. Tavenner?

Mr. Tavenner. Not from these two witnesses. There is another
witness.

Mr. Walter. We will stand in recess until 2 o'clock.

(Thereupon, at 12:10 p. m., a recess was taken until 2 p. m. of the
same day.)

AFTER RECESS

The hearing was resumed at 2 p. m., Hon. John S. Wood (chair-
man) presiding.

Mr. Wood. The committee will be in order, please.

You may proceed, Mr. Tavenner.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Haas.

Mr. Wood. Mr. Haas, will you come around here, please, and
raise your right hand and be sworn. You solemnly swear that the
testimony you will give this committee will be the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Haas. I do.

Mr. Wood. You may be seated.

Mr. Haas. I have a request to make. I have a back injury, and
I wonder if I might remain standing?

Mr. Wood. Yes.

Mr. Haas. Thanlv you.

SWORN TESTIMONY OF LOREN G. HAAS

Mr. Tavenner. Will you state your full name, please?

Mr. Haas. Loren G. Haas.

Mr. Tavenner. What is your age?

Mr. Haas. Thirty-two.

Mr. Tavenner. Wliere do you live?

Mr. Haas. Buffalo, N. Y.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 117

Mr. Tavenxer. Will you give us just a brief statement of your
employment record?

Mr. Haas. At present I am associated with the Fredric Flader
Corp. We are air and power research engineers, and perhaps we are
one of the most advanced organizations of this nature in the country.
I have been with them about 2^ years. Prior to that I was with
Westinghouse Electric Coip. in their South Philadelphia works at
Lester, Pa.

My activities at the Westinghouse Co. consisted of working with
and developing gas turbine engines. The term applied is the turbo-jet
engine. In that organization I was the director of engineering train-
ing, and I was employed prior to that as a test engineer.

Prior to the Westinghouse occupation I was employed by Bell
Aircraft Co. as an engineer, training service engineers and technicians.

That is a brief resume of my employment.

Mr. Tavenxer. When did vour emplovment begin and end with
Bell Aircraft?

Mr. Haas. I don't recall the exact beginning. It was perhaps
late 1942 or early 1943. It terminated in March 1945. I subse-
quently worked for the Westinghouse Co. for a period of time until
November 1946.

Mr. Tavexxer. Will you examine this photograph, please, and
state if you can identify the person?

Mr. Haas. This is Andrei Schevchenko. Mr. Schevchenko was
the Russian representative at the Bell Aircraft Co. while I was in
their employ.

Mr. Tavexxer. What do you mean by the "Hussian representa-
tive"? In what way was he representing the Russian Government
at that plant?

Mr. Haas. Perhaps in all aircraft and other wartime industries
where a foreign nation was involved and had anything to do with the
purchase, in one form or another, of the equipment being m.anu-
factured, there would be a representative of that foreign nation who
would be in reality, the liaison between the manufacturer and the
recipient.

Air. Tavexxer. Did your work bring you in contact with Mr.
Schevchenko?

Mr. Haas. Yes. In 1943 I had to train a number of Russian pilots
and technical personnel who spoke no English, and I was introduced
to Mr. Schevchenko through that particular assigiunent. The
training of these men was done through Mr. Schevchenko, he being
the interpreter.

Mr. Tavexxer. WiU you state to the committee what proposals
were made by Mr. Schevchenko to you regarding information con-
cerning the aircraft business?

Mr. Haas. That question perhaps requires a little bit of back-
ground, sir, and to answer it directly would leave out something,
perhaps, quite important.

Mr. Tavexxer. Go ahead, then, in your own way.

Mr. Haas. While I was with Bell Aircraft Co. I was dealing pri-
marily with power plants, and at that time the majority, in fact all, of
the aircraft used during the w^ar contained power plants of a very con-
ventional nature, which we are all familiar with. They were blown-

118 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

up models of the engines in our automobiles. They did, however,
require excessive power.

In order to obtain an additional amount of power out of these
aircraft engines, a system was devised to supplement the normal
cooling ability of gasoline by the injection of water. But for perhaps
6 or 8 months or a year there was a tremendous amount of difficulty
with that water injection system. The system was ideal in theory.
It permitted abnormally high powers to be obtained from a much
lower rated engine. This water-cooling system deficiency was one
reason that Mr. Schevchenko and I became close friends.

I had, while at the Bell Aircraft Co., a little liberty, and in my
spare time did work on this malfunctioning of the system. Finally I
realized a remedy for the difficulty and tried it out on what we refer
to as a working model, with every condition of flight simulated, and
to my satisfaction it was successful.

Shortly after that I was asked to give a discussion of this particular
system to members of the Russian Government, the management of
the Bell Aircraft Co., and the engineering department. In the course
of the discussion, after the usual routine of descriptive matter had
been terminated, the Russians were desirous of knowing why this
particular system was not doing all that it was supposed to do; and
having experimented with it, I felt I did know why, and I told them
why I thought it was not acting as it should, and how it could be
remedied.

Unfortunately, this brought perhaps a little bit of frowning from
the management, since it was proposed to them previously by me that
it be incorporated. I had tried the scheme out — it was a 25-cent
remedy — and it worked on an airplane. An Army test pilot had
flown an airplane on which this equipment had been installed, and
voiced satisfaction with it.

So when the Russians asked whether it would work on an aircraft,
I could reply affirmatively. Then they insisted on knowing why it
wasn't on their airplanes, and they became quite loud about it, and
insisted there be no more airplanes shipped to their Government
unless it was incorporated.

This situation that I found myself in at that time was one, perhaps,
which the Russians did take advantage of. They knew that I was,
roughly, on the "outs" with my employers, and a potential source of
information.

Now this, as I will mention in a few minutes, did develop. In addi-
tion to this scope of the subject, I had been interested in and working
with the first jet propulsion engine in the United States at the General
Electric Co., so my knowledge of engines was not only one of the
conventional engine, but one of the engine of the future. This the
Russians knew, for I had been at the General Electric Co. for some
months. This is something I inadvertently overlooked mentioning
to the committee, but I feel they will forgive me.

A friendship then developed between Mr. Schevchenko and myself.
At first it was merely one of "How do you do" and so forth, and in our
many discussions always the subject of power came up; always the
Russians wanted more power.

I had, in this discussion that I recall, told them of a scheme by
which I thought I could utilize scrap materials to give them extra
power. I had approached our own engineers, oin- own managers, on

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 119

the subject, and met with frowns again. I am not making excuses; I
am merely stating facts. This little gadget was a modification of a
turbo-supercharger, and would up the speed of an aircraft perhaps 50
miles an hour. Two would pro])ably up the speed 75 miles an hour.
I thought it was a wonderful idea to be interested in, and Mr. Schev-
chenko was also interested.

We subsequently went out to dinner and talked over the subject.
He proposed buying it and asked me to put a figure on it. When I
discussed the matter with my wife we both realized that if it were
ever culminated it would be illegal, but we talked more from the
standpoint of a joke, so we said: "Let's make a figure that will really
knock his eyes out." On that, basis I asked him for $500,000. He
was not amazed at all, and was very sincere. However, he said he
was not the sole judge of whether or not they could afford to buy it,
but he would have to contact a Colonel Pisconoff in Washington. I
don't know how you spell it [Pisconoff].

Colonel Pisconoff did come to the Bell Aircraft Co., and I did meet
him. Very little was said about it and no details were ever given, but
finally Mr. Schevchenko related to me that they thought the price
was too high and that perhaps it would involve too many complica-
tions.

One thing that was quite interesting about it was the fact that
when I brought up the subject "How can you do it? How can you
build it without my helping you?" he assured me he would have no
difficulty whatever in getting me transferred to Russia; and that there
would be no difficulty in bringing into the country the moneys in-
volved; in fact, there were no difficulties associated with it.

Mr. Tavenner. Did he state to you how he proposed to have you
transferred to Russia?

Mr. Haas. Not at that time, but later I found out. His version
of it was that his influence in this country was of such nature that
it was quite weighty, and that his mere request was sufficient to
accomplish such a deed as that. Later I did find out that the moneys
involved were a very simple matter of diplomatic immunity. I don't
know what that all involves, and I won't attempt to go into it.

Mr. Tavenner. Proceed.

Mr. Haas. These two items, the appearance in my employer's eyes
of being not too strong, let us sa}^, coupled with the willingness on
my part to, let us say, sell such a device, apparently put me in very
good light with Mr. Schevchenko.

During this period, which was in 1944, w^e w^ere in constant social
company. No direct acts of espionage had occurred other than if we
should like to call what I have just related espionage, and in reality
I don't believe it was.

Our subsequent meetings were observed by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and I was then contacted, since they had been observ-
ing him.

The Federal Bureau explained to me their suspicions of him and
requested my continued friendship with Air. Schevchenko, with the
thought that p*erhaps he would eventually approach me from the
espionage angle, and later this did prove to be so.

In late 1944, Mr. Schevchenko informed me of his future breaking off
with the Bell Aircraft Co., and told me he was to be the director of the
Amtorg Corp., being in complete charge with the exception of one man

120 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

in an advisory capacity. The Bell Co. at this time was a little bit
slow, perhaps, we might say, in accomplishing work which I had set
out as my goal, that is, continued work with gas turbines. They did
make the first jet airplane, but it looked like the future with that com-
pany at that time was not along those lines. So Mr. Schevchenko
requested of me, with my previous knowledge of gas turbines, to try
to locate in an organization where I could further this end. With still
no idea of espionage in mind, I did that. I sought and found employ-
ment with the Westinghouse Electric Co., and was fortunate in obtain-
ing a position as test engineer.

At that time this organization was perhaps the furthest advanced in
gas turbine engines, since they were the forerunners in development of
what is referred to as the axial-flow type of compressor, and this type
has been the forerunner of today's most powerful engines. So in
reality that was a most opportune position for anyone working with
the Russians to be in.

I moved to Philadelphia and started my contacts with Mr. Schev-
chenko. The first contact we had — I have a reference here in a
little book that I kept— was March 18, 1945. This date actually
was the one on which he approached me from the standpoint of ob-
taining for him highly secret turbo jet engine data, drawings, reports,
and other pertinent information. This I agreed to do, upon the
previous advice of the Federal Bureau.

I will sum up and then come back to important items in my discus-
sion.

From March until late November 1945 innumerable exchanges of
microfilm were made with Mr. Schevchenko. The material was all
screened by the Bureau of Aeronautics and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation before it was handed to him.

And now I would like to bring out some points that I have not
touched before. Mrs. Franey's testimony involved a list of informa-
tion of various natures requested by Mr. Schevchenko. I would like
to have that, if I may.

Mr. Tavenner. The witness now has in his hands Franey Exhibit 1^

Mr. Haas. I should like to try to tie this together with a few things
that I have not yet revealed. First of all I would like to read off a
few items on these sheets and show you how they may tie in with my
contacts.

Here is one, ^'Swept-Back Wings at High Velocities"; and "High-
Speed Measurements on a Swept-Back Wing (Swept-back angle 35°";
"A Summary of Drag Results from Recent Langley Full-Scale-Tunnel
Tests of Army and Navy Airplanes"; "Landing Gear Design Con-
siderations"; "Thermal Requirements for Aircraft Cabins"; "Wing
Plan Forms for High-Speed Flight." There is no need for me to go
on, because I will tie them in now.

Mr. Schevchenko told me in one of our many meetings, which were
of quite some duration, that he was here for one purpose: He was a
competitor in a contest the prize of which was 500,000 rubles. The
objective of the contest was the complete design of an ultrahigh-speed
aircraft powered by jet propulsion.

Mrs. Franey mentioned a man by the name of Vladimir Mazurin.
Mr. Schevchenko told me Vladimir Mazurin was the most outstanding

« See pp. 127 to 128.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 121

stress engineer in Russia, and was helping him in his work. His
work had a deadhne, the end of 1945. He had to accomphsh a com-
plete aircraft design in detail, both the structm-e and the engine,
complete with drawings and reports, before that date. I doubt
whether he did this.

The data which we gave Mr. Schevchenko while I was in Phila-
delphia was of such a nature as to be greatly misconstrued, misleading,
and entirely wrong. This might seem rather difficult to put across
with a man like Schevchenko, but it is my personal opinion that while
he was a very intelligent and learned man, the job he was tackling
was a job for not one man, but perhaps an entire company, and he
tried to do it all. Naturally he did have help, alleged help.

On our many meetings — I suppose I should not bring this out^ — the
Russian was an excessive drinker, and perhaps there had to be some
doubts in his mind as to my sincerity, and on these occasions we would
drink together, and regardless of hovr much a man can drink, his
senses do become numbed. It was during these, let us say, numbed
periods that Mr. Schevchenko did reveal information to me such as
that which I have just related about the prize, or, as he called it, the
bonus, which he would obtain.

He put it this way: "You should make no bones about helping me."
And he used this approach: "I am a Russian, that is true, and you
are an American ; but we can't let nationalities interfere with progress.
Scientists must be international." And that viewpomt does exist
with many scientists, I do believe.

However, the scope of his work, which involved information from
Mrs. Franey, is of this magnitude: Today our best aircraft, our most
recent aircraft, is the Lockheed F-90. It has 35° swept-back wings.
It is powered with engines as he wanted them then in the development
stage. If Mr. Schevchenko had been able to gather this information
and consummate it in such a way, and had the help to do it, 4 yeai's
ago the Russians could have had the aircraft which we have today.
That is why this information on this list was requested. Here it was
4 years ago, but only today is it being made use of.

I think perhaps you should ask me some questions.

Mr. Tavenxer. Over how long a period of time did Mr. Schev-
chenko contact you with reference to this type of information?

Mr. Haas. Perhaps 9 months to a year. It started in March 1945
and ended at the end of 1945.

Mr. Tavenner. What was the'last occasion on which you saw him?

Mr. Haas. Toward the end of 1945, as has been related to you,
Mr. Schevchenko was of a highly suspicious nature. I doubt whether
he mistrusted me too much, but he did become quite alarmed at
various incidents that were occurring. He did observe that he was
being followed. He was a master at deception in losing anyone
who was on surveillance with him. However, the excitement that
he showed was one more or less of sensing rather than direct knowledge.
Most Russians, I believe, who deal with work such as Mr. Schevchenko
had, are of a nature so as not to show emotion; and Mr. Schevchenko
never showed a facial emotion, even though he was highly nervous,
I believe.

Mr. Tavenner. You spoke of the transfer of 35-millimeter film.
Tell us more about how that was done.

Mr. Haas. In early 1944, perhaps it was May, Mr. Shevchenko
presented me with a late model Leica camera. The Leica was at

122 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

that time, and perhaps still today, is considered to be as fine a camera
as one could want for manuscript work. He versed me in the opera-
tion of the camera, showed me how to use it, the settings required for
document reproduction, the techniques employed, and the reasoa was
the microfilming of pertinent information on the development of gas
turbine engines, both drawings, manuscripts, and reports.

This information I was expected to gather, and I was in just the
position where I was able to do that. Mr. Schevchenko knew I was
in charge of training, and anyone in charge of training naturally has
to have the information for himself available. He was very pleased
when I obtained that training job, because it put me in a much
better position to exchange information with him.

The microfilm work was all done at the Federal Bureau ofhces by
their experts, and none of it was done in m.y home. Each time there
was a package of information available, I would take it to New
York, and, as in the case of the Franeys, there would be entertain-
ment and an exchange of money. The money then was turned over
to the Bureau and the serial numbers recorded, or whatever the
procedure was.

A point that is interesting in the source of Mrs. Franey's paper is
this: During one of our exchanges Mr. Shevchenko was rather bragga-
docious and related that he was well acquainted with the presidents of
leading organizations in our country, and he named several; that he
had dinner with them and that they told him about their projects.

Naturally, in the course of our discussions, Mr. Schevchenko, being
an aeronautical engineer, was well acquainted with aircraft. He was
up to date. He knew items of interest that were secret, which only
those involved in the development of the same would know. He
knew of a jet engine manufactured by the General Electric Co. before
it was released for any source of publication. In fact, it was in the
secret stage.

I believe I have summarized the objective of Mrs. Franey's contact.
The items he requested were all vital to the accomplishment of his
duty or his goal. All these items in this list pertain to the fulfillment
of that contest, and his contact with me merely fulfilled the details of
the power plant. There is no need for me to relate the importance
of what would have happened if he had obtained this information
as he desired. Mr. Schevchenko was one man in a contest. There
must have been others, because he was very interested in getting all
his information at the most ideal source and at as great a speed as
he could.

Mr. Schevchenko 's position in Amtorg — to my knowledge he was
an important man in that organization — provided him with contacts
that a normal engineer, American or Russian, did not have. The
Russian Purchasing Commission offered a potential outlet for peace-
time equipment, and members of various organizations in our country
would actually cultivate a friendship with a man of that stature, and
in the social aspects of their meetings it is readily seen how they
could divulge to him innocently information that they were working
on.

Mr. Tavenner. In these requests made by Mr. Schevchenko to
you for specific reports or information, did he indicate a knowledge
of the existence of those reports prior to the time that you showed
them to him?

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 123

Mr. Haas. No. It was different in this case. In development
work of an organization, the only leaks could have been through the
organization, and with the Westinghouse Co. there occurred only
once a leak, and it did apparently originate somewhere. I may
explain that a little bit. Any company engaged in development, it
is not really a secret business. It is amongst the public and other
manufacturers; to them it is all highly secret, they have no knowledge
of it. But Government soin-ces who work with aircraft and engine
companies all work to help tliein along. They will take components
or parts of an engine, for instance, that is being developed, and help
develop it. Let us take high-speed measurements on a swept-back
wing. Such work could have been done in a wind tunnel in the
NACA laboratories in Cleveland. They then issue a report, and that
report stili is very confidential and is limited in its distribution to
perhaps leading engineers involved in its use. But in the case of
this Westinghouse engine, I was the source, and not a good source
but in no other than one case was there previous knowledge of the
work involved.

Mr. Tavenner. I have not asked you the direct question as to
how many contacts you had which involved the delivery of informa-
tion to Schevchenko.

Mr. Haas. The exact number of times I can't say, but there must
have been at least a dozen.

Mr. Tavenner. Did he make payments of money or other types
of compensation for each of those deliveries of information?

Mr. Haas. Mr. Schevchenko did pay money in values of $100 or
$200. In many of the cases of the contacts there was no information.
It can readily be seen, the difficulty of screening tridy secret informa-
tion. It must go through proper channels. For instance, if I was
there one week end and he had requested my presence within 2 weeks,
I would attempt to stall him at least 3 weeks in order for that infor-
mation to be cleared and doctored and prepared; and in some cases
it was impossible to obtain the information. It was a matter of not
making excuses, but preparing him for something much better than
if you had been there at the desired time.

Mr. Tavenner. Wlien Mr. Schevchenko left for Russia, did he
leave any instructions as to what should be done with other informa-
tion which you might obtain?

Mr. Haas. My final contact attempt was one in which, some time
prior to Clu'istmas 1945, Mrs. Haas and I were entertained by Mr. and
Mrs. Schevchenko, and the man was very much aware of being fol-
lowed and, as was mentioned before, was in a somewhat distm'bed
state. At that time he did ask me if I had been contacted by the
Bm-eau, and then he suggested that Mrs. Haas bring the next micro-
film to New York. This was frowned upon by the Bm'eau.

Mr. Velde. By "Bureau" you mean

Mr. Haas. The Federal Bureau of Investigation. And she was not
permittetl to go alone. There is an interesting sidelight to this trip she
might have taken. The pay-off was to be a little dift'erent. Instead
of a cash pay-off such as had been obtained in the past, she was privi-
leged to go shopping with Mrs. Schevchenko, and, being Christmas
time, all her Christmas shopping was going to be done on the Schev-
chenkos. There is no telling where that might have led. However,
she didn't go, and our next contact with Mr. Schevchenko was in the

124 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

form of a Christmas card telling us that he was going to Russia for his
health and would return in May of the following year and would
contact me at that time.

Mr. Tavenner. Where did you make your contacts with Mr.
Schevchenko in New York?

Mr. Haas. All of the places?

Mr. Tavenner. Yes.

Mr. Haas. Mr. Schevchenko and I, we did get around. He made
no issue of having one rendezvous, but we would meet usually at his
apartment and then go out to various places of entcTtainment, and
we would either exchange it under the table in a very shrewd way, or
while we were walking in a crowded subway. Oh, there was a multi-
tude of ways in which we did it.

Mr. Tavenner. Where was his apartment?

Mr. Haas. 4 West Ninety-third Street, apartment 3-D.

In that time of war there were scarcities, among which were ciga-
rettes and good Scotch. Mr. Schevchenko's apartment lacked noth-
ing. He had a complete array of liqueurs and cigarettes and food
and money. He had everything one could desire.

Mr. Tavenner. You spoke of meeting Colonel Pisconoff. Did
you ever see him after that occasion when Mr. Schevchenko brought
him to Bell Aircraft?

Mr. Haas. No. But he did at the time regard Colonel Pisconoff
as the man who might have the final say on something involving an
amount such as was requested.

Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, that is all I desire to ask this
witness now.

Mr. Wood. Any further questions? Mr. Walter?

Mr. Walter. No.

Mr. Wood. Mr. Velde?

Mr. Velde. On those occasions when you visited with Mr. Schev-
chenko in New York, did he introduce you to any of his friends other
than this Colonel Pisconoff?

Mr. Haas. No.

Mr. Velde. Did you ever exchange any of these microfilm with
him in his own apartment?

Mr. Haas. Oh, yes.

Mr. Velde. Did he ever leave you with the impression that he
knew he was being followed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
or being investigated?

Mr. Haas. Yes, he did. I recall one occasion, the Bureau had
rented — ^I won't mention the exact place — an apartment with a good
view of Mr. Schevchenko's apartment, for the purpose of obtaining
moving pictures of my entrance and whatever they could through the
window, and our exit, which usually did transpire. That particular
day I believe he did know they were there. He first kept looking over
at the point where they were stationed, and finally, in a very disgusted
manner, he pulled down the shades. So at that time I believe he was
well aware of his being followed.

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT 125

Mr. Velde. You mentioned earlier that you didn't think an act of
espionage had been committed by Mr. SchevchenlvO up to a certain
point. Will you explain that further?

Air. Haas. Yes. Wliile I was with Bell Au'craft Mr. Schevchenko
had not requested any information of such a nature that was re-
stricted or confidential. The particular item on which the fabulous
sum was set was an item which was already in the hands of the Russian
people. At that time they had in their custody quite a number of
obsolete B-17's. All of those B-17's had turbo-superchargers on them.

Mr. Velde. You mean they had this gadget you had invented on
them?

Mr. Haas. No. They had the components for the gadget. It
requned merely a rearrangement of parts and a few minor annotations
to fulfill it.

Mr. Velde. He made you an offer for some information which you
had concerning a certain gadget you described as a 25-cent gadget.
Was this gadget a secret?

Mr. Haas. No. This is a separate item, this one that you refer to.
That was the one 1 mentioned in the beginning of my discussion.
That one was merely a modification for a malfunctioning part to an
airplane which they were buying in quantity. He offered no money
for that.

Mr. Velde. I thought you said he had asked you to put a price on
something.

Mr. Haas. That was the second item I mentioned. There were
two items. One was the item which caused concern over the stoppage
of delivery of aircraft. That was the 2o-cent item which modified a
malfunctionmg part. The second item was the one in which I pro-
posed to increase the speed of aircraft by the rearrangement of mate-
rials which they already had.

Mr. Velde. Was that prior to your contacting the FBI, or after-
wards?

Mr. Haas. I believe they coincided one way or another. I don't
recall.

Mr. Velde. Do you feel he had committed an act of espionage, or
was engaged in a conspiracv to commit an act of espionage, after
that?

Mr. Haas. Definitely.

Mr. Velde. lie never was arrested?

Mr. HA..A.S. No. I am glad you brought that up. This is something
which I have not prepared, and, frankly, 1 haven't prepared any of
it, but it is something 1 woidd like to discuss for just a moment.

The Franeys and myself and my wife, when this started we were
just four of mdlious of people in this country, and through, probably,
circumstances, \se became involved, and for at least a year we were
subjected to, let us say, the trials and tribulations, as I suppose any
woman would say, of dealing with a character who was a potential
murderer and thief. There were repoi'ts in the paper along about
that time referring to the Amtorg Corp. as being headquarters for
this association referred to loosely as NKVD. They were supposedly

126 SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

in the same headquarters with Amtorg, and Mr. Schevchenko was
supposedly in charge of Amtorg. Anyone coiikl put two and two
together and it woukl involve a degree of restlessness.

1 feel, and I am sure the Franeys feel, that Schevchenko was not
merely a Russian, but a potential min-derer and thief. His obtaining
the information he desired to obtain from Mrs. Franey and myself
would give the Russian Government, if they were ever an enemy and
not an ally, the weapons with which to murder us. That made him
a mm-derer. And if they won out, they would take everything away
from us, and that made him a thief as well.

The part that we played was perhaps not too dangerous, and it was
exciting, and anyone would have done it, but what I would like to
bring out is: How many times would I have done it? Frankly, with
the outcome that we have had in these circumstances, I wouldn't
have done it again.

If, in good faith, you help, say, this Government of ours, with a
goal of doing a good deed and helping to restrain an individual such
as Schevchenko, and then, when things have worked up to a point
where you feel "It has to end now, there is nothing else we can do,"
you are told by the Federal Bureau tliat they have an airtight case,
and then when you ask "When is it going to stop, when are we going
to bring this man up for trial" you are passed off with such answers
as "Well, Mr. Byrnes of the State Department says we can't touch
him" — ^perhaps I shouldn't say that.

Mr. Walter. Who told you that?

Mr. Haas. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Walter. Who were they?

Mr. Haas. That is so long ago I can't remember.

With those thoughts in mind, frankly, I don't think many people
would become involved if they thought it was for naught.

It is true there was a degree of learning involved. We met people.
We met people that we normally never would have met. The FBI
men, I had them pictured as gun-toting men and the like. We never
would have met Congressmen or committees.

Mr. Wood. Any further questions?

Mr. Tavenner. That is all.

Mr. Wood. Do any members of the committee have any questions?

(No response.)

Mr. Wood. Thank you very much, Mr. Haas.

Mr. Tavenner. There are some questions, Mr. Chairman, that
we want to ask him in executive session, for the reasons I mentioned.

Mr. Wood. Are there any other witnesses for the open session?

Mr. Tavenner. No, sir.

Mr. Wood. The committee will go into executive session.

Mr. Tavenner. It might be well to make a public statement of
the reason for it, otherwise it might be misconstrued.

Mr. Wood. For purposes of not hampering further investigations
of the committee, it is desired to go into executive session to ask
further questions.

(Whereupon, at 3:15 p. m., the open session was concluded.)

SCniET ESPIONAGE IX JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

Franey exhibit 1

127

Class

To be classi-
fied.
Do

Secret.

Confidential .

Restricted

Do -.

Unclassified . .

Confidential- -

Do. _

Unclassified..

Restricted

Secret

Do.......

Unclassified..

Secret

Unclassified-.

Confidential..
Do

Swept-Back Wings at High Velocities-

Unclassified-..
Confidential-..
Unclassified..

Secret

Confidential

Restricted-..
Confidential

Do.

High-Speed Measurements on a Swept-back Wing (Swept-
Back Angle, 35°).

Cabin Air Conditioning System of a Typical Jet- Propelled
Fighter .\.irplane.

A Summary of Drag Results from Recent Langley Full-
Scale-Tunnel Tests of Army and Navy Airplanes.

Landing Gear Design Considerations by James A. Hoot-
man.

Drag Determinations of the Forward Component Tricycle
Landing Gear.

.Thermal Requirements for Aircraft Cabins

Comparative Drag Measurements at Transonic Speeds of

Rectangular and Swept-Back NACA 651-009 Airfoils

Mounted on a Freely Falling Body.
The Characteristics of a Tapered and Twisted Wing with

Sweep-Back.
\ General Solution of the Problem of the Glauert Loading

of Wings with Discontinuities of Incidence.

Wing Plan Forms for High-Speed Flight

The Influence of Sweep on the Spanwise Lift Distribution

of Wings.
Monoplane Wings with Sweep (Theoretical Calculation of

the Spanwise Lift Distribution).
Theoretical Distribution of Load Over a Swept-Back

Wing.
Athodyd Thrust

Performance Comparison Between a Gas Turbine-Propel-
ler Power Plant and a Gas Turbine-Jet Propulsion Unit
Installed in a High Speed Fighter Airplane.

A. Method for Estimating Gas Turbine-Jet Airplane Per-
formance.

Manufacture of Blades for Junkers Turbo-Jet Unit

The End Losses of Turbine Blades.

A Metallurgical Investigation of a Large Forged Disc of

19-9 DL Alloy.
Heat Resisting Metals for Gas Turbine Parts N-102

Investigation of Blade Characteristics — Performance and

Efficiency of Turbine and Axial-Flow Compressor

Stages.
Compilation of Current Data on Selected Alloys Suitable

for High Temperature Service in Gas Turbine and

Supercharger Parts.
Vibration Studies on Turbine Blades

Cabin Pressurization and Conditioning Systems for Jet

Propelled .\ircraft.
Ram Jet Power Plants

Fuel Systems for Jet Propulsion

The Intermittent Jet Engine

Tests at Transonic Speeds of the Effectiveness of a Swept-
Back Trailing-Edge Flap on an Airfoil Having Parallel
Flat Surfaces, Extreme Sweepback and Low Aspect
Ratio.

The Calculation of .\erodynamic Loading on Surfaces of
any Shape.

An Interim Report on the Stability and Control of Taillless
Airplanes.

Source of report and report

No.

German Bericht 127. Trans-
lated into English.
German Report FBI813.

AIResearch Manu. Com-
pany Proposal Number B-
12.

NACA ACR L5A30.

NACA 3D30.
NACA T. N. 788.

Air Technical Service Com-
mand, Wright Field.
TSEAL-3-695-56.

NACA L5G30.

British R & M 1226.

Report 7629 Ae. 2C05.

NACA L5G07.

Journal of Aero. Sci. March

1943, pp. 101-104.
Aircraft Engineering, August

1938 issue, pp. 245-247.
NACA Report, dated

October 1942.
General Electric Data Folder

26691.
Curtiss- Wright Re. 911A.

AAFTR 5193.

British Re. A. 1.2 9.5.44 (is-
sued from Wright Field).

Brown Boveri Review, No-
vember 1941 Issue, pp. 356-
361 (French).

NACA 5C10.

Nat'l. Def. Res. Com..

Office of Sci. Res. and

Dev. M-16.
Trans, of A. S. M. E. July

1944 issue, pp. 413-480.

Nat'l. Def. Res. Com.,
Office of Sc. Res. and Dev.
M-12.

From German Publication
Motortechnische Zeit-
schrift.

Wr ightField Eng. Data Re-
port TSEPL-5-522-272.

Manual No. 2:37.'

Manual No. 218.'

Manual No. 241.'

NACA L5H01.

British R & M 1910.
NACA L4H19.

128

SOVIET ESPIONAGE IN JET PROPULSION AND AIRCRAFT

The following reports are prints of 35-inillimeter microfile taken by either
United States Army or Navy personnel.

Class

Top secret.

Title

Performance of Ram Jets with Negligible Velocity in

Combustion Chamber.
Design of Ram Jets

Preliminary Reports on Tests of the FW Ram Jet in

Wind Tunnel A9 of the LFA.
Stability Considerations for Swept-Back Wings.
Extent of the Laminar Boundary Layer on a §wept-Back

Wing.
Three Component Measurements on a Swept-Back Wing

with a Split Flap.
Tests on a Partially Swept-Back Wing with Varying

Dihedral.
Contributions to the Investigation of Swept-Back Wings..
Measurements of Pressure Distributions on Swept-Back

Wings.
Lift Distributions on Swept-Back Wings

Source of report and report
No.

FW Rep 90-040.2

FW Rep 09-041. «
FW Rep 09-045.»

UM3151.

FB 1626.

FB 1913.

FB 1458.
FB 1501.

FB 1553.

' Prepared for the commander in chief, United States fleet, by members of Jet Propelled Missiles Panel
of Office of Scientific Research and Development. Reports forwarded to Bell Aircraft by AAF Air Tech-
nical Service Command (TSEPL-S), Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.

«Focke-Wulf.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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