v9.1 JFK Assassination System Identification Form Agency Information AGENCY: FBI RECORD NUMBER: — 124-10211-10469 | RECORD SERIES: HQ AGENCY FILENUMBER: SEE TITLE Document Information ORIGINATOR: FBI FROM: SAC, NY TO: DIRECTOR, FBI TITLE: — [Restricted] DATE: 02/17/1960 PAGES: 14 SUBJECTS : DLH, ASSOC, EMP, MIL SERV, MED/PERS HIST, RES DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: — Secret RESTRICTIONS: 1B; 1C;4 CURRENT STATUS: — Redact DATE OF LAST REVIEW: — 05/14/1998 OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE COMMENTS : INC MEMO Date: 5/26/201
_ GOMM-FE? h ¥ Petree its enamel ite ego qamerecr ante! F Mohr’ Pars Ons Belmont Callahan DeLoach Malone McGuire Rosen Tamm Trotter Sulli sdion Ae “teaching English ~ - St L- Jo De Donahue SAC, New York (34-4224) 4 ~ Linton © Barch 2, 1960 ye ’ REC. § # 201,308 dy pan Director, a (134-8502) G eaasetfish by a PIP, won any /OBO ANNETTE Sy LVIA EPSTEIN, aka. Nee f= B , alone gy bf apes urlet 2/10/16 DECLASSIFY ON: 25X Reurlet 2/17/60. (a) ) Spagegeey we 3/) Authority granted to recantact subject te further her development as an informant[or @ouble agent for use against the Soviets[in New York. ( ) You should make certain that eubject ia . Qware that her cooperation with us is a voluntary matter on her part. She should be aware of the fact — that she is not @ Bureau employee. Your contacts with her should not be conducted at any institution of learning, tit being noted that she isoa public — school teacker in New York City-(K)(U) invelvement] with Souvlets. iho have been assigned to the Unit€Z Bations]in Weu York and the fact tha€ S) subject hus expresséd an interest to “clear her names you should be careful to avoid disclosure o her of any significant detail of our interest in any particular Seviet.] You should endeavor to verify any information snée furnishes us, particularly during the early steps of her development. Yeu ftir of subject's possthle personal Should make certain that subjeet is not a plant and your handling of her should be in accordance. with Section 107, Manual of Instructions. PS at toot 2 ASSIFIER bem be” i HEME § SHOW angen IW vee Notes ‘Subject is single female teacher | in public schools of: WYC. _ She is a former teacher of English, Berlitz School New York. While so employed she 1g) UN. tought English £0 several Soviets assigned to the idered for, Bn involving o Sdviets ' @ signéd é6 “the. Autorg | Trading Corporation: in. 0/59. ° She has ‘cont tinued, ht social acquaintance: ‘with Soviets: from 9/59 to 1/60 ‘She was béing co
Letter to SAC, WY i Res Annette Sylvia Epstein mH) 134-8502 [rote concinueas |OO(U) sah oe DO, a os | She advised on interview 1/28/60) th ta "soviet lho was C5} -departing the UeS. 1/27/60, came“toher apartment, brought her gifts and kissed her good=by.on 1/22/60. . She is ° acquainted with|two Soviets in whom we have @ substantial current investigative interest... These are Leonid Zovalev — and Yurt Uishukov, who are both employed at the UN. ’. Secretariat, ] It is believed that subject . ‘has potential(s). ‘as an informant and we-should take advantage ° of her. apparent willingness to furnish information, but i¢ is , believed that NY should be spécifically cautioned-as above in view of the personal interests subject has in. endeavoring to clear her name as well as ‘her personal interest} - Soviets. [Subject ’s uncle was the. subject of @ sec rey) ; ‘of goveFriment émployéees: investigation | and.. there is. ' ; derogatory information. on him and some of -her’ ‘relatives.. . She is apparently unawaréiof subversive | information regarding her relatives. She has applied for positions . with the. State Department and with the Department of Se Defense and has not received favorable consideration. She is concerned: about this but there is no indication. , that she has been*denied employment because of derogatory _ security informations. (K) ne — 1 s ee a a a oe ee . fo on es ee ty ewan bait - 2. SECRET |"
mi € nr) oo | “UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 7 (BA . MEMORANDUM a of. te TO. : DIRECTOR, FBI (a34- 8502) DATE: 2/17/60 | ifics > SAC, NEW YORK (134-4214) oS . 10 SUBJECT: ANNETTE SYLVIA EPSTEIN aka / mo IS=R _ecaiatneenasrsenes $-20- Bory 6,1) CAAA] CLASSIFIED BY 5 SOC u : yO Ni 25X_/ | ReBulet 12/28/59 AY 0 DEY CLASS OE op “Tek | On 1/21/60, subject was so lemed at We ssid nee, ee 345 West 88th Street, Apartment 7-E, New York Ci yy “yy ‘SAS WILLIAM V, SCHMALTZ and RICHARD W. HILL. This *:serview wus , uj not pre-arranged with the subject, and after approximately 2 30 minutes the subject “08 \(u) she would have to leave as she u had a prior appointment . On 1/28/60, the interview with the subject was ‘completed by SAS FRANKLIN B. TEETER and RICHARD W. an GY) The Bureau's jurisdiction regarding the internal ‘Security of the United States was explained to the subject and her cooperation was solicited in that regard (B uw) y G2) - Bureau ( . 2 - New Yorl: ((105-13781' Sub E) Classifft 1 ~ Néw York |(105-31308) . (GRYAZNOV) ws 1 - NewYork /{105- 20553} 'FEDORCHENKO) |  DBeclassify 1 - New York (¢105-12456: } TvaNov) 4 ON, Ib ‘Ll. ~ New York |(105-22603) {LEVYTCHKEN) 1 - New York] (105-30803) { UDOVICHENKO) (S) 1 - New York]|(105-27651) (KOVALEV) 1 ~- New York[(105-27649) (mISHUKOV i j 2 - New York Op 32886, ((oarerere, STAB 1 - New York (134-4215) Administrative a 1 — New York (105-37900). (HARBER) | 1 -New ‘York (105-New) (AMEREZO SALEBE ) 1 - New York (105-New) (ED PYDE) 1 = New York (105~37955) (BERBERI) 1 ~- New York. (134- wert Administrative) 1 - New York - (134-4214 Investigative) RWH: cam (18) . mal a? been” Ye Se a rm
pw rset | (A) In addition she stated that she had taught several or the (Soviets wives but that they were very timid and non-(S) déscript, and She could not recall their names « (A) She said that she first met FEDORCHENKQ) in February (S) 1958 and saw him almost daily at Berlitz thereafte Shortly after meeting him, she stated that she, JORRIE GARRIGUE, BURTON VAN HORN FOREMAN, and occasionally. ED PYLE, Berlitz teachers, would take coffee breaks with/PUCOLUHENKD an BORIS IVANOV. ] Then in May, 1958, GARRIGUE, PYDE> arei FORMAN accepted an Invitation to accompany{ IVANOV and raporcuenko{ oy to the Russian Tea Room, West 57th reet, New York City, after classes at Berlitz.(pR) EPSTEIN continued to see [FEDORCHENKG] rrequentlfS) _ at the Berlifiz school. She néxt saw him socially at a gathering at the home of Madam (FNU) LEVITSKY (PH), on West 73rd Street, New York City, one night in June, 1958 She, GARRIGUE, (FEDORCHENKO, and IVANOV lattended at rorsman's(s)_ invitation. ane said the group there “tonsisted of amateur musicians who played together for their own pleasure. She said she,cid not know anyone else there or had been there Since. ~ Also in June, 1958, FOREMAN. gave a party at his apartment at 160 Claremont Avenue, New ~vork City, which EPSTEIN attended. She said that[TVANOV had been_unable t4S) come and had sent{LEONID KOVALEV]in his place. (FEDORCHENKO, S) (v) GARRIGUE and subjétt attended as well as some of subject's riends, whom she cannot now recall. She stated that ER, a Berlitz n [Ova attended this party, Dp os “friendly vith{KOVALEV. | She could not recaii(s) anything unusual that transpired at“this party except that HARBER became very Grunk and disorderly. (& ) -3- | _ SECRET Oy
[secre Jacs In August or September, 1958, EPSTEIN said that she gave a party when she had an apartment at 128 West. 73rd St s) She said that she called/ KOVALEV at the United Nations|an invited him, requesting m to bring some of the other Soviet] 6) as they would be an attraction at the party. She stated that FOREMAN, GARRIGUE, HARBER, and his roommate AMERICO SALEBE were there, KOVALEV came and brought YURI I, MESHUKOV and BORIS (uNU) She said that her roommate, then GEMMA @ERPERI S) a was away at“the time. There were approximately 50 people there, some of her friends from college and later acquaintances. ‘She stated that she had notLeed (MISHUKOT) listening to sS heated discussion in Spanish by two Latin Americans wit particular interest but does not now recall who these people were or who invited them. She explained that she had asked her friends to bring people’ to the party so that she doubts whether she met‘all of her guests. Toward the.end of these party she said that one of the [Soviets |suggested ‘that thes play a [Russian] party game. game furned out to be "Sp the Bottle", dnd the(Soviets \showed surprise when told 1 was an old American game. She said that the Soviets [then 2) rather self-consciously acknowledged that it Had been OK) joke. She could recall no other details of this party.GK) She stated that she had gone to Europe for a vacation in June and July, 1958 and had visited her uncle, NELSON CHIPCHIN in Nuremberg, Germany, where he is employed by the USIA, and her aunt, LISA ROSENBERG, Howard Hotel, London, England. (K)(u) She sew (PSDoRCHENKS sometime in the Fall of 1958 (S) and he inquired what she had”been doing; she said that she told him of her trip to Europe and of her visits to her aunt and uncle, a ee pete eee
Cc [secret | 6 © [re ee FO) ' EPSTEIN does not recall having soon eoonce to] \G or any (Sovi ets jagain until July, 1959, when she and FOREMAN S) went to the[{Russian Sbstival of Music and Dance at Madison Square Garden, New York City, and saw/FEDORCHENKO and KOVALEV Ss) there. Later in July, she and FOREMAN visited the [vssiad _ rade Fair at the ColiseumQ New York City, where jhey met (S) (KOVALEV and MISHUKOV] and spoke. to them briefly. > 7 In September, 1959, EPSTEIN said that she soantassed [EporcuenKoet the United Nations|to enlist his help in iC setting up a business teaching English[to the various United Nations delegates and employees EPSTEIN said that she intended to hire former_Berlitz Instructors to do the teaching and she asked{FEDORCHENKO(to assist her in- Lining ‘s up prospective clients. DORCHENKO {told her that he could (S) not help her as he was t S busy. GR J contacted KOVALEV at the United Nations|for the same purpo and that KOVALEVJalso was unable to heIp. She stated tha she had no further contact_with (the Soviets tntil December,(.s 1959, when she tonto ety FEDORCHENKO at the Soviet Unit October, 1959, EPSTEIN said that she and supe 5) S Nations Delegation {to giv im her new: (present) address and to invite himmto a party at her apartment on 12/20/59) He accepted the invitation but did not come or call. CK) It is noted that subject ‘stated that she moved to her present address in October, 1959 and that she had previously resided with her mother at 3871 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York. ‘RA (u) f -5- a Wy)
[aw ose Ty On 12/14/59, fy 536-54 eported that m unknow woman had sontacted [ped .CHENKO| and had invited him to a(S) party at her address, 345 west 88th Street, Apartment 7-E; New York City, telephone EN 2-2014. (PK \ . She said that [FEDORCHENKO ae called her at he residence on 1/18 rook had told her that fhe wes : the country on 1/27/60}°and that he would like to visit her at her apartment 1/22/60, in order to give her a present. She said that he told her that{he would not return to the United States again for at least two years (she said that he had come to the apartment and had given he? a bottle of eorgian wine, imported from Russia. She stated that S\EEDORCHENKO walked about the apartment opening doors and \ rawers, asked how much rent she paid, and generally "snosped" around. He told her that she was too much of a gad about and said that she should settle down and get married. f oO EPSTEIN stated that when she first began getting S Sovietslas English students at Berlitz she enthusiastically began to tell them about the United States. and gave , (5 EDORCHENKG] a books on English literature in the belief | that (the Soviets] uld be interested in learning about the | country to which they were assigned. After doing this for about two weeks she said that she realized that [the Soviets] (5) were not. interested and that they "heard only what they ORS to hear", She recalled during the interview that (¢ EDORCHENKO| had not returned her book nor had he ever mentioned it after she gave it to him. (A) (scone R) ly
Co [secren J‘ , C \ She stated that/the soviet the has met -have been very awkward with the social niceties and were given to expressing sentimentsfsuch as a toast "peace loving people of the United St&€es and Russia" | Osne also said that they were reticent and made her job of teaching ‘English very difficult as She could not get them to talk about themselves. She stated that[FEDORCHENKO]was arlS exception, perhats ‘because he prided himself on his abi city to. speak English. 6} She stated that unlike most pupils, (FEDORCHENKO_{§) Spoke English better than he underétook it, perhaps due to is showoff attitude concerning English. (SX) oy During. the course of her acquaintanceship with S} FEDOROHENKO,| she Stated that he had learned of her background, C ehe said that he would insist that she was 1c Ruesianjat heart(s) as well as by . parentage while she would intain that she was an American. She related that she once had a copy of "Dr. Zhivago" at Berlitz and that [FEDORCHENKO|picked it up 6) and threw. it on the floor and asked her why she read such trash. one said that she became angry and told. him that that was no.way to treat her ‘property and that she considered it a great literary work. She said that there had been Several incidents like that with (FEDORCHENKO|but that it () had never marred their friendship. (é) ! . She_said that_occasionally [FEDORCHENK Sd speak to her{[in Russian]and then, iE EPSTEIN did not (9 respond, he would look Surprised and then said he had forgotten (that she did not speak Russian ](S } . - T- | SECRET) [ow | . ‘
C [ie ister P¢7 u) u EPSTEIN said that her only anterest in. [the Soviets LS ) [SECRED [ex OQ \W was to learn their viewpoint and out o (gurierey. fhe said that her relationship with h Fmboncrmixo fa uld not be a ‘as a perscrel one a 3 seribed s they. really had nothing in comms ane Since she had only been touched once by [FEDORCHEN:O ‘ he kissed her goodbye on Yee/60. She said that thsre veally was no basis for their friendship except a desire on her- part to understand /the Soviet in international a otivated by her jnter- airs. Shé said that she felt thas she had "exploited" them by asking them to parties where tiney would be the main attraction. (Q) Concerning|BORIS 8. rvanov Hesrarn stated that he apparently was [FE [FEDOR NKO'S superior inasmuch as. FEDORCHENKO { deferred to him constantiv. She described /IVANOV\ as being(S) quite reticent and expizinid that she once compli? ented him on a new suit he was wearing and asked him where he kad bought it. He replied "in Landorf' and then proceeded ‘to praise [the merits of- Russian made clothingy(S) an » fey Concerning /LEONID KOVALEV J prompifatatec that he was a wolf and that She did not life him. &>- EPSTEIN gave ‘the following information ‘Pegarding A her former associates at. Berlitz: A ay 3 \GARRIGUE, a former English ‘teacher at Berlitz and an acdéomplished violinist. EPS°EIN said that she at one time considered going to Moscow to. study music at the: Moscow Sonservatory. ‘EPSTEIN said that she had heard recently that GARRIGUE had been married. Al(u )
CO [secreD |G iy . BERTON VAN HORN FOREMAN , is a former English teacher at Berlitz and is now an instructor of the fananese language at Coiumbia University. EPSTEIN stated the: FOREMAN had lived in Japan for a. number of years es that up until recently he had been an English instructur for the employees of[the Amtorg Trading Corporation,| New York (S City. a) stated that FOREMAN is a very cldse friend of hers. we op RW) Lo YEMMA\BERBERI, u-fOrmer Italian teacher at Berlitz, Was EPSTEIN'S roémmate at 128 West 73rd Street, from approximately June through September, 1958. EPSTEIN said that BERBERI.could bearly speak English and at to her knowledge BERBERI had iated with /the Soviets .J= etd | SO a : U ao Bly 54 Wesj JAD sh NE Ce tye wb GT; ue DENNIS ec lee Sh ‘a good™deal of interest 1.’ ot [oy BORIS S, IVANOV and™FEDORCHENKO fwhile at Berlitz. HARBER Cy i never finished high sehool. He waS in the Army .in World L. War II and suffered a severe emotional shock which now upsets him from time to time and causes him to get intoxicated in order to get relief. She stated that he had received treatment for this condition at Veterans Administration hospitals. She said that he is very intelligent and perceptive but appears to have no confidence in himself. She said that he once told her that he wanted to go to Puerto Rico to live, where he would be ' near a Veterans Administration hospital so that he could take treatments if necessary. EPSTEIN noted that HARBER Speaks Spanish fluently. She said that the last address she had for him was 454 West 22nd Street; New York City, telephone CH 3-7208. She also related\that HARBER had had @ roommate at that address, oné AMERICON SALEBE, a Venezuelan whom, to the best of her recollection,/was employed at Idlewild Airport (4) : a oo, a ee "]
| [secreD | Cae C) . wi Ye - lens, -sKs ctatea, had not associated with{the Russians fas much as she, GARRIGUE, and FOREMAN hace ani Chat ©) PYDE was-at Berlitz as an English teacher only a short time. She said that he was married to a German natisnil in Germany and that he now lives in New Jersey, and has 3 children. ¥@ } . oo |. . [ Sublect's Desire to Clear Her none | AK {u) During the interview EPSTEIN stated that she had twice applied for jobs with the United States Government and was sure that she had been accepted both times only to be refused employment at the last moment. She feels that since She was qualified for both positionshernarecceptance could only be due to,-sqme allegation of disloyalty of which she is not aware. (%) U) . She has ‘always been interested in international affairs and so she applied to the United States Department of State for the position of foreign service officer. She passed the written and then the oral examination and felt that she would be appointed. She then had an interview with a security official at the Department of State when she submitted her Personal History Form, at which time she was asked if there . was anything in her background which would reflect unfavorably on her and she said no. Approximately two months later she Said that she received a letter from the State Department informing her that she was not being employed. She then wrote to the State Department protesting her loyalty to the United States stating’ that her nor-eeceptance could only be due to the belief that she might be disloyal. The State | Department then replied that its ‘actions. should not be ~ construed as go refleotion-on her character oF royalty. (¥ | U) ¢ SECRED | (uy
- ©) C) . ! PSECRET [Sw fw 134—H2us | (6 w . In tae Winter of 1958 she stated that she for a position with the United States Army to tes: in a school for the children of United States Militie. Personnel stationed in Germany. She said that she Kad even received the necessary innoculations from the Army when she was again refused employment. GK) u) EPSTEIN stated that she feels she was penalized for something of which she was not aware, not for any actions of her own and she, therefore, desired and felt it necessary to "clear her name". She stated that she is sure that she has never done anything detrimental to the best interests of the United States and tha ny allegation of her disloyalty must be due to ee u) _ She stated that she knew her uncle LSON CHIPCHIN had been investigated at one time but that he had been cleared and he is still employed by USIA. She stated that she visited CHIPCHIN: in Germany after being turned down by the State Department and he suggested that she had not been employed because young women are likely,to marry and married women are not allowed in the service. () U) : EPSTEIN stated that her mother, while sympat“etic ‘because of these two rejections, wag very happy that she would be staying in this country. } (ul) 7 EPSTEIN is apparently unaware of the subversive informatio h regarding her melatives . (@) u) [Recommenaations |(K (Y) | EPSTEIN was very cooperative during the interview and she appears to be an intelligent straight-forward individual . (3 a y (u) SECRET ip k “
. — J” [SECRET Jeg fe J pe a3istens [PR (u) | | From what she relates of her assdciation with [PEDORCE: =NKO, it. would appear that FEDORCHENKO would have made an accent to recruit her had she not been so tspoken in insiésing who are still in the country and would be able to maintain contact with them in a natural manner It is felt_that she(S) has good potential as an informant [or double agent | (B y Bureau authority is requested to contact the subject for the purpose of developing her as an informant rer a double agent | @) | ! -12- ce cor Fe Cc that she was not a Russian. EPSTEINJhas met several Goviets | £54