Evening star., 1953-01-04
BY the Assoeiosed Press

scheduled to die the week of
January l2-convicted Of conspir-
ling to ferret out atomic secrets
for Russia. The Government
Ic4largeS they are concealing other
spies. unless they talk, a presi-
dental reprieve is in doubt.
DR.. Alan Num- May. a slight.
Ibespectacled 41-year-old scientist.
gives no sign that he is sorry that
ne slipped secrets to an unknown
Russian contact. He says. II think
i acted rightly"
From his brother Ralph's cot
Itage In Chalfont st. Peter. near
London. the first atomic spy con-
victed by the West issued this
statement:
81 was wholeheartedly concerned
with securing victory over Nazi
Germany and Japan and with the
Ffurtherance of the development
|of the peaceful uses of atomic
energy In this country"
He was released from prison
last Monday after serving six
years and eight months of a 10
year sentence. He got maximum
time of for good behavior.
Fuchs Activities Barred.
His future? He pleaded for fair
Iplay and the chance to do useful
scientific work and "be of some
service to this country and my
fellow men,"
Is he a Communist now? He
didn't say.
The disclosures which led to his
|conviction came in the Canadian
governments sensational spy in
Ivestigation in 1946. The detection
lof a Russian cipher clerk, Igor
Gouzenko, who turned over docu-
ments to Canadian authorities
showed that a number of persons
had delivered vital wartime secrets
to Russia.
Sam Carr, top man in Canada's
Labor or-Progressive (Communist)
Party, received a six-year sentence
for spying. Nine other Canadians
including Fred Rose, a Polish born
former member of Parliament.
were also convicted. The trail led
to other links in the spy chain in
Britain, the United States and
even in Sweden.
Thus 1t was four years later that
British and American authorities
tunearthed the activities of DR..
Klaus Fuchs, who has been called
the deadlieSt spy in history, and
followed a thread which led to
arrests Of the Rosenbergs.
Helped Trap Rosenbergs.
Fuchs, a naturalized Briton, had
been a member of the Communist
Party in his native Germany. He
had an important part in Britain's
atomic energy research and came
to the United States as a trusted
member of Britain's official A.
bomb mission.
He picked up secret atomic in
formation at Los Alamos. N. M,
and Oak Ridge. Tenn, and passed
it on to Soviet agents in the
United States.
One was Harry Gold, a chemical
researcher from Philadelphia.
After the arrest of F'uchs-now
serving IA years in Britain-Gold
was seized and sentenced to 80
years.
The trail led to David Green
glass, United States Army sergeant
stationed at Los Alamos and rated
among the top secret Soviet agents
in the United States. He turned
States evidence to avoid the
death penalty, and helped impose
1t on his sister, Ethel Rosenberg.
and her husband. They were
charged with getting Greenglass
to steal the atomic secrets. Green
glass got of with Is years.
Radar Expert Caught.
Another caught up in the drag
net was Morton Sobell, radar ex-
pert, who helped the Rosenbergs
recruit atom spies. Sobell went to
prison for 80 years. Many smaller
fry also were caught.
An H-bomb British scientist
who repeatedly fled behind the
Iron Curtain may have contributed
heavily to the Soviets. Italian
born Bruno Pontecorvo. employed
at Britain's Harwell atomic energy
plant. disappeared in October, 1850,
while on a continental vacation. He
was later reported by refugees to
be working at Soviet atomic
plant in China.