Victor Perlo
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Victor Perlo (May 15, 1912 – December 1, 1999) was a Marxist economist and a longtime member of the national committee of the Communist Party USA.
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[edit] Early years
Born in East Elmhurst, New York, Perlo was the son of Russian-Americans who had both emigrated in their youth from Omsk in Siberia. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees in mathematics and statistics from Columbia University in 1933.[1] He married Katherine Perlo in 1933, divorcing her in 1943. Subsequently, he married Ellen Perlo, who he remained with for the rest of his life. He had three children with Ellen Perlo, Kathy, Stanley, and Arthur.[1] He had varied interests included tennis, mountain climbing, and chess. He was also a talented pianist.
[edit] New Deal
Perlo served in various New Deal government agencies including the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Perlo also was an original member of the Ware group. In 1937, Perlo left government to work in the Brookings Institution, and rejoined the government in 1939. He reentered government through the United States Department of Commerce in 1939 to gather data on basic economic decisions he presented to Harry Hopkins, Secretary of Commerce. In 1940, Perlo moved to an agency that became the Office of Price Administration (OPA). By 1943, he was chief of the Aviation Section of the War Production Board. The Perlo group of spies, which he headed, included a Senate staff director, and Perlo's ring supplied the Soviet Union with United States aircraft production figures and shipments to various theaters of war.
[edit] Espionage
A dedicated Communist, Victor Perlo headed the Perlo group of Soviet espionage agents in the United States. Before World War II, Perlo had been a member of the Ware spy ring. The Perlo ring included several important U.S. officials, including a Senate staff director, and the ring supplied the Soviet Union with economic, political, and military intelligence, including United States aircraft production figures.
Perlo infiltrated the United States Department of Commerce in 1938 to gather economic intelligence, and passed on intelligence concerning basic economic decisions he presented to Harry Hopkins, Secretary of Commerce. He transferred to the Division of Monetary Research, and served under Harry Dexter White, followed by Frank Coe and Harold Glasser, all of whom were later found to be Soviet agents.
Victor Perlo's code name in Soviet intelligence was "Raider". Due to some cryptographic errors committed by Soviet intelligence during WW II, Perlo was identified through a massive intelligence coup called the Venona project. Venona results were not released for decades after they were discovered and US conter-intelligence was constantly looking for evidence that they could actually use to remove known Soviet agents of influence and spies. Perlo's public accuser was former Soviet spy Elizabeth Bentley.
[edit] Post WW II Career
Perlo left the government in 1947. After being named as a Soviet agent by Elizabeth Bentley, Perlo was called before several Congressional Committees investigating Soviet and Communist infiltration, subversion, and espionage within the United States government in the 1930s and during World War II. Perlo invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked to name other espionage agents and Communist party members, telling the House Committee on Unamerican Activities (HUAC) he was "helping in my humble way to carry out the great New Deal program under the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The results of these hearings left him denied academic employment in the U.S. and ended his government career. They also made him a far-left hero for the rest of his life.
In 1948, Perlo obtained a position working on the campaign of Henry Wallace, the Progressive Party's presidential candidate. He also obtained a job as an economic researcher for the Brookings Institution and wrote the book American Imperialism
From the 1960s until his death, he was chief economist for the Communist Party USA. His major works include American Imperialism (1951), Empire of High Finance (1957), Economics of Racism I and II (1973 and 1996), and Superprofits and Crises (1988).
[edit] Death
He died on December 1, 1999 at his home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.[1]
[edit] Legacy
Posthumously, Ellen Perlo and sons edited the Columns of Victor Perlo (vol. 1, People vs Profits: The Home Front and vol. 2, People vs Profits: The USA and the World), available here.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Victor Perlo, 87, Economist For Communist Party in U.S.", New York Times, December 10, 1999. Retrieved on 2008-05-29. "Victor Perlo, a Marxist economist whose career was damaged by accusations during the Red scare of the late 1940's and early 1950's that he spied for the Soviet Union in Washington during World War II, died Dec. 1 at his home in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. He was 87."
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