Jacob Epstein (spy)

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Jacob Epstein (10 November 1903 – 10 February 1998), also known as Jake Bermanen, was an American-born Soviet spy.

Epstein was born in Brooklyn, New York of Russian parents. He graduated from Cornell University in 1924, where he became friends with Anna Colloms, who was also a student. In 1938, Epstein volunteered for the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, and was badly wounded. Epstein married Ruth Beverly Wilson, whom he met while convalescing from his injuries, and both allegedly served as Soviet intelligence operatives.

During World War II, Epstein was stationed by Soviet intelligence in Mexico City, where he was a "student" at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.^[1] Epstein was put in charge of the Gnome Project, which was the secret plan to free Ramón Mercader, Leon Trotsky's murderer, from jail.

Epstein is referenced in Venona decrypt 800 New York to Moscow 28 May 1943, and another decrypt on 30 May 1943. The material cites Epstein as having placed two agents in the prison where Mercader was held. The plan called for moving Mercader out of Mexico once the jailbreak was made.

Venona decrypt 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944 identifies Anna Colloms, while on a courier mission to Mexico, reporting the KGB detected surveillance of Ruth Wilson, Epstein's wife, and Colloms, who went to Mexico for liaison with Jacob Epstein, but achieved nothing.