Researcher: Catherine Chen, Stuyvesant '26

Jacob Epstein was born on November 10, 1903 in Brooklyn. His parents were Simon Epstein and Rose Prensky, who were Jewish immigrants from Russia that joined the great wave of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe occurring around the shift of the last century. As for his education, Jacob participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at Cornell, despite the anti-semitic nature of their admissions of the time. He graduated in 1924. Afterward, he became an office worker and a shipping clerk. He was an active member of the Local 65, United Wholesale and Retail Workers Union. When he left for Spain, he had risen to union treasurer. In 1934, he married Ruth Beverly Wilson from Brooklyn, who changed her name to Ruth Wilson Epstein. That same year, they joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The CPUSA attracted many American intellectuals and workers during the Great Depression who were sympathetic to Soviet anti-fascism.


The Epsteins’ party membership provided a network for pro-Soviet engagement, including support for international causes aligned with Moscow's directives, which led them to volunteer for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War by joining the Abraham Lincoln Brigade which was heavily influenced by the Communist International (Comintern). Jacob arrived in Spain on September 9, 1938, following his wife who arrived in May 1937.


Epstein's service in Spain involved logistical and supportive duties, including being a liaison between the U.S. Brigade patients and the hospital staff at a hospital in Mataro, Catalonia, a role that was a part of the diverse non-combat contributions of many volunteers amid the war's grueling conditions, where medical support was critical due to high injury rates from the mounting defeats and high rates of disease. At this hospital, he was reunited with his wife Ruth who was serving as a nurse. In 1938, they returned to the US on December 31st, 1938 aboard President Harding.


The Epsteins soon became involved with the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), the precursor to the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB). The US Army’s Signal Intelligence Service, the precursor to the National Security Agency (NSA) revealed the Epsteins affairs through VENONA (started February 1943) where they decoded KGB encryption of Society transactions. NKVD communication between Mexico City and Moscow revealed on March 25th, 1944 that the NKVD were planning on having Jacob return to America as soon as the Gnome affair was complete. At this time, the Americans were already surveilling Jacob in Mexico and Ruth in New York City, with a possible arrest impending. After it was decoded, it was revealed that the Gnome affair was about the breaking out of Jacques Mornard, more widely known as Ramón Mercader and the murderer of Leon Trotsky, from a Mexican prison. On April 16th, 1944, it was said that Juan Gaytan Godoy was delaying Jacob’s departure for America, which delayed the departure of the 2nd Secretary at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, Pavel P. Klarin. On April 21st, 1944, Lieutenant General Pavel Mikhailovich Fitin learned that Jacob’s departure depended on Juan Gayton Godoy, and he responded on April 27th that Jacob would be handed over to “Kira” for liaison. By August 1944, Jacob had been sent home to the US and was suspected by the NKVD of having indiscreetly revealed information on the Gnome Affair. On March 21st, 1945, Moscow had contacted New York asking for a password and details about rendezvousing with “Nona.” In this transaction, the Soviets revealed the true identities of “Harry” and “Nona” to be Jacob Epstein and Ruth Wilson, respectively. This was critical as the communication helped the SIS identify Soviet agents. During a hearing on the Trotsky assassination, the House Committee on Un-American Activities questioned Jacob on Communist Party membership to which he pleaded the Fifth. He remained vague in all his responses to questions ranging from signing his own passport applications to meeting with Anna Colloms, a close friend from Cornell who was also a spy for Soviet intelligence.


Having not been indicted, Ruth and Jacob were left to live a life enriched by a wide range of cultural interests and a warm circle of friends and family in New York City as a closely knit couple and veterans of the Spanish Civil War. For several decades before their retirement, the Epsteins were teamed as highly successful designers and builders of custom office furniture. At age 94, Jacob Epstein passed away in New York City on March 10th of 1998, following the death of his wife of 62 years who had passed away a year earlier.

Sources

“Epstein, Jacob.” The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, July 19, 2022. https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/jacob-epstein/.


“Jacob Epstein” The Volunteer, Volume 20, No. 2, Spring 1998, 18.


“Venona.” National Security Agency/Central Security Service. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.nsa.gov/Helpful-Links/NSA-FOIA/Declassification-Transparency-Initiatives/Historical-Releases/Venona/


U.S. National Security Agency. Liaison Between “Harry” and “Kira” (1945). 3/NHF/T1418. DOD, 2021. https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/30/2002817144/-1/-1/0/27APR_EPSTEIN.PDF


U.S. National Security Agency. “Yurij’s” Impatience at “Juan’s” Delay in Arranging Departure of “Jose” and “Harry”; References to Anton (1944). 3/NEF/T868 (of 26/10/1956). DOD, 2021. https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/30/2002817119/-1/-1/0/16APR_TROTSKY.PDF


U.S. National Security Agency. Mention of Possible Arrest of “Harry” in the “Country” Following Surveillance by Americans (1944). 3/NHF/T710 (of 29/9/1955). DOD, 2021.
https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/29/2002816229/-1/-1/0/25MAR_EPSTEIN.PDF