ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY
The Russian Soviet Government Bureau was an agency of the Soviet government, established in the United States to serve as a procurement agency and clearing house for news and press releases from the Russian Republic. The bureau was headed by Ludwig C.A.K. Martens, who entered the United States a German subject before being named Soviet representative in America early in 1919.
On June 12, 1919, the "New York Joint Legislative Committee Investigating Seditious Activities," chaired by Sen. Clayton R. Lusk -- known to history as the "Lusk Committee" -- obtained a search warrant directed against the Manhattan office of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, located at 110 W 40th Street. The raid was conducted that same day by the Committee in association with the New York state constabulary, and a large number of documents were removed from the building to the headquarters of the Lusk Committee,
In the course of its public hearings in the fall of 1919, the Lusk Committee subpoenaed Ludwig Martens to testify before it. Martens, under claim of diplomatic immunity, refused to heed the subpoena and was arrested and taken to New York City Hall on Nov. 14, 1919, where he was released upon posting of $1,000 bond. He subsequently appeared before the Committee, testifying that he had received some $90,000 from Soviet Russia to fund the operations of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau, but declining to name names as to the identity of those who provided this money. Martens was cited for contempt by the Chairman of the Committee but left the jurisdiction before this proceeding against him was completed. Martens' secretary, Santeri Nuorteva, was similarly called before the Committee and declined to answer, was likewise cited for contempt and left the jurisdiction. Michael Mislig, an associate of Martens and Nuorteva and Secretary of the Russian Federation was similarly called before the Lusk Committee and cited for contempt for refusing to answer its questions. He, too, fled the jurisdiction of the Committee.
(fn. Stevenson (ed.), Lusk Committee Report, v. 1, pp. 27-28.)
Official Organ
The first publication of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was a weekly information bulletin, first published on March 3, 1919. A total of 13 issues were produced, with the final issue appearing on May 26. This weekly bulletin seems to have been intended as a sort of regular press release for the use of recipient periodicals.
The Russian Soviet Government Bureau came to the view that an expanded magazine targeted to a broader readership was called for, and on June 7, 1919, a 16-page magazine called Soviet Russia: A Weekly Devoted to Spread the Truth About Russia was launched. According to its editor, Soviet Russia was intended "to acquaint the People of the United States with the real conditions in Russia and to combat the campaign of deliberate misrepresentation which is being waged by enemies of the Russian workers..." The magazine was intended to be the voice of the Soviet government abroad rather than a tool of the domestic American communist movement. "There is nothing secret, sinister, or opprobrious about this publication," the editor asserted. On the contrary, it was contended that a handful of publications "more or less secretly financed by Russian counter-revolutionists" were the ones responsible for the real "sinister and insidious propaganda" -- an effort to "seduce and bully the people of America to spend their money and their lives in the reestablishment in Russia of that rule of the few."
GENERAL OFFICE STAFF
The "Commercial Representative" of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was LUDWIG C.A.K. MARTENS. (1919 photo from NY Call) -- see also photo below R). Martens was born in Bachmut in Ekaterinoslav Province, Russia, on Dec. 20, 1874. He was a graduate of the Petrograd Technological Institute, a mechanical engineer by training. He originally came to the United States as the agent of the Demidoff Count San Donato Co. of Perm, Russia. He was also the Vice President of Weinberg and Posner Engineering Co. of New York.
GREGORY WEINSTEIN was the Secretary to Martens and General Office Manager of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau. He was born in Russia in 1880 and was a graduate of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. A journalist by trade, Weinstein held a Master of Science degree and a degree in law. Weinstein went to work at the RSGB on April 7, 1919. Weinstein was also listed as one of three editors of the final issue of The Class Struggle, which was published as the theoretical magazine of the new Communist Labor Party.
SANTERI "SANTTU" NUORTEVA (née Alexander Nyberg, above L) was the Secretary of the Bureau. Nuorteva was born in Viborg, Finland, in 1881 and attended the University of Helsingfors. During the period 1907-11 he was a member of the Finnish parliament. In the United States he was an active member of the Finnish Socialist Federation and edited several of its newspapers. He was named representative of the Finnish Revolutionary government early in 1918 and established the Finnish Government Bureau in New York in March of that year. After the defeat of the Finnish Revolution in May 1918, he became one of the leading exponents of the Bolshevik Revolution in America. He was appointed to the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on March 18, 1919.
KENNETH DURANT was the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau. Durant was an American, born in Philadelphia in 1889 and was a graduate of Harvard University. During the war he was an employee of George Creel's Committee on Public Information, working as the assistant director of the news division in Washington, DC, and later with the foreign press and cable division in New York, Paris, and Rome. Durant went to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on June 16, 1919.
MARY MODELL was a translator and secretary at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau. She was a Russian, born in 1896, and was a graduate of the First Kursk Gymnasium for Girls. She came to work for the RSGB on April 7, 1919.
DOROTHY KEEN was the private secretary to Santeri Nuorteva. She was an American, born in Boston in 1898, and a graduate of high school in New York City.
ALEXANDER COLEMAN was a file clerk. He was an American, born in Fitchburg, MA, in 1899. He attended high school in Fitchburg and New York City before coming to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.
BLANCH ABUSHEVITZ was a telephone clerk at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau. She was born in Vilna, Lithuania, and was a graduate of the Vilna Gymnasium. She also passed the New York Board of Regents High School examination. She went to work at the RSGB on April 15, 1919.
NESTOR KUNTZEVICH was an office attendant. He was a Russian, born in Volyn, Russia, in 1889. He went to work at the RSGB on January 4, 1919.
LT. COL. BORIS LEONIDOVICH TAGUEEF ROUSTAM BEK was employed at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau as a "military expert." Bek was a Russian, born in Petrograd in 1871. He was an 1891 graduate of the Petrograd Naval School and served with the 6th Orenburg Cossacks during the Pamir Military Expedition, 1891-95. During the Grecko-Turkish War of 1897 he served as a military correspondent at Turkish headquarters. Bek was the chief editor of the Russian Army and Navy Almanac from 1898-1900. During the Russo-Japanese war he was at Port Arthur and in Manchuria with Generals Kuropatkin and Stoessel. In 1914 he was appointed Lt. Col. in the British Volunteer Army and later was a military specialist writing on the staff of the London Daily Express. He came to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on Jan. 1, 1920.
COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT
A.A. HELLER was the Director of the Commercial Department. Heller was a naturalized American, born in Russia in 1879. He graduated from the Commercial College of the City of Moscow and later studied at Harvard University. His family was in the jewelry business and he worked in Paris and New York City. Heller's formal job title was that of General Manager of the International Oxygen Co. of New Jersey. He came to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.
ELLA TUCH was the secretary of the commercial department. She was a naturalized American, born in Riga, Latvia (Russian empire) and worked previously in a patent law office and as manager of a corporate stenographic office. She went to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1920.
ROSE HOLLAND was a clerk and stenographer for the commercial department. She was an American, born in New York City and attended New York University for one year before working as office manager for the Gary School League. She came to work at the RSGB on May 12, 1919.
HENRIETTA MEEROWICH was a clerk for the commercial department. She was a Russian, born in Libau, Courland (Russian empire) and a graduate of the Libau Girls Gymnasium. From 1911-19 she worked as a social worker before coming to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 15, 1919.
ROSE BYERS was a stenographer and clerk for the commercial department. She was a Russian citizen, born in Kiev, Ukraine (Russian empire), and was a graduate of Kiev Gymnasium. She came to work at the RSGB on July 30, 1919.
VLADIMIR OLCHOVSKY was a statistician and draftsman working for the commercial department. He was a Russian citizen who had attended the Cadets' School at Nizhni Novgorod before going on to the Military Engineering School at Petrograd and the Gatchina Aero-Nav. School at Gatchina. During the war he was a superintendent of airplane construction plants at Briansk and Kiev and held the rank of Captain in the Russian Army. He came to work at the RSGB on April 15, 1919.
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT
ARTHUR ADAMS was the Director of the Technical Department. Adams was a British citizen, a graduate of the Kronstadt School of Science and held a M.E. degree from the University of Toronto in Canada. Adams came to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on June 22, 1919.
EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT
WILLIAM MALISSOFF was the Director of the Educational Department.Malissof was a naturalized American who was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia. He held B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Colombia University and had been a teacher of chemistry and researcher in that field at Columbia. He came to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on Nov. 1, 1919.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
LEO A. HEUBSCH was the Director of the Medical Department. Heubsch was a Russian citizen, born in Vinniza, Russia. He was a graduate of the University of Odessa and earned his M.D. in 1907 at the University of Yuriev in Russia. In 1915 he was licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New York State. He came to work at the RSGB on April 24, 1919.
D.H. DUBROWSKY was born in Kiev, Ukraine (Russian empire) in 1888. He received his M.D. from Fordam College and worked as a statistician for the Russian Ministry of Ways and Communications from June 1918 to April 1919. He came to work at the RSGB on April 16, 1919.
LEGAL DEPARTMENT
MORRIS HILLQUIT, well known Socialist Party leader born in Riga, Latvia (Russian empire) was officially on the staff of the Legal Department but was unable to participate for reasons of health. His appointment to the Russian Soviet Government Bureau came on March 18, 1919.
ISAAC A. HOURWICH served as Acting Director of the Legal Department, as well as Director of the Department on Labor and Statistics. Hourwich, the father of future Communist Party founder Nicholas I. Hourwich, was a naturalized American, born in Russia. He studied at the University of St. Petersburg and earned a L.L.M. degree from Demidoff Lyceum of Jurisprudence, Yaroslavl, Russia, in 1877. Hourwich was admitted to the Russian bar in 1887, in Illinois in 1893, and in New York in 1896. From 1891-92 he was a fellow at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. there in 1893. He was a member of the editorial staff for the comparative law bureau of the American Bar Association, and worked as a translator at the US Mint from 1900-02. During 1902-06. Hourwich worked as an expert special agent for the US Bureau of the Census. He was a statistician for the NY Public Service Commission, 1908-09, and worked as an expert special agent in charge of mining at the Bureau of the Census, 1909-13. He was appointed at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 16, 1919.
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
ISAAC A. HOURWICH was the Director.
EVA JOFFE was a statistician. She was a naturalized American citizen, born in Bachmut, Russia. She had attended graduate school at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Research, and worked as a special agent for the Bureau of the Census in 1910. During 1911-12 she was a statistician for the New York Factory Investigating Committee, and worked in 1913-14 as chief of staff of the wage scale board for the dress and waist industry. From 1915-18 she was a statistician for the National Child Labor Commission, before coming to work at the RSGB on April 16, 1919.
ELIZABETH GOLDSTEIN was a stenographer for the Department of Economics and Statistics. She was a naturalized American who had been born in Russia and graduated high school and business college in Boston, MA.
EDITORIAL STAFF OF SOVIET RUSSIA
JACOB W. HARTMANN was the Managing Editor of Soviet Russia. Hartmann was an American, born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1881. He earned a B.S. degree from City College of New York in 1901, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1912. From 1901-19 he worked as an instructor in language and history at the College of the City of New York, before going to work at the Russian Soviet Government Bureau on April 7, 1919.
RAY TROTSKY was a stenographer and translator for Soviet Russia. She was a Russian citizen, born in Suvalki, Russia, and a graduate of Suvalki Gymnasium. She came to work at the RSGB on April 28, 1919.
THEODORE BRESLAUER was a translator for Soviet Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Lodz, Poland (Russian Empire) in 1886. He earned a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1910, and went to work at the RSGB on April 7, 1919.
VASILY IVANOFF was a mailing clerk for Soviet Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Russia in 1898, and had attended the Graduate School of Navigation, Arkhangelsk, Russia. He came to work at the RSGB on Dec. 8, 1919.
DAVID OLDFIELD was a clerk at Soviet Russia. He was a Russian, born there in 1885, and was educated in Petrograd and Paris before coming to work at the RSGB on Aug. 20, 1919.
I. BLANKSTEIN was a translator for Soviet Russia. He was a Russian citizen, born in Russia in 1896, and came to work at the RSGB on June 1, 1919.
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