- Josef Berger
Josef Berger, or Joseph Isadore Berger (
May 12 ,1903 - November 11, 1971), was an Americanjournalist andspeechwriter .Early life
Berger was born in
Denver, Colorado in 1903 and graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1924. He worked as a reporter for the "Kansas City Star " for a time.Career
In 1934, he settled with his wife and daughter in
Provincetown, Massachusetts where he tried to make it as a freelance writer. Berger had a hard time earning money and for about year lived in nearpoverty until he found a job with the government-sponsoredFederal Writer's Project .Berger, who wrote under the pen name Jeremiah Digges, was employed by the
United States Department of Justice in 1942 as a speech-writer for the Attorney-General,Francis Biddle , and later also secretary to the chairman of theDemocratic National Committee (DNC), Robert E. Hannegan. He also served as a U.S. delegate on the Reparations Commission.Accusations of espionage
He has been accused by
John Earl Haynes andHarvey Klehr of being connected to theSoviet spy ring run byJudith Coplon . Their assertion is based onVENONA Project evidence; Berger was never charged or arrested for any crime, however.Death
At the age of 67, he died suddenly of an
aneurysm onNovember 11 ,1971 inNew York City .References
* [http://foia.fbi.gov/venona/venona.pdf FBI Venona Files]
* John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999)
* Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, "The Spy Who Seduced America: Lies and Betrayal in the Heat of the Cold War: The Judith Coplon Story", (Invisible Cities Press LLC, 2002) ISBN 1-931229-22-8External links
* [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv62253 Guide to the Josef Berger papers at the University of Oregon]
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