defected to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and made a
full confession of her espionage activities. The decryption of Soviet
intelligence messages provided the FBI with corroboration for
Bentley’s statements, identifying Silvermaster as “Robert” and his
wife as “Dora” in dozens of messages. The messages also showed
that the NKVD paid Silvermaster for managing the espionage ring
and carefully monitored the agents he ran in Washington.SLANSKY TRIAL. On 22 November 1952, Rudolf Slansky and 13
other former leaders of the Czechoslovak Communist Party were
tried for treason, charged with espionage for the United States and Is-
rael. All were convicted and 11 were immediately hanged. Slansky
and his codefendants were Jews, victims of Joseph Stalin’s decision
to scapegoat Jews in the Soviet Union and the East European satel-
lites as part of a rolling purge of the party and police apparatus. Many
historians of the period believe that the Slansky trial was a dress re-
hearsal for a mass trial of Soviet doctors charged with poisoning
members of the Soviet Politburo. Scholars believe that these trials
were to unleash a massive purge of the Soviet political elite. Within
Czechoslovakia, the Slansky trial set off a series of new arrests, trials,
and executionsthat lasted until mid-1954. See also ANTI-FASCIST
COMMITTEE; DOCTORS’ PLOT; SHOW TRIALS.SLUTSKIY, ABRAM ARONOVICH (1898–1938). Slutskiy deserted
from the tsarist army and joined the Bolsheviksin 1917. He joined the
Chekain 1920 and in 1930 entered foreign intelligence. According to
his official biography, he specialized in the collection of scientific,
technical, and industrial intelligence. He was well regarded by his su-
periors and twice received the Order of the Red Banner for his work.
Slutskiy was deputy chief of foreign intelligence from 1930 to
1936, and chief of the foreign intelligence component of the NKVD
from 1936 to his mysterious death in February 1938. As NKVD chief
Nikolai Yezhovbegan to purge his service of experienced officer and
illegals, suspicion fell on Slutskiy, a Russian Jew who had been in-
volved in dispatching and managing illegals. On 17 February 1938,
he was found dead in his office, an apparent suicide, though many of
his colleagues believed he had been murdered. The Soviet press an-
nounced that he had died at his “military post.” Two months later he242 •SLANSKY TRIAL06-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 242