Amtorg Trading Corporation
Amtorg Trading Corporation, also known simply as Amtorg, was the first Soviet trade representation in the United States when Armand Hammer established it in New York in 1924 through the amalgamation of the American firms Products Exchange Corporation (1919) and Arcos-America Inc (1923). The latter was the US office of All Russian Co-operative Society (ARCOS). Amtorg served Soviet import and export firms seeking to conduct foreign trade in the US throughout the Communist era. It also served as a front for GRU and OGPU (Soviet intelligence) operations in the US.[1][2] This was especially important in the early years, before Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the Soviets in 1933, allowing them a permanent embassy in Washington, D.C.[3] [4] It continued to handle most Soviet-America trade until 1935. As of 1999[update] it still exists.[5]
As an arm of the Soviet state, Amtorg was targeted in two bombing attempts, in 1971 and again in 1976, by dometic terroists calling themselves the "Jewish Armed Resistance."[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Verdon, Rachel (2007). Murder By Madness 9/11. Rachel Verdon. p. 85. ISBN 9781419680229. http://books.google.com/books?id=BHUeMoIuApAC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=amtorg+armand+hammer&source=bl&ots=QHQCpS3Xgf&sig=8F-nvfOzk0dum_P8RDgxOOcvPFY&hl=en&ei=-TX6ScPuIqS0NYCcscAE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ Shannon, Elaine; Ann Blackman (2002). The spy next door (illustrated ed.). Little, Brown and Company. p. 81. ISBN 9780316718219. http://books.google.com/books?id=3bE-KWMHZrAC&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=amtorg+(kgb+OR+nkvd+OR+gru)&source=bl&ots=0CLaU8sylp&sig=YCIMIzYGtp-LMkruwQl3gVJrPxE&hl=en&ei=8TL6SZWLIJT0Mo7j_NEE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ Ropes, E. C., American-Soviet Trade Relations, Russian Review, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Autumn 1943), p. 91
- ^ Rafalko, Frank J., A Counterintelligence Reader, Vol. III, Chapter 1, pp. 21-22
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/kgb/deep/kgb_deep_ref_detail.htm
- ^ http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp
[edit] External links
- "Amtorg's Spree," TIME (February 19, 1940)
- "AMTORG President Returns to Russia to 'Resign' His Post," New York Times (November 16, 1946)
- "The Never-Ending Wrong," Atlantic Monthly (June 1977) by Katherine Anne Porter
- "Interview with Cecil Philips," PBS Red Files (1999)
- "Amtorg," PBS Red Files (1999)
- "Lend-Lease: The Oil Factor," Oil of Russian(2005)
- "Soviet Amtorg Trading Corp," Electric History (undated)
- NYT search 'Amtorg'
