Boris Pash

Boris Pash
Pash in 1945
Birth name	Boris Fedorovich Pashkovsky
Born	(1900-06-20)20 June 1900 San Francisco,California,U.S.
Died	11 May 1995(1995-05-11)(aged 94) Greenbrae,California, U.S.
Allegiance	Russian Empire White Movement United States of America
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Army Black Sea Fleet United States Army
Years of service	1916–1917, 1918–1920, 1938–1957
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Alsos Mission
Battles/wars	World War I Russian Civil War World War II Allied Invasion of Italy Allied Invasion of France Allied Invasion of Germany
Awards	Cross of St. George (Russia) Legion of Merit Distinguished Service Medal
Alma mater	Springfield College(BS) University of Southern California(MS)

Boris Theodore Pash(bornBoris Fyodorovich Pashkovsky;Russian:Борис Фёдорович Пашковский,romanized:Boris Fyodorovich Pashkovsky;20 June 1900 – 11 May 1995) was aUnited States Armymilitary intelligenceofficer. He commanded theAlsos MissionduringWorld War IIand retired with the rank ofcolonel.

Early life

Boris Fedorovich Pashkovsky was born inSan Francisco,California, on 20 June 1900.His father was ReverendTheodore Pashkovsky(who would become Most Reverend Metropolitan Theophilus from 1934 to 1950), aRussian Orthodoxpriest and later archbishop who had been sent to California by the Church in 1894. One of his earliest memories was of the1906 San Francisco earthquake.

His father was recalled toRussiain 1906,and the entire family returned to Russia in 1913.His mother wasSerbian AmericanElla Dabovich, sister ofSebastian Dabovich,a monk who also lived in America and was canonized after death as an Orthodox saint.

In 1916–1917, both father and son joined the ranks of theRussian armyas it fought against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire inWorld War I:Theodore – as a military chaplain, and 16-year-old Boris – as an artillery private to the 52nd Infantry Division. During theRussian Revolution,the family fled to Simferopol, Crimea, where Boris worked for the YMCA. By February 1920, Boris joined theWhitenavy in theBlack Seaand served on the navy cruiser General Kornilov. Boris saw action against theBolsheviksat sea, and in March 1920, he was awarded theCross of St. George,fourth class.

On 1 July 1920, he married Lydia Vladimirovna Ivanova, and chose to return to the United States when theBolshevikconsolidation of power became apparent. He was able to secure employment with theYMCAinBerlin,where his son Edgar Constantine Boris Pashkovsky was born on 14 June 1921.

Upon returning to the United States with his family in 1923, he attendedSpringfield College,inSpringfield,Massachusetts, where he graduated with aBachelor of Physical Education.It was during this time that he changed the family name from Pashkovsky to Pash.

Pash taught and coachedbaseballatHollywood High SchoolinLos Angelesfrom 1924 until 1940, where students includedLana Turner,Judy Garland,andMickey Rooney.During this time he continued his education, receiving aMaster of Sciencein Education from theUniversity of Southern Californiain 1939.He also joined theUnited States Army Reserve,and was assigned to the Infantry Intelligence Branch. As part of his training, he qualified for certification by theFederal Bureau of Investigation.

World War II

Boris Pash (right) in April 1945 with theAlsos MissioninHechingen

Pash was called to active duty with the Army in 1940, and became chief of counter-intelligence at the IXCorps Areaheadquarters at thePresidio of San Francisco.In that role he became involved with the 1942 Baja Peninsula mission that investigated the possibility of the Japanese establishing a base in Mexico duringWorld War II.

Pash was also called upon to investigate suspected Soviet espionage at theRadiation Laboratoryat theUniversity of California.He interrogated staff, includingRobert Oppenheimer,whom he concluded "may still be connected with the Communist Party".Pash did not believe that Oppenheimer was a spy. He felt that Oppenheimer's personal honor and concern for his reputation would deter him from such action. Pash therefore did not recommend Oppenheimer's removal from theManhattan Project,merely that Oppenheimer be accompanied by counter-intelligence agents.

He was also the military leader of theAlsos Mission,an Allied operation established in late 1943 to determine how far theAxishad progressed toward developingnuclear weaponsby seizing facilities, materiel, and scientists related to theGerman nuclear energy project.During this mission, he had a heated run-in inItalywithMoe Berg,a formerMajor League Baseballcatcherturnedspy.On the mission in 1944, Pash personally carried harmful materials for seven hours in his pocket, which led to a radium burn (in his own words, it looked "like a map on my hip here" ).

Post war

After the war, Pash served in various military intelligence positions. He served under GeneralDouglas MacArthurinJapanin 1946 and 1947. Thanks to his efforts, the Soviet attempt to gain a foothold in Japan through a local Orthodox Church failed. Instead, Pash organized for the Bishop Benjamin (Basalyga) to arrive in early January 1947 to take the reins, and thus theNorth American Metropolia,rather than the then Soviet-controlledMoscow Patriarchate,secured influence in the region. As a result of this combination, Pash had a public clash with the Soviet GeneralKuzma Derevyanko.On 9 January, two days after the first sermon of the new bishop, a reception was held at the Dutch embassy at which Pash met his longtime acquaintance, Lieutenant General Derevyanko, who represented the USSR in the Allied Council for Japan. The rival picks of the Russian emigrant and the Soviet commander were well known; in addition, they sometimes played against one another in chess. Shaking the Russian-American's hand that winter day, Derevyanko publicly declared: "Ah, my good friend Colonel Pash has again checkmated me. Of course, you understand, I'm speaking of the game of chess." Boris retorted: "I can assure you, gentlemen, that the other times are in the line of duty."

From 1948 to 1951, he served as a military representative to theCentral Intelligence Agency.During this time, he was in charge of a controversial CIA program called PB-7, which had been formed to handle "wet affairs"like kidnappings and assassinations. There is no evidence that he ever carried out any such activities, and denied that he had in testimony before theChurch Committeein 1975.He served asSpecial Forcesplanning officer with the U.S. forces in Austria from 1952 to 1953. His final postings were back in the United States, as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of theSixth Armyfrom 1953 to 1956), and in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Guided Missiles in Washington, D.C., from 1956 until his retirement from the Army in 1957.In 1954, he testified in theOppenheimer security hearing,recounting the misgivings that he had about Oppenheimer in 1943.

On leaving the Army, Pash became chief of the Eastern European and USSR Division of the Quartermaster Technological Intelligence Agency. In 1961 he transferred to theUnited States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center.He retired from the civil service in June 1963.In retirement, he helped rebuild the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC.

In retirement, Pash publishedThe Alsos Mission,a book recounting his wartime experiences in Europe, in 1980. The year 1981 saw the court hearings on the internment of the Japanese-Americans. Pash was one of the few officers alive to be brought to testify. Grilled hard by the judge, Pash did not relent and maintained that the unlawful actions against the American citizens needed to be assessed in the context of the 1940s, rather than in hindsight.He was inducted into theMilitary Intelligence Hall of Famein 1988.His decorations included theArmy Distinguished Service Medal,theLegion of Merit,theOrder of the British Empireand theOrder of St. George.

He was one of the few White Russian veterans to live to see the end ofCommunist Partyrule in Russia. Pash died on 11 May 1995 inGreenbrae, Californiaat the age of 94, and was buried in the Serbian Cemetery inColma, California.He was survived by his wife Gladys and son Edgar.His papers are in theHoover InstituteatStanford University.

In popular culture

Pash was played byCasey AffleckinChristopher Nolan's 2023 filmOppenheimer.

References

Sources

• Jones, Vincent (1985).Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb(PDF).Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History.OCLC10913875.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 October 2014.Retrieved25 August2013.
• Beyda, Oleg (2024).“‘I Lived Hard and Fast but Good’: Colonel Boris Pash,”Hoover Digest: Research + Commentary on Public Policy (Stanford University), No. 3, Summer 2024: 159–78
• Stern, Philip M. (1969).The Oppenheimer Case.New York: Harper & Row.ISBN0-246-64035-9.
• Thomas, Evan (1995).The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA.New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN9780684810256.OCLC32697874.

Further reading

• Goudsmit, Samuel A. (1947).Alsos: The failure in German science.New York: H. Schuman.ISBN978-1-56396-415-2.
• Groves, Leslie R. (1962).Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project.New York: Da Capo Press.ISBN978-0-306-80189-1.
• Mahoney, Leo J. (1981).A History of the War Department Scientific Intelligence Mission (ALSOS), 1943–1945.PhD Dissertation, Kent State University.
• Pash, Boris T. (1980).The Alsos Mission.New York: Charter Books.ISBN978-0-441-01790-4.