Mikhail Tkach, also Michal Tkacz, Michael J. Tkach, and M. Nastivsky, (October 18, 1891 – ??) born in Mastisiw, Poland, of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

parents, and arrived in the United States at New York City on November 25, 1909, under the name Michal Tkacz. Tkach's wife, Yeroslava, was born in Slatchev, Poland, and entered the U.S. in 1913. The Tkachs lived in New York City from 1922 onwards. Tkach became a naturalized U. S. citizen in New York City on December 8, 1936. Tkach had long been active in the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and was editor of the ''Ukrainian Daily News'', the leading Ukrainian Communist newspaper in the U.S. As early as 1923, under the name M. Nastivsky, Tkach was an organization member of the Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia.

Elizabeth Bentley Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligenc ...

told the FBI that in 1941 and 1942 Tkach had provided Jacob Golos with considerable information concerning the Ukrainian nationalism movement in the United States which Golos considered of great importance. Golos told Bentley much of the information was secured by Tkach from one W. J. Stepankowski, who for a time worked as an investigator for Golos. In July 1944 Tkach was elected president of the Ukrainian Section of the

International Workers Order The International Workers Order (IWO) was an insurance, mutual benefit and fraternal organization founded in 1930 and disbanded in 1954 as the result of legal action undertaken by the state of New York in 1951 on the grounds that the organization ...

, a communist-affiliated insurance and fraternal order. The ''Ukraniain Daily News'' was by that time published by the Ukrainian Section of the IWO. Tkach supervised a small network of American communists working as agents of the Soviet Union. Tkach's daughter,

Ann Sidorovich Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, and her husband,

Michael Sidorovich Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, were part of Julius Rosenberg's espionage network. Tkach's

agent handler In intelligence organizations, agent handling is the management of so-called agents (called secret agents or spies in common parlance), principal agents, and agent networks (called "assets") by intelligence officers typically known as case o ...

was SELIM KHAN, or KHAN, thought to be Avram Landy who also had contact with Albert Kahn,

Eufrosina Dvoichenko-Markov Eufrosina Dvoichenko-Markov (1901–1980) was a Russian-American history and literary scholar identified by National Security Agency as agent ''Masha'' who worked for the New York NKGB ''Rezidentura'' from 1943 to 1945. Her son, Sgt. Demetrius ...

, Walter Bernstein, and

Bolesław Gebert Bolesław Konstanty "Bill" Gebert (22 July 1895 – 13 February 1986) was a top Communist Party official, remembered as one of the organization's top Polish-language speaking leaders. He was a Soviet agent during the years of World War II and was a ...

. Tkach was investigated under the Internal Security Act by the FBI New York Field Division, which considered him to be a key figure in Communist

subversion Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

Venona

Tkach's cover name as assigned by Soviet intelligence and deciphered in Venona project transcripts is PERCH. Tkach is referenced in the following Venona decrypts: Venona 1056 KGB New York to Moscow, 3 July 1943; 823 KGB New York to Moscow, 7 June 1944; 881 KGB New York to Moscow, 20 June 1944; 1076 KGB New York to Moscow, 29 July 1944; 202 KGB New York to Moscow, 10 February 1945; 116 KGB Moscow to New York, 9 February 1945; 143 KGB Moscow to New York, 15 February 1945.

References

*Elizabeth Bentley, ''Out of Bondage'' (New York, NY: Devin-Adair, 1951), pg. 108. *Elizabeth Bentley deposition, 30 November 1945, FBI file 65-14603.
FBI Silvermaster file
pgs. 478, 482, 483 (PDF pgs. 79, 83, 84). *

John Earl Haynes John Earl Haynes (born 1944) is an American historian who worked as a specialist in 20th-century political history in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. He is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist and anti- ...

and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pgs. 239, 259, 303. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkach, Mikhail American communists Espionage in the United States Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States 1891 births American spies for the Soviet Union American people in the Venona papers Year of death missing