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Abraham A. Heller

January 01, 1970

Abraham Aaron Heller, best known as A.A. Heller, was a Russian-American who served as commercial director of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau (or "Soviet Bureau") as of 1919 and co-founded International Publishers with Alexander Trachtenberg in 1924.[1][2]

Abraham A. Heller
Born
Abraham Aaron Heller

October 1874
Minsk, Russian Empire (now Belarus
Diedmid-1900s
NationalityAmerican(?)
Alma materHarvard University
Known forwork at Soviet Bureau, co-founding International Publishers
Political partySocialist Party of America, Communist Party USA

Background edit

Abraham Aaron Heller was born in October 1874 in Minsk[3] (or Moscow[4]), Russian Empire, the son of a wealthy jeweler Lazarus Heller, owner of L. Heller & Son, with offices in New York City and Paris.[5][6]

Career edit

 
Heller was a director of the Soviet Bureau under Ludwig Martens (right, accompanied by fellow director Santeri Nuorteva and wife, 1920)

In 1891, the Russian-born Heller emigrated to the USA. In 1892, he joined the socialist movement. After studying at Harvard University, he went into the jewelry business in Paris for a few years.[1] He ran the Paris office of his father's company, L. Heller & Son, from 1903 to 1910; the office disbanded in 1911. (Company employees included Auguste Victor Louis Verneuil, inventor of the Verneuil process or "flame fusion" process of synthesizing corundum, rubies, and sapphires.)[6]

In 1910, Heller co-founded the International Oxygen Company[5] in New York City and served as its general manager.[1] International Oxygen Company had its headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.[7] (According to a 1914 blue book, Abraham A. Heller was treasurer, while a Solomon Heller was president and Jacob Heller was secretary.[8]) He was also a partner in Allied Drug and Chemical.[9][10]

From 1909 to 1920, Heller helped finance the New York Call, New York City-based daily newspaper of the Socialist Party of America.[5] In 1917, he was instrumental in funding the purchase of the headquarters building for the Rand School of Social Science.[5]

In 1919, Heller became director of the commercial department for the Soviet Bureau, headed by Ludwig Martens.[1] Julius Hammer (father of Armand Hammer), founder of Allied Drug and Chemical and thus Heller's partner, was one of the bureau's six directors.[9] The commercial department was the "heart of the Bureau."[2] In late 1919, Heller boasted that 2,500 American firms had expressed interest in doing business with the new USSR,[11] while meatpackers in Chicago (including Swift & Co.) denied that they would trade with "enemies of the United States."[12] In early 1920, Heller announced that the Soviet Bureau would operate on a barter basis and that the Soviet government conducted all foreign trade as a monopoly.[13]

During the 1920s, Heller introduced the acetylene welding industry to the Soviet Union.[5]

In 1921, Heller helped start the Friends of Soviet Russia and published occasionally in its journal Soviet Russia.[3]

In 1922, Heller became the American representative of the Supreme Council of National Economy of Soviet Russia (Vesenkha)."[3]

 
Heller financed International Publishers, run by Alexander Trachtenberg (here, Moscow in Fall 1922)

In 1924, Heller co-founded, financed, and owned International Publishers, which printed or imported books and pamphlets from the USSR, while Alexander Trachtenberg served as "manager, editor, salesman."[5] As "angel investor,"[14] Heller owned 51%, while the Comintern owned 49%, so that the publisher looked like a private business, according to ex-communist witness Benjamin Gitlow. Trachtenberg claimed that Heller and he split ownership 50-50. Trachtenberg also said that Heller's wife helped incorporate the company.[5] Trachtenberg met Heller when Heller was serving on the board of the Rand School (director in 1918[3]) and Trachtenberg was a teacher there.[5]

In 1927, Philip Fried, general manager, said that Samuel Heller, president of Heller & Son, had signed a contract with the Russky Samotzvet (Soviet State Trust) for rights to mine the "vast emerald fields" in the Urals mountains in the USSR, in return for American capital and management of a joint mining operation. The New York Times reported that $1 million of emeralds had hit US markets as a result.[15]

In 1938, Heller ("of Chappaqua, New York") served as purchasing agent for the North American Committee to Aid Spain, which had raised more than $1 million in cash and materials.[16]

In 1939, the Dies Committee announced Heller was the first "millionaire Red" found.[17] In 1940, Heller's name came up during Dies Committee hearings during testimony by Benjamin Gitlow and Alexander Trachtenberg.[5]

In 1950, Heller was a director of the Jefferson School of Social Sciences (successor to the New York Workers School as well as president of People's Radio Foundation, Inc. Directors of People's Radio included Joseph R. Brodsky as well as Rockwell Kent and Peter Shipka of the International Workers Order.[18]

Personal edit

Heller was married to Edith Heller.[19]

During testimony to the Dies Committee, Trachtenberg stated the Heller was a "very wealthy man" and "a millionaire before the Russian Revolution."[5]

Heller was a member of the Communist Party USA,[5] as well as annual member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City[20] and patron of the Jewish Encyclopedia.[21]

Heller bought a farm in Bernardsville, New Jersey, shortly after returning from Paris around 1910.[6]

Works edit

  • "A Program of Reconstruction," Soviet Russia (November 1, 1922)[3]
  • The Industrial Revival in Soviet Russia (1922)[22]
  • One Hundred Years in Ten: Soviets Continue Advance (undated)
  • Who Wants War? (1935)[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Pfannestiel, Todd J. (2001). Rethinking the Red Scare: The Lusk Committee and New York State's fight against radicalism, 1919–1923 (PhD dissertation). College of William & Mary. doi:10.21220/s2-xgk0-2q70. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Siegel, Katherine A.S. (11 May 2021). Loans and Legitimacy: The Evolution of Soviet-American Relations, 1919-1933. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8330-5. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Heller, A.A. (1 November 1922). Tim Davenport (ed.). "A Program of Reconstruction" (PDF). Soviet Russia. 7 (9): 230–232. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  4. ^ Spence, Richard (7 June 2017). Wall Street and the Russian Revolution: 1905-1925. TrineDay. ISBN 978-1-63424-124-3. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Investigation of Un-America Propaganda Activities in the United States: Volume 7. US Government Printing Office. 1940. pp. 4558 (Benjamin Gitlow on International Publishers), 4865-4865 (Alexander Trachtenberg on International Publishers), 4867 (Trachtenberg on how they met), 4880 (Trachtenberg on age), 4881 (wealthy), 4882 (father, International Oxygen Company), 4883 (acetylene, millionaire), 4883-4884 (Rand School), 4884 (wealthy, Call). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Feigelson, Robert (9 July 2004). 50 Years Progress in Crystal Growth: A Reprint Collection. Elsevier. pp. 9 (company), 11 (NYC), 19 (Paris). ISBN 978-0-08-048993-3. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Charters to New Corporations". Industrial World. 44 (2). National Iron and Steel Publishing Company: 1259. 1910. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  8. ^ Dau's Blue Books. Trow Directory, Printing and Bookbinding Company. 1914. p. 476. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b Epstein, Edward Jay (1996). Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0679448020.
  10. ^ Umpenhour, Charles Merlin (2005). Freedom, a Fading Illusion. BookMakers Ink. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-9726789-5-7. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Bolsheviki in Touch with 2,500 Firms Here". New York Times. 18 November 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Heller's Charges Denied; Packers and Others Say They Will Not Sell to Bolsheviki". New York Times. 18 November 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Martens Bureau Tells its Trade Plan". New York Times. 16 March 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  14. ^ Blanc, Paul David (15 November 2016). Fake Silk: The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon. Yale University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-300-22488-7. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Soviet Gems Mined by American Firm; Heller & Son Get Right to Vast Emerald Fields in the Ural Mountains". New York Times. 22 October 1927. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  16. ^ "U. S. Ship ue in Spain; Vessel With a $250,000 Cargo Is on Way to Barcelona". New York Times. 21 August 1938. p. 30. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  17. ^ Barkley, Frederick R. (14 September 1939). "Dies Group Finds 'Millionaire Red'; A.A.Heller is Named as Party Angel". New York Times. p. 20. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  18. ^ Federal Communications Commission Report. Federal Communications Commission. 1950. p. 819. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  19. ^ Scope of Soviet Activity in the United States. US Government Printing Office. 1956. pp. A114. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  20. ^ Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1918. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  21. ^ The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Volume 12. Funk & Wagnalls. 1907. p. xiii. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  22. ^ Heller, Abraham Aaron (1922). The Industrial Revival in Soviet Russia. Thomas Seltzer. LCCN 22023364. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  23. ^ Heller, A.A. (1935). Who Wants War?. Friends of the Soviet Union. Retrieved 30 December 2021.

External links edit

  • Who Wants War? (PDF)

January 01, 1970
abraham, heller, abraham, aaron, heller, best, known, heller, russian, american, served, commercial, director, russian, soviet, government, bureau, soviet, bureau, 1919, founded, international, publishers, with, alexander, trachtenberg, 1924, bornabraham, aaro. Abraham Aaron Heller best known as A A Heller was a Russian American who served as commercial director of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau or Soviet Bureau as of 1919 and co founded International Publishers with Alexander Trachtenberg in 1924 1 2 Abraham A HellerBornAbraham Aaron HellerOctober 1874Minsk Russian Empire now BelarusDiedmid 1900sNationalityAmerican Alma materHarvard UniversityKnown forwork at Soviet Bureau co founding International PublishersPolitical partySocialist Party of America Communist Party USA Contents 1 Background 2 Career 3 Personal 4 Works 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksBackground editAbraham Aaron Heller was born in October 1874 in Minsk 3 or Moscow 4 Russian Empire the son of a wealthy jeweler Lazarus Heller owner of L Heller amp Son with offices in New York City and Paris 5 6 Career edit nbsp Heller was a director of the Soviet Bureau under Ludwig Martens right accompanied by fellow director Santeri Nuorteva and wife 1920 In 1891 the Russian born Heller emigrated to the USA In 1892 he joined the socialist movement After studying at Harvard University he went into the jewelry business in Paris for a few years 1 He ran the Paris office of his father s company L Heller amp Son from 1903 to 1910 the office disbanded in 1911 Company employees included Auguste Victor Louis Verneuil inventor of the Verneuil process or flame fusion process of synthesizing corundum rubies and sapphires 6 In 1910 Heller co founded the International Oxygen Company 5 in New York City and served as its general manager 1 International Oxygen Company had its headquarters in Newark New Jersey 7 According to a 1914 blue book Abraham A Heller was treasurer while a Solomon Heller was president and Jacob Heller was secretary 8 He was also a partner in Allied Drug and Chemical 9 10 From 1909 to 1920 Heller helped finance the New York Call New York City based daily newspaper of the Socialist Party of America 5 In 1917 he was instrumental in funding the purchase of the headquarters building for the Rand School of Social Science 5 In 1919 Heller became director of the commercial department for the Soviet Bureau headed by Ludwig Martens 1 Julius Hammer father of Armand Hammer founder of Allied Drug and Chemical and thus Heller s partner was one of the bureau s six directors 9 The commercial department was the heart of the Bureau 2 In late 1919 Heller boasted that 2 500 American firms had expressed interest in doing business with the new USSR 11 while meatpackers in Chicago including Swift amp Co denied that they would trade with enemies of the United States 12 In early 1920 Heller announced that the Soviet Bureau would operate on a barter basis and that the Soviet government conducted all foreign trade as a monopoly 13 During the 1920s Heller introduced the acetylene welding industry to the Soviet Union 5 In 1921 Heller helped start the Friends of Soviet Russia and published occasionally in its journal Soviet Russia 3 In 1922 Heller became the American representative of the Supreme Council of National Economy of Soviet Russia Vesenkha 3 nbsp Heller financed International Publishers run by Alexander Trachtenberg here Moscow in Fall 1922 In 1924 Heller co founded financed and owned International Publishers which printed or imported books and pamphlets from the USSR while Alexander Trachtenberg served as manager editor salesman 5 As angel investor 14 Heller owned 51 while the Comintern owned 49 so that the publisher looked like a private business according to ex communist witness Benjamin Gitlow Trachtenberg claimed that Heller and he split ownership 50 50 Trachtenberg also said that Heller s wife helped incorporate the company 5 Trachtenberg met Heller when Heller was serving on the board of the Rand School director in 1918 3 and Trachtenberg was a teacher there 5 In 1927 Philip Fried general manager said that Samuel Heller president of Heller amp Son had signed a contract with the Russky Samotzvet Soviet State Trust for rights to mine the vast emerald fields in the Urals mountains in the USSR in return for American capital and management of a joint mining operation The New York Times reported that 1 million of emeralds had hit US markets as a result 15 In 1938 Heller of Chappaqua New York served as purchasing agent for the North American Committee to Aid Spain which had raised more than 1 million in cash and materials 16 In 1939 the Dies Committee announced Heller was the first millionaire Red found 17 In 1940 Heller s name came up during Dies Committee hearings during testimony by Benjamin Gitlow and Alexander Trachtenberg 5 In 1950 Heller was a director of the Jefferson School of Social Sciences successor to the New York Workers School as well as president of People s Radio Foundation Inc Directors of People s Radio included Joseph R Brodsky as well as Rockwell Kent and Peter Shipka of the International Workers Order 18 Personal editHeller was married to Edith Heller 19 During testimony to the Dies Committee Trachtenberg stated the Heller was a very wealthy man and a millionaire before the Russian Revolution 5 Heller was a member of the Communist Party USA 5 as well as annual member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City 20 and patron of the Jewish Encyclopedia 21 Heller bought a farm in Bernardsville New Jersey shortly after returning from Paris around 1910 6 Works edit A Program of Reconstruction Soviet Russia November 1 1922 3 The Industrial Revival in Soviet Russia 1922 22 One Hundred Years in Ten Soviets Continue Advance undated Who Wants War 1935 23 See also editSoviet Bureau Ludwig Martens International Publishers Alexander TrachtenbergReferences edit a b c d Pfannestiel Todd J 2001 Rethinking the Red Scare The Lusk Committee and New York State s fight against radicalism 1919 1923 PhD dissertation College of William amp Mary doi 10 21220 s2 xgk0 2q70 Retrieved 30 December 2021 a b Siegel Katherine A S 11 May 2021 Loans and Legitimacy The Evolution of Soviet American Relations 1919 1933 University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 8131 8330 5 Retrieved 30 December 2021 a b c d e Heller A A 1 November 1922 Tim Davenport ed A Program of Reconstruction PDF Soviet Russia 7 9 230 232 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Spence Richard 7 June 2017 Wall Street and the Russian Revolution 1905 1925 TrineDay ISBN 978 1 63424 124 3 Retrieved 30 December 2021 a b c d e f g h i j k Investigation of Un America Propaganda Activities in the United States Volume 7 US Government Printing Office 1940 pp 4558 Benjamin Gitlow on International Publishers 4865 4865 Alexander Trachtenberg on International Publishers 4867 Trachtenberg on how they met 4880 Trachtenberg on age 4881 wealthy 4882 father International Oxygen Company 4883 acetylene millionaire 4883 4884 Rand School 4884 wealthy Call Retrieved 30 December 2021 a b c Feigelson Robert 9 July 2004 50 Years Progress in Crystal Growth A Reprint Collection Elsevier pp 9 company 11 NYC 19 Paris ISBN 978 0 08 048993 3 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Charters to New Corporations Industrial World 44 2 National Iron and Steel Publishing Company 1259 1910 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Dau s Blue Books Trow Directory Printing and Bookbinding Company 1914 p 476 Retrieved 30 December 2021 a b Epstein Edward Jay 1996 Dossier The Secret History of Armand Hammer New York Random House ISBN 978 0679448020 Umpenhour Charles Merlin 2005 Freedom a Fading Illusion BookMakers Ink p 242 ISBN 978 0 9726789 5 7 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Bolsheviki in Touch with 2 500 Firms Here New York Times 18 November 1919 p 3 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Heller s Charges Denied Packers and Others Say They Will Not Sell to Bolsheviki New York Times 18 November 1919 p 3 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Martens Bureau Tells its Trade Plan New York Times 16 March 1920 p 3 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Blanc Paul David 15 November 2016 Fake Silk The Lethal History of Viscose Rayon Yale University Press p 59 ISBN 978 0 300 22488 7 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Soviet Gems Mined by American Firm Heller amp Son Get Right to Vast Emerald Fields in the Ural Mountains New York Times 22 October 1927 Retrieved 30 November 2021 U S Ship ue in Spain Vessel With a 250 000 Cargo Is on Way to Barcelona New York Times 21 August 1938 p 30 Retrieved 30 November 2021 Barkley Frederick R 14 September 1939 Dies Group Finds Millionaire Red A A Heller is Named as Party Angel New York Times p 20 Retrieved 30 November 2021 Federal Communications Commission Report Federal Communications Commission 1950 p 819 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Scope of Soviet Activity in the United States US Government Printing Office 1956 pp A114 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art 1918 Retrieved 30 December 2021 The Jewish Encyclopedia A Descriptive Record of the History Religion Literature and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day Volume 12 Funk amp Wagnalls 1907 p xiii Retrieved 30 December 2021 Heller Abraham Aaron 1922 The Industrial Revival in Soviet Russia Thomas Seltzer LCCN 22023364 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Heller A A 1935 Who Wants War Friends of the Soviet Union Retrieved 30 December 2021 External links editWho Wants War PDF Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Abraham A Heller amp oldid 1221020106, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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