Boris Pash

Boris Theodore Pash (20 June 1900 – 11 May 1995; born Boris Fyodorovich Pashkovsky) was a United States Army military intelligence officer. He commanded the Alsos Mission during World War II and retired with the rank of colonel.

Early life Boris Fedorovich Pashkovsky was born in San Francisco, California, on 20 June 1900. Father Sebastian officiated at their wedding on 9 November, 1897.

His father was recalled to Russia in 1906, and the entire family returned to Russia in 1913.

In 1916–1917, both father and son joined the ranks of the Imperial Russian Army as it fought against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I: Theodore – as a military chaplain, and 16-year-old Boris – as an artillery private in the 52nd Infantry Division. During the Russian Revolution, the family fled to Simferopol, Crimea, where Boris worked for the YMCA. By February 1920, Boris joined the White navy in the Black Sea and served on the navy cruiser General Kornilov. Boris saw action against the Bolsheviks at sea, and in March 1920, he was awarded the Cross of St. George, fourth class. During this time he continued his education, receiving a Master of Science in Education from the University of Southern California in 1939. During this mission, he had a heated run-in in Italy with Moe Berg, a former Major League Baseball catcher turned Office of Strategic Services (OSS) spy. On the mission in 1944, Pash personally carried radioactive materials for seven hours in his pocket, which led to a radiation burn (in his own words, it looked "like a map on my hip"). In retirement, he helped rebuild the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC.

He was one of the few White Russian veterans to live to see the end of Communist Party rule in Russia. Pash died on 11 May 1995 in Greenbrae, California at the age of 94, and was buried in the Serbian Cemetery in Colma, California. He was survived by his wife Gladys and son Edgar. His papers are in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

In popular culture Pash was played by Casey Affleck in Christopher Nolan's 2023 film Oppenheimer.