|
|
 |
| |
Goldfinger |
Spooks spied on Goldfinger
Legendary Hampstead architect fought for citizenship, archive records show
THE form and documents used by architect Erno Goldfinger to plead with the Home Office to be “naturalised” as a British citizen have been released by the National Archives.
His file shows how he claimed that he needed to be a Briton to get on with vital post-war building projects.
The response from the Home Office, also included in the documents, was firm: He would not get preferential treatment. Not, at least, while Special Branch and MI5 were investigating his links to the Communist Party.
The bundle of documents, stored by the Public Records Office in Kew, west London, were released after a Freedom of Information request by the New Journal. Mr Goldfinger was born in Budapest but had Polish nationality due to his parents’ heritage.
He built his own home for his wife Ursula and family in Willow Road, Hampstead – now owned by the National Trust and a must-see treasure for architecture buffs and owned by the National Trust. The files show how he hired lawyers to get him through the ‘naturalisation’, a process that began in 1939 and was still rumbling on after the second world war in 1946.
Henry Mossop, his legal brief, repeatedly wrote to the Home Office asking for the application to be speeded up. He told MPs that Mr Goldfinger’s Polish nationality “prevents him from being employed in connection with the urgent housing schemes that are required at this time”.
Mr Goldfinger, however, was under investigation and the response from the Home Office was usually cagey.
One Home Office memo, marked secret, said: “Up to quite recently, this man is known to have associated from time to time with members of the Communist Party and there are no indications to show that he has changed his views. His wife, Ursula, nee Blackwell, has been in touch with communists. Metropolitan Police have records.”
A more official response – a letter to Mr Mossop – said: “The Home Secretary has given careful consideration to the matter but is afraid that on the information at present before him he would not be justified in picking out Mr Goldfinger’s application for preferential treatment.”
Behind the scenes, a 1946 report compiled by Special Branch police said: “Applicant’s present (business) partner Colin T Penn, who lives close to applicant at 1 Willow Road, is a secret member of and an active worker in the communist party.
“Applicant has come under the notice of special branch on various occasions since 1942 as an associate of communists and he is undoubtedly sympathetic to communism.
“In particular, applicant was one of a group of technical experts who in 1945 drew up plans for the new plant and building for the Daily Worker and in 1943 he spoke at a meeting held at the Bedford Theatre by the Women’s Parliament, a communist controlled organisation. His wife is known to be a subscriber to the funds of communist organisations.”
Mr Goldfinger, who died in 1987, was eventually naturalised in 1947 and worked on several low-cost housing projects, notably favouring tower block designs.
|
 |
|
|
|
