A visit to the KGB

Spy agency opens the door to a world of secrets

July 22, 2001|By Lucy Komisar. Special to the Tribune.

Then there were displays to honor the Soviet agents who were caught. Atomic secrets spy Klaus Fuchs was detected in England in 1949, sentenced to 14 years and released after 9. Valery noted with relief, "In the U.S., he would have gotten the electric chair."

Soviet spy Rudolph Abel was arrested in 1957 and exchanged for American Gary Powers, whose spy aircraft was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. Both men apparently had an artistic bent. A book of fine paintings by Abel is for sale. A bit of a rug Powers made in prison from potato sacks was donated by his son.

And of course, there's Kim Philby, the "Third Man" of British Intelligence, who was part of the illustrious Cambridge group. Photos show Kim, his book and other mementos, including one of those elaborate medals that officials like to pin on each other. "I understand that his wife, Rufina, lives in Moscow. Has she seen this exhibit?" I inquired.

"Oh, yes," Valery replied. "She's visited the museum. She brought us this book (`My Secret War') and his Order of People's Friendship."

Hmmm.

The most fun was the gear used by foreign agents on both sides. One display showed real and counterfeit Soviet passports. Staples in USSR passports corroded, while the U.S. used stainless steel. Valery said hundreds of American agents were caught, because their phony passports had the wrong staples.

There are numerous displays of secret containers, planks of wood and tubes and false rocks. A photo shot from a rubbish container where a photographer waited for two days shows an American spy sticking his arm out of a car and throwing a piece of "wood" into the forest. A log "stump" that covered a silver and glass device, was used by U.S. intelligence to retrieve information about nearby missile testing. An American tape recorder ensconced in a tree branch was set near a military airport. A suitcase with equipment to send encrypted messages via satellite was found with Gary Powers. It had a small bottle of poison hidden in a false bottom. Of course, there were cameras in watches and cigarette lighters and deceptive soap, cigarette packs and soda cans.

After our tour, I called Tatiana to tell her about the conflict between Rufina's story and what Valery had said about her visit. She replied instinctively, "Maybe the KGB is lying."