On 24 February 1962, Chairman of the KGB in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Ivan Savchenko dashed off a five-page announcement regarding concerns over the rapidly declining state of Soviet youth. Alien (Western) influences were seeping into the impressionable minds of the young people across the Soviet Union and their culture, and actions were neededContinueContinue reading “Top Secret 1962 Document: KGB Warns of “Hipsters” Poisoning the Morals of Soviet Youth”
Category Archives: Cold War
1966: Soviets Detonate 30-Kiloton Nuclear Charge to Extinguish Out-of-Control Gas Fire
On December 1, 1963, Well No. 11 at the Urtabulak Gas Field in the Bukhara Oblast of the Uzbek SSR hit a high-pressure (300 atmospheres) gas formation, destroying the wellhead and igniting a massive, seemingly unquenchable fire. Unquenchable, that is, using traditional methods. The fire would go on to burn for nearly three years, afterContinueContinue reading “1966: Soviets Detonate 30-Kiloton Nuclear Charge to Extinguish Out-of-Control Gas Fire”
Cold War West Germany: Giving Eastern Bloc Truck Drivers License to Spy
Every now and then, while researching other materials being translated, I’ll bump into a curious news article that catches the eye and won’t let it go. For example, this gem from the Philadelphia Inquirer from 10 January 1986: As I was living and working in West Berlin at the time, many kilometers within the bowelsContinueContinue reading “Cold War West Germany: Giving Eastern Bloc Truck Drivers License to Spy”
1961: Communist Party Drops Plans to Nuke Moon, Expands Defensive Space Opportunities
Until 13 May 1961, the Soviet Union had officially (albeit secretly) been working on a project to built a spacecraft armed with a nuclear weapon which would be sent to be detonated on the surface of the moon. The project also called for the creation of the appropriate device to record the detonation, presumably toContinueContinue reading “1961: Communist Party Drops Plans to Nuke Moon, Expands Defensive Space Opportunities”
1963: A Cold War Stand-Down: Top Secret Documents on Kremlin Response to JFK Assassination
On November 22, 1963, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The event shocked the entire world and elicited waves of sympathy on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The generally positive attitude in the USSR towards the young American president was finally solidified after the publication in Pravda on June 11,ContinueContinue reading “1963: A Cold War Stand-Down: Top Secret Documents on Kremlin Response to JFK Assassination”
The Intrepid Four: Wrap-Up of the Soviet Propaganda Program to Exploit More US Vietnam War Deserters
This wraps up (for now, pending additional document releases) our short series of translations relating to the Intrepid Four and their handling for propaganda purposes by the Soviet Union. For further information, please refer to our first report in the series here. Document 8: Memorandum from KGB Chairman Yu.V. Andropov to the CPSU Central Committee, 26ContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: Wrap-Up of the Soviet Propaganda Program to Exploit More US Vietnam War Deserters”
The Intrepid Four: More US Servicemen Fall into the Soviet Propaganda Machine
This continues our short series of translations relating to the Intrepid Four and their handling for propaganda purposes by the Soviet Union. For further information, please refer to our first report in the series here. Additional information on the Intrepid sailors is easily found throughout the Internet. One declassified report that offers a bit of theContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: More US Servicemen Fall into the Soviet Propaganda Machine”
The Intrepid Four: US Navy Deserters Begin to Feel Moscow’s Pressure
This continues our short series of translations relating to the Intrepid Four and their handling for propaganda purposes by the Soviet Union. For further information, please refer to our first report in the series here. Document 4: A paper (from G.V. Shumeyko, head of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee, November 22, 1967):ContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: US Navy Deserters Begin to Feel Moscow’s Pressure”
The Intrepid Four: The Soviet Propaganda Campaign Exploiting US Navy Deserters During Vietnam
Desertion from war is as old as war itself. The US involvement in Vietnam saw desertion reach its newest heights, with more than half a million US service members fleeing its ranks, but it can be argued that none were so public or pronounced as that of the so-called “Intrepid Four.” On 23 October 1967,ContinueContinue reading “The Intrepid Four: The Soviet Propaganda Campaign Exploiting US Navy Deserters During Vietnam”
Soviet Scientists Develop Experiment to Conduct Air Sampling near US ‘Operation Crossroads’ Nuclear Test Sites
In 1946, the head of the KGB First Directorate, Boris Vannikov, sent Lavrentiy Beria an appeal from Soviet Academy of Science physicists to help them conduct airborne experiments that would allow them to collect radioactive particles near nuclear testing sites associated with the US ‘Operation Crossroads’. The concept would have Beria instruct Commander in ChiefContinueContinue reading “Soviet Scientists Develop Experiment to Conduct Air Sampling near US ‘Operation Crossroads’ Nuclear Test Sites”
Translating History 