The Russian Federation FSB website recently declassified and published the Russian-language December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp just north of Berlin. The camp was liberated just over 80 years ago, on 22 April 1945,ContinueContinue reading “Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 1”
Tag Archives: history
Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?
Recently declassified documents published to the Russian FSB website are claimed to contain information provided by the so-called ‘Cambridge Five’ – the notorious spy ring that provided information to the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the early 1950s. The documents deal with Poland’s efforts to prepare for a post-war world in which that countryContinueContinue reading “Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?”
London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941
The following is a decrypted Top Secret message from the head of the London rezidentura to the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army General Staff on work in England to create an atomic bomb. The message provides information provided by Agent “Baron” (Simon Davidovich Kremer) regarding his meeting with German physicist-turned-spy Klaus Fuchs (covername “Fuka”)ContinueContinue reading “London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941”
Alarmed by Nuclear Lag, Soviet Ukrainian Physicist Requests Funding for US-Built Cyclotron (1944)
In early 1944, the President of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Science Akademik A.A. Bogomolets sent a Secret letter to then-Chair of the Council of the People’s Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR Nikita Khrushchev, asking him to look into the possibility of not only procuring a cyclotron laboratory to hasten the Soviet Union’s lagging explorationContinueContinue reading “Alarmed by Nuclear Lag, Soviet Ukrainian Physicist Requests Funding for US-Built Cyclotron (1944)”
Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad
On 5 November 1944, the head of the Soviet NKVD Foreign Intelligence Directorate, Pavel Mikhaylovich Fitin, disseminated a Top Secret report on global advances in the field of nuclear weapon developments. The list of addressees for the report is not included in the material, but given the level of detail and the highly sensitive natureContinueContinue reading “Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad”
Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb
In March 1942, Lavrentiy Beria penned a Top Secret internal report for Josef Stalin regarding recent advances by a number of non-Soviet countries (England, France, Germany, and the US) in trying to achieve nuclear fission as a new power source. These research efforts have, in turn, spawned interest in seeing how this new science couldContinueContinue reading “Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb”
Soviet Agent in 1941 London Reports to NKVD on England’s Atomic Bomb Project
In September 1941, a Soviet rezident in London known as ‘Vadim’ (now known to be Anatoly Gorsky) sent an enciphered Top Secret cable to his NKVD colleagues in Moscow regarding details of a recent meeting of the “uranium committee” (presumed to be a reference to the MAUD Committee) and England’s continued efforts at pursuing theContinueContinue reading “Soviet Agent in 1941 London Reports to NKVD on England’s Atomic Bomb Project”
Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Space Industry
18 December 2024 marked the 90th birthday of Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Boris Volynov, the last of the first group of cosmonauts referred to as the “Gagarins”. In January 1969, Volynov took part in the world’s first in-orbit docking of two manned spacecraft, the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5. As Volynov prepared for a solo re-entry, SoyuzContinueContinue reading “Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Space Industry”
Freshly Declassified Documents from the Yalta Conference to be Unveiled on 4 February
The Information Center of the Government of Moscow reported today that the GRU will be handing over declassified documents concerning the Yalta Conference to the Victory Museum. The following is the translation of the Information Center’s press release: On Tuesday, February 4, the Victory Museum will host an official ceremony to hand over archival documentsContinueContinue reading “Freshly Declassified Documents from the Yalta Conference to be Unveiled on 4 February”
Soviet Persecution of Family of Executed Ukrainian Writer Hnat Khotkevych
Please note: The English translation of Ukrainian names and placenames in declassified Russian-language material uses Russian spelling conventions rather than Ukrainian. This is not done with any intent to disrespect the Ukrainian language or people, but is merely a translation convention for historical documents of this sort. The following background information was translated from theContinueContinue reading “Soviet Persecution of Family of Executed Ukrainian Writer Hnat Khotkevych”
Translating History 