When published in June 1945, the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee (JIC) paper on “British Empire Security” was the talk of the town (London, that is). The 68-page Top Secret document, written as the war in the Pacific still raged on,provided a security roadmap for the United Kingdom for the period 1955-1960, identifying potential threats to theContinueContinue reading “1945: Stalin Reads Britain’s Top Secret Plans to Neutralize Worldwide Soviet Threat”
Tag Archives: Soviet Union
1942: Nazi Propaganda School in Wustrow for Soviet POWs With Promise of Ukrainian Independence
In recent days, the FSB archives for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have declassified excerpts of documents which shed light on the operations of Nazi propaganda schools for Soviet prisoners of war. Among the papers are interrogation transcripts from 1944–1947, in which former trainees describe in detail how they were taught to hate the SovietContinueContinue reading “1942: Nazi Propaganda School in Wustrow for Soviet POWs With Promise of Ukrainian Independence”
Top Secret 1962 Document: KGB Warns of “Hipsters” Poisoning the Morals of Soviet Youth
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”
July 1941: Hero of the Soviet Union Executed for “Allowing” Nazi Germany to Invade USSR
When discussing Nazi Germany’s opening volleys against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, and what Josef Stalin observed as a shameful withdrawal and defeat of Red Army forces in the Western Special Military District [ZapOVO], it is important to give pause and consider the tragic fate of ZapOVO Commander Dmitriy Grigoryevich Pavlov, at theContinueContinue reading “July 1941: Hero of the Soviet Union Executed for “Allowing” Nazi Germany to Invade USSR”
April 1945: Germans Admit to the Needless Execution of Soviet POWs and Civilians on the Eve of the Fall of Königsberg
In late 1944 and early 1945, the Red Army’s combat operations shifted into German territory. During the East Prussian Offensive, the Red Army advanced upon the fortress city of Königsberg (today known as Kaliningrad). To breach the Königsberg Fortified Region, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, under the command of Marshal of the Soviet UnionContinueContinue reading “April 1945: Germans Admit to the Needless Execution of Soviet POWs and Civilians on the Eve of the Fall of Königsberg”
Stalin’s Son Revisited: Why Stalin Refused to Save Him
As discussed in an August TranslatingHistory post, Yakov Dzhugashvili, the oldest child of Josef Stalin, was captured by Germans in 1941 near Vitebsk and used as a propaganda piece by Hitler and Goebbels. According to a generally accepted legend, he was dangled as bait in a proposed exchange with the Germans for Field Marshall Paulus, toContinueContinue reading “Stalin’s Son Revisited: Why Stalin Refused to Save Him”
December 1966: Man-Made Objects on the Lunar Surface! Soviet Luna-13 Spacecraft Sends Mysterious Photos to Earth, Scientists Offer Answers
On December 26, 1966, the Soviet-developed interplanetary spacecraft Luna-13 transmitted to Earth a photo panorama of the lunar surface, on which objects resembling parts of apparent man-made origin can be seen. On 26 December 2025, the 59th anniversary of the Luna-13’s achievement, the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation [RGANTD] published declassified documentsContinueContinue reading “December 1966: Man-Made Objects on the Lunar Surface! Soviet Luna-13 Spacecraft Sends Mysterious Photos to Earth, Scientists Offer Answers”
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”
Rosatom: Nuclear Secrets of Department K: Counterintelligence Activities in Russia’s Nuclear Industry
Earlier this week, the official website for the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation published an article on newly revealed activities of the nuclear industry’s counterintelligence organs. We’re translated the article and are happy to provide it to our readers. Nuclear Secrets of Department “K”: Counterintelligence Activities in the Development of Russia’s Nuclear Industry 1 DecemberContinueContinue reading “Rosatom: Nuclear Secrets of Department K: Counterintelligence Activities in Russia’s Nuclear Industry”
FSB Spill: Russian Anti-Soviet Saboteur Describes Training by American Agents, Quick Capture by Soviet Authorities
An earlier article from TranslatingHistory offered some details from a brief interrogation of Aleksandr Lakhno, who was trained in West Germany in the early 1950s along with several other émigrés from the Soviet Union to carry out, at best, an anti-Soviet propaganda campaign. Lakhno spent months learning tradecraft from US and British intelligence specialists inContinueContinue reading “FSB Spill: Russian Anti-Soviet Saboteur Describes Training by American Agents, Quick Capture by Soviet Authorities”
Translating History 