Chapter 1: Who is Jack Barsky and what is his background as a KGB spy?
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Chapter 2: How did Jack Barsky infiltrate the United States?
I'm not really from that company. I'm from the government. He said the government. And you're like, I know.
Yeah.
In my mind, I was thinking maybe I should ask him what part of the government, but I didn't. So I said, yeah, okay. And he said, can you imagine one day working for the government? He didn't ask you to join the KGB right now. No, no, no. He's still sussing you out. Yes.
Chapter 3: What were the methods of communication used by KGB spies?
And the next meeting was in a restaurant, the most expensive restaurant in town. And he said, well, we're going to meet there. And when I get to the table, there was another fellow sitting there. And this guy who never introduced himself said, by the way, this is Herman. We're working with our Soviet comrades. Wow. This is exciting, right?
You're a third year in college and the KGB is taking you to a fancy restaurant? Oh, the KGB was known to us as the most powerful organization on the planet. You know, there was a KGB mythology. And philosophically right now, where are you with regards to the Communist Party? I was a member of the party. I was very active in the youth organization at university.
And was this because it was just convenient to do that, or were you a true believer? I was a true believer. True believer.
Chapter 4: What insights does Barsky provide about the Cold War mindset?
Absolutely, 100%. So that makes the KGB super exciting. Oh, my God, yes. Wow. Absolutely, yeah. And, okay, so you meet with Herman. Herman says... Let's meet again. Oh, okay. Okay. So it's just lots of meetings. It was a very slow ramp up. Initially, I would meet with him in his car, sort of at the edge of town.
After some, maybe three, four months, he must have determined that I was a really good candidate. Wow. Was there anything in your recruitment that made you think they want me to be capable of extreme violence or, you know, that spying involved, you know, like scary altercations, weaponry and close quarters combat and all that sort of thing? No, no, no, no, no.
All the people that I worked with, both in East Germany and then during my time in Moscow, were gentlemen. Our weapons were supposed to be our brains. So let's talk about the training. What specific skills are you learning? What kinds of devices, tradecraft is entering the picture here? You'd be surprised.
The very first document they gave me to read was a book about the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Okay. Just more indoctrination. Oh, you bet. But with regard to tradecraft, we're starting out with a shortwave radio reception Morse code. And then I was taught how to produce secret writing. that is a skill. It isn't just something you just do.
The KGB produced pieces of paper that were impregnated with just a trace of a chemical. The way to do this right, I had to be really, really careful. I had to make sure that everything was totally clean. If you didn't know what you were looking for, what chemical you were looking for, you wouldn't find anything. Oh, wow. That's cool. So you're getting some of these skills. What was it?
Surveillance detection or something? Yes, Surveillance Detection Route. This is actually an internationally recognized abbreviation. The FBI uses it the same way. So this is what you do. Counterintelligence needs to follow you when you're out and about. And so the idea was that you have to have a fictitious reason to go there, there, and there.
Department stores, going to a movie and buying a ticket. And the whole idea is if counterintelligence follows you, they know that you're doing what you're doing. However, there's no proof. If you see the same face twice within three hours, you know that you're being followed. I had really extensive training in Moscow where we practiced this about a dozen times.
And sometimes I had nobody following me and sometimes I had a whole team following me. And it was a competition. And the test was to figure out who was following you. Yes, I won every time. Oh, nice.
Oh, nice.
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