Posted on 01/28/2015 5:21:54 PM PST by WhiskeyX
So here it is…drumroll…spying factoid #2…Spying was big business during the Cold War and was deemed important enough by the Soviets for them to construct exact replicas of small U.S. towns within their borders in order to properly train their spies. One such town was Vinnytsia in what is now Ukraine. In these towns, spies in training would buy groceries from a 7-Eleven, watch U.S. television and talk only in English. Once their training was complete, many would head to places like Finland to see if they could pass as Americans before finally being stationed in the States. From my reading, I found that Chevy Chase, Maryland, right outside of Washington D.C., was the place many of these spies were stationed during the Cold War. Can you imagine being an American who lived there during that period only to find out years later that you were literally surrounded by spies? That they were the people you had block parties with and who had your kids over for sleepovers, yet you didn’t truly know them at all. Or crazier still, could you imagine learning that you, a typical American kid, had Russian spies for parents? The thought does my head in! At the same time, it sounds amazingly cool from a book and movie premise perspective. I do love The Americans! The video above is a CIA training video from the Cold War on small town espionage. It’s totally worth a look!
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Top Secret CIA Film - Small Town Espionage - Rare Vintage Video [FULL ORIGINAL VERSION]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422411861&v=Od5YwPiiLFA&x-yt-cl=84924572
A Chechan guy bought a small house at the end of our cul-de-sac and fixed it up for his parents. I helped him sort out the community mail box, etc.
A few months ago his mom told my wife they just rent the house - it isn’t theirs - she seemed embarassed by it. They drive big fancy cars - all in black.
My theory is they are Russian mob as they are back and forth all day. But - maybe I’ll spies to me theory!
Novels to that effect are already out there. If I recall, the Bourne series (R. Ludlum) explores that theme.
Importantly, Soviet espionage activities were always conducted in a “next country” organization. That is, spies working in one country would be stationed in an adjacent country, and use it as their base of operation, but their group would never spy on their host country.
This explains why the Soviets had a gigantic espionage operation based in Canada. Because spies based there were tasked with spying on the United States.
Viktor Suvurov’s books are a bit dated now but they describe his experiences as a Soviet officer and GRU officer. Good reading.
I read a book about the KGB back in the 80s. One thing which struck me, and I don’t recall the exact figure, but it was something like 25%, maybe more of their entire GNP was spent on the KGB.
I think they spent as much on the KGB as they did the military.
The episode of Danger Man/Secret Agent, titled “Colony 3” was inspired by this. That episode partially inspired “The Prisoner”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuyKibyEydM
Later
That film was shot in Albuquerque New Mexico. 100%
Bflr = bump for later reading
Good episode.
Who did the lady really work for? Did she reappear in a later episode?
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