Posted on 03/25/2017 12:56:19 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
Jack Barsky kept his calm as he neared the traffic circle underneath the West Side Highway overpass. In his hand he held a piece of chalk and furtively drew a straight horizontal line on the wall as he walked past.
If a pedestrian happened to notice it, they might think it a mark made by a kid, or perhaps nothing it all.
But when a certain undercover KGB operative spotted the chalk mark as he drove from his compound in The Bronx to his cover job at the United Nations, he would inform his comrades, and they would know what it meant: Barsky had reported for duty in New York City.
It was 1978, and the Cold War was in full effect. Barsky was a spy, illegally in the US under a stolen identity. One wrong move could put him at risk, perhaps even send him to prison for the rest of his life. --SNIP-- All in all, Barsky, 67, is happy. Raised an atheist, he now has a strong Christian faith. He lives in Georgia with his third wife and their young daughter.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Ahem, he was here undocumentedly. (This correction brought to you by the vocabulary control division of the American Communist Party Democratic Party).
Great post!
The best stories can’t be made up.
We love The Americans at my house so this story really fascinates me. Thanks for the post
Working at the UN as a cover for being a communist operative? Couldn’t he just put up an ad on a billboard?
Really fascinating story. I think 60 Minutes did a story on the FBI guy he grew close to.
Interesting. I have always liked true stories of undercover work.
Book ordered from Amazon, 19.65 incl shipping, be here Fri, 3/31.
My husband worked with him here in Houston a few years back. He was listening to a fox news podcast a few weeks ago and he was being interviewed. Totally blew his mind when he heard Jack being interviewed.They have been friends on FB ever since he left the company and has chatted with him a few times since hearing him on the news. Needless to say, we are now watching The Americans and hubby still can’t believe Jack was a spy. Says he is a great guy.
Barsky figures he’s now safe from any Russian assassination attempts — a fate that has allegedly befallen enemies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It’s not worth it; there’s no point to it,” Barsky said. “Anybody who might have had a personal vendetta against me, they are either all dead or too old to care.”
All in all, Barsky, 67, is happy. Raised an atheist, he now has a strong Christian faith. He lives in Georgia with his third wife and their young daughter. Over the years, he’s rebuilt his relationships with his German sons. On a 2015 trip to Germany, he got a picture of himself with all four of his adult children. He’s still good friends with Joe Reilly, who is retired from the FBI.
“The United States,” he said, “is still the greatest country in the world.”
Cool. Thanks for posting.
I love the show too. Will havd to read this story more later.
bmp
For a great true story of undercover work, check out Operation Solo: The FBI’s Man Inside the Kremlin, available on Amazon. For 27 years, Morris Childs, code name “Agent 58”, provided the United States with the Kremlin’s innermost secrets.
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