Spies in Our Midst
AUTHOR: L.D. Cross
FORMAT: 5.5 x 8.5 pb / 128 pages
ISBN-10: 1554390036
ISBN-13: 9781554390038
Igor Gouzenko was a former clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa who defected to the West in 1945. His story was so astounding that, at first, no one believed him. But the evidence he smuggled from the embassy eventually led to the arrest of a large Soviet spy ring in Canada, and sent Gouzenko into hiding for the rest of his life. His revelations reverberated throughout the world and ignited the Cold War.
Prologue
World War II had just ended with two huge atomic explosions. Canada's first nuclear reactor had achieved criticality at the Chalk River Laboratory near the military base at Petawawa, Ontario. Meanwhile, the USSR embassy in Ottawa was making it their highest priority to collect scientific and technological intelligence for military purposes.
At the embassy, in a guarded room, a young Soviet cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko coded and decoded secret messages to and from Moscow. These messages contained information gathered by Canadian spies working against their own country.
Igor read telegrams about financing study groups that were actually "cells" for recruiting more undercover agents, setting up puppet governments, infiltrating labour unions, stealing military secrets, and starting a third world war.
When he finished working with a document, all his notes would be destroyed in a small incinerator at one end of the hall. At the other end was an immense incinerator to be used in an emergency should large quantities of documents and codes have to be quickly destroyed. His supervisor joked that it was big enough to make the body of a man disappear.
One day, a terrifying telegram landed on Igor's desk. It contained the widely feared phrase, "is required for other work" - code-speak for "recalled to Moscow." But why? Had he said something wrong or been too obvious about enjoying the good life in Canada? Had he not shown the proper respect to his comrades? Not worked enough overtime?
A recall order could be a legitimate reassignment. It could also be the first step to prison in Siberia. Even people who were told to return for a promotion had been known to "disappear" immediately after arriving back in Moscow.
And now, for reasons unstated, Igor and his family would be returning immediately to Moscow. He was in a daze. In stunned silence, he completed his afternoon assignments, put on his jacket and hat, and signed out.
Caught between two world views, Igor agonized over what to do with all the extraordinary information he had come to know.
Unsuspecting Canadians knew nothing - yet.
About the Author
L. D. Cross is an Ottawa writer and member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC). Her business and lifestyle articles have appeared in publications such as Home Business Report, Modern Woman, WeddingBells, Fifty-Five Plus, enRoute, Aviation History, and Legion Magazine. She has won awards of excellence for features and for editorial and technical writing in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Ottawa EXCEL, competitions.
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