The Iron Curtain

by Igor Gouzenko

Overview

Originally published in 1948, this book is the autobiographical account of the cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko who defected from the Russian Embassy in Ottawa on 5 September 1945, just three days after war end. In doing so he alerted the Canadian, British and American authorities to the spy rings operating in Canada which were made up of traitorous intellectual professionals and men who belonged to the social and academic establishment of Canada, confirming what Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers were telling the FBI in the late 1940’s about spy rings in the USA.

A profound and gripping story of one “little man” risking his life for the greater good of protecting the heritage of freedom that many others take for granted..

“We have been impressed with the sincerity of the man, and with the manner in which he gave his evidence, which we have no hesitation in accepting....

“In our opinion Gouzenko by what he has done has rendered great public service to the people of this country, and thereby has placed Canada in his debt.”—The Report of the Royal Commission to investigate the facts relating to and the circumstances surrounding the communication, by public officials and other persons in positions of trust of secret and confidential information to agents of a foreign power. June 27, 1946.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787202771
Publisher:	Hauraki Publishing
Publication date:	11/11/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	213
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (January 13, 1919 - June 28, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on September 5, 1945—just three days after the end of World War II—with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West. This forced Prime Minister Mackenzie King to call a Royal Commission to investigate espionage in Canada.

Gouzenko exposed Joseph Stalin’s efforts to steal nuclear secrets, and the technique of planting sleeper agents. The “Gouzenko Affair” is often credited as a triggering event of the Cold War, with historian Jack Granatstein stating “Gouzenko was the beginning of the Cold War for public opinion” and journalist Robert Fulford writing “I am absolutely certain the Cold War began in Ottawa”. The New York Times described Gouzenko’s actions as having “awakened the people of North America to the magnitude and the danger of Soviet espionage.”

Born to a Ukrainian family in the village of Rogachovo near Dmitrov, Moscow Governorate (now Moscow Oblast), Gouzenko joined the military at the start of World War II and trained as a cipher clerk. In 1943, he was stationed in Ottawa, where for two years he enciphered outgoing messages and deciphered incoming messages for the GRU. His position gave him knowledge of Soviet espionage activities in the West.

In September 1945, hearing that he and his family were to be sent home to the Soviet Union and dissatisfied with the quality of life and the politics of his homeland, he decided to defect. He walked out of the embassy door carrying with him a briefcase with Soviet code books and deciphering materials. The evidence provided by Gouzenko led to the arrest of 39 suspects and led to a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate espionage.

Gouzenko died of a heart attack in 1982 at Mississauga, Canada.