Spy who was left out in the Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski (178)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2021

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We speak with author Tim Tate about his new book the Spy who was left out in the Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski Michal Goleniewski remains one of the most important, yet least known and most misunderstood spies of the Cold War. Even his death is shrouded in mystery and he has been written out of the history of Cold War espionage - until now. Tim Tate draws on a wealth of previously unpublished primary source documents to tell the dramatic true story of the best spy the west ever lost - of how Goleniewski exposed hundreds of KGB agents operating undercover in the West; from George Blake and the 'Portland Spy Ring', to a senior Swedish Air Force and NATO officer and a traitor inside the Israeli government. The information he produced devastated intelligence services on both sides of the Iron Curtain. I could really use your support to continue the podcast. A simple monthly donation via Patreon, will as a monthly supporter get you the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Tim Tate to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our episode notes which can also be found here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode178 If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction 1:08 Discussion on the topic: The Spy Who Was Left Out In the Cold 3:51 Interview with Tim Tate and Goleniewski's importance in the Cold War 14:38 Goliansky's defection and personal life complexities 24:27 The arrest of Soviet spies and Goleniewski's debriefing process 33:36 Goleniewski's trial and his rise in Polish intelligence 38:06 Impact of other defections on Goleniewski's CIA status 46:24 Public revelation of Goleniewski's story and his financial struggles 54:57 Goleniewski's claim to be Prince Alexei Romanov and second bigamous marriage 1:00:16 Polish intelligence's failed scheme to infiltrate Goleniewski's circle 1:09:39 Analysis of Golitszin's motivations and his effect on Western Intelligence 1:20:01 Possible movie adaptations of Goleniewski's story and his erasure from Cold War history 1:26:07 Acknowledging patrons and how to support the show 0:00 of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	He exposed more than 1600 Soviet bloc intelligence officers, agents, handlers, plus their operations.
0:16.9	And his information led to the breaking of some of the most serious KGB and Polish intelligence spirings in the West.
0:28.5	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:33.1	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War
0:38.3	history accounts. Do make sure you subscribe in your podcast app so that you don't miss out
0:43.4	on future episodes. Today we speak with author Tim Tate about his new book, The Spy
0:51.2	Who Was Left Out in the Cold, the secret history of Agent Golianovsky.
0:57.2	Mikhail Golianovsky remains one of the most important yet least known and most misunderstood
1:04.2	spies of the Cold War. Even his death is shrouded in mystery and he's been written out of the history
1:09.9	of Cold War espionage
1:11.3	until now. Tim Tate draws on a wealth of previously unpublished primary source documents
1:20.2	to tell the dramatic true story of the best spy the West ever lost, of how Golianovsky
1:27.1	exposed hundreds of KGB agents operating undercover in the West ever lost, of how Golianovsky exposed hundreds of KGB agents operating undercover
1:31.0	in the West, from George Blake and the Portland spy ring to a senior Swedish Air Force,
1:36.9	a NATO officer and a traitor inside the Israeli government. The information he produced
1:42.9	devastated intelligence services on both sides of the
1:46.5	iron curtain. Now, I could really use your support to continue producing the podcast. A simple
1:55.4	monthly donation via Patreon will, as a monthly supporter, get you the sought after Cold War Conversations
2:03.2	drinks coaster as a thank you, and you will bask in the warm glow of knowing that you are
2:08.8	helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to cold warconversations.com slash donate.
2:15.7	If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving
	...

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