How the Cold War started in Ottawa

The story of a Russian cipher clerk with an explosive secret, who just wanted someone in Ottawa to listen to what he had to say. Three days after the end of WWII, Igor Gouzenko would be the bearer of bad news that shook the world: there were spies in the capital!

#documentary #coldwar #history #canadianhistory

Correction: Incredibly, we've been corrected by Igor and Svetlana's daughter on a couple of points! Igor never waved a gun around, or threatened to jump out of the Justice Building window. Both are myths that have been propagated for years--even by a museum claiming to have the gun. Also, while some of the images we use to depict Igor include cigarettes--he never smoked, or drank. Igor's own daughter has informed us (through her grand daughter) that "Dad was never cool." For any descendants of Igor and Svetlana who see this: thank you for watching and we hope we did some semblance of justice to their story!

"The spark that ignited the Cold War":

We just want to reiterate that Igor Gouzenko’s defection, and the fallout from it, is one of a few threads that led to the decades-long Cold War. A defining moment that is commonly referred to as being the first major event, post WWII.

Before the end of WWII, relations between the Soviets, the United States and Britain were rocky. Stalin took particular umbrage at the U.S.’s extremely delayed entrance into war with Germany—by that point, millions of Russian soldiers and civilians had already died. The fact their ideologies didn’t line up meant they were basically doomed to be at odds. The introduction of nuclear weapons, and their use in the tragic loss of life at Hiroshima and Nagasaki—well, it poured gasoline on red hot embers. Less than a month after the catastrophe at Nagasaki, Gouzenko would bring the spy ring to light, creating the spark. From that point onward, distrust between superpowers, who had once been allies, was the norm.

To learn more about Gouzenko’s defection and his place in the start of the Cold War, here are a few great resources:

How The Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies by Amy Knight

The Fallout for Gouzenko:

The ramifications for Igor and Svetlana were immense. First, here are some clips from CBC of Igor’s famous interviews:

Svetlana and Igor lived in constant fear for their 8 children, as well as family in Russia. And it was more than justified. After the defection, Igor’s mother was killed during interrogation. Svetlana’s father was arrested and ‘disappeared.’ Two months later, her mother was as well. And then, Svetlana’s sister was arrested, leaving behind her 2-year-old son. In an interview, Svetlana remarks on such things as being normal in a country where 50 million people were killed by the government. The Gouzenkos never let their guard down, for good reason. They were tried in absentia and sentenced to death, a bomb was placed in their mailbox, break-ins were common.

Gouzenko’s favourite song was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, played by his wife Svetlana.

The Iron Curtain movie:

Stephenson and Camp X:

It's a matter of opinion as to who is the 'greatest of all spymasters.' Maxwell Knight is another candidate.

Note: The Ottawa Journal was not in the building we filmed, but one very nearby that no longer exists.

00:00 Intro - Shortlived Peace
02:03 WWII
03:33 Zabotin Spy Ring
04:28 The 'Fishing' Trip
05:02 Igor Gouzenko
06:25 The Escape
07:20 The Absurdity
09:29 The Climax
12:17 Camp X
13:52 The Fallout
16:11 Diefenbunkers
17:56 Bonus Story