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The Wild Tale Of Jack Barsky (4/24/25)
Jack Barsky, born Albrecht Dittrich in East Germany, was a deep-cover KGB spy who lived in the United States for over a decade during the Cold War. Recruited by Soviet intelligence in the 1970s, Barsky was trained extensively before being sent to America under a false identity. He arrived in New York City in 1978 posing as a U.S. citizen, using the birth certificate of a deceased American child. Over the years, Barsky assimilated seamlessly, earning degrees, landing a job as a computer programmer, and eventually starting a family. All the while, he covertly gathered information and maintained contact with his Soviet handlers through dead drops and coded messages.
His espionage career ended not through exposure by the FBI but rather a defection-by-neglect. In the late 1980s, Barsky failed to return to the USSR when ordered to do so, citing a desire to remain with his American daughter. The KGB eventually abandoned him. Years later, in the 1990s, the FBI discovered his existence and investigated him. Rather than prosecute, the agency determined that he no longer posed a threat and even used him to gain insight into Soviet spycraft. Barsky later came forward publicly, most notably in a 2015 60 Minutes interview, where he recounted his life as a sleeper agent turned suburban American father. His story stands as one of the most compelling examples of Cold War espionage buried in plain sight.
source:
https://news.yahoo.com/jack-barsky-russian-spy-apos-060829584.html
Published on 2 weeks ago