Curator’s Corner: The Berlin Tunnel

[@WizardOfTheKremlin]

The Berlin tunnel operation of the mid 1950s, actually a huge telephone wiretap-produced literally tons of trivia and gossip, but provided little in the way of high grade secret information that could be used by the agency's intelligence analysts. The operation's true value was the embarrassment it caused the KGB and the favorable publicity it generated for the CIA.

[@GalaxyJazzGirl]

I didn't know you guys had a KZbin channel!! ^-^

[@phincampbell1886]

British Intelligence: "ok, so, we need to dig a tunnel under Berlin, through difficult soil, and, unfortunately, through a layer of sewage -saturated earth. So, let us remind ourselves of our firm commitment and proud history of international cooperation, and naturally I'm sure we are all in agreement that our first wish is that we keep up mutual operational involvement with our American cousins, and invite them onboard to participate in this so they can profit equally from any information we get." "Oh yes, perfectly agree, quite right! Digging through sewage you say!? Well, let me just call the Americans straight away, offer them this opportunity. For sharing in the intelligence, I mean. Hello, CIA!? MI5 here! Now look, first thing, have you boys got a dozen shovels, and several pairs of wellies over there?! You do!? Great! So, anyway, have we got a bargain for you...!"

[@GalaxyJazzGirl]

My mom and I used to live in Washington, D.C. , then moved to Florida, then moved to Wisconsin.

[@touchofgrey5372]

Hmm! Fascinating!

[@phincampbell1886]

I grew up in Oxford, moved to Banbury, went to London, stayed in Europe, moved back to Oxford, then came to Liverpool!

[@davidleach4302]

I must say that she's one of the worst interviewers to whom I've had to listen. She's so anxious to get her questions in that she never lets Vogel finish his thoughts.

[@jstpsgthru]

Gotta say ........ kind of a let down. There have been several books on the tunnel. I didn't hear anything new, today. Nothing but a passing reference to the rest of the Berlin Brigade? The tunnel is a good start to a great story, but there is a lot more to Berlin than Rudow. USASAFS Berlin received an award for intelligence production, long after the tunnel was a weird door to nowhere.

[@stephenvogel5867]

Actually, there's an enormous amount of information in the book about the Army's involvement at Rudow, including interviews with radar operators, team members working in the warehouse, and others, and there's a great deal of new information. Here's the verdict from the CIA's academic journal, Studies in Intelligence: "Reads like a thriller, reaches sources previously untapped .... Betrayal in Berlin is reliable, exciting, well-sourced and fair. . . In a great many vignettes Vogel transports the reader back in time into rooms and meetings that, at the time, were extraordinarily sensitive. . . .Steve Vogel has written the best book to date on the Berlin Tunnel." Other reviews, including from the Wall Street Journal, Army Magazine and the Journal of America's Military Past, available here: www.stevevogelsite.com/page-23/page-29/

[@phincampbell1886]

I find many books or videos on philosophy to be a bit of a dull letdown, holding nothing new for me. But then I realize it's even happened with books I read before I was an undergraduate, which o remember finding interesting back then! And what it is behind my criticism is that I've learned enough to render the book uninformative to me. Which makes me feel I can't really lament the quality or content of the book, but rather should have cause to celebrate myself for having learned a good deal on the topic!