How the Cold War started in Ottawa

[@Canadiana]

We've heard from Igor and Svetlana's own great grand-daughter! Igor's daughter says that he never waved a gun around, nor threatened to jump out of the Justice Building window--both are myths. Igor also never smoke or drank. Stay to the end for a truly bizarre epilogue to the story--find out how the old embassy transformed into the one you see today. In the description you'll find links to remarkable CBC interviews with Igor and Svetlana--which were the inspiration for us making the episode. You'll also find a link to the 1948 film, The Iron Curtain, made just a few years after the spy ring shook the world, and based on Gouzenko's account. For more Canadiana on a regular basis, please check out our social media handles @thisiscanadiana. Thanks for watching!

[@twistoffate4791]

Holy mackerel!! Interviews with Igor & Svetlana!! I did not expect anything like that to be available. This is something I will definitely check out.

[@jimmaughan1898]

Funny that his apartment is next to a beer store

[@lukeamato2348]

You should do a segment on camp x, show the painting of the beach Igor painted , i swear ive walked past that tree many times down by the water

[@none--other]

@@jimmaughan1898 try that, put you right off...

[@jimmaughan1898]

@@none--other ???? try what, off what??

[@Aureilius2112]

This is the most Canadian story I have ever heard. Even when a Russian spy wants to turn himself in, he needs to go through a bureaucratic nightmare of getting passed through an endless loop of government organizations. I have gone through this so many times that I understand his frustration.

[@none--other]

A prime minister more worried about answering a couple of tough questions than whether a highly valuable humint source is neutralized by a foreign government. Seems to be a cornerstone of democracy.

[@alukuhito]

You should try living in Japan if you think the bureaucracy in Canada is bad.

[@carlyar5281]

@@none--otherI chalk it up to deeply ingrained naivety that is far too pervasive in Canadian politics and bureaucracy. It’s no different now than it was 75 years ago.

[@shayneb3540]

The red tape is real. I worked in the Ministry of the Solicitor General for a year before I had enough of the hoops, hurdles, and walls just to get the littlest things done.

[@Aureilius2112]

@@shayneb3540 The Canadian Government: “I will work as hard as possible to make sure nothing gets done.”

[@Alijargo]

My great-grandmother was the neighbour who hid the Gouzenkos in her apartment. My grandfather and great-grandfather were away at the time, but I can't remember why. Where you stand in front of the apartment building, there's a plaque commemorating the incident.

[@Canadiana]

Whoa! Very cool! We also heard from the Gouzenkos' great great grand-daughter too! We wished we could film inside the apartments but we couldn't get a hold of whoever owns them now. We saw the plaque!

[@Alijargo]

@@Canadiana It's been a story in my family my whole life, but I never had much detail. When I lived in Ottawa, I took pictures of the plaque to send my grandparents. My kids and I first saw the Quebec werewolf video, then I noticed this one, so I had to watch. I was really hoping you'd mention my great-grandmother. She's usually just referred to as "the neighbour," but I know who she was. Lol! I wrote a paper on Gouzenko in university. I saw the comment from their great-great granddaughter! Pretty cool! 😀

[@Canadiana]

Ah that's very cool, now we wished we had too! She deserves to be identified with such a critical role! We never imagined people related to people in the episode would see the episode, much less comment!

[@Alijargo]

@@Canadiana You did mention her, but there's not too much out there about her side of the story. It's really cool to see a video about it all and even have "the neighbour " mentioned, because I know who it is! 😁

[@franceshendry5656]

Excellent. I wish I was taught how fascinating Canadian history could be when I was in school. Thank you.

[@connorhaley3190]

I was taught this

[@davidsradioroom9678]

I've never heard any of the fascinating facts that Adam shares. Thanks for these videos!

[@carlthor91]

@@connorhaley3190 Same here, just not in this detail.

[@SherlockHomeless223]

Without Canadian, or any commonwealth intervention, the allies would have had a far worse chance of winning the war.

[@felixs7596]

Not that it wasn't important, but you learned the same things over and over again from grades 1 to 12 in canadian history

[@strokersteve468]

This channel is a national treasure! Thanks to the people that make it possible!

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

I remember the CBC interview with Igor, didn't understand it then but I got the impression from my father's reaction it was very serious stuff.

[@HororKodStudio]

I've never seen Canada's history told in such a captivating manner. You earned yourself a subscription. You guys rock.

[@katiebaird2696]

I’m from Alabama and I’m thoroughly enjoying this channel. Discovered it by ‘accident’ within the last couple of weeks and I can only hope to continue listening to it for some time to come

[@mikebikercanada]

I can’t get over how well you guys did the animation on this one. That shot of Adam standing in front of Parliament beside the old Langevin building with half of the background real and the other half converted to cartoon … very cool. And a similar effect with the old Ottawa Journal Building. Not sure how you did that, but surely a lot of hard work went into it. Thanks for another great video! Mike

[@Canadiana]

Thank you for the compliments about the animation! It's the most difficult and time-intensive part of the process and it's nice to hear such things. Glad you enjoyed!

[@twistoffate4791]

I agree. This style reminds me of different TV shows I have seen in the deep past. This is a pop culture historical gem.

[@placebomandingo2095]

It's good to see that graphic art skills are thriving in the video content creator community. Half of the people I knew in the 90's were competing for a shrinking paper-based graphic design market, and web design was even more competitive, and required less formal training, if any. I studied as a printer right as the home PC came in, decimating that trade. Still glad I learned that stuff, it made word processing and layout easy. All the functions are based on old school printing methods.

[@JimmyJones6172]

The name Bond, even, may have been inspired by Bond St in Oshawa. Fleming lived nearby while at Camp X.

[@dwm1156]

No, unfortunately not. Fleming lived and wrote in Jamaica and had a book on birds of the Caribbean, the author of the book’s name was… James Bond*. Sorry to disappoint you, but Fleming did have a very good knowledge of Eastern Canada and did write quite a few authentic Canadian scenes, including the one mentioned in this excellent documentary. * it’s also possible he may have named him after a Welsh fellow he once worked with in the military. I thought the ornithologist story came directly from an interview with Fleming, but apparently there’s some new information.

[@fraserhenderson7839]

Thanks! I was really impressed with the Stalin poster but the story was also pretty cool. I am quite familiar with these events. Mr Gouzenko was covertly Canadianized in a process so secret, the perpetrators (all the Canadians he met while stationed in Ottawa) were unaware they were actually doing anything to him. He became nice and therefore disapproved of Soviet duplicity toward nice Canadians. That's spycraft!

[@Canadiana]

Thank you very much! We went a little overboard with the poster ha! That's an intriguing angle to consider. It's interesting to see the spectrum of how many Canadians either know the story, vaguely know it, or don't at all.

[@klaxxor]

Totally bad-ass! I've never heard any of that before. Well done!

[@robhowell8783]

This story is so cool, I absolutely love it...if stuff like this was taught in school I would've paid more attention in Canadian history class hahahahahaha

[@justbe1451]

Wow, terrific story! I knew Canada must have cool history tales, this channel is great. Please keep educating me.

[@matthewbush4471]

This channel is amazing. Rly makes me proud to be Canadian

[@Quadrophiniac]

Man, I live in Ottawa and its wild to think anything like this ever happened here. I have walked by their apartment building like a thousand times, and I never knew it was where literal soviet spies used to live.

[@martinc.720]

As opposed to figurative spies?

[@SSad-hy7we]

Never heard of this story before, very interesting!

[@roycec.arugay7411]

The editing of this is documentary is phenomenal! I just started watching you guys two weeks ago and binge watched all of your videos. You are doing a great job and keep it up! 👍

[@Canadiana]

Thank you Royce!

[@robhowell8783]

That's like myself, I got onboard, pun intended, with the pirate episodes I only watching a week ago

[@ryanmclay]

This would make a great movie.

[@Canadiana]

They actually did make it into a movie in 1948, called The Iron Curtain. We wanted to use clips from the film in the episode but it was too expensive. You can find the entire movie on KZbin. Be we think a remake would be a great idea!

[@ryanmclay]

@@Canadiana I totally agree. So many side stories to tie in. CBC are you listening? Fingers crossed they are.

[@vancouveruzbekistan5350]

The movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED... Why? BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA. RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED

[@vancouveruzbekistan5350]

@@CanadianaThe movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED... Why? BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA. RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED

[@EsamBaaio]

Beautiful and very educating video. Thank you Adam and the Canadiana team for your tremendous effort to keep us informed and entertained :)

[@Warlover1015]

Fun fact Canada was the first Major Nation to recognize the Independence of the Baltic Countries and Ukraine so in a way the Cold War started and ended in Ottawa, America just did all the heavy lifting to make it happen.

[@billpetersen298]

We haven’t formally recognized Taiwan yet. There’s still work to do.

[@dafreyr]

Funny fact* thats the same thing they say here in my country (Iceland)

[@dodaexploda]

Absolutely fantastic content as always! This is a reminder to everyone to post this to social media. Let's get those subscriber numbers up! We need more of this fantastic content!

[@Canadiana]

Ah thank you so much!

[@dodaexploda]

@@Canadiana you're very welcome.

[@linengray]

You are becoming the Mark Felton on Canadian History. Keep up the great work.

[@Socc3rchic88]

You guys make me so proud of my country! Such rich history!

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

Fascinating. Brilliant. You make our history come alive!

[@robswystun2766]

Another fantastic video.

[@jrphillip1458]

Why I am not surprised the authorities and media turned this guy away and had him running around like an idiot for such a gut-wrenching issue detrimental to national security. Canada is like an online game with 10kb/s internet, everything just lags.

[@JoshLemer]

An other great episode @Canadiana, very thrilling!

[@Canadiana]

Thank you as usual Josh! We appreciate you're constant support!

[@CarolineChiasson]

Excellent video! One quick thing.. he didn’t pull out a gun, he never had one. He was my great grandfather. 💜

[@Canadiana]

Really?! Well we are extra glad you enjoyed! We will make a note in the description about the gun.

[@CarolineChiasson]

@@Canadiana My grandmother, Igor and Svetlana’s daughter Evy watched the video and my family is enjoying it. She told me that even the “threatening to jump out a window if not taken seriously” is also a myth. I’ll have to edit my earlier comment. Our family has been trying to get the gun that is in a museum removed as that was never his gun and he never had one in his lifetime. He also never smoked or drank. She worded it as, “Dad was never cool”. I found that funny. Thanks again for the great work.

[@Canadiana]

This is incredible! Thank you for sharing it with your family! It's an honour and we hope we did Igor and Svetlana's story justice. We're going to update the description with those clarifications (and we apologize for propagating the myth--unfortunately we can't edit the video after posting). We've never been corrected by someone so close to the figures in the episode before! All the best to your family, and thank you for commenting--we will never forget this.

[@CarolineChiasson]

@@Canadiana Thank you 🙏 You did a great job!

[@vancouveruzbekistan5350]

WHAT PRO RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA TO SAY THAT THE MAN GOUZENKO "UNLEASHED IT ALL" 17:46.... Unleashed "the explosive terror upon the world" ...!! THE TERROR WAS UNLEASHED NEVER BY GOUZENKO WHO FOUGHT THAT TERROR. THE TERROR WAS UNLEASHED BY THE SOCIALISTS ALL OVER THE WORLD ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO GAVE THE SOCIALIST RUSSIANS THE NUCLEAR BOMB ... LIKE THE ROSENBERGS ET AL ....

[@jrphillip1458]

Love these docs, you guys are doing well.

[@mzwakithi]

This is quickly becoming my favorite KZbin channel -- what excellent work you're all putting out!! Bravo!

[@lovehandr]

The Hollywood movie 'Iron Curtain' tells this story quite well. It was filmed on location in Ottawa in late 1947 (winter) and released in 1948. It starred Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney. Anybody interested in this story should watch this movie.

[@Canadiana]

We link it in the description and actually wanted to use clips from it in the episode, but 20th Century Fox charged $10, 000 per minute! Great film, and very cool to see Ottawa playing itself!

[@lovehandr]

​@@Canadiana As I was growing up, my father would make occasional visits to the Soviet embassy on Charlotte Street regarding international trade of agricultural products. It was ominous with RCMP police cars stationed on the street nearby. I never had the sense to ask him about those experiences of going inside.

[@Canadiana]

Wow that's intriguing, assuming this was during the Cold War era? When we were filming across the street (half a year before they invaded Ukraine) we were so curious as to what was happening inside.

[@lovehandr]

@@Canadiana Oh yes, during the 1960s, so during the cold war.

[@vancouveruzbekistan5350]

The movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED... Why? BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA. RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED

[@alfie2660]

Love the videos man keep up the good work :)

[@SgtMjr]

William Stevenson was in the park across the street from the Gouzenko's apt. that night. Watching over Igor and Svetlana. He had heard of the attempt to defect and made the rounds to alert PM King and others to the importance of what a defecting cipher clerk might provide.

[@markchapman2585]

Thanks for the great little documentary. I love Canadian history.

[@keithwatson7830]

Thank You. This is important to Canadians

[@Crowscratch_HauntedLibrary]

Thanks! Fascinating. Love this channel.

[@mnirwin5112]

7:20 That was one waste-of-space newspaper. Not to mention the useless cops -- RCMP officers AND Ottawa police. AND the government officials who wouldn't even look into his claims. AND the PM of the day. I think, after the idiots wouldn't let the firefighters near the burning building, that the Soviets should've been told "Here's a tent for your new embassy. Enjoy."

[@larrydugan1441]

Great video. Not surprising that the Ottawa bureaucracy tried to make him go away.

[@jamesrae7246]

Great stuff

[@timothyschollux]

Great episode. Phantastic editing and narration!

[@noahbalagus8805]

These are so well edited, so well put together

[@milkman69600]

amazing as always still don't get how you don't have more subs!! thanks for making canadian history fun!

[@twitch_eziohansolo]

Thanks!

[@Canadiana]

Thank you!

[@jeffa6841]

From what I remember reading in Nest Of Spies, by Fabrice de Pierrebourg and Michel Juneau-Katsuya, Canadian authorities were able to recover quite a lot of secret documents from that fire.

[@ricoricci1125]

So glad to see you posting again!!!

[@RickImus]

7:20 To be fair, I don't think Gouzenko was trained on how to turn himself in to Canadian authorities:) Another captivating episode. Keep rockin' the vest, Team Adam!

[@jsparrow431]

Great storytelling and a fantastic story! Subscribed!

[@TheRealJakeTremblay]

i know exactly to the foot where all those shots were filmed! amazing content! love knowing more about my city!

[@austinn.4389]

Excellent production 👌🏻

[@marklittle8805]

It is so shameful no one wanted to deal with the Gouzenkos. It was a sad time that tells me that officialdom is always behind the curve of reality

[@jtothefx]

Another thrilling video! 👏

[@susanadams-wauro6716]

I had no idea!!

[@pryles2000]

Fantastic

[@philipberthiaume2314]

Thanks!

[@Canadiana]

Thanks very much!!

[@breeb2993]

Love your videos , please keep up the great work!! It’s so nice to find a well edited and produced channel that focuses on Canadian history, it’s fascinating to learn about, excited for more to come!

[@Pupkuddles]

So happy to have found this! Such a well done show with great info on Canada 🇨🇦

[@mattyp6908]

Been following this channel for about 18 or so months and it baffles me that you still have under 75k subs. Particularly so considering the ridiculous ‘Canada first’ content laws that have been enacted (before & since I subbed). I love the content & you are truly the first ‘teacher’ throughout my 33 years that has truly made Canadian history a riveting & interesting subject.

[@Canadiana]

Thank you for saying so. We're always hoping for that big break, but it hasn't come yet, despite these new laws... Still, we feel fortunate to have made it this far-no small feat for an independent Canadian history channel! Thanks so much for your continued support. There's more episodes on the way! -Kyle, Ashley & Adam

[@kyleroscoe4338]

Glad to finally see new videos from this channel. I love the niche history stories that only Canadians would understand. Top notch video editing and effects, too!

[@AstronomyRocks]

Thanks, I love your content 🍁

[@gvoily9002]

Wow! I used to walk by his apartment all the time! I always wondered why that apartment always looked out of place. I wonder who lives in it now!

[@Canadiana]

We tried to film inside but we couldn't get through to the owners unfortunately. It is a remarkably interesting looking building!

[@ryanlavin6306]

This is a great story that was told very well and in great fashion.

[@travelexperiencedevoyage]

Who ever would have thought that Canada played a major role in such worldwide events! Thanks Canadiana for sharing this with us!

[@rickncam3]

Excellent documentary. Oddly I now live about 12 blocks away from the apartment where they lived and have passed by that street many many times, but never knew the history attached to the building. Thank you.

[@mikefawkes5195]

super well done ,love history and its even better when presented this well

[@antonydudnikov4777]

This channel is underrated. The production is amazing!! Way to go Canadiana!

[@DavidQHarrisLawStories]

Simply excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@TributetoCanada]

Really excellent!!

[@MrRasctwa]

I wish your playlists were in order. i still watch them. Thank you

[@DinoMaita]

Great video!! Very well done. Narrator is pretty wicked too.

[@andrecouture2061]

This story is amazing! I never heard it before, but for some reason my son knew about parts of it. He was happy to hear the full story.

[@Canadiana]

Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@andysimpson8974]

A fascinating story. Thanks for up loading.

[@DudeHayden02]

Really good video!! Had my mouth hanging open for some parts, I’m looking into this for myself now!! Thanks for what you guys do, I doubt I’d have found this by myself

[@mikestewart4752]

My mom and her siblings used to play in the abandoned tunnels at Camp X in the early 60s-an educated guess. She used to tell me stories of playing with all the old radio equipment that was left there before everything was filled in. The majority of people around here nowadays have absolutely no idea what went on on the shores of Lake Ontario.

[@luongo7886]

Thanks again for another awesome episode about the importance of Canada in world history. Judging by the surname of Gouzenko, it seems he is of Ukrainian origins.

[@tinsley999]

This is so interesting! Hope you can tell some more interesting stories on Canadian spies working both for and against Canada's/western interests!

[@nickiewilson9134]

They just honoured the 90 year Natzi in the HOC,only in Canada under Trudope.😢

[@rmfoodreviews2201]

Awesome content, keep up the good work!

[@VonW0lf3N5t31N]

What a great video on a really interesting topic! I just found your channel through the Oh Canada song history story you told (which was also a great video). Thank you for bringing the tales of this country to life in such a magical way. I really do appreciate the passion in which you present our history. Thanks pal!

[@theBestInvertebrate]

These are really good... I am honestly kinda shocked, I wish you the best.

[@Vallee152]

I love your TV-style documentaries

[@theisekaiman789]

Awesome video it was very interesting and informative.

[@mightymicroworlds4566]

16:35 I explored one of these places. It was being renovated, and it was being watched.

[@Wuqz]

I feel like I've learned more about the history of my country/hometown from KZbin in a few weeks than I ever learned in school.

[@patrickdodson1713]

Fascinating story! I had no idea this happened in Ottawa. And speaking of bunkers, I think a good companion to this episode would be one about the NORAD bunker in North Bay.

[@petewerner1494]

Now I've learned a bit more of Canadian history! Thanks.

[@panama-canada]

10:31 classic Canadian safety and protection promises for you.

[@sarahnicolefaucher9027]

This is a good little video. I grew up during the Cold War and knew about Igor Gouzhenko, however I am finding so many young people know nothing about how Canada was instrumental in starting it. Presently, I am writing my autobiography from a child's point of view. Recently I found one young filmmaker who wants to make a proof of concept of my story. It is difficult to gain funds.

[@jeankelly2011]

Très intéressant merci. 🇨🇦

[@zachhiebert7926]

This is fantastic!

[@vancouveruzbekistan5350]

Gouzenko was born on January 26, 1919, in the village of Rogachev near Dmitrov, Moscow Governorate (now Moscow Oblast), 100 kilometres north-west of Moscow. He was of Ukrainian heritage,

[@theisekaiman789]

What a wonderful video.

[@SheldonT.]

I wonder what happen to the other clerks that worked at the Embassy faced on their return home? No way to know for sure, but it probably wasn't good.

[@Crashyocean]

Very interesting content, production and music design on a very high level, I'm surprised why so little subscribers and views. You guys deserve more, thanks for your work 👍👏

[@Canadiana]

Thanks for checking us out and for the kind words!

[@danalynbegin6991]

What an amazing exposé

[@trisgilmour]

Very crazy

[@jwillisbarrie]

Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf

[@yosefgamble5219]

This channel is underrated. Excellent quality and good enough to teach in schools.

[@MKPiatkowski]

What a cool story!

[@felill.a.9159]

Exhilarating events and presentation ♡

[@michaelniederer2831]

Good story, well told. Thanks.