The KGB Spies Next Door (368)

[@hakangustavsson3538]

Incredibly interesting interview! For anyone interested in this important cold war case it is a goldmine. When I learned years ago thar the daughter became a journalist I always thought it would be so interesting to hear her being interviewed. And now I encountered this gem. Thank you so much! Greetings from Sweden

[@hughtierney9109]

she was sometimes to be seen on TV gardening programmes in the UK where I'm from. I remember her.

[@ColdWarConversations]

Thanks for listening. I’ve always been fascinated by the Krogers/Cohens and to be able to speak with someone who was so intimately involved was incredible.

[@aldoner3]

Thanks

[@ColdWarConversations]

Thanks for your support and thanks for listening!

[@lostsince76]

If this interview could last for 4 hrs. .. I would be soooo in to it. 😊

[@ColdWarConversations]

Thanks. It was a facinating account.

[@scottpeterMA]

Wonderful!

[@ColdWarConversations]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@KipIngram]

2:52 - What people tend to forget is that when you're just living life, usually you don't WANT there to be "exciting" things going on.

[@ENWWN]

"I'll never forgive your mother for what she did". What hubris.

[@geoffbrown9054]

So rare to hear the long term impact on a family caught up in events out of their control but forced to play a central role. I feel Mrs Search was utterly failed by authorities who seemed to offer no support to help her cope long-term, after the arrests were made. Shameful. A great programme which I'll listen to many times, thanks.

[@ColdWarConversations]

Indeed. Thanks for listening. I’ve always been fascinated by the Krogers/Cohens and to be able to speak with someone who was so intimately involved was incredible.

[@geoffbrown9054]

It was just a superb interview. Gay's mother must have been deeply conflicted and on top of that, in the traditional British way, not able to talk about it. Heart breaking. I also felt 'Helen's' reaction in prison at being 'betrayed' by her neighbour was somewhat jaw dropping but typical nonetheless.

[@myriaddsystems]

Some layout or illustration of this "geography" would have been nice

[@ColdWarConversations]

Np. There are episode extras for every episode. For this episode it is here and includes a map. coldwarconversations.com/episode368/

[@KipIngram]

26:36 - I think for 15 year old Gay to stay silent just shows that even as a teen she, at some level, understood the seriousness of the situation. Teenagers make light of everything - it's one of their trademarks - but they're also pretty smart and are catching on to the ways of the world, even if they don't consciously realize it. It was just something that was "big enough" that blabbing about it was unwise. I'm also not surprised that she didn't doubt the whole thing, in spite of lacking "personal evidence." Back then we hadn't gotten to this time of distrusting every move our government makes yet - people generally DID trust the authorities and took them at their word. It's really the way we all WISH things could be, but unfortunately our governments haven't behaved in a way that let us do it these days - there is so much more information (and disinformation) available to us now than there was then. It's not surprising how things have changed.

[@bernardkealey6449]

First I’d ever heard a recording of their voices; how on earth did they ever pull off being Canadian???

[@michaelclennan8425]

Did anyone ever ask where Helens accent came from?

[@ColdWarConversations]

Incredibly not it would seem. In suburban Ruislip in the 1950s different North American accents would most likely have seemed almost the same. Do check out our other Portland Spy episodes which go onto more detail on this case.

[@aldoner3]

The accent sounds New York Jewish to me

[@michaelclennan8425]

MI -5 sounds incompetent.

[@FrederickBowdler]

Did she have a thick accent?