Cold War Conversations

When the Cold War split Berlin in half, between East and West, one neighbourhood was trapped in the middle and became a symbol of Cold War tensions.  For more than twenty years, the hamlet of Steinstücken was caught in a tug-of-war between the Americans, the Soviets and the East Germans.  Steinstücken officially belonged to the U.S. Occupation Sector of Berlin. But, it was located outside the city boundaries, completely surrounded by East German territory. No West Berlin-owned roads or trails connected it to the city. It was a de facto Western island in a Communist sea. We speak with Cold War veteran Don Smith the author of Steinstuecken: A Little Pocket of Freedom, a photo and fact-packed book which describes the challenges America faced in occupied Berlin and the personal stories of the citizens of Steinstücken who faced East German soldiers on a daily basis.  Buy the book here and support the podcast UK listeners https://amzn.to/3Aux9dW US listeners https://amzn.to/3r47PZi Don’s web site http://steinpocke

You will remember Karl-Heinz from our episode 218 where he talked about being a signaller on the West German destroyer "Hamburg" in the late 70s.  Today we follow his post navy life as a travelling supporter of football club HSV Hamburg where he followed them all over the Soviet bloc talks about watching them play Dynamo Berlin the Stasi side and drinking with Liverpool, Newcastle and Hamburg legend Kevin Keegan in a hotel bar in Tiblisi.  And his Cold War encounters don’t stop there. While working in Chile he met General Pinochet, the military dictator of Chile from 1973 to 1990 and living across the street from Margot Honecker the wife of East German leader Erich Honecker who was also an influential member of that country's Communist regime until 1989. If you have listened this far, I know you are enjoying the podcasts so I’m asking for one-off or monthly donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after

Karl-Heinz served in the Bundesmarine as a Signalman on the West German destroyer "Hamburg" in the late 70s.  He talks of his training, his role and shares details of manoeuvres in the North Sea and Baltics involving East German and Soviet ships. He also speaks about a cruise to West Africa where the sailors were briefed to stay away from any East German merchant marine sailors and not to engage with them in any form – he and his mates didn’t keep to the rules… If you have listened this far, I know you are enjoying the podcasts so I’m asking for one-off or monthly donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you, audio and other extras as well as basking in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written revi

After service in the US Army during the Vietnam War Bob Wallace was recruited into the CIA.  In the CIA his initial assignments were as a field case officer. He rose through the ranks at the agency and was Chief of Station in three locations where he directed the full range of CIA activities.  In 1995 Bob became deputy director of the Office of Technical Service and in 1998 was appointed its director responsible for creating spy devices and capabilities necessary to conduct clandestine operations with safety and security. In other words, Bob was the "Q" of the CIA. Buy Bob's book here UK listeners https://amzn.to/3pBDrF4 US listeners  https://amzn.to/3qvX0xD This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one-off or monthly donations Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/for for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold

Bob Wallace joined the US Army in 1968 as a reluctant conscript. He describes the draft process, and his attempts to avoid conscription.  After basic training, Bob is assigned to a long range reconnaissance unit and ambush unit in five or six man teams in the Mekong delta. We hear of the reconnaissance and ambush tactics as well as some poignant memories of those that didn’t make it back. This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one off or monthly donations Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook. I am delighted to welcome Bob Wallace to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode216/ 0:00 Introduction and r

Refusenik was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc. The term refusenik is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities. Eric Hochstein was a staff member for Senator Carl Levin of Michigan working on human rights. Human rights were a big issue for Senator Levin.  Eric went as part of a standard commercial tour of the SU for two weeks from Sep 28th,1980, where he visited Moscow, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odessa, and Leningrad. Eric and his colleagues used this trip to peel off and visit various Refusenik families to bring them news, messages and supplies.  Only protected by a US passport and a tourist visa Eric travelled by public transport under surveillance from the KGB carrying supplies for the families included Levi jeans which were better than money in the Soviet Union of the 1980s.  0:00 I

Today’s episode is different. Brett Elliott died earlier this year and I was contacted by his ex-wife Polly who offered me a cassette tape.  Polly and Brett had met in college and got to know each other in Russian Club at Oklahoma State. In the summer of 1991, they went to Moscow to pursue Polly’s goal of being a reporter in Russia and Brett’s goal of further studying Russia.  They both worked together covering the Bush Gorbachev summit, with Polly as a reporter and Brett as an interpreter. Polly left Russia early, but Brett stayed a few weeks more and witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union, August 19-21, 1991. During a rare phone call, Polly begged him to be careful, and he famously said she was worse than the coup leaders if she wanted to deny him getting out to witness history… Polly's book is available on the links below US Listeners https://amzn.to/3mEuPMa UK listeners https://amzn.to/3CLuHjy We have photos here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode214/ This podcast relies on listener support

John Andrews joined the Royal Navy in 1981 and went on to serve aboard the HMS Repulse, one of the UK’s Polaris nuclear missile submarines from 1982. His role was Missile Compartment Control Patrol which included security of the nuclear missile compartment as well as assisting in the maintenance of the missile tubes and the nuclear missiles themselves.  John shares details of life aboard the ship including missile launch tests, alcohol, practical jokes, escape procedures from a submerged submarine and many more. This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one-off or monthly donations Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook. Now, this episode was recorded at the Hack Green Nuclear Bun

I speak with Colin Ferguson a veteran from the British Army‘s covert Special Observation Post Troop which was founded in 1982. The "stay behind" Special OP Troop consisted of selected soldiers in 6 man patrols whose task was to dig in large underground hides known as "mexe" shelters along the inner German border. They would then allow the main Soviet forces to pass over them before deploying to two smaller observation posts (Ops) where they would engage the enemy with the long-range guns and rockets of the British Army. Colin, covers in detail, selection, training and deployment as well as how the mexes were constructed. Do check out Colin’s podcast, “The Unconventional Soldier” which offers first-hand accounts of past conflicts, military history, book and film reviews, plus guests, dits and digression This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one off o

Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. There was community and hope. Then, in December 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back. Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict. As one generation's aspirations became another's disillusionment, and as her o

On 17 July 1975 the first manned international space mission, carried out jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union. Millions of people around the world watched on television as a United States Apollo module docked with a Soviet Union Soyuz capsule.  The project, and its memorable handshake in the heavens, was a symbol of détente between the two superpowers during the Cold War, and it is generally considered to mark the end of the Space Race. Unthinkable only years earlier the Apollo–Soyuz mission was made possible by the thaw Soviet-US relations. According to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, "The Soviet and American spacemen will go up into outer space for the first major joint scientific experiment in the history of mankind. They know that from outer space our planet looks even more beautiful. It is big enough for us to live peacefully on it, but it is too small to be threatened by nuclear war.” Our guest is Cold War Conversations favourite, author Stephen Walker, the author of Beyond: The Astonishing

Now, what do you think of when you hear the name Leonid Brezhnev who ruled the Soviet Union for 18 years from the 1960s to the 1980s?  An old guy waving weakly from the Lenin mausoleum? Well, think again! We speak with Susanne Schattenberg, the author of a new biography that systematically dismantles the stereotypical and one-dimensional view of Brezhnev as the stagnating Stalinist by drawing on a wealth of archival research and documents not previously studied in English.  The Brezhnev that emerges is a complex one, from his early apolitical years, as an aspiring actor and poetry fan, through his swift and surprising rise through the Party ranks.  We talk about his hitherto misunderstood role in Khrushchev's ousting and appointment as his successor, to his somewhat pro-Western foreign policy aims, deft consolidation and management of power, and ultimate descent into addiction and untimely death.  For Schattenberg, this is the story of a flawed and ineffectual idealist - for the West, this biography makes a

Fred Weir was a third-generation red diaper baby from Toronto and a long-time member of the Communist Party. His uncle, trained at the Lenin School in Moscow in the 1920s as an agent of the Communist International, the Comintern and spent many years in the USSR. Fred had visited a few times, had studied Russian history up to the graduate level, but never wanted to live there until Gorbachev came to power in 1985. The new general secretary, the party’s first to be born after the revolution, talked, unlike any Communist leader since the original Bolsheviks. Suddenly, there was the electrifying prospect of socialism powered from below, a system focused on creative human potential rather than crop statistics.  Now I know some of you skip this bit, but if you want to continue hearing these Cold War stories I’m asking listeners to pledge a monthly donation of at least $4, £3 or €3 per month to help keep the podcast on the air, although larger amounts are welcome too.  If you donate monthly via Patreon or Buy Me a C

For almost half a century, the hottest front in the Cold War was right across Berlin. From summer 1945 until 1990, spying was part of everyday life in both East and West Berlin. I speak with historian Bernd von Kostka of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Dahlem who has co-authored with Sven Felix Kellerhoff the book Capital of Spies: Intelligence agencies in Berlin during the Cold War recently published by Casemate. The book describes the spectacular successes and failures of the various secret services based in the city and in this episode we will concentrate on one of the chapters detailing the work of the various Allied listening stations. Buy "Capital of Spies" and support the podcast here UK Listeners https://amzn.to/3mFb3jK US Listeners https://amzn.to/3waLwSL This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one off or monthly donations Just go to http

In 1985, an eighteen-year-old named Riho Terras arrived at the Soviet armed forces’ large conscript assessment facility in Tallinn obeying his conscription orders. Little did he know that 26 years later he would be a NATO General. Riho shares his experiences in the Soviet Navy with us in some detail. We hear about his service on the Soviet frigate Zadornyy including trips to the Mediterranean and Cuba as well as monitoring NATO warships. Riho also shares his experiences of Estonian independence and the challenges of converting the country into an independent nation. I’m extremely grateful to Elisabeth Braw, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who facilitated this interview via her Englebert Ideas essay. Thanks to all of you for listening to the podcast. It is an absolute passion for me to save these stories from being forgotten and sharing them weekly for free for everyone to hear.  Whilst this is a passion, I am asking if each listener could make either a one-off or better still sign up fo

I talk with the writers and editors of Terrorism in the Cold War a new two volume book that uses a wide range of case studies including Polish Military Intelligence and Its Secret Relationship with the Abu Nidal Organization and Gladio – Myth and Reality: The Origins and Function of Stay Behind in the Case of Post-war Austria.  The book sheds new light on the relations between state and terrorist actors, allowing for a fresh and much more insightful assessment of the contacts, dealings, agreements and collusion with terrorist organizations undertaken by state actors on both sides of the Iron Curtain. You will learn that these state-terrorism relationships were not only much more ambiguous than much of the older literature had suggested but are, in fact, crucial for the understanding of global political history in the Cold War era. If you are enjoying the podcast I could use some support to enable me to continue recording these incredible stories. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the

Emanuela Grama was born in the mid-1970s’ in a small provincial town in Eastern Romania. She provides us with a great insight into life in the Romanian provinces during the 1980s.  Emanuela lived in a small two-bedroom flat and tells of her parents working in a factory while her grandparents looked after her. Her father listened secretly to Radio Free Europe and collected stamps so he could legitimately write to people in the West. Her parents told her not to talk at school about what was said at home and to be very careful what she said to friends. Emanuela vividly recalls the day the revolution started in 1989, Emanuela was at home alone and she described the instant atmosphere of change and the weeks and months after.  We also hear about Emanuela’s book, Socialist Heritage: The Politics of Past and Place in Romania which traces the transformation of Bucharest’s Old Town district where under socialism, politicians and professionals used the district’s historic buildings to emphasize the city’s Romanian

Pete Curran served with BRIXMIS, the British Military Liaison Mission in East Germany. Their operation was established by a post-WWII Allied occupation forces' agreement, where British, US and French missions had relative freedom to travel and collect intelligence throughout East Germany from 1947 until 1990.  Pete’s story starts with details of his vetting interview, driver training, and his first tour in East Germany. We also hear of the intelligence scoops he was involved in and some of his close scrapes while evading both the Soviets and the Stasi including one with a Soviet helicopter. We also hear of the role of the driver in the three-man teams, the incredible camaraderie of the unit, as well as the pressure on their loved ones.  I know from my stats that a lot of you really enjoy the podcast. It is an absolute passion for me to save these stories from being forgotten and sharing them weekly for free for everyone to hear.  Whilst this is a passion, I am asking if each listener could make either a one-o

Frank Olson was an American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and employee of the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. In 1953 at a meeting in rural Maryland, he was covertly dosed with LSD by his boss Sidney Gottlieb, who was the head of the CIA's MKUltra mind control program. Nine days later, Olson plunged to his death from the window of the Hotel Statler. The U.S. government first described his death as a suicide, and then as misadventure, while others allege murder. The story was made into the Netflix film "Wormwood". I speak with Paul Vidich, the acclaimed author of The Coldest Warrior, An Honorable Man, The Good Assassin and The Mercenary. He is also the nephew of Frank Olson.   UK link to Paul Vidich Books US link to Paul Vidich Books This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one-off or monthly donations Just go to http

Squadron Leader John Robinson AFC (ret’d) was an RAF pilot who was tasked to fly into the mushroom clouds of nuclear bomb tests to capture samples at Operation Buffalo at Maralinga in 1956, and Operation Grapple, at Christmas Island in 1957.  He tells of his recruitment into RAF, initial training and his cloud sampling missions as well his experiences of watching the tests from as little as five miles away.  It is reckoned that over 22,000 British servicemen participated in the British and American nuclear tests and clean-ups between 1952-1965, along with scientists from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment and civilians. The majority of men have passed away, and around a tenth of the men remain. I was honoured that the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNVTA) invited me to their annual reunion and enabled me to capture some of their veterans’ stories.  I could really use your help to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter, you will get