◆ SpookStack

“After” Dungu que, —it_the ‘gummérot Fae, I was again in London. Here all of a sud- den I entered the: British secret a nment on from Soviet intelligence. Be- fore that, ffom 1935 to 1937, I repea went, also on assignmen@from the center, to Berlin, Where I had met with many prominent Nazi chiefs and most of all with Ribbentrop.” _ Talks With Nazi Leader “Won't you tell us, com- rade Kim, about this in more detail, and particularly about your meeting with Ribben- trop?” “As ‘Ll have already told you, I had the reputation of a pro-Fascist, which was a great advantage for my work. I. was an active member of the Anglo-German Friendship Society, and while Ribben- trop was Ambassador to Lon- don, I made close cpntact with him. Then he became Foreign Minister under Hit-: ler, but our meetings did aot’ cease. Every time | came to Berlin Ribbentrop gave me a warm welcome at Unter Den Linden. The information! gat from him was interesting. I must say, by the way, that Ribbentrop was himself a very dull and mediocre per- sonality, ~_ eee - > Se, Comrade kim, you are now ig the British intelligence service.” a ae | “Yes, now a new period of my Hfe has started. Soon afterwards Fascist Germany treacherously atttacked the Soviet Union; 1 did all I could to aid the peoples of Britain, the Soviet Union, France and the other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition to defeat Fascist Germany. At that period, all Soviet agents had no other thought, no aim in life, ether than to contribute to the swiftest defeat of Nazism.” Comrade Philby is obvious- ly modest. For example, he did not say anything about his own direct contribution to the cause of struggle against the Fascist enslavers, But his colleagues és us that Kim Philby’s work helped to neu- tralize many German agents who had been sent to Britain as well as the Soviet Union. He was also the first to send inforeetion on the Fascists’ _intention to use néy ds of rel: Se ey Jw, millfary techniques Soviet front. Philby’s work helped to save the lives of thousands of Soviet people. “And how did you work in the British intelligence sery- ce?” ; . MI-S and MI-€ =” | “I went up the service: , Staircase. A year later I be. came deputy chief one of the MI-6 departments.” —_. “MI-6-——-what does. me mean?” “There are two secret sery- ices in Britain: MI-5 is the! code name of the counter! intelligence service. MI-6 is the secret intelligence service itself.” “The western press noted that your rapid progress was explained by extraordinary, rare qualities~you were the best marksman, you had iron herves and, apparently, what. is also important, you at- tracted people by -your -tharm, Is this true?" . “Well, it is hard for-me to Judge, but things went well, though life was not all that simple. I was up against the razor blag: ach meeting with 2 liaison man was a big risk for me. - Co “I specialized in the sub. versive activities against “Communist” countries, be- came an expert and when, in -544, I was appointed chief ' of the secret service depart- ment working against the U.S,S.R. and the international . Communist movement, no-| bedy was surprised. The department was shortly re- named ‘Anti-Communist Serv- | ice” You can imagine what kind of information I was able to send to Moscow." “Comrade Kim, the West- ern press says that you were the third man of importance -in the British secret service and that you could have someday headed the entirb British intelligence service because of your ability and rapid rise. Is that true “I did my job, they were satisfied with me. In 1946 j was awarded the Order of the British Empire.” Then Kim Philby turns his. memory back to the Turkish period. Early in the summer of 1947 he was sent as Brit. ish secret service resident in Istanbul, using. diplomatic cover, It su e.most im- pork of operation : Maoh RT . ae es a 2 Fa Ny CA hen EE on a he then. The intelligerres—couy- ices of Weslern countries had concentrated their best forces there, close to the bor- ders of the Soviet Union, Bul- garia and other Socialist countries, Istanbul became the center for the intelligence operations of the cold war. Kim Philby worked tire- lessly, often on London's orders, to organize any kind \of “action,” and visited the Soviet border in the Ararat _Tegion. Ships passing through the Bosporus were the object of his people’s observations. In this giant “town of 500 mosques” was spuh a com- ‘plicated web of political in- trigues and _ conspiracies. from Kim Philby came a& huge, flow o @ erost—radu- able “intormtion sbout the Workpof_the AngloAmarican services from the territory of the country against the Soviet Uniou, Everything that is of interest to Soviet intelligence, that is import- ant for the strengthening of the Socialist camp, was quickly transmitted to Mos- ' cow. Kim Philby had to work 24 hours a day, “It was easier for James Bond,” he quips. “How good things were in the novels of my old friend, Ian Fleming. Bond's only worries were gay holidays and amorous in- trigues.” “What, did you also know Fleming?" , “Of course. He also ; worked in the secret service. He was aide to the Director /of Naval Intelligence, Gra- ham Greene~also ai cal- league of mine from those days—worked in intelligence. Today he is actually a great , and respected writer.” _ Kim Philby points to one of this bookshelves. It is filled with various editions of nov- els by Greene. . “Now that the conversa- tion ‘has turned to authors, | Perhaps, Comrade Kim, you - , would tell us the Secret of , your literary tastes?” | ‘That Is a Big Question’ i. “That is a big question,” | he says. “I would have to say too many nates. There would ‘be Dickens and Tolstoy, Dos-~ toyevsky and Balzac, Tur- _Benev and Chekhov. Of mod- ,erm authors,’ apart from. ' Gree ysed tg Mks, Stein- beck. However, J Garr erm Of Atha os | stand, why wrote about Vie . . am pik cna ‘was able to bring the major- ity of books that I have been collecting all my life¢a Mos- cow and that they are with me now.” “If you don’t mind, let us return to intelligence,” we say. “From 1949 to 1951, I “headed the English intelli- gence liaison - mission in Washington. Tasks connected cwith links between the two intelligence services were only the external part of my activity, London = entrusted me& on the one hand, with the task of consulting the -C.LA,, as far as possibie with guiding the institution, which was still young at this time. On the other hand, I was ‘faced with the extremely dif- ficult task of defending the British secret service against the C.LA., which was show- ing clear intentions of swal!- - | lowing its ally. I turned up in j the fair of American intel! . gence. In fact, at this time T ‘formed close ties with both Allen Dulles and with the present Director of the C.1LA., Richard Helms, as well as ie J. Edgar Hoover, the BL, chief." —-—+ “Would it be possible for you, Comrade Kim, to give some kind of brief character sketch of these élite figures in American intelligence?” “It is hard to do it briefly, but 1 will try.” He smiles as he thinks to himself. “Dulles, as you know, was the first civilian to head the CIA, He was cautious in his relations with people, but in fact had a haughty attitude toward them. He did not thoroughty inves- tigate matters and, I would say, for all his aggressive- ness, he was a dilettante. The best example of this was the adventure over the invasion of Cuba, which was such a shameful failure. It is consid- ered that he got the job thanks to his brother, John Foster Dulles, then the Sec- reatry of State. ‘Exceptionally Discreet’ ' “The next—Helms. I did my best to develop the mast cordial relationship with him. It is easy to work with this man, though his is exception- ally discreet, Helms did not invent gunpowder.’ He, of course, is not Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, a one-time C.1.A.. _ chief. He is more of aff in- ‘triguer than a specialist in his trade. As a ‘C.LA. man once said to me, Helms is | connected, with, a. certain | influential ” politicat “group, ;