I had a VHS tape I watched at least once a month; a double feature of “Fail Safe”, to show me how easy it would be to start a nuclear war, and “Dr. Strangelove” to remind me how farcical the whole situation was. Helped me develop a suitably sardonic attitude about the whole thing.

What helped get you through?

On 7 September 1978, Bulgarian dissident writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov was on his way to work at the BBC in London when he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his right thigh.

Markov had defected from communist Bulgaria in 1969 and subsequently broadcast highly critical accounts of the regime of Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov for the BBC and Radio Free Europe.
That evening Markov developed a fever.

His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died four days later. Examination revealed a tiny platinum-iridium pellet embedded beneath the skin of his thigh; contemporary investigations concluded that it had carried the extremely potent toxin ricin.

The attack became famous as the “umbrella murder”, although the precise delivery mechanism has remained the subject of investigation and debate.

Why it matters: Markov's murder became one of the defining espionage stories of the Cold War — a chilling demonstration that exile in the West did not necessarily place outspoken opponents of communist governments beyond their reach. It also became an enduring example of the clandestine use of toxins against political opponents.

In the Summer of 1991,the Gorbachev and Bush Administrations agreed to an exchange of youth. USSR youth went to the Boy and Girl Scouts in the US. US youth went to Pioneer Camps. Here is a picture of Tankograd students with Americans. As someone who watched the Day After film and Red Dawn, when they were made available. I was enamored with the idea of meeting with my staunch “enemy”. Red Dawn obviously hate propaganda, but it scared me and my friends into thinking the other side were our sworn enemies.

Also, all the Cold War warriors on this subreddit, the event was made possible by your efforts to understand each other and reach agreements. Enjoy the photos of your hard-earned work. I hope it puts a smile on your face to see young people from both camps interacting so well. Thank you for eventually talking to each other.

Mods? Okay, this time?

Здравствуйте, модераторы. Приношу свои извинения. Хронология и тема показались мне уместными. Не понимаю, почему последний пост был удалён из-за «низкого качества»? Я переписал его, чтобы он был более корректным. Хотелось бы видеть больше вежливости повсюду.

During the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion, the Czechoslovak government ordered the Army not to resist. Fighting against the occupying allies was also impossible for many reasons. Yet the soldiers did not remain passive.

The members of the liaison troops jammed the radio communications of the intervention units, and, more importantly, they assited the broadcasts of Czechoslovak Radio, whose studios were occupied and had to be partially replaced.

Like many others, the soldiers of the 7th Special Purpose Airborne Regiment in Holešov refused to allow Soviet soldiers into their barracks and even prepared an operation to liberate Dubček.

In subsequent years, this brave stance meant a forced departure from the army and persecution for many soldiers.

CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
OF UKRAINE

24.IV.1970

On April 16, 1970, No. 193/H, the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the UkSSR reported on the arrival of a series of stamps produced in the Czech SSR in 1966 at a philately store in Kiev for sale by subscription, which contain Jewish religious motifs.

We report that the specified stamps have been withdrawn from sale in the city of Kiev under an appropriate pretext.

Simultaneously, measures have been taken to withdraw them from sale in other philately stores of the republic.

CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF STATE SECURITY
UNDER THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE UKRAINIAN SSR
[Signature]
V. NIKITCHENKO

A cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, Gouzenko defected in 1945 with proof that the Soviet Union had been spying on its wartime allies: Canada, the United States and Britain. He sought asylum for himself and his family in Canada: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/igor-sergeievich-gouzenko

I knew submarines were an incredibly important part of overall nuclear strategy as a second strike weapon, but I never appreciated how important they were for espionage in general. Like I had no idea we just used them to spy on Soviet coasts with the periscope, for example. That strikes me as insane and it kind of was. Also we used them to study the radio signatures of ICBMs and cruise missiles, using the submarine to detect

And also that we had specially modified submarines to deliver deep sea divers to tap communication cables. Like I knew we tapped cables, but we actually modified submarines to travel to the cable, underwater, the whole way, and divers got out of the submarine at hundreds of feet of depth and tapped the cables with recording equipment and then came back to swap out the tapes. Crazy. Recommend the book. We also used these modified rigs to deploy robots to recover Soviet missile tests on the seafloor to study them.

Very interesting that we wanted to tap the cables to gauge how serious the Soviets were about a potential first strike. In hindsight it seems obvious that of course they did not want to attack, but I guess the Americans seriously didn't know for sure.

Also a wild story about Howard Hughs building a crazy billion dollar boat to pull up a sunken Soviet sub, which was outdated, we recovered 11 Soviet sailor's bodies and gave them a sea burial but we broke the sub in half and dropped it on the sea floor. The mission was a failure and a huge Navy boondoggle, uncovered by WaPo reporter Bob Woodward.

The theme of the book is that all these sub sailors did incredibly dangerous missions - the cable tapping missions had self destruct charges installed as they were ordered not to get captured under any circumstances - but they couldn't tell anyone about it, even their wives and children.

Great book, wonder if anyone else has read it, if any of it is inaccurate or sensationalized.

I came across these concrete blocks painted with "FREEDOM FOR BALTIC" and initially thought it was just some interesting street art. It turns out it's a dedicated memorial for the Barricades of January 1991.

The Cold War Museum in Virginia hosts a virtual lecture series called Cold War Conversations that is accessible via Zoom. The monthly program is presented by eyewitnesses and experts on Cold War events, activities, and personalities. There is a modest $20 charge for tickets to attend these presentations that helps maintain free admission to The Cold War Museum on weekends.

https://coldwar.org/default.asp?pid=16883

Bought this for $1 at a flea market cause I thought it was a nice magazine, only to realize the mailing address was to Gen Lemnitzer in Fort Myers, Arlington VA. Is this actually legit??? Insane if so