CIA Spymaster_George Kisevalter Read online

  CIA SpyMaster

  SpyMaster

  Clarence Ashley

  Foreword by Leonard McCoy

  For George's old buddies in the clandestine operations group, who went

  unheralded, who did not get medals, and yet who continued on in their

  service, rewarded only by the self-satisfaction that they received from

  knowing that they had done something worthwhile.

  Contents

  Foreword 9

  Prologue 13

  Acknowledgments 19

  Part I: The Good Soldier

  Chapter 1 The Old Guard 27

  Chapter 2 Russian Legacy 43

  Chapter 3 Olive Drab 52

  Chapter 4 The Central Intelligence Agency 64

  Part II: Popov

  Chapter 5 The Peasant 81

  Chapter 6 Ferdi 98

  Chapter 7 Reunited 109

  Chapter 8 Berlin 116

  Chapter 9 Tradecraft 127

  Part III: Penkovsky

  Chapter 10 The Letter 141

  Chapter 11 The Man from the Caucasus 154

  Chapter 12 Common Purpose 189

  Chapter 13 City of Light 205

  Chapter 14 Missile Crises 214

  Chapter 15 Reflections 227

  Part IV: The Reluctant Warrior

  Chapter 16 Turkish Rondo 237

  Chapter 17 Associations 246

  Chapter 18 Cherepanov 252

  Chapter 19 The Ukrainian 264

  Chapter 20 Sasha 277

  Chapter 21 Mementos 290

  Chapter 22 Taps 307

  Epilogue 315

  Notes 325

  Index 345

  Foreword

  George Kisevalter's story is part of the epic struggle during the last century to determine which set of governing principles would prevail in civilized societies. The world from which he came, Tsarist Russia, was dying. But even as he left it for America in 1915, a new one was forming, one with new leaders determined to wrench Russia out of its feudal traditions, relieve the oppression inflicted for centuries on the majority of its rural population, and set it on a path of industrialization and economic growth befitting its potential. Any such objective, with the great obstacles and uncharted course its champions faced, however, was obliterated by the cunning and vicious assault led against the nascent Russian democracy by a coterie of Marxist theorists. The civil war that their actions provoked then raged on in George's background. One after another, his friends and relatives were swept up into the war or driven out of Russia and into a drifting population that journeyed to all corners of the globe, often only to spend a generation and then move on.

  While its origins may be different, the violent end to Tsarist rule in Russia had remarkable similarity to the changes precipitated in America by its own Civil War. The Russian serfs and the American slaves had occupied similar positions in their respective societies, and their liberation was a crucial theme in the two civil wars. In Russia, however, liberation was only a slogan, a rhetorical theme, mobilizing the serfs to help subjugate those elements that opposed the seizure of power by Marxist theorists. The nobility of Russia, of* course, were natural enemies of those about to launch an irrational social experiment across a region whose area was one-sixth of the land mass of the entire world. As with the slave-holding families of the old South, the Russian upper classes contributed to the circumstances of their downfalls, but the consequences of the years of violence that then descended upon the two societies were diametrically opposite. Whereas America erased the blot of slavery that overshadowed the nation's developing grandeur, Soviet Russia brought forth tyranny that was to generate wave after wave of callous and brutal exploitation of its people for the benefit of its unprincipled leadership, the so-called "Nomenklatura."

  The ensuing problems in U.S.-Soviet relations during the 1920s and 1930s abruptly seemed irrelevant, however, when both nations were drawn into World War II as allies in the fight with Germany. At that time, George became an integral and unique part of the U.S. effort to supply massive amounts of war materiel to the USSR. The period of direct contact between the national military teams formed in this common goal nonetheless demonstrated a lack of Soviet gratitude as well as a high degree of Soviet suspicion of Americans and American motives. The war was hardly won when the U.S. began to discover overwhelming evidence of hostile espionage activity conducted against the U.S. by its ally, the Soviet Union.

  The postwar conflict between the U.S. and Soviet societies threatened more than once to involve the world in a new conflagration that could mean the end of the human race. Nevertheless, awareness of its involvement in this mortal conflict by a trusting, idealistic, even naive America was slow in coming. Some Americans, like many in other countries, were deceived by Soviet propaganda into collaborating in the oppression of the Russian people as well as the people of Eastern Europe and Asia. Even when defectors came to the U.S. out of the Soviet regime and revealed some of its tyranny, listeners too often doubted the news' validity as well as the motives of the messengers, or erroneously minimized the damage that Soviet espionage and propaganda were then inflicting upon America.

  Fully appreciating the conflict between these two nations was the preoccupation of the adult life of George and is the basis of the debt that we all owe him. The profession in which he become a giant was first abolished in the United States as the war ended, then was reestablished as Soviet political intentions in Eastern Europe-and Soviet espionage against the U.S.-became apparent. The newly formed Central Intelligence Agency then began to assemble information from all sources to help us to understand the Soviet leadership, their intentions, their plans, and their capabilities. Draconian controls on Soviet society made this task practically impossible, while Soviet threats and hostile actions, particularly in Berlin, intensified. A nuclear confrontation between the two countries seemed ineluctably closer with each crisis. The requirement for accurate and detailed information on Soviet intentions grew ever more urgent. At precisely this point, George took his place in the Plato's cave shadows of Cold War history.

  In 1953 the United States still knew very little about the Soviet regime and its plans. Early that year, a Soviet Military Intelligence officer in the Soviet Southern Group of Forces occupying Austria volunteered to provide the U.S. with significant information. George took his Russian heritage, his extensive knowledge of Russian history, as well as his masterful fluency in the Russian language to Vienna and met the officer. The interview provided our first indepth knowledge of Soviet military capabilities. More importantly, it began to give us insight into the Soviet mentality as it viewed the western world-and particularly the United States. The American government consequently began to develop some confidence that it could evaluate Soviet intentions, and that it had a reliable glimpse into Soviet capabilities. The CIA then realized that George was the only individual capable of efficiently working with this agent. George followed the officer to Germany in 1956 and maintained the flow of invaluable information until the man's ultimate return to Moscow in 1958.

  Perhaps George's most vital contribution to our national security came in 1961, when a Soviet Military Intelligence officer senior to George's former contact provided information of staggering value. Again, the CIA reaffirmed its belief that only George was the appropriate conduit for the stream of information this man was to provide. The Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom concluded the same. This Soviet officer had access to the highest levels of the Soviet government and over the next two years, the intelligence information that accrued from this liaison significantly elevated our level of confidence in dealing with the USSR. This increased understanding of Soviet t
hinking may well have drawn us back from the very brink of nuclear war on at least two occasions: the Berlin crisis during the autumn of 1961 and the Cuban missile crises in October of 1962. George's remarkable knowledge of Russian history and language and, above all, his immutable love and understanding of his fellow man, Russian or otherwise, provided much of the intelligence on which our national policies were based until the collapse of the USSR. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that George played an important part in ensuring our very existence.

  LEONARD MCCOY

  Retired senior CIA officer and longtime professional associate and friend of George Kisevalter

  Prologue

  On April 26, 1999, the Central Intelligence Agency, with unusual fanfare, named its headquarters facility in McLean, Virginia "The George Bush Center for Intelligence." The Honorable George Bush, former president of the United States, who directed the Agency from January 1976 to January 1977, was in attendance for the festivities that extended throughout much of the beautiful spring day. Later that afternoon, in a subdued ceremony with a limited number of attendees present, another dedication took place in one of the small suites of the former headquarters building. There, the George Bush Chair for Leadership was presented to its first recipient, Allen D. Smith. Concomitant with that award was the dedication of the Kisevalter Center for Advanced Studies, to be led by Mr. Smith. CIA director George C. Tenet chaired the proceedings and, in his speech of dedication, recalled some of George G. Kisevalter's traits of character, personality, and ability. He then introduced former president Bush, who spoke some kind words to the memory of George Kisevalter, as did Jack G. Downing, deputy director for Plans at the CIA, the clandestine operations group. Finally, Mr. Smith rose, applauded George's career, and spoke fondly of him. Other than the naming of the headquarters complex for President Bush, no other facility at the Agency had ever been named for an individual.

  Who was George G. Kisevalter? Certainly, I would not presume to write the definitive story of the man, but I can describe those facets of hire that I came to know by simply listening to him and to others who knew him before I did. My association with George did not come about until 1973 after both of us had left the Agency. His departure was in conformance with the Agency requirement of mandatory retirement at age sixty; mine was related to my desire simply to do other things after almost six years there. He labored in the world termed "Human Intelligence," managing spies. I worked first as an intelligence analyst, trying to piece together the mosaic of Soviet missile systems, and later as a systems analyst helping to develop computer models that could facilitate evaluations of major collection programs. Our paths did not cross. Although some of his contributions were legendary, I had never heard much of his activities except for the Oleg V. Penkovsky case, and I had never heard of George Kisevalter, himself. While the principal reason for this lack of awareness was the considerable amount of compartmentalization of the highly classified information involved, a routine requirement for security purposes, it was also due to limited interest on my part, at the time.

  Years later, we were in each other's presence for long periods of time, while working in our real-estate practice, and George began to share with me some of the anecdotes of his fascinating life. I then began to appreciate his life and work. By that time, his intelligence exploits were mostly declassified and, in some instances, known by the general public. He went further back, telling me of the simple trials experienced by an only child growing up in a world that, although privileged, was in constant turmoil and change. He included accounts of experiences with famous people and told how he had profited from the advantages that were presented to him. With a remarkable attention to detail, he described complicated relationships among the numerous players in these narratives and their multiple agendas. He had an adroit memory from which he could recall the most remote facts of history as well as the incredible minutiae of complex scientific discoveries. He was fluent in four languages and competent in at least four others. He could recall just which Swedish princess had married which Spanish prince and which English count had wed which Hungarian lady, for multiple generations. He could recite the railroad gauges of virtually all of the train systems in the world, and he could explain agricultural phenomena as well as any professional agronomist. He indeed was a storehouse of facts and knowledge, most of which were extremely interesting.

  For his work with Soviet intelligence officer Lt. Col. Pyotr Popov in the 1950s, George was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest award one can obtain at the CIA without giving one's life. For his work with another Soviet intelligence officer, Col. Oleg Penkovsky, George received a Certificate of Merit with Distinction. Less than two months before his death in October of 1997, George was selected as one of fifty "unique contributors" in the fifty-year history of the CIA and was presented with the newly established Trailblazers Award. He alone was recognized with this award for his work as a case officer (spymaster). He was the first case officer promoted to supergrade rank (GS-16), a status reserved almost exclusively for managers of major programs involving many personnel. Even today, it is quite rare for non-managerial personnel-the collectors of information, the sorters of data, the analysts, the case officers, the writers of reports-to be awarded such a rank.

  After much prompting on my part, in October of 1991 George allowed me to record some of the stories of his life. At that time our only reason for doing this was to provide a record for his daughter, Eva, so that she would know something of her family. He was one of the few known, living, direct descendants of what had been an extensive, prominent Russian family. After recording about eight hours of mostly family history, we made rough, unedited transcripts of the conversations and filed them away.

  In October of 1997, less than a month before he died, George agreed to let me piece together a rudimentary biography. We made about ten additional hours of tapes. Although some of the more recent tapes were difficult to understand because of his health, most of them guided me to a number of intriguing avenues. Following his death, I took these clues and pursued the full stories from his friends and associates. Many were eager to help. Fortunately for me, George documented his life as no one I have ever known. I collected boxes of personal materials from his daughter and commenced digging in. There are hundreds of photos, years of records (e.g., grammar school report cards from the 1920s, and financial logs of 1932), extensive correspondence (some recent, some over eighty years old and written in Russian), and other artifacts of his life. Some materials were trivial (World War II gasoline ration stamps). Some, such as old passports, which indicated when and where he had traveled, were important to me. Some-a bundle of old letters-describe a family's struggle with vast historical changes. This incredible clutter provided a timeline of George's life.

  With this as the basic framework, I recalled the many wonderful stories that he had told me over the years and inserted them into their proper places in the sequence. The tapes and the details later supplied by those who knew George augmented his earlier accounts. Through this process I have tried to convey a good portion of his life. In many cases, then, the anecdotes are a synthesis of conversations with George. None of the conversations is completely verbatim, but they all are accurate representations of talks that we actually had. I have also transposed parts of some conversations in order to present an understandable chronology of events, but I tried to retain the original flavor of George's storytelling ability.

  Many of George's operational activities at the CIA have been written about. CIA SpyMaster addresses these, as well as other operations, in a more personal way than heretofore provided. In addition, it presents a reasonably complete life history of the man in the form of his own intriguing stories, and it attempts to capture a bit of George's incredible spirit. He was a fascinating individual, and the lessons of his life are worthwhile for all to consider. He spent his life among the wealthy, the famous, and the powerful, yet he had great humility. He had great advantages in life but neve
r let these experiences affect him in any but a positive way. His life was full of sadness, but he had a wonderful sense of humor and a positive outlook. He was one of the most capable of men, with abilities that bordered on genius, but he was extremely modest. But it is equally true that George was not perfect. He was human, and I have tried to convey, accurately, his shortcomings as well as his strengths, as best I could.

  George could have been successful in many walks of life. Since he elected to dwell in the world of intelligence, however, the reader might recognize that these pages provide an intimate keyhole through which one might peek into the fascinating modus operandi of a classic CL case officer. No doubt the reader will conclude that these experiences are described quite differently from those observed in most fictional accounts of espionage. Perhaps, as I have, he or she will find them to be every bit as dramatic and exciting, and a little more inspirational than those conjured-up fantasies. More importantly, all of these tales are true.

  Each of our lives can be defined by a series of little stories. These are the stories of a man who witnessed momentous events in the world during his lifetime. Among them were two world wars, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Great Depression, and three separate collapses of the governments of Russia, the land of his origin. He was a part of those events, and his experiences were a classic example of how one may use his time and talents to create a useful life, one story at a time. He was a friend of mine as well as that of so many who knew him. I believe that his stories are both interesting and instructive. I would like to share them with you.

  Acknowledgments

  While preparing this book, I approached many of George's former associates for help. Almost everyone wished to contribute-a testament, I think, to his ability to make and keep good friends. Their help is deeply appreciated.