A Cold War US Soldier defects to East Germany (61)

A Cold War US Soldier defects to East Germany (61)

What could make a privileged 24-year-old American serving in the US Army in Germany in 1952 to swim across the Danube River to what was then the Soviet Zone? Victor Grossman who was born Stephen Wechsler but changed his name after defecting to the GDR. A child of the Depression, Grossman grew up in an environment that nurtured a commitment to left-wing causes. He continued his involvement with Communist activities as a student at Harvard in the late 1940s and after graduation, when he took jobs in factories in Buffalo, New York and tried to organize their workers. After being drafted into the US Army and fearful of his discovery as a communist Grossman ended up in GDR with other Western defectors, He was able to establish himself as a freelance journalist, lecturer and author. Travelling through East Germany he saw the failures as well as the successes of the GDR's "socialist experiment". While some of you will disagree with Victor's views, his first-hand account of his experiences is an important part of Cold War history. We start my Cold War Conversation with Victor telling us about this early life in the United States. Episode 2 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode69/ Radio GDR If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(449)

MI6 Director Looks Back at His Time in Cold War Berlin (449)

MI6 Director Looks Back at His Time in Cold War Berlin (449)

Former Legal Director MI5 & MI6.David Bickford takes us behind the scenes of one of the most unusual and precarious postings of the Cold War. Arriving in Berlin in 1979, the city is still technically...

28 Mar 1h 17min

An officer in The Internal Troops of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (448)

An officer in The Internal Troops of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (448)

Ihor reflects on his time serving as an officer in the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Interior troops. After volunteering for military service, he found himself travelling from Lviv to Lithuania to begin ...

21 Mar 48min

Growing up in Soviet Ukraine in the 1960s and 70s (447)

Growing up in Soviet Ukraine in the 1960s and 70s (447)

Born in Lviv in Ukraine, in 1958, Ihor grew up in a city where borders shifted, but memories endured. In this episode, he recalls a childhood shaped by silence, censorship, and family stories that cou...

14 Mar 49min

Secret Warriors - British Submarines during the Cold War (446)

Secret Warriors - British Submarines during the Cold War (446)

During the Cold War, some of the most dangerous encounters between East and West took place far beneath the ocean’s surface. I speak with historian Dr. Paul Brown, author of Secret Warriors: British ...

7 Mar 1h 15min

American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top Secret USAF "Red Eagles" MiG Squadron Part 2 (445)

American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top Secret USAF "Red Eagles" MiG Squadron Part 2 (445)

Lt Col Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. He tells the Red Eagles story for the first time through the experiences of a pilot who flew So...

28 Feb 48min

High School Student to the Top Secret USAF Red Eagles  Soviet MIG Squadron Part 1 (444)

High School Student to the Top Secret USAF Red Eagles Soviet MIG Squadron Part 1 (444)

Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. In part one of a two-part episode, he reveals how he made it into this top-secret US operation that w...

21 Feb 50min

The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power (443)

The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power (443)

I speak with Bruce Berglund, the author of The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power, which is a fascinating journey through the world of Soviet sports...

14 Feb 1h 1min

Chasing Rogue Nukes after the Fall of the Soviet Union (442)

Chasing Rogue Nukes after the Fall of the Soviet Union (442)

Susan Miller continues the story of her CIA career, recalling a harrowing experience of the 1991 US embassy fire in Moscow, and the unexpected humanity displayed by a KGB officer who helped save lives...

7 Feb 52min

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