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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- The story of a Russian cipher clerk with an explosive secret, who just wanted someone in Ottawa to listen to what he had to say. Three days after the end of WWII, Igor Gouzenko would be the bearer of bad news that shook the world: there were spies in the capital!
#documentary #coldwar #history #canadianhistory
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Correction: Incredibly, we've been corrected by Igor and Svetlana's daughter on a couple of points! Igor never waved a gun around, or threatened to jump out of the Justice Building window. Both are myths that have been propagated for years--even by a museum claiming to have the gun. Also, while some of the images we use to depict Igor include cigarettes--he never smoked, or drank. Igor's own daughter has informed us (through her grand daughter) that "Dad was never cool." For any descendants of Igor and Svetlana who see this: thank you for watching and we hope we did some semblance of justice to their story!
"The spark that ignited the Cold War":
We just want to reiterate that Igor Gouzenko’s defection, and the fallout from it, is one of a few threads that led to the decades-long Cold War. A defining moment that is commonly referred to as being the first major event, post WWII.
Before the end of WWII, relations between the Soviets, the United States and Britain were rocky. Stalin took particular umbrage at the U.S.’s extremely delayed entrance into war with Germany-by that point, millions of Russian soldiers and civilians had already died. The fact their ideologies didn’t line up meant they were basically doomed to be at odds. The introduction of nuclear weapons, and their use in the tragic loss of life at Hiroshima and Nagasaki-well, it poured gasoline on red hot embers. Less than a month after the catastrophe at Nagasaki, Gouzenko would bring the spy ring to light, creating the spark. From that point onward, distrust between superpowers, who had once been allies, was the norm.
To learn more about Gouzenko’s defection and his place in the start of the Cold War, here are a few great resources:
How The Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies by Amy Knight
"Igor Gouzenko" article in Maclean's in 1946: archive.macleans.ca/article/1...
The Fallout for Gouzenko:
The ramifications for Igor and Svetlana were immense. First, here are some clips from CBC of Igor’s famous interviews:
1968 - on hiding his identity: www.cbc.ca/player/play/144870...
1970 - follow-up interview: www.cbc.ca/player/play/140281...
1987 - incredible interview with Svetlana: www.cbc.ca/player/play/267232...
Svetlana and Igor lived in constant fear for their 8 children, as well as family in Russia. And it was more than justified. After the defection, Igor’s mother was killed during interrogation. Svetlana’s father was arrested and ‘disappeared.’ Two months later, her mother was as well. And then, Svetlana’s sister was arrested, leaving behind her 2-year-old son. In an interview, Svetlana remarks on such things as being normal in a country where 50 million people were killed by the government. The Gouzenkos never let their guard down, for good reason. They were tried in absentia and sentenced to death, a bomb was placed in their mailbox, break-ins were common.
Gouzenko’s favourite song was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, played by his wife Svetlana.
The Iron Curtain movie:
In one of the rare events that Canada plays itself in Hollywood, The Iron Curtain came out in 1948 and was partly filmed in Ottawa. Gouzenko was a consultant on the film. Originally we included clips from the film, until we found out that they would cost $10K per minute to use. Ironically, the production company behind the film was sued for using copyrighted music from Russia, and the entire film has been ripped and put up on TH-cam in multiple places: • The Iron Curtain (1948)
Stephenson and Camp X:
It's a matter of opinion as to who is the 'greatest of all spymasters.' Maxwell Knight is another candidate.
We didn't fully cover Camp X, but late in the editing process we came across Lynn Philip Hodgson's website which is full of info: www.camp-x.com/camp-x.html
Note: The Ottawa Journal was not in the building we filmed, but one very nearby that no longer exists.
DESCRIBED VIDEO VERSION: vimeo.com/950321786/f031d5b57...
00:00 Intro - Shortlived Peace
02:03 WWII
03:33 Zabotin Spy Ring
04:28 The 'Fishing' Trip
05:02 Igor Gouzenko
06:25 The Escape
07:20 The Absurdity
09:29 The Climax
12:17 Camp X
13:52 The Fallout
16:11 Diefenbunkers
17:56 Bonus Story
We've heard from Igor and Svetlana's own great grand-daughter! Igor's daughter says that he never waved a gun around, nor threatened to jump out of the Justice Building window--both are myths. Igor also never smoke or drank.
Stay to the end for a truly bizarre epilogue to the story--find out how the old embassy transformed into the one you see today. In the description you'll find links to remarkable CBC interviews with Igor and Svetlana--which were the inspiration for us making the episode. You'll also find a link to the 1948 film, The Iron Curtain, made just a few years after the spy ring shook the world, and based on Gouzenko's account. For more Canadiana on a regular basis, please check out our social media handles @thisiscanadiana. Thanks for watching!
Holy mackerel!! Interviews with Igor & Svetlana!! I did not expect anything like that to be available. This is something I will definitely check out.
Funny that his apartment is next to a beer store
You should do a segment on camp x, show the painting of the beach Igor painted , i swear ive walked past that tree many times down by the water
@@jimmaughan1898 try that, put you right off...
@@none--other ???? try what, off what??
This is the most Canadian story I have ever heard. Even when a Russian spy wants to turn himself in, he needs to go through a bureaucratic nightmare of getting passed through an endless loop of government organizations.
I have gone through this so many times that I understand his frustration.
A prime minister more worried about answering a couple of tough questions than whether a highly valuable humint source is neutralized by a foreign government. Seems to be a cornerstone of democracy.
You should try living in Japan if you think the bureaucracy in Canada is bad.
@@none--otherI chalk it up to deeply ingrained naivety that is far too pervasive in Canadian politics and bureaucracy. It’s no different now than it was 75 years ago.
The red tape is real. I worked in the Ministry of the Solicitor General for a year before I had enough of the hoops, hurdles, and walls just to get the littlest things done.
@@shayneb3540 The Canadian Government: “I will work as hard as possible to make sure nothing gets done.”
Excellent. I wish I was taught how fascinating Canadian history could be when I was in school. Thank you.
I was taught this
I've never heard any of the fascinating facts that Adam shares. Thanks for these videos!
@@connorhaley3190 Same here, just not in this detail.
Without Canadian, or any commonwealth intervention, the allies would have had a far worse chance of winning the war.
Not that it wasn't important, but you learned the same things over and over again from grades 1 to 12 in canadian history
My great-grandmother was the neighbour who hid the Gouzenkos in her apartment. My grandfather and great-grandfather were away at the time, but I can't remember why. Where you stand in front of the apartment building, there's a plaque commemorating the incident.
Whoa! Very cool! We also heard from the Gouzenkos' great great grand-daughter too! We wished we could film inside the apartments but we couldn't get a hold of whoever owns them now. We saw the plaque!
@@Canadiana It's been a story in my family my whole life, but I never had much detail. When I lived in Ottawa, I took pictures of the plaque to send my grandparents.
My kids and I first saw the Quebec werewolf video, then I noticed this one, so I had to watch. I was really hoping you'd mention my great-grandmother. She's usually just referred to as "the neighbour," but I know who she was. Lol!
I wrote a paper on Gouzenko in university.
I saw the comment from their great-great granddaughter! Pretty cool! 😀
Ah that's very cool, now we wished we had too! She deserves to be identified with such a critical role! We never imagined people related to people in the episode would see the episode, much less comment!
@@Canadiana You did mention her, but there's not too much out there about her side of the story. It's really cool to see a video about it all and even have "the neighbour " mentioned, because I know who it is! 😁
I remember the CBC interview with Igor, didn't understand it then but I got the impression from my father's reaction it was very serious stuff.
WHY CANT CBC MAKE GOOD SHIT LIKE THIS?!?!
I’m from Alabama and I’m thoroughly enjoying this channel. Discovered it by ‘accident’ within the last couple of weeks and I can only hope to continue listening to it for some time to come
The name Bond, even, may have been inspired by Bond St in Oshawa. Fleming lived nearby while at Camp X.
This channel is a national treasure! Thanks to the people that make it possible!
I've never seen Canada's history told in such a captivating manner. You earned yourself a subscription. You guys rock.
Always knew Canada was more than hockey, maple syrup, and snow...
This would make a great movie.
They actually did make it into a movie in 1948, called The Iron Curtain. We wanted to use clips from the film in the episode but it was too expensive. You can find the entire movie on TH-cam. Be we think a remake would be a great idea!
@@Canadiana I totally agree. So many side stories to tie in. CBC are you listening? Fingers crossed they are.
The movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED...
Why?
BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA.
RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED
@@CanadianaThe movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED...
Why?
BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA.
RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED
Fun fact Canada was the first Major Nation to recognize the Independence of the Baltic Countries and Ukraine so in a way the Cold War started and ended in Ottawa, America just did all the heavy lifting to make it happen.
We haven’t formally recognized Taiwan yet.
There’s still work to do.
Funny fact* thats the same thing they say here in my country (Iceland)
I can’t get over how well you guys did the animation on this one. That shot of Adam standing in front of Parliament beside the old Langevin building with half of the background real and the other half converted to cartoon … very cool. And a similar effect with the old Ottawa Journal Building. Not sure how you did that, but surely a lot of hard work went into it. Thanks for another great video!
Mike
Thank you for the compliments about the animation! It's the most difficult and time-intensive part of the process and it's nice to hear such things. Glad you enjoyed!
I agree. This style reminds me of different TV shows I have seen in the deep past. This is a pop culture historical gem.
It's good to see that graphic art skills are thriving in the video content creator community. Half of the people I knew in the 90's were competing for a shrinking paper-based graphic design market, and web design was even more competitive, and required less formal training, if any.
I studied as a printer right as the home PC came in, decimating that trade. Still glad I learned that stuff, it made word processing and layout easy. All the functions are based on old school printing methods.
Man, I live in Ottawa and its wild to think anything like this ever happened here. I have walked by their apartment building like a thousand times, and I never knew it was where literal soviet spies used to live.
As opposed to figurative spies?
This story is so cool, I absolutely love it...if stuff like this was taught in school I would've paid more attention in Canadian history class hahahahahaha
Why I am not surprised the authorities and media turned this guy away and had him running around like an idiot for such a gut-wrenching issue detrimental to national security.
Canada is like an online game with 10kb/s internet, everything just lags.
This channel is amazing. Rly makes me proud to be Canadian
This channel is underrated. Excellent quality and good enough to teach in schools.
Never heard of this story before, very interesting!
Excellent video! One quick thing.. he didn’t pull out a gun, he never had one. He was my great grandfather. 💜
Really?! Well we are extra glad you enjoyed! We will make a note in the description about the gun.
@@Canadiana My grandmother, Igor and Svetlana’s daughter Evy watched the video and my family is enjoying it. She told me that even the “threatening to jump out a window if not taken seriously” is also a myth. I’ll have to edit my earlier comment. Our family has been trying to get the gun that is in a museum removed as that was never his gun and he never had one in his lifetime. He also never smoked or drank. She worded it as, “Dad was never cool”. I found that funny. Thanks again for the great work.
This is incredible! Thank you for sharing it with your family! It's an honour and we hope we did Igor and Svetlana's story justice. We're going to update the description with those clarifications (and we apologize for propagating the myth--unfortunately we can't edit the video after posting). We've never been corrected by someone so close to the figures in the episode before! All the best to your family, and thank you for commenting--we will never forget this.
@@Canadiana Thank you 🙏 You did a great job!
WHAT PRO RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA TO SAY THAT THE MAN GOUZENKO "UNLEASHED IT ALL" 17:46.... Unleashed "the explosive terror upon the world" ...!!
THE TERROR WAS UNLEASHED NEVER BY GOUZENKO WHO FOUGHT THAT TERROR.
THE TERROR WAS UNLEASHED BY THE SOCIALISTS ALL OVER THE WORLD
ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO GAVE THE SOCIALIST RUSSIANS THE NUCLEAR BOMB ... LIKE THE ROSENBERGS ET AL ....
Wow, terrific story! I knew Canada must have cool history tales, this channel is great. Please keep educating me.
Thanks! I was really impressed with the Stalin poster but the story was also pretty cool. I am quite familiar with these events. Mr Gouzenko was covertly Canadianized in a process so secret, the perpetrators (all the Canadians he met while stationed in Ottawa) were unaware they were actually doing anything to him. He became nice and therefore disapproved of Soviet duplicity toward nice Canadians. That's spycraft!
Thank you very much! We went a little overboard with the poster ha! That's an intriguing angle to consider. It's interesting to see the spectrum of how many Canadians either know the story, vaguely know it, or don't at all.
Totally bad-ass! I've never heard any of that before. Well done!
The editing of this is documentary is phenomenal! I just started watching you guys two weeks ago and binge watched all of your videos. You are doing a great job and keep it up! 👍
Thank you Royce!
That's like myself, I got onboard, pun intended, with the pirate episodes I only watching a week ago
William Stevenson was in the park across the street from the Gouzenko's apt. that night. Watching over Igor and Svetlana. He had heard of the attempt to defect and made the rounds to alert PM King and others to the importance of what a defecting cipher clerk might provide.
I feel like I've learned more about the history of my country/hometown from TH-cam in a few weeks than I ever learned in school.
Another fantastic video.
It is so shameful no one wanted to deal with the Gouzenkos.
It was a sad time that tells me that officialdom is always behind the curve of reality
I had no idea!!
7:20 To be fair, I don't think Gouzenko was trained on how to turn himself in to Canadian authorities:) Another captivating episode. Keep rockin' the vest, Team Adam!
Thanks for the great little documentary. I love Canadian history.
7:20 That was one waste-of-space newspaper. Not to mention the useless cops -- RCMP officers AND Ottawa police.
AND the government officials who wouldn't even look into his claims. AND the PM of the day.
I think, after the idiots wouldn't let the firefighters near the burning building, that the Soviets should've been told "Here's a tent for your new embassy. Enjoy."
The Hollywood movie 'Iron Curtain' tells this story quite well. It was filmed on location in Ottawa in late 1947 (winter) and released in 1948. It starred Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney. Anybody interested in this story should watch this movie.
We link it in the description and actually wanted to use clips from it in the episode, but 20th Century Fox charged $10, 000 per minute! Great film, and very cool to see Ottawa playing itself!
@@Canadiana As I was growing up, my father would make occasional visits to the Soviet embassy on Charlotte Street regarding international trade of agricultural products. It was ominous with RCMP police cars stationed on the street nearby. I never had the sense to ask him about those experiences of going inside.
Wow that's intriguing, assuming this was during the Cold War era? When we were filming across the street (half a year before they invaded Ukraine) we were so curious as to what was happening inside.
@@Canadiana Oh yes, during the 1960s, so during the cold war.
The movie IRON CURTAIN WITH THE TOP HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR and the two TOP HOLLYWOOD STARS OF THE TIME, DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY, was SUPPRESSED BY HOLLYWOOD AND NOT DISTRIBUTED...
Why?
BECAUSE HOLLYWOOD WAS/IS DEEPLY ALLIED WITH SOCIALISM AND therefore at that time WITH RUSSIA.
RUSSIA ISSUED HOLLYWOOD ORDER S TO SUPPRESS THE MOVIE AND HOLLYWOOD OBEYED
Great stuff
Honestly, You'd think We would've given Him the Order of Canada. Or some kind Monument, Public Plaque
He didn't even have a gravestone until relatively recently, and you have to know where to find the plaque at the apartment (across the street).
Great video. Not surprising that the Ottawa bureaucracy tried to make him go away.
Beautiful and very educating video. Thank you Adam and the Canadiana team for your tremendous effort to keep us informed and entertained :)
Very crazy
You guys make me so proud of my country! Such rich history!
An other great episode @Canadiana, very thrilling!
Thank you as usual Josh! We appreciate you're constant support!
Thank You. This is important to Canadians
Absolutely fantastic content as always! This is a reminder to everyone to post this to social media. Let's get those subscriber numbers up! We need more of this fantastic content!
Ah thank you so much!
@@Canadiana you're very welcome.
From what I remember reading in Nest Of Spies, by Fabrice de Pierrebourg and Michel Juneau-Katsuya, Canadian authorities were able to recover quite a lot of secret documents from that fire.
Love the videos man keep up the good work :)
Fascinating. Brilliant. You make our history come alive!
Love these docs, you guys are doing well.
Fantastic
Wow! I used to walk by his apartment all the time! I always wondered why that apartment always looked out of place. I wonder who lives in it now!
We tried to film inside but we couldn't get through to the owners unfortunately. It is a remarkably interesting looking building!
Simply excellent presentation. Thank you.
This is quickly becoming my favorite TH-cam channel -- what excellent work you're all putting out!! Bravo!
Thanks again for another awesome episode about the importance of Canada in world history.
Judging by the surname of Gouzenko, it seems he is of Ukrainian origins.
Excellent production 👌🏻
Thanks! Fascinating. Love this channel.
Really excellent!!
Excellent documentary. Oddly I now live about 12 blocks away from the apartment where they lived and have passed by that street many many times, but never knew the history attached to the building. Thank you.
So happy to have found this! Such a well done show with great info on Canada 🇨🇦
Another thrilling video! 👏
Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf
Great channel, finally a high production quality Canadian history channel!!
Now I've learned a bit more of Canadian history! Thanks.
What a cool story!
Très intéressant merci. 🇨🇦
This is so interesting! Hope you can tell some more interesting stories on Canadian spies working both for and against Canada's/western interests!
They just honoured the 90 year Natzi in the HOC,only in Canada under Trudope.😢
Been following this channel for about 18 or so months and it baffles me that you still have under 75k subs. Particularly so considering the ridiculous ‘Canada first’ content laws that have been enacted (before & since I subbed).
I love the content & you are truly the first ‘teacher’ throughout my 33 years that has truly made Canadian history a riveting & interesting subject.
Thank you for saying so. We're always hoping for that big break, but it hasn't come yet, despite these new laws... Still, we feel fortunate to have made it this far-no small feat for an independent Canadian history channel! Thanks so much for your continued support. There's more episodes on the way! -Kyle, Ashley & Adam
super well done ,love history and its even better when presented this well
Exhilarating events and presentation ♡
i know exactly to the foot where all those shots were filmed! amazing content! love knowing more about my city!
These are so well edited, so well put together
amazing as always still don't get how you don't have more subs!! thanks for making canadian history fun!
I wonder what happen to the other clerks that worked at the Embassy faced on their return home? No way to know for sure, but it probably wasn't good.
Great episode. Phantastic editing and narration!
Gouzenko was born on January 26, 1919, in the village of Rogachev near Dmitrov, Moscow Governorate (now Moscow Oblast), 100 kilometres north-west of Moscow. He was of Ukrainian heritage,
Great video!! Very well done. Narrator is pretty wicked too.
Great storytelling and a fantastic story! Subscribed!
What a wonderful video.
My mom and her siblings used to play in the abandoned tunnels at Camp X in the early 60s-an educated guess. She used to tell me stories of playing with all the old radio equipment that was left there before everything was filled in. The majority of people around here nowadays have absolutely no idea what went on on the shores of Lake Ontario.
I metal detected the park across the street from his apartment. No secrets found.
Love your videos , please keep up the great work!! It’s so nice to find a well edited and produced channel that focuses on Canadian history, it’s fascinating to learn about, excited for more to come!
What a great video on a really interesting topic! I just found your channel through the Oh Canada song history story you told (which was also a great video). Thank you for bringing the tales of this country to life in such a magical way. I really do appreciate the passion in which you present our history. Thanks pal!
🇬🇧 🧙♀️
No crystal balloons in the Parliament
You will be disciplined ⚖️ 🇨🇦
Glad to finally see new videos from this channel. I love the niche history stories that only Canadians would understand. Top notch video editing and effects, too!
So glad to see you posting again!!!
These are really good... I am honestly kinda shocked, I wish you the best.
Really good video!! Had my mouth hanging open for some parts, I’m looking into this for myself now!! Thanks for what you guys do, I doubt I’d have found this by myself
This channel is underrated. The production is amazing!! Way to go Canadiana!
This story is amazing! I never heard it before, but for some reason my son knew about parts of it. He was happy to hear the full story.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a great story that was told very well and in great fashion.
Use to walk by his old house every day and try to imagine the vibes back then.
Very interesting content, production and music design on a very high level, I'm surprised why so little subscribers and views. You guys deserve more, thanks for your work 👍👏
Thanks for checking us out and for the kind words!
Fascinating story! I had no idea this happened in Ottawa. And speaking of bunkers, I think a good companion to this episode would be one about the NORAD bunker in North Bay.
Awesome content, keep up the good work!
this was the best thing ive watched in awhile!! was his apartment actually in that little building on somerset?
of coarse w no injuries but it be kind of nice to see another fire in that same location.
on the night of one of the worst strikes against Ukraine there was a big party there. likely irrelevant but it really pissed me off.
Thanks!
Thanks very much!
I highly recommend visiting the Defenbunker museum in Ottawa!
A fascinating story. Thanks for up loading.
Thanks, I love your content 🍁
This is quite good. Very good, in fact. What amazes me is the accurate concession that Soviet espionage was up and active even when we were still allies. CBC, for example, avoids that reality whenever they do a documentary like this. (Watch the Fifth Estate on this and you'd think that there wasn't a single communist in Canada, only paranoid, moronic Mounties.) My only quibble is that it didn't suddenly switch into gear as the Sovs sought the A-bomb, it stretched back to the 20s and shifted into high gear in the 1930s. The Kim Philbys and Alger Hisses and Fred Roses of the world didn't suddenly become communists during WW2.
Yes, the US and UK may have seen the USSR as an ally, but Stalin always saw the US and UK as enemies with whom it was temporarily cooperating in order to defeat a worse enemy, and the Soviet government and intelligence community always proceeded according to that understanding.
Amazing
I love your TV-style documentaries