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One day in 1947 I was summoned to an office on the 1st floor. I came down and opened the door. There was a KGB major in the room: 'Come here. Are you Mistetskiy?' 'Right'. - 'Sit down'. I did. 'Did you sign up to work for us?' 'I did, but a long time ago'. 'Now you will be helping us'. I was bewildered. Nobody addressed me during this time and I was hoping they had forgotten about me. The major said I was to watch and listen to the discussions of a Russian and a Ukrainian man in our unit and report to him. Of course, I would never report on people. I already heard that even if one reported on people sooner or later they also arrested informers. So my situation was miserable. I couldn't tell these two that I was ordered to watch them since I had signed a non-disclosure paper and could be arrested if they found out that I had disclosed my mission to these two. And I couldn't report on their talks either. And I plotted a way out.
When this officer called me, I started telling him stories about how one of them was seeing a girl, or how he had stolen apples from the kolkhoz garden, when he was a child. And I told about another man how he was concerned about his mother, and about his wife and children. The major explained that he didn't need this nonsense, but that he wanted to hear about their captivity and their thoughts about the Soviet power. I told him they never talked to me about it. The major told me to try and provoke them to an open discussion and report on the results to him. I recalled how in my childhood a dog tore my pants and how I went to school and next time I met with this major I told him the stories as if they had been told by these two men. I knew I couldn't just keep silent, but rather had to tell things in order to look serious. The major got angry and said that I was either a fool or pretended to be a fool and that he didn't want to deal with me again. He made me sign a non-disclosure paper and sent me away. They never addressed me again. I never told anyone how I 'helped' the KGB till the end of perestroika 31.
When this officer called me, I started telling him stories about how one of them was seeing a girl, or how he had stolen apples from the kolkhoz garden, when he was a child. And I told about another man how he was concerned about his mother, and about his wife and children. The major explained that he didn't need this nonsense, but that he wanted to hear about their captivity and their thoughts about the Soviet power. I told him they never talked to me about it. The major told me to try and provoke them to an open discussion and report on the results to him. I recalled how in my childhood a dog tore my pants and how I went to school and next time I met with this major I told him the stories as if they had been told by these two men. I knew I couldn't just keep silent, but rather had to tell things in order to look serious. The major got angry and said that I was either a fool or pretended to be a fool and that he didn't want to deal with me again. He made me sign a non-disclosure paper and sent me away. They never addressed me again. I never told anyone how I 'helped' the KGB till the end of perestroika 31.
Period
Location
Ukraine
Interview
lev mistetskiy
Tag(s)