1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: at a time. Today is September. The day was September nine. 5 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: Soviet cipher clerk Igor Guzenka left the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario, 6 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: carrying more than a hundred secret documents. During World War Two, 7 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: Canada and the Soviet Union became allies. Ottawa was an 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: important site for the g r U, which was the 9 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: main intelligence directorate of the U S s RS General Staff. 10 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: Husenka was an intelligence officer working at the g r 11 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: U headquarters in Moscow. In nineteen forty three, he was 12 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: sent to Ottawa. His official title was a civilian employee 13 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: of the Soviet Embassy at Ottawa, but he was actually 14 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: a cipher clerk on the staff of the military attache, 15 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: Colonel Nikolai Zabotin. It was Guzenka's job to deal with 16 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:22,479 Speaker 1: transmissions to and from Moscow. His wife, spent Lana, moved 17 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: to Canada with him a few months after he arrived 18 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: in Ottawa. Guzenka was impressed with life in Ottawa, where 19 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: he found that his quality of life was better than 20 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 1: it was in the Soviet Union. In Canada, there were 21 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: democratic elections, freedom of speech, and better living conditions in 22 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: comparison life under Soviet rule, and conditions at the Soviet 23 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: embassy were oppressive. Gauzenka also found out that the g 24 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: r U and the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which 25 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: also led intelligence activities, were using the embassy as a 26 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: headquarters from which they can deducted espionage activities against Canada. 27 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: Soboton had been ordered to keep his fir rings secret 28 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: from the Soviet ambassador, Georgy the Rubin. The Soviet Union 29 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 1: was not simply an ally of Canada. In nineteen forty four, 30 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: the boat In unexpectedly told Guzenka that he and his 31 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: wife and his son were being sent back to Moscow. 32 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: He had his departure delayed, but he knew that the 33 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: reasons for his dismissal could not be good, and he 34 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: feared the situation he may returned to in Moscow. Disenchanted 35 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: with the Soviet Union and attracted to life in Canada, 36 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: Guzenka began planning his defection. He copied or took documents 37 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: that he believed Canadian officials would be interested in. On 38 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: September five, ninety he left the embassy carrying telegrams sent 39 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: to and received from Moscow and many other documents. That 40 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: day and the next he took his documents and story 41 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: of Soviet espionage to the Minister of Justice, the Ottawa Journal, 42 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: and the Ottawa Magistrate's Court, but they turned him away. 43 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: On the night of September six, he and his family 44 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: hid in the neighbor's apartment while Soviet agents raided his home. 45 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: Another neighbor called the Ottawa Police, who confronted the Soviet 46 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: agents and got them to leave with the help of 47 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: Norman Robertson, who was the Under Secretary of State for 48 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: the Department of External Affairs. Guzenka was taken to the 49 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Headquarters the next morning for questioning. 50 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: Guzenka gave the RCMP documents detailing the Soviets espionage efforts 51 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: in Canadian government departments and in Western atomic research projects. 52 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: Prime Minister Mackenzie King was initially hesitant and unsure of 53 00:03:55,480 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: Guzenka's motives, but just two days after he defected, Guzanna 54 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: and his family were given political asylum and put in 55 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: protective custody, where they continued to be questioned. Guzenka's documents 56 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: revealed that there was a large scale system of Soviet 57 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,840 Speaker 1: espionage through which the Soviets provided Moscow with classified information. 58 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: News of the Guzenka affair as it became known, went 59 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: public in early February nineteen. A royal commission was called 60 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: to investigate the accusations, which led to the arrest of 61 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: thirty nine suspects. Eighteen of those people were convicted, so 62 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: Bowen was sent to a labor camp in Siberia. The 63 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: Soviet government admitted that it obtained certain secret information from Canadians, 64 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: but said that the information was useless. The Gouzenka affair 65 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: encouraged distrust of the Soviet Union and inspired anti communist 66 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: sentiment in the West. The affair has been credited as 67 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: an inciting inside of the Cold Ore. Gauzenka lived under 68 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: police protection with his family and Canada for the rest 69 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: of his life. I'm Eve Jeff Coote, and hopefully you 70 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 71 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: If there are any upcoming days in history that you'd 72 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: really like me to cover on the show, give us 73 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: a shout on social media at t D I H. 74 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: C Podcast. Thanks for joining me on this trip through history. 75 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: See you here, same place tomorrow. For more podcasts from 76 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 77 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.