1 00:00:15,396 --> 00:00:20,876 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey, last Archive listeners, we have something special for 2 00:00:20,876 --> 00:00:24,476 Speaker 1: you today. As you know, we love uncovering forgotten stories 3 00:00:24,476 --> 00:00:27,436 Speaker 1: from history, and we wanted to share another podcast that 4 00:00:27,476 --> 00:00:30,956 Speaker 1: has that same passion. The show is called click Here 5 00:00:31,396 --> 00:00:34,516 Speaker 1: and it tells stories about the world of cyber and intelligence. 6 00:00:35,156 --> 00:00:39,756 Speaker 1: Former NPR Investigations correspondent Dina Temple Raston is the host. 7 00:00:40,276 --> 00:00:42,316 Speaker 1: The episode You're about to hear is about a group 8 00:00:42,316 --> 00:00:45,836 Speaker 1: of American musicians who smuggled messages in and out of 9 00:00:45,836 --> 00:00:49,556 Speaker 1: the former Soviet Union in an ingenious way by burying 10 00:00:49,596 --> 00:00:53,796 Speaker 1: code in their music. Here comes the episode. You can 11 00:00:53,836 --> 00:01:04,236 Speaker 1: find click here wherever you get your podcasts. It's nineteen 12 00:01:04,316 --> 00:01:08,156 Speaker 1: eighty five and Soviet Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev is the head 13 00:01:08,156 --> 00:01:11,196 Speaker 1: of the Communist part and his great opening to the 14 00:01:11,236 --> 00:01:15,276 Speaker 1: West Glasnows and Parastroika is still just a glimmer in 15 00:01:15,396 --> 00:01:18,956 Speaker 1: his i. Nineteen eighty five was still the time of 16 00:01:18,956 --> 00:01:23,036 Speaker 1: that old Soviet Union, the one with defections and the KGB, 17 00:01:23,956 --> 00:01:27,316 Speaker 1: And into this world stepped the most unlikely of people, 18 00:01:27,876 --> 00:01:39,476 Speaker 1: four members of a klezmer ensemble from Boston. Klezmer is 19 00:01:39,516 --> 00:01:43,396 Speaker 1: a kind of Jewish folk music. It's secular music and 20 00:01:43,956 --> 00:01:47,316 Speaker 1: if you've heard Fiddler on the Roof, it's kind of 21 00:01:47,396 --> 00:01:53,356 Speaker 1: in that style, but more authentic. Merril Goldberg is a 22 00:01:53,356 --> 00:01:56,436 Speaker 1: professor of music at cal State sam Marcos and that's 23 00:01:56,436 --> 00:01:59,236 Speaker 1: her on the saxophone. But back in the day she 24 00:01:59,396 --> 00:02:02,396 Speaker 1: was part of a pretty famous Klesmer ensemble called the 25 00:02:02,476 --> 00:02:06,716 Speaker 1: Klezmer Conservatory Band. And they had heard about a group 26 00:02:06,756 --> 00:02:10,036 Speaker 1: in the Soviet Union that went by a very intriguing name, 27 00:02:10,756 --> 00:02:14,556 Speaker 1: the Phantom Orchestra. So we first heard of the Phantom 28 00:02:14,636 --> 00:02:17,996 Speaker 1: Orchestra through the network of people who were working in 29 00:02:18,036 --> 00:02:21,716 Speaker 1: the eighties trying to help people escape from the Soviet Union. 30 00:02:22,036 --> 00:02:26,396 Speaker 1: They were musicians like them. We started thinking we ought 31 00:02:26,396 --> 00:02:29,436 Speaker 1: to find out about these people. These musicians were known 32 00:02:29,436 --> 00:02:32,636 Speaker 1: as refuse Nicks because they wanted to leave the Soviet 33 00:02:32,756 --> 00:02:35,876 Speaker 1: Union but the authorities refused to give them permission. They 34 00:02:35,876 --> 00:02:39,916 Speaker 1: were called the Phantom Orchestra because they really had to 35 00:02:39,956 --> 00:02:43,236 Speaker 1: play somewhat in secret, right, So if they had gone 36 00:02:43,236 --> 00:02:45,316 Speaker 1: out and decided, oh, we're going to play in the park, 37 00:02:45,716 --> 00:02:48,356 Speaker 1: they would have been picked up and arrested. Most of 38 00:02:48,396 --> 00:02:53,636 Speaker 1: them had already been either imprisoned or beat up, or 39 00:02:54,036 --> 00:02:58,036 Speaker 1: had a lot of issues already. They'd gotten fired from 40 00:02:58,076 --> 00:03:01,996 Speaker 1: their jobs, drummed out of academic and professional associations, and 41 00:03:02,036 --> 00:03:05,556 Speaker 1: would even get beaten up just for declaring openly that 42 00:03:05,636 --> 00:03:09,476 Speaker 1: they wanted to immigrate. So when the opportunity of actually 43 00:03:09,516 --> 00:03:12,836 Speaker 1: going to the Soviet Union presented itself, it all struck 44 00:03:12,876 --> 00:03:15,396 Speaker 1: a chord with Merril and her friends in the Klezmer group. 45 00:03:15,756 --> 00:03:19,316 Speaker 1: My friend hankas Nevsky, who is a wonderful musician and 46 00:03:19,396 --> 00:03:22,196 Speaker 1: teaches at New England Conservatory of Music where I was 47 00:03:22,716 --> 00:03:26,356 Speaker 1: a student, and he approached her with this crazy idea. 48 00:03:26,636 --> 00:03:29,836 Speaker 1: The actual ask was to go over to the Soviet 49 00:03:29,916 --> 00:03:36,116 Speaker 1: Union in secret essentially and meet with refused Nicks, mostly 50 00:03:36,716 --> 00:03:41,756 Speaker 1: focus in on the Phantom Orchestra members, and to find 51 00:03:41,796 --> 00:03:45,636 Speaker 1: out information about what they were doing, who they were, 52 00:03:45,956 --> 00:03:50,076 Speaker 1: how they wanted their stories to get out. They were 53 00:03:50,156 --> 00:03:54,876 Speaker 1: four simple musicians from Boston, a saxophonist, singer, a guitarist 54 00:03:54,876 --> 00:03:57,476 Speaker 1: and accordion player, and they were going to go toe 55 00:03:57,516 --> 00:04:00,876 Speaker 1: to toe with one of the world's largest secret police forces. 56 00:04:01,236 --> 00:04:04,436 Speaker 1: So when he asked me, oh, my first reaction I 57 00:04:05,276 --> 00:04:13,476 Speaker 1: think was that sounds crazy cool. I'm in. I'm Dina 58 00:04:13,516 --> 00:04:17,396 Speaker 1: Temple arrested and this is click here a podcast about 59 00:04:17,396 --> 00:04:21,116 Speaker 1: all things cyber and intelligence. Today, at a time when 60 00:04:21,196 --> 00:04:25,076 Speaker 1: Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to redraw the Iron curtain, 61 00:04:25,596 --> 00:04:28,076 Speaker 1: We're going to take you back behind it with a 62 00:04:28,116 --> 00:04:30,916 Speaker 1: story about a very different kind of code than the 63 00:04:30,996 --> 00:04:34,516 Speaker 1: Zeros and ones we usually talk about. This code was 64 00:04:34,556 --> 00:04:37,716 Speaker 1: made of music, and it was used to smuggle distant 65 00:04:37,756 --> 00:04:41,596 Speaker 1: messages in and out of the Soviet Union. I remember thinking, 66 00:04:42,196 --> 00:04:46,476 Speaker 1: we're musicians, just creating a code in music would be 67 00:04:46,516 --> 00:04:51,116 Speaker 1: the easiest way to go about this. Merrill will play 68 00:04:51,196 --> 00:04:58,916 Speaker 1: us out. It's no small thing deciding to travel to 69 00:04:58,956 --> 00:05:01,636 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union in the nineteen eighties to secretly help 70 00:05:01,676 --> 00:05:04,916 Speaker 1: people escape, even if you were a trained spy, much 71 00:05:04,996 --> 00:05:09,036 Speaker 1: less a musician from Boston and you think they're professions, 72 00:05:09,196 --> 00:05:11,716 Speaker 1: might actually be a liability. But in a weird way, 73 00:05:11,836 --> 00:05:14,796 Speaker 1: it became a strength. It was the perfect cover story 74 00:05:14,876 --> 00:05:19,156 Speaker 1: and innocent looking cultural exchange. We're just some American musicians 75 00:05:19,196 --> 00:05:22,556 Speaker 1: trying to bridge the cultural divide in the eighties. At 76 00:05:22,596 --> 00:05:27,356 Speaker 1: that time, the more publicity of rashiznik or dissident had, 77 00:05:27,396 --> 00:05:32,196 Speaker 1: the more protection they would have from being imprisoned or 78 00:05:33,076 --> 00:05:35,796 Speaker 1: beaten up or whatever would happen to them. But if 79 00:05:35,796 --> 00:05:38,916 Speaker 1: the West knew about them, they had a better shot 80 00:05:39,196 --> 00:05:43,836 Speaker 1: at getting out. So coding music to sneak out messages 81 00:05:43,916 --> 00:05:47,236 Speaker 1: and details about people who are trying to escape wasn't 82 00:05:47,276 --> 00:05:50,636 Speaker 1: a completely new idea. Marily and her friends had a 83 00:05:50,676 --> 00:06:01,156 Speaker 1: model Josephine Baker table version that's Baker's singing. She was 84 00:06:01,196 --> 00:06:04,436 Speaker 1: a Paris celebrity, a singer, a dancer at Bon Vivant 85 00:06:04,556 --> 00:06:07,876 Speaker 1: in the nineteen twenties, thirties and forties. She was famous 86 00:06:07,916 --> 00:06:11,276 Speaker 1: for walking her pete down the chains in Lize, and 87 00:06:11,396 --> 00:06:14,036 Speaker 1: she also happened to be working for the French Resistance. 88 00:06:19,196 --> 00:06:22,236 Speaker 1: She'd sing at parties, chat up important people, and then 89 00:06:22,276 --> 00:06:25,716 Speaker 1: pass along what she'd learned to the Allies. Her dispatches 90 00:06:25,716 --> 00:06:29,156 Speaker 1: were the stuff of legend. She'd learned details about German 91 00:06:29,236 --> 00:06:32,636 Speaker 1: troop movements or supply lines, and then smuggled the information 92 00:06:32,676 --> 00:06:36,156 Speaker 1: out to the Allies by writing messages in invisible ink. 93 00:06:36,996 --> 00:06:41,036 Speaker 1: She wrote on Sheep music between the notes. In the 94 00:06:41,116 --> 00:06:43,556 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, when Merrill was trying to work out how 95 00:06:43,596 --> 00:06:46,716 Speaker 1: to bring coded messages into the Soviet Union, she went 96 00:06:46,716 --> 00:06:50,756 Speaker 1: a step further. Her code was embedded in the music itself. 97 00:06:52,036 --> 00:06:54,716 Speaker 1: I studied music in school so I assumed she must 98 00:06:54,716 --> 00:06:57,636 Speaker 1: have created something from the staff. Those five lines and 99 00:06:57,716 --> 00:07:01,396 Speaker 1: poor spaces that are the basis of musical notation are 100 00:07:01,396 --> 00:07:06,316 Speaker 1: represented by letters. The five lines are E, B, D, 101 00:07:06,796 --> 00:07:10,796 Speaker 1: and F, and the four spaces represent the notes fac 102 00:07:12,156 --> 00:07:15,196 Speaker 1: except that wouldn't get you the whole alphabet. You know, 103 00:07:15,276 --> 00:07:17,196 Speaker 1: with the regular notes you only have eight through G, 104 00:07:17,476 --> 00:07:20,316 Speaker 1: So then you have the problem of twenty six letters 105 00:07:20,356 --> 00:07:24,756 Speaker 1: with you know, only eight notes. Although what I did, 106 00:07:24,796 --> 00:07:29,716 Speaker 1: without giving it away, was I created a situation using chromatics. 107 00:07:29,916 --> 00:07:33,116 Speaker 1: Chromatics the twelve half steps when you play the black 108 00:07:33,116 --> 00:07:42,956 Speaker 1: and white keys on a piano, and using different notes, 109 00:07:42,996 --> 00:07:48,676 Speaker 1: figured out all twenty six. I had three leftover ones 110 00:07:48,796 --> 00:07:50,996 Speaker 1: like x y Z, but you don't use x y 111 00:07:51,116 --> 00:07:53,756 Speaker 1: z all that much. So if someone knew music, they'd 112 00:07:53,796 --> 00:07:57,156 Speaker 1: look at it and they'd think, uh, that's modern music. 113 00:07:57,516 --> 00:07:59,716 Speaker 1: Is there anything that you have that you coded that 114 00:07:59,796 --> 00:08:01,276 Speaker 1: you might be able to play for us so that 115 00:08:01,316 --> 00:08:04,996 Speaker 1: we have some idea of what that would sound like. Yeah, sure, 116 00:08:05,436 --> 00:08:09,396 Speaker 1: So Merril picks up her saxophone. Here, all play a 117 00:08:09,476 --> 00:08:19,276 Speaker 1: little bit for you. Believe it or not. There's actually 118 00:08:19,276 --> 00:08:22,276 Speaker 1: the name of a dissonant coded in those notes. This 119 00:08:22,316 --> 00:08:26,036 Speaker 1: one was intro to a new person that they wanted 120 00:08:26,116 --> 00:08:28,476 Speaker 1: us to meet and was a musician, and it was 121 00:08:28,556 --> 00:08:34,636 Speaker 1: for someone in Moscow. Marilyn Hankis and the other members 122 00:08:34,636 --> 00:08:37,356 Speaker 1: of the Klesmer Band spent months preparing for the trip. 123 00:08:37,836 --> 00:08:39,676 Speaker 1: It was more than just inventing a new way to 124 00:08:39,756 --> 00:08:43,196 Speaker 1: code messages, though they did that too. The people at 125 00:08:43,196 --> 00:08:46,516 Speaker 1: the Action for Soviet Jewelry gave them a crash course 126 00:08:46,636 --> 00:08:51,156 Speaker 1: in tradecraft. We had to have several months of kind 127 00:08:51,196 --> 00:08:54,516 Speaker 1: of a learning curve and figuring out how we would 128 00:08:54,836 --> 00:08:58,396 Speaker 1: go in without giving up who we were. And it 129 00:08:58,476 --> 00:09:01,636 Speaker 1: didn't take long to put all that to use. In fact, 130 00:09:01,956 --> 00:09:04,556 Speaker 1: the group needed it as soon as they landed. So 131 00:09:04,676 --> 00:09:08,316 Speaker 1: we land in Moscow and we get off the plane. 132 00:09:08,556 --> 00:09:12,836 Speaker 1: People are talking in little little microphones and we think, 133 00:09:12,916 --> 00:09:16,516 Speaker 1: oh oh oh, because the authorities seem to have been 134 00:09:16,516 --> 00:09:20,156 Speaker 1: expecting them. There were at least two of them, and 135 00:09:20,316 --> 00:09:24,116 Speaker 1: they took us aside. That's hankas Netsky, the teacher who 136 00:09:24,156 --> 00:09:27,756 Speaker 1: brought up this whole idea to Meryl, and they told 137 00:09:27,836 --> 00:09:31,556 Speaker 1: us to get our luggage, but not go anywhere, to 138 00:09:31,676 --> 00:09:36,196 Speaker 1: bring the luggage into the I guess interrogation room. Definitely 139 00:09:36,316 --> 00:09:39,116 Speaker 1: we were flagged. There's no question about it and sit 140 00:09:39,196 --> 00:09:45,116 Speaker 1: with an agent. They start going through everything, and I 141 00:09:45,196 --> 00:09:49,636 Speaker 1: mean absolutely everything, opening up every single thing we have, 142 00:09:50,236 --> 00:09:55,716 Speaker 1: including Meryll's music. They're going page by page by page. 143 00:09:56,316 --> 00:10:00,196 Speaker 1: She held her breath, kept their gaze, and then after 144 00:10:00,196 --> 00:10:02,996 Speaker 1: what seemed like an eternity, they just hand it right 145 00:10:03,036 --> 00:10:07,876 Speaker 1: back to me. Oh, it was just really fantastic. It 146 00:10:07,956 --> 00:10:11,076 Speaker 1: was seven hours before they were permitted to leave the airport. 147 00:10:11,476 --> 00:10:14,236 Speaker 1: There was one guy who spoke only in Russian and 148 00:10:14,636 --> 00:10:17,356 Speaker 1: banged his fist on the table the entire time. When 149 00:10:17,356 --> 00:10:19,796 Speaker 1: they were finally allowed to go, they had this sense 150 00:10:19,796 --> 00:10:22,676 Speaker 1: that while the first hurdle was behind them, what lay 151 00:10:22,716 --> 00:10:27,956 Speaker 1: ahead would be much harder. The Phantom Orchestra was based 152 00:10:27,956 --> 00:10:31,196 Speaker 1: in Tablusi, Georgia, which was still a Soviet republic at 153 00:10:31,196 --> 00:10:34,156 Speaker 1: the time the mission Merril and Hankas and their friends 154 00:10:34,156 --> 00:10:37,076 Speaker 1: had chosen to accept involved trying to meet up with 155 00:10:37,156 --> 00:10:40,036 Speaker 1: four of its members. Two were from a well known 156 00:10:40,076 --> 00:10:43,956 Speaker 1: family of Jewish dissidents, Grigory and Easie Goldstein, and the 157 00:10:44,036 --> 00:10:48,716 Speaker 1: other two were calling for Georgian independence, Teenis and Eduard Gudava, 158 00:10:48,916 --> 00:10:50,996 Speaker 1: both of whom had been sentenced two years of hard 159 00:10:51,076 --> 00:10:54,876 Speaker 1: labor for their activism. All four were considered enemies of 160 00:10:54,956 --> 00:10:58,036 Speaker 1: the state, which meant they were definitely being watched and 161 00:10:58,116 --> 00:11:00,556 Speaker 1: their phones were tapped, so it would be tricky for 162 00:11:00,636 --> 00:11:03,476 Speaker 1: Merril and her crew to make contact with them. I 163 00:11:03,596 --> 00:11:08,116 Speaker 1: had the directions to their apartment actually encoded in my music, 164 00:11:08,196 --> 00:11:10,636 Speaker 1: and that's how we were remembered how to get there. 165 00:11:10,996 --> 00:11:13,356 Speaker 1: I'm sure we stuck out and we didn't know who 166 00:11:13,356 --> 00:11:15,836 Speaker 1: to trust, who not to trust. What they did know 167 00:11:16,276 --> 00:11:20,756 Speaker 1: was that someone was following them. We noticed, for example, 168 00:11:20,796 --> 00:11:24,636 Speaker 1: that we would walk up the street and the last 169 00:11:24,716 --> 00:11:27,476 Speaker 1: car on the block would flash its lights, and then 170 00:11:27,516 --> 00:11:29,596 Speaker 1: we'd cross the street, and then the first car on 171 00:11:29,636 --> 00:11:33,716 Speaker 1: the next block would flash its lights, and then the 172 00:11:33,796 --> 00:11:37,756 Speaker 1: same thing would happen on the next block. So it 173 00:11:37,956 --> 00:11:40,276 Speaker 1: sure seemed like there was something going on. So I 174 00:11:40,356 --> 00:11:43,756 Speaker 1: remember we went to our hotel room and interestingly enough, 175 00:11:43,796 --> 00:11:46,396 Speaker 1: the sink was leaking, and they said as much out 176 00:11:46,396 --> 00:11:49,036 Speaker 1: loud that it was too bad the sink was leaking, 177 00:11:49,396 --> 00:11:51,196 Speaker 1: and then when we got back from dinner, the sink 178 00:11:51,316 --> 00:11:56,996 Speaker 1: was fixed. So that's how closely we were being monitored. 179 00:11:57,556 --> 00:12:00,436 Speaker 1: Marilyn Hankis and the two other Klesmer band members, Jeff 180 00:12:00,436 --> 00:12:03,476 Speaker 1: and Rosalie, found themselves in the middle of a Cold 181 00:12:03,516 --> 00:12:06,756 Speaker 1: war thriller. They'd go to ballet and museums one day, 182 00:12:06,996 --> 00:12:09,436 Speaker 1: hoping to throw the authorities off the scent, and then 183 00:12:09,556 --> 00:12:12,436 Speaker 1: rush off to go and meet Dissonance the next, hoping 184 00:12:12,476 --> 00:12:17,556 Speaker 1: their basic tradecraft wouldn't put their contacts in danger. We devised, 185 00:12:17,876 --> 00:12:20,876 Speaker 1: in our young brains, which now seems kind of cuckoo, 186 00:12:21,436 --> 00:12:24,036 Speaker 1: that all of us would get on the subway because 187 00:12:24,036 --> 00:12:25,836 Speaker 1: we had to take a subway to get to the 188 00:12:25,836 --> 00:12:29,156 Speaker 1: gold Steam's apartment first to make contact. The apartment was 189 00:12:29,196 --> 00:12:32,756 Speaker 1: into Belize, Georgia, and the directions to get there were 190 00:12:32,836 --> 00:12:36,596 Speaker 1: buried in their musical notation code. They didn't have a telephone. 191 00:12:36,596 --> 00:12:38,916 Speaker 1: We couldn't call them. We had to just try to 192 00:12:38,956 --> 00:12:42,116 Speaker 1: find them, so to lose whoever was following them. They 193 00:12:42,156 --> 00:12:44,316 Speaker 1: came up with what they thought was an ingenious plan, 194 00:12:44,756 --> 00:12:46,596 Speaker 1: and so we're all going to get on the subway, 195 00:12:46,636 --> 00:12:48,836 Speaker 1: and then we're all going to get off, and Rosie 196 00:12:48,836 --> 00:12:50,836 Speaker 1: and I are going to jump back on. Then the 197 00:12:50,876 --> 00:12:53,916 Speaker 1: tail would have to choose between the two groups, and 198 00:12:54,396 --> 00:12:57,916 Speaker 1: we thought it worked. They spent hours walking around buildings 199 00:12:57,956 --> 00:13:01,876 Speaker 1: and doubling back and climbing dark and stairwells, until finally 200 00:13:02,356 --> 00:13:04,796 Speaker 1: they find themselves at the door of an apartment and 201 00:13:04,916 --> 00:13:10,356 Speaker 1: they knock and east Side Goldstein in the door. And 202 00:13:11,476 --> 00:13:15,556 Speaker 1: the gods were the first family that we visited. First 203 00:13:15,556 --> 00:13:18,596 Speaker 1: thing we say is we think we've outwitted them, but 204 00:13:18,716 --> 00:13:20,676 Speaker 1: you know we've been interrogated. Tell us if you want 205 00:13:20,756 --> 00:13:23,556 Speaker 1: us just to turn around and go away. Gregory Goldstein 206 00:13:23,836 --> 00:13:26,876 Speaker 1: walks over to the window. There were four cars. He 207 00:13:26,996 --> 00:13:30,716 Speaker 1: pointed too. He said, these are all KGB and they 208 00:13:30,836 --> 00:13:33,956 Speaker 1: laughed at us, like, of course you're being followed, and 209 00:13:34,316 --> 00:13:36,956 Speaker 1: please come in, because it's way more important for you 210 00:13:36,996 --> 00:13:39,676 Speaker 1: to come in. We need you to visit. We need 211 00:13:39,716 --> 00:13:42,916 Speaker 1: you to tell our story when we come back. A 212 00:13:42,996 --> 00:13:47,436 Speaker 1: secret concert with a phantom orchestra, probably the most profound 213 00:13:47,516 --> 00:13:51,156 Speaker 1: music making I have ever in my entire life made. 214 00:13:55,716 --> 00:13:58,436 Speaker 1: The phantom orchestra, of course, couldn't play openly in a 215 00:13:58,516 --> 00:14:01,476 Speaker 1: concert hall. I thought they'd be playing in some secret 216 00:14:01,596 --> 00:14:05,196 Speaker 1: venue after hours. But they actually had their concerts in 217 00:14:05,276 --> 00:14:11,676 Speaker 1: an apartment, the Gudava's apartment, typical small apartment. They had 218 00:14:11,716 --> 00:14:15,436 Speaker 1: an upright piano and a couple of music stands, and 219 00:14:15,556 --> 00:14:19,396 Speaker 1: the Goudavas had at least one guitar, maybe two. The 220 00:14:19,516 --> 00:14:22,716 Speaker 1: musicians gathered along with an audience of neighbors. The chairs 221 00:14:22,756 --> 00:14:26,156 Speaker 1: went into the other room, I remember, and the idea was, hey, 222 00:14:26,196 --> 00:14:28,956 Speaker 1: look we have visitors. They're musicians. It's time for the 223 00:14:28,996 --> 00:14:31,756 Speaker 1: Phantom Orchestra to come meet and play a concert in 224 00:14:31,796 --> 00:14:35,116 Speaker 1: the room. There was a palpable mix of excitement, damned 225 00:14:35,156 --> 00:14:38,156 Speaker 1: a little fear. It wasn't about playing music with the 226 00:14:38,196 --> 00:14:40,916 Speaker 1: Phantom Orchestra that frightened them. They were all prose at that. 227 00:14:41,516 --> 00:14:44,316 Speaker 1: It was about what might follow the consequences of an 228 00:14:44,356 --> 00:14:47,436 Speaker 1: impromptu concert with a room full of dissidents. And I 229 00:14:47,476 --> 00:14:49,836 Speaker 1: think making music in and of itself is not such 230 00:14:49,876 --> 00:14:52,676 Speaker 1: a big deal. Of course, it was the people who 231 00:14:52,796 --> 00:14:56,356 Speaker 1: they were making music with that made it into a 232 00:14:56,676 --> 00:14:59,916 Speaker 1: really big deal. Were you waiting for the KGB to 233 00:15:00,076 --> 00:15:02,356 Speaker 1: burst in any moment? What was going through your twenty 234 00:15:02,356 --> 00:15:04,996 Speaker 1: six year old head. My twenty six year old head 235 00:15:05,076 --> 00:15:07,076 Speaker 1: was like living in the moment. I will tell you 236 00:15:07,156 --> 00:15:10,236 Speaker 1: that Merrill and Hankis remembered the whole evening as if 237 00:15:10,276 --> 00:15:14,236 Speaker 1: it were yesterday. I do remember just being transported that 238 00:15:14,396 --> 00:15:20,276 Speaker 1: it was this feeling perhaps of amazement, of relief, of 239 00:15:20,636 --> 00:15:36,276 Speaker 1: immediate camaraderie. There was klezmer music and traditional songs, and 240 00:15:36,316 --> 00:15:41,196 Speaker 1: then this moment when everything seemed to come together with 241 00:15:41,356 --> 00:16:06,596 Speaker 1: the standard that everyone loved, and then everyone who was there, 242 00:16:06,876 --> 00:16:10,036 Speaker 1: the members of the orchestra, the visiting musician, the audience, 243 00:16:10,596 --> 00:16:23,756 Speaker 1: they all broke into song. What you're hearing now is 244 00:16:23,836 --> 00:16:28,676 Speaker 1: actually a Phantom Orchestra recording. It touched us in a 245 00:16:28,756 --> 00:16:33,356 Speaker 1: way that I hadn't been touched before. And I think 246 00:16:33,396 --> 00:16:37,236 Speaker 1: because the whole feeling of the song somewhere over the 247 00:16:37,356 --> 00:16:42,196 Speaker 1: rainbow and the hope in that and for an evening, 248 00:16:42,436 --> 00:16:45,756 Speaker 1: the Soviet minders, the cloak and dagger, the coded messages, 249 00:16:46,276 --> 00:16:49,476 Speaker 1: they all faded away and the music became all there 250 00:16:49,716 --> 00:17:04,716 Speaker 1: was for the people there who had so much courage 251 00:17:05,636 --> 00:17:10,076 Speaker 1: and you know, we're constantly battling, you know, whatever was 252 00:17:10,116 --> 00:17:13,716 Speaker 1: going to happen to them for their activism, saying music 253 00:17:14,116 --> 00:17:17,076 Speaker 1: was the time when in their brains they could be 254 00:17:17,276 --> 00:17:25,876 Speaker 1: totally one percent free. There was a lot of emotion 255 00:17:26,596 --> 00:17:29,596 Speaker 1: when we played with the Phantom Orchestra, not just from 256 00:17:29,676 --> 00:17:36,076 Speaker 1: them but from the audience, and we were really floating 257 00:17:37,036 --> 00:17:45,156 Speaker 1: when we left that room that night. As they went 258 00:17:45,196 --> 00:17:47,516 Speaker 1: back out into the night, they tried to recall all 259 00:17:47,516 --> 00:17:49,956 Speaker 1: the details that they would later code into their music. 260 00:17:50,316 --> 00:17:52,636 Speaker 1: What they would eventually tell the world was going on 261 00:17:52,716 --> 00:17:56,876 Speaker 1: behind the Iron curtain. A marriage announcement here, a family 262 00:17:56,956 --> 00:17:59,956 Speaker 1: history there. And the hope was once the world knew 263 00:17:59,996 --> 00:18:02,836 Speaker 1: they existed, they'd have the leverage they needed to force 264 00:18:02,876 --> 00:18:05,836 Speaker 1: officials in the Soviet Union to let them go. And 265 00:18:05,876 --> 00:18:08,996 Speaker 1: I think that's part of what the goal of many 266 00:18:09,196 --> 00:18:12,436 Speaker 1: of the folks was is. You know, if your story 267 00:18:12,636 --> 00:18:16,436 Speaker 1: is never told, it's like it hasn't happened. So it 268 00:18:16,516 --> 00:18:20,716 Speaker 1: was really important to get stories out there. It means 269 00:18:20,716 --> 00:18:25,436 Speaker 1: you exist and other people know you exist. As they 270 00:18:25,516 --> 00:18:28,076 Speaker 1: left the Goudava's house that night, Merrily and her friends 271 00:18:28,076 --> 00:18:31,916 Speaker 1: were more than just musicians. They were messengers and now 272 00:18:32,236 --> 00:18:35,276 Speaker 1: they just had to get home. Not long after the 273 00:18:35,316 --> 00:18:38,356 Speaker 1: Secret concert, the Boston musicians awoke to an early morning 274 00:18:38,396 --> 00:18:43,756 Speaker 1: call at the hotel. We were told to be down 275 00:18:43,956 --> 00:18:46,996 Speaker 1: in the office at you know, whatever time. It was 276 00:18:47,076 --> 00:18:52,196 Speaker 1: pretty early, and they hand us a baggy they were 277 00:18:52,196 --> 00:18:56,156 Speaker 1: the Soviet authorities, with a tea bag and a hard 278 00:18:56,196 --> 00:18:59,316 Speaker 1: boiled egg and a piece of salami, I think, and 279 00:18:59,636 --> 00:19:03,636 Speaker 1: maybe some crackers, and they keep us very separated from 280 00:19:03,676 --> 00:19:07,036 Speaker 1: everybody else. Their minders made clear they knew that Merril 281 00:19:07,076 --> 00:19:09,596 Speaker 1: and Hankis and the others had met with the Fantom Orchestra, 282 00:19:09,996 --> 00:19:12,956 Speaker 1: and they weren't happy about it. They took their passports, 283 00:19:13,036 --> 00:19:16,436 Speaker 1: put them into cars and just started driving. And then 284 00:19:16,476 --> 00:19:20,396 Speaker 1: they drove us for what seemed to be like hours 285 00:19:20,436 --> 00:19:23,876 Speaker 1: and hours, and I thought, oh, man, now they're really 286 00:19:23,876 --> 00:19:26,516 Speaker 1: going to do it. They're gonna lock us up. Hours later, 287 00:19:26,636 --> 00:19:29,156 Speaker 1: they ended up at the airport, and while they didn't 288 00:19:29,276 --> 00:19:31,676 Speaker 1: end up in a Soviet prison, they were told they 289 00:19:31,676 --> 00:19:33,996 Speaker 1: were going to be thrown out of the country deported. 290 00:19:34,596 --> 00:19:37,236 Speaker 1: But before they could go, there would be one more search. 291 00:19:37,836 --> 00:19:41,196 Speaker 1: Though this time the four actually had even more to hide, 292 00:19:41,636 --> 00:19:44,356 Speaker 1: not just the names and addresses of contacts, but now 293 00:19:44,356 --> 00:19:47,156 Speaker 1: they had their stories and messages for the West. I 294 00:19:47,236 --> 00:19:52,196 Speaker 1: remember being surrounded by military and they go through all 295 00:19:52,196 --> 00:19:55,356 Speaker 1: of our stuff again and again. They went through every 296 00:19:55,356 --> 00:19:59,076 Speaker 1: single page in my music and eventually handed it right back. 297 00:20:03,716 --> 00:20:06,596 Speaker 1: The stories they smuggled out went very public once they 298 00:20:06,596 --> 00:20:10,276 Speaker 1: returned to the States. There were speeches and congressional hearings 299 00:20:10,316 --> 00:20:12,916 Speaker 1: and calls to help the Goldsteins and Gudavas and other 300 00:20:12,996 --> 00:20:16,996 Speaker 1: refusniks who wanted to leave the Soviet Union. Remember, the 301 00:20:17,076 --> 00:20:19,716 Speaker 1: purpose of their trip was to draw world attention to 302 00:20:19,756 --> 00:20:23,396 Speaker 1: the human rights situation in the Soviet Union, and it worked. 303 00:20:23,876 --> 00:20:26,876 Speaker 1: The following year, the Goldsteins were allowed to immigrate to Israel, 304 00:20:27,276 --> 00:20:30,316 Speaker 1: and while the Gudavas were initially jailed after the concert, 305 00:20:30,476 --> 00:20:33,516 Speaker 1: accused of taking part in treason as activity and blame 306 00:20:33,596 --> 00:20:36,236 Speaker 1: for the hearings that took place on Capitol Hill, the 307 00:20:36,276 --> 00:20:39,396 Speaker 1: two were finally released in April nineteen eighty seven on 308 00:20:39,476 --> 00:20:43,116 Speaker 1: the condition that they leave the Soviet Union. They arrived 309 00:20:43,116 --> 00:20:49,276 Speaker 1: in Boston that September. The crazy thing is the more 310 00:20:49,316 --> 00:20:52,756 Speaker 1: things change, the more they stay the same. Tens of 311 00:20:52,836 --> 00:20:55,756 Speaker 1: thousands of Jews have left Russias since Putin's invasion of 312 00:20:55,876 --> 00:20:59,476 Speaker 1: Ukraine earlier this year, and now Moscow is moving to 313 00:20:59,476 --> 00:21:02,916 Speaker 1: close a nonprofit organization that helps them emigrate to Israel. 314 00:21:03,316 --> 00:21:06,836 Speaker 1: It's called the Jewish Agency for Israel and it's operated 315 00:21:06,836 --> 00:21:13,236 Speaker 1: in Russia since nineteen eighty nine. That story came to 316 00:21:13,396 --> 00:21:16,236 Speaker 1: us from click Here, a podcast about the world of 317 00:21:16,276 --> 00:21:20,316 Speaker 1: cyber and intelligence. You can listen to more episodes every Tuesday. 318 00:21:20,476 --> 00:21:23,836 Speaker 1: Wherever you get your podcasts, just search for click here.