The Cold War and the Soviet KGB's Same-Sex Entrapment Operations in the 1950s and 1960s: The Perpetrator in Focus

In August 1963, The New York Times informed its readers that a U.S. citizen had been arrested in the USSR.1 According to the newspaper, the Soviet travel agency Intourist had announced that Bernard L. Koten, the leader of a travel group who had been reported missing in Kyiv, had been arrested on charges of homosexual activity with a Soviet citizen. Koten had disappeared two days earlier, when he failed to board an Aeroflot flight to Vienna with his group. He was not just a random tourist in the Soviet Union: He had traveled there many times and spoke Russian fluently, having studied at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Linguistics in the 1930s. In the 1940s, he had served as the research director of the American-Russian Institute in New York City.2 At the peak of McCarthyism in the 1950s, U.S. authorities suspected that the institute was functioning as a recruitment agency for Soviet intelligence agencies.3 When Koten was summoned to testify before a U.S. congressional subcommittee on internal security in 1956, he strenuously denied these accusations.4After being arrested in Kyiv in August 1963, Koten spent a month behind bars in the Soviet Georgian capital, Tbilisi, where he had been transferred from Kyiv, supposedly because the alleged “crime” had taken place there.5 He was released in September 1963.6 No further information was provided by the Soviet authorities. The Koten case remained an isolated riddle—Soviet officials had never mentioned charges of homosexual activity publicly before that case—until recently, when declassified U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents, which serve as the main source for this essay, revealed that Koten was one of many Western visitors to the USSR specifically targeted by the Soviet State Security Committee (KGB) and entrapped on staged charges of same-sex activity in the 1950s–1960s. The precise number of those who were compromised or targeted for compromise is impossible to determine until the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) archives become accessible. Importantly, this article demonstrates that the same-sex practice of entrapment was routine.This aspect of KGB operational practices has never been a main focus of Cold War scholars, not least because of the inaccessibility of adequate sources that lay out the Soviet side's modus operandi.7 Indeed, unlike other rival countries that have declassified numerous documents related to the internal workings of their secret agencies during the Cold War, the FSB, the main successor to the KGB, and the SVR have not released any materials on the topic discussed here. Nevertheless, as early as the 1960s and 1970s, some visitors to the USSR were already aware of this entrapment practice and were cautious.8One of the best-known victims of KGB same-sex entrapment to have become publicly known was the British diplomat John Vassall.9 He was compromised by the KGB in a series of events in Moscow in 1954-1955 when he was serving as a clerk at the British embassy and exposed in 1962. The Vassall case received extensive coverage in both the British and the international press: not only was a trial conducted, but British authorities also established a public tribunal to investigate the Vassall affair.10 Vassall received eighteen years in prison for espionage, serving ten years. He was never charged with homosexual activity, which remained a crime in the UK until 1967, but he faced numerous homophobic and humiliating attacks from both the British press and state officials. In his autobiography, published in 1975, Vassall described the staged episodes of same-sex activity that led to his entrapment in 1954–1955. He also vividly recounted his feelings at the moment when he was forcibly confronted by the KGB in a stranger's apartment in Moscow almost naked: “At an appointed time, I was shown a box of photographs of myself at a party I could not believe I had been at. There I was, naked, grinning into the camera; naked, holding up a pair of men's briefs which must have been mine. After about three photographs, I could not stomach any more. They made me feel ill.”11 Vassall is the only known foreign man entrapped by the KGB on the grounds of staged same-sex activity who left a first-hand account of his experience.Another, much more obscure victim was John Watkins, a former Canadian ambassador to the USSR in 1954–1956. His entrapment was first detailed in 1982 by the historian and writer John Sawatsky, who specializes in Canadian domestic intelligence and counterintelligence.12 In 1964, Watkins suffered a fatal heart attack in Montreal during one of his final depositions regarding his entrapment by the KGB on the grounds of same-sex activity. The prominent U.S. journalist Joseph Alsop was compromised with same-sex entrapment by the KGB in Moscow in 1957. However, an attempt to turn him into a Soviet influence agent failed when Alsop immediately informed his highly positioned friends about the entrapment. The information eventually reached the director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover, and the director of the CIA, Allen Dulles.13 Had KGB officials done their homework and gathered more information about Alsop, they might have abandoned the idea of compromising him in the first place. As early as 1950, Alsop had boldly criticized Joseph McCarthy's attempt “to elevate the subject of to the of a the KGB the as they not their failed attempt to compromise a the attempt to of in received taken in Alsop never the USSR he in as these is to the focus from the victims of KGB and the KGB extensive is on the and British authorities and security agencies of to and both and of much is known about Soviet authorities the to and foreign or in the At in this article I about the alleged which is to the of the to on one of the and entrapment of these who described as a man in his autobiography, were and into in activity, which was a crime not only in the USSR but also in their countries at the In the they were victims of the KGB, and same-sex entrapment in the and 1960s from the on which were as practices many intelligence the of the in the KGB in this for those of Vassall and been with which the their publicly in the as an in from the victims and on the KGB, its and its those as to same-sex article is on two and declassified the to on the practice of same-sex entrapment in the of these is the on John which were made publicly by the UK in The case of information for of because of their of in which he the of his entrapment in The information in his is by his autobiography, but the on the The of sources in this article declassified documents made by the U.S. and of these as as and on a Soviet to the of the of documents related least to the of John in is known to in the of Soviet intelligence and the Cold War Soviet he in the in as a was to an this time, he was by being in of the main for this was Soviet KGB who to the in and about that he might have been by the that was to a much on many same-sex was by and other intelligence sources by the who provided the U.S. authorities with a of about in the U.S. and British and the into his that entrapment on same-sex was his He that in by the KGB had of on same-sex some he as or have been and was there is to that the information on the staged same-sex was or that had to on other as the some of the victims of same-sex entrapment by were by the the CIA, and British intelligence and the of had two of Vassall case and the was not in he the during the U.S. was that British intelligence to their about to his the that was a and him as a the Cold War international and by In the Soviet and of its a known as the one of the two that the for and the In 1956, in were by Soviet The in further the of and Cold War on intelligence in an to The and of rival time, by from their article one of the least known of that intelligence the of the Soviet for his with the KGB in in the of the the which U.S. embassy In he was transferred to the of the of the which was for and Canadian In he to the of the the In he to his final KGB as of the of the his in and and Canadian in the being transferred the one remained his to a is a of homosexual recruitment in account of his KGB revealed more he was not just a KGB in but in As and his known the his was by from other this in when he was to an by a the that that to in the with is a in and for never or he in same-sex he this much many of his the the of first same-sex entrapment in the of the Vassall had already been compromised by other KGB first place in a in As an at in and with in the had been KGB from the moment he in as that Soviet officials suspected him of having with U.S. this by the of his month in the the KGB that in with a Soviet citizen to a to the KGB their the Soviet citizen was by the KGB and to he had homosexual with The KGB was never about the of their they on their a foreign was in same-sex they to further staged entrapment. that a had in same-sex or the to a was not as might have been in the case of a Soviet citizen. There had to which is a in same-sex activity, a staged entrapment to According to the Soviet man was by the KGB into to a specifically a who also had in had already been in entrapment and was in a more out by He and other by the KGB never received an and were only on a of were Soviet who were victims of and by the into a in a the same-sex entrapment the in a However, the failed because that the in the in photographs that As at the time, the KGB had not to He to have that was and during his to the USSR in which he had become a at the of not to any However, he with the KGB as and After he to the the eventually him with never the USSR but that not Soviet by the failed entrapment as in the case of an article in in that him a made any to the USSR had to first entrapment staged same-sex activity by place in Moscow in a U.S. in was in was a at at the of his to the The him was because he was an established and a more agent of influence and KGB in from the that he was a of and had with who might for the U.S. State and other was the first in which he had with a foreign of the not who but he was the one for the He the KGB received from that he had into with not this but from the is that was by KGB he on from these the KGB that a which they a recruitment At the time, not have his when he the in the he a KGB from the British and to The was and with his from the British the to in the and out the of the The as The and the in the where of was The was to the where had been to was in an and the on the compromised was to with the The was with the of the of the and the of the of the on to in their KGB eventually travel had him from Moscow to there the before to the of At the the was by a KGB as an Intourist who him to the the the Intourist agent informed his that were and that there was for As a he in a and to a as as When the at a on main was by KGB with who his with the in to was that information had been received about his in him that his homosexual were that this was Soviet to article of the that he was not a has that he could taken to to the Soviet he was and the compromising photographs was of he was to him that Soviet Intelligence is a have a have the become on or as but many of these by They with who the is for they The and by the a his to Soviet After he was taken to a There were many was not He to the one and his in The was to a and obscure the of the which were to the as described they a and in subject of was never They to Moscow left the Soviet was and the agent of However, he that the of the was After the Soviet of in the of to a to the U.S. authorities and in was by the His account the information that was revealed by years In 1964, the and in the entrapment from a that the was his first was his and a in his He that to and he his he could in same-sex entrapment he with two Soviet until 1963, when they were to Western intelligence were to the KGB In the the two as homosexual In this about their homosexual because is by and further into KGB practices of Soviet homosexual The Soviet citizen first to the when he was having with a a public in might a homosexual and of some operational this was that he had with the KGB but was by when he was by was compromised by agent from the Moscow further in same-sex There is in the that photographs had been but to his and that he for the KGB had he faced Soviet of the Russian prison of three to years for in same-sex in his never into homosexual he the and KGB in same-sex activity and those who were homosexual and other KGB had to this as a man who in same-sex activity only not a for compromising other The in with they The of his recruitment but to that and were a a that they They to or and as a and were in their by However, this was the of their on At any he could have had or to more this pair to on their I and to but only for he and to and was they who first about the of an on same-sex that were staged from me at there is a here. He to to with I about they but this time, photographs taken or the the with the of the in to a and their and they and He was a at the in of the the Soviet leader and U.S. in that not an but was by a of As and the for photographs were at the were in the on revealed a KGB with the they had to the and as a of and because they were a to him in this The photographs from the were to but in he not At the time, the Soviet Central Committee had a on U.S. to the for U.S. to In to the and when he to Moscow However, these were As as to the he the He he had been and when the photographs were which the KGB to the compromising in by a U.S. at the in was also during the After compromised with the of and he that the Moscow KGB was also him of being an the photographs were and the KGB a to their to but the was denied because of the at least one other a was on KGB same-sex as the were to and and that had mentioned of a by KGB According to a U.S. at the U.S. embassy in Moscow had victim to a same-sex entrapment When was shown the photographs, he to the least on those not out the of the photographs in the According to who had been appointed in to the KGB, recruitment and was shown these photographs in the first place of this was not a in of same-sex was transferred from the to the in he his with However, established that and also for other KGB and that was not aware of not to or to U.S. intelligence the pair with three in from and who in same-sex had a of other with their and from to of were from Intourist and there as They were was to any information that might to the They also in and in to Soviet entrapment was a for the recruitment of However, there were to this the to which the KGB for its a U.S. tourist from a the USSR in the of As a U.S. citizen in he was which reported that was a that the but was not a because he to information and from KGB in the for days the KGB he had and the in which he criticized the Soviet and its authorities. KGB officials were to that was the Soviet They to an to and him from he to the The to compromise was made by the of the who to and in the of the and him to their other As the in two KGB as a and a the and and confronted that he a that he not about the Soviet the photographs were at the The KGB he to his When him with the photographs and that they he the case of entrapment to who the KGB an any who or about the The that the was by The were but not The authorities were had the and the KGB officials because they on the that he is a homosexual not to they just to with immediately informed the U.S. embassy about had with the He denied having in same-sex activity but described the with the provided The that the with was his and had in the which the of the However, is this was in the After he had for only a of and could have been denied a he had to the 1970s, the KGB of same-sex as a for and In three in Moscow for the and by Soviet authorities of and In the two were of in same-sex activity with a Soviet had already his in Moscow could Soviet was from Moscow for his The behind the attack was the of three in At the time, Soviet authorities were to the of The in the The first had already been published in in As on the KGB was on the British were mentioned by in his of out numerous same-sex entrapment in the one of the His to the Soviet not However, an in which he was in further on the practice of same-sex entrapment in countries the In traveled to at the of the of to to for the U.S. officials that their had of to compromise the the of his discussed KGB for foreign and provided of U.S. in the of his in in he with the first of the of and his on to U.S. his in of in the with a focus on U.S. of the on the to a from that in or his and had reported their about him as Moscow and a of the KGB which on any suspected of that could as The was was the who had been in but had been taken him at the informed the about this and they were to with the of the had never an The KGB to their of to homosexual agent an apartment and made for he the to homosexual as he might not in just one of which to with and as a When from the of the he was denied and not to in the and the who not to The entrapment was in and the was However, he immediately informed the U.S. in failed to that the were with same-sex entrapment or that to the However, the his and about the not the account of the of He his about the of his in the the account of a KGB in same-sex entrapment in the but case the and publicly account of an who was compromised this of these that the recruitment on the and the into the by the aspect as in the case of is by the KGB was targeted by the British of the His entrapment and a number of those in his who was when he in Moscow in to as a at the British had in Russian and in the the many at the there was one who a the a who had the of the British embassy in He had to and and was with the of made of After was he that him about the not that they to the the Russian were by the Soviet authorities. I that as they for the they had already been by the of in some Soviet officials never to in their in the of the of as Vassall during the that Vassall was was never Vassall and British intelligence that the was also He almost to the KGB of entrapment could but there is to was from the British embassy in of his to a of the with the Soviet the of and Vassall were at the when a pair of Soviet at a their in and to have more and the The Soviet spoke After a they but before one of the Soviet specifically the to for a the They a days where the Soviet that in that he to Vassall to a at a the Vassall with the who Vassall to him and some friends for The two of at the one of the the and into a by a group of or other Soviet was by of spoke The Soviet not the on Soviet and was in the the their and Vassall that one of the he described as he and the other to the and had The remained on and were not photographs of those on the Vassall to and have been The to which he to in group is and could described as a of or In the one of the Soviet to was that he The British man was to the group remained in the until he one about the who him to He the more and they in about and The as he not had at the The final of entrapment in when the Vassall to his a on Vassall man spoke They to an apartment not from the After a the Vassall that the to They into a of in his as he a Vassall the of a and The was and the Vassall never him KGB the Vassall was of the for this entrapment was to that Vassall could not his for Soviet had been Vassall had been with other in documents described as an The KGB and him by he they were to the photographs to as an of the with their was the of the British ambassador to the USSR at the When the KGB Vassall the photographs, he was After being in an Vassall was to the for further time, he was taken to the where the KGB and They that he at the British Vassall about this which the KGB of the photographs and the in that he was a to the with the KGB during which Vassall was with a of to his The was established and he left Moscow in with other he to much entrapment was because of the of the and its of of the from his to that he was to in Moscow for an who were to by Vassall a for the The Soviet to he have of or As a his entrapment was not only and but also by both and as as a the The Vassall revealed one of the of the in and they were to to a As Vassall described in his must have the in before the of Soviet Bernard Koten in Kyiv in 1963, the that to information about his on charges of was an was about this he not in he to have the case from At the he the The KGB was with Koten because of his in the of the to Koten had been suspected of during his early to the Soviet but the KGB at the because he was a of the However, his to the USSR the KGB because he had established numerous that the KGB to that he was a the Koten U.S. State for three the KGB to a from him of being a U.S. intelligence was more for He in the USSR with the to him by an from New York to was a KGB U.S. citizen with Russian in in the of the After Koten the of his in the KGB that this could not a and that Koten was on of U.S. intelligence same-sex entrapment was staged in Tbilisi, to in homosexual KGB agent to him into in a public materials that he was a Soviet an from the and with the to Koten for espionage, led to his No the information about the charges of was I was an as the charges public the of the same-sex entrapment. Koten his friends that the entrapment and had not his for the of the Soviet and that he to being the first attempt to the practice of same-sex entrapment as by the KGB during the Cold War, demonstrates Soviet state security and the on were in Soviet from and foreign that the KGB Soviet who had been entrapped the The also into in the 1950s, when Soviet were being in of the and the same-sex was and a on of the was in by the of the Russian The made by the historian the KGB the in Soviet when discussed the of the an Soviet was both and The KGB was to for its As as state security and could they not about as in the case of and There is of the Soviet foreign and eventually a not his He was not same-sex entrapment but least at some he was a in His not for the Soviet and the UK in and in as a in his apartment with a Russian man who as an in a state was by the to with to his The KGB not to their entrapment was not the only by the KGB, compromise were According to the Soviet a of Soviet officials as number from a of were to in the UK and was by the After a in from the to a for the Soviet had been of to a I myself on a topic as The of the in Soviet when the first to in the and As has the for State Security was when and in the and of the these this in the USSR not known until the Russian Federal Security Service its is to the of the same-sex entrapment in because in However, discussed the recruitment this not to KGB who that only the of this could they which that were The Vassall case because was an for the from Moscow and from the USSR with information and there other who were never to sources in is impossible to that in Moscow years his with research was by the I to those who the early of this article and provided as as to the of the and