Jack Barsky

Jack Barsky, born Albrecht Dittrich is a former secret agent of the KGB. He was born in East Germany.[1] In 1970 he was studying to become a chemistry professor when he was approached by the East German Secret Police and asked to be a spy.[1] He accepted, and after training by the KGB he was sent to the United States in 1978.[1]

His American identity was taken from a child who had died at the age of ten.[1] The KGB provided him with the child's birth certificate and $6,000 in cash.[1] His mission was to get a U.S. passport, insert himself into American society and "get close to National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski".[1] He was not given very good instructions, and struggled at first.[1] Eventually he obtained a social security card, rented an apartment, and began attending college and studying computer programming.[1] He worked for MetLife and was able to provide the Soviets with programming code that helped them compete with the West.[1][2]

Every week he received radio transmissions from the Soviets.[1] Every two years he returned to Germany and Moscow for debriefing.[1]

For 10 years he led a double life, with a wife and child in Germany and a wife and child in the United States.[1] His two families did not know about each other at first.[1]

In 1988 he learned his cover was compromised.[1] He refused to leave the country because he was concerned about the welfare of his American family.[1] He told the KGB he had contracted the AIDS virus and needed to stay in the United States.[1] The KGB told his German wife he was dead.[1]

In 1992 a KGB defector named Vasili Mitrokhin provided information to the FBI about Soviet spy operations in the U.S., including Barsky's name.[1] The FBI was able to locate Barsky, observed him for some time, and in 1997 detained and interrogated him.[1] He was never charged with espionage as the FBI determined that he was no longer an active spy and that he was a valuable source of information about spy techniques.[1]

He has since revealed the truth to his family, both in the United States and in Germany.[1] He is a former employee of the New York Independent System Operator as a Director Of Software Technologies in upstate New York.[1] He has previously been chief information officer for other energy systems.[3] He is not considered to pose a threat to the security of the power grid,[4] but he has been placed on a leave of absence nonetheless.[3] He did not tell his employer about his past when he was hired in 2011, and they learned about it shortly before he was interviewed on 60 minutes in 2015.[3]

He is writing a book about his experiences.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "The Spy Among Us". May 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Rapoza, Kenneth (May 10, 2015). "Former Russia Spy Living American Dream In NY". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rulison, Larry; Crowe II, Kenneth (May 9, 2015). "Former KGB spy holds a top job at New York electric grid operator". Times Union. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Sanderson, Bill (May 10, 2015). "A former KGB spy's secret life in America exposed". New York Post. New York Post. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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