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Witness History: Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński: Cold War traitor or hero?

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Jack Strong aka Ryzsard Kukliński: Cold War traitor or hero?

26/01/2024 GMT

Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński: Cold War traitor or hero?

BBC World Service - Witness History, Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński: Cold War traitor or hero?

During the Cold War a high-ranking Polish colonel passed Soviet secrets to the CIA

In 1972, the US Embassy in West Germany received a letter in broken English from a Polish colonel. For the next 10 years, he worked as a secret agent code-named Jack Strong.

During the 1970s, the US and Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War.  

The US, along with other Western countries, was a member of Nato, while the Soviet Union joined forces with central and eastern European countries in the Warsaw Pact.  

After becoming frustrated with the way the Soviets controlled his country, Ryszard Kukliński, a Polish colonel, wrote to the US Embassy in Bonn, West Germany.  

For the next 10 years, he would feed the CIA tens of thousands of pages of classified military secrets.

Aris Pappas, a CIA agent who analysed Ryszard's intel, speaks to George Crafer about his memories of this forgotten hero. 

(Photo: Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński. Credit: AP)

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