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| Ernest Hemingway spied out of love for freedom and democracy |
In 2009, notes
from a former KGB spy said Ernest Hemingway was recruited by the KGB in 1941
and given the cover name “Argo”- he met with Soviet spies in Havana and London,
but never gave away political info or practical intelligence, so they ceased contacting
him.
It’s reported in the publication of “Spies:
The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America” (Yale University Press). It reveals
that the Nobel prize-winning novelist was for a while on the KGB's list of its
agents in America. Former KGB spy Alexander Vassiliev had copious amounts of
notes which the book is based on.
Apparently, Hemingway became a spy because
of his core beliefs and moral fiber, and not out of greed. He never took a
bribe from his KGB handlers. BTW, Hemingway also was a spy for the CIA, and he
never accepted money from them either. He operated out of patriotism and a love
for freedom and democracy.
Let me explain. The CIA uses the term “MICE”,
an acronym used to understand what motivates a person to become a spy. “MICE”:
Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego are the persuaders used by the CIA to
recruit spies.
It was the “I”, ideology, that motivated Hemingway
to become a spy for both the KNVD (the precursor to the KGB) and the CIA: he
hated Nazis.
Before the Spanish Civil War, he was
largely apolitical, but became an extreme antifascist during and after the war.
He approached Soviet espionage agents in Spain simply because they hated the
Nazis; the only serious support for the anti-fascist side came from the Soviet
Union.
On the fascist side with Spain were the
nationalists, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy- they all supported Spain’s dreadful
Francisco Franco.
Interestingly, the book "Writer,
Sailor, Soldier, Spy" tells the little-known story of Papa Hemingway's
colorful engagement with espionage – for both the Americans and the Soviets.
In the MISSION
OF VENGEANCE spy thriller, a former KGB spy defected for ideological reasons:
he despised how Putin’s new Russia robbed the Russian people of their basic
freedoms. Here’s two Snippets:
Snippet 1: The KGB defector said, “That’s
exactly why I’m defecting. In twenty-eight years, Putin has taken the KGB full
circle. I began feeling alienated when the KGB led the coup against Gorbachev.
Boris Yeltsin took over in 1991 and tried to form a new KGB that wouldn’t
meddle in politics or citizen’s rights. He made the mistake of hiring Putin as
his overseer and it slowly reconstituted itself. Putin’s foreign policy
strategy today stems from the cold war espionage techniques he learned as a
young recruit in Leningrad’s KGB spy school, which Markov and I attended with
him.”
Snippet 2: The aging spy got their
attention. Corey put his coffee mug down, Morrison chewed nervously on his
Montecristo and Deputy Chief of Mission Harlow stared in silence.
A few moments passed, then Corey spoke.
“Would you like to share it with us?”
Bocharov’s eyes cleared up as a subdued
anger overtook him. “Yes. And you Americans should take note, for it will
affect your interests in the Caribbean. I spit on Putin… he solidified his power
by having the KGB bomb the apartment buildings in Moscow and three other cities
that killed hundreds of innocent Russians, including my two nephews. He
exploited the panic that ensued by having his new KGB, the FSB, spread
disinformation to blame it on the Chechens. He started the Second Chechen War
that killed 25,000 civilians while presenting himself as an indispensable
leader and protector. Ironically, your late Senator John McCain accused Putin
and the FSB of doing the bombings… he was correct.”
End of Snippets
Robert Morton
is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and
enjoys writing about the U.S. Intelligence Community. He authors the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster
series. Check out his latest spy thrillers: MISSION
OF VENGEANCE.
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