Ryszard Kuklinski
|
|
Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński (June 13, 1930 – February 11, 2004) was a Polish-born colonel and "Cold War" masterspy, who passed top secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA between years 1971 and 1981. He died of stroke at the age of 74 in a Tampa, Florida, hospital.
He was born in Warsaw in a working class family with socialist traditions. His father was a member of the resistance during World War II--he died in the Sachsenhausen camp. After the war, Kukliński started a successful career in the (communist) Polish People's Army. He took part in the preparations for the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. After the December 1970 massacre of Polish workers in Gdansk by communist forces, he contacted the CIA and offered his services as a spy (according to another version, he was approached by the CIA in Vietnam as early as 1967). Between 1971 and 1981 he passed 35 thousand pages of mostly Russian secret documents to the CIA. The documents described Moscow's strategic plans regarding the use of nuclear weapons, technical data about the T-72 tank and Strela-1 missiles, the distribution of Russian anti-aircraft bases in Poland and East Germany, the methods used by the Russians to avoid spy satellite detection of their military hardware, and many others.
Facing imminent danger of discovery, Kukliński was extracted from Poland by the CIA shortly before the imposition of the martial law in December 1981. Three years later, on May 23, 1984 he was sentenced to death, in absentia, by a secret military court in Warsaw. After the Fall of Communism, the verdict was voided. He was able to revisit Poland in April of 1998.
Kukliński remains a very controversial figure for most Poles. He is considered a national hero by some, and a traitor by others.
Viewpoints
Kuklinski was a chief of a planning division of the Polish army. He was a contact man for the Polish army to the Russian military. He knew the Polish part of the so called "Warsaw Pact". General plans of "Warsaw Pact" were known only in Moscow, but Kuklinski could infer a lot from his contact in Moscow. After he found out Russian plans of conquering Europe, by which Poland should be offered and destroyed for 400 to 600 nuclear hits, he promoted an option for Polish army to work with NATO together to prevent it. He asked the CIA for help and he got help. He was not a spy in the common sense. There was no other possibility at that time to promote Polish interests than secretly. He was not approached by the CIA. The CIA was approached by him and they worked together. He had a major influence on NATO to change its military plans in Europe, which were adjusted according to his suggestions and to better save Poland during a possible war. He flew in 1981 to USA with two sons and a wife.
External links
- The Vilification and Vindication of Colonel Kuklinski (http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/summer00/art03.html) from the Central Intelligence Agency
References
- A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Save His Country, by Benjamin Weiser. ISBN 1891620541pl:Ryszard Kukliński