Posted on Nov 26, 2021
The untold story of how Polish spies helped the CIA carry-out secret missions around the world
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A new book tells the story of how Polish and U.S. spy agencies began working together after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and how Poland became one of the closest allies of America's intelligence agencies.
Polish spies helped free U.S. intelligence operatives captured in Iraq, and continue to play an unsung role in America's spycraft around the world.
Polish spies helped free U.S. intelligence operatives captured in Iraq, and continue to play an unsung role in America's spycraft around the world.
The untold story of how Polish spies helped the CIA carry-out secret missions around the world
Posted from wbur.org
Poland
Spying
Intelligence
Iraq
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."On February 1, 1977, Marian Zacharski, a Polish salesman, rolled into the late-afternoon light of Los Angeles in a Pontiac Catalina with his wife and daughter. At the end of a four-day drive from wintry Chicago, their destination was a tidy apartment complex within earshot of Los Angeles International Airport.
A rangy tennis player with a big serve and an easy smile, Zacharski exuded the entrepreneurial chutzpah of a fresh-faced immigrant answering the long pull of the California dream. But Zacharski would not become an American; instead he’d become a spy. As an agent from the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact, Zacharski robbed the United States of its most closely held military secrets. In so doing, he achieved a legendary status among the FBI agents and CIA officers who tracked him down.
CIA officer John Palevich, right, and Polish intelligence chief Gromosław Czempinski forged a close relationship in the 1990s as joint operations between the two services grew. (Courtesy)
CIA officer John Palevich, right, and Polish intelligence chief Gromosław Czempinski forged a close relationship in the 1990s as joint operations between the two services grew. (Courtesy)
As he guided the Catalina into the parking lot of Cross Creek Apartments, Zacharski wasn’t yet a master of espionage tradecraft. He wasn’t even an intelligence officer. Zacharski had been sent to America for the mundane task of selling lathes. He represented an outfit called the Polish American Machine Company, or POLAMCO, which was founded in 1975 as Poland’s Communist government sought to stabilize its tottering economy with exports to the capitalist world. Between 1970 and 1977, Poland borrowed $20 billion from Western banks and institutions in a failed bid to put money in people’s pockets and food on empty shelves. Poland counted on increased exports through state-run firms like POLAMCO to repay its debts."...
..."On February 1, 1977, Marian Zacharski, a Polish salesman, rolled into the late-afternoon light of Los Angeles in a Pontiac Catalina with his wife and daughter. At the end of a four-day drive from wintry Chicago, their destination was a tidy apartment complex within earshot of Los Angeles International Airport.
A rangy tennis player with a big serve and an easy smile, Zacharski exuded the entrepreneurial chutzpah of a fresh-faced immigrant answering the long pull of the California dream. But Zacharski would not become an American; instead he’d become a spy. As an agent from the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact, Zacharski robbed the United States of its most closely held military secrets. In so doing, he achieved a legendary status among the FBI agents and CIA officers who tracked him down.
CIA officer John Palevich, right, and Polish intelligence chief Gromosław Czempinski forged a close relationship in the 1990s as joint operations between the two services grew. (Courtesy)
CIA officer John Palevich, right, and Polish intelligence chief Gromosław Czempinski forged a close relationship in the 1990s as joint operations between the two services grew. (Courtesy)
As he guided the Catalina into the parking lot of Cross Creek Apartments, Zacharski wasn’t yet a master of espionage tradecraft. He wasn’t even an intelligence officer. Zacharski had been sent to America for the mundane task of selling lathes. He represented an outfit called the Polish American Machine Company, or POLAMCO, which was founded in 1975 as Poland’s Communist government sought to stabilize its tottering economy with exports to the capitalist world. Between 1970 and 1977, Poland borrowed $20 billion from Western banks and institutions in a failed bid to put money in people’s pockets and food on empty shelves. Poland counted on increased exports through state-run firms like POLAMCO to repay its debts."...
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