George Blake
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George Blake ( Behar; 11 November 1922 – 26 December 2020) was a
spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
with Britain's
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
(MI6) and worked as a
double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
for the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He became a
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and decided to work for the MGB while a prisoner during the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from
Wormwood Scrubs prison HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Category B men's local prison, located opposite Hammersmith Hospital and W12 Conferences on Du Cane Road in the White City in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's ...
in west London in 1966 and fled to the Soviet Union. He was not one of the
Cambridge Five The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active from the 1930s until at least into the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted for ...
spies, although he associated with Donald Maclean and
Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...
after reaching the Soviet Union.


Early life

George Blake was born George Behar in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, the Netherlands in 1922. He was the son of a
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
mother, Catherine (née Beijderwellen), and an Egyptian father of
Sephardi Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
origin who was a naturalised British subject. He was named George after
George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
. His father, Albert Behar, served in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during the First World War. While Albert received the
Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...
, he embellished his war service when recounting it to his wife and children, and concealed his Jewish background until his death. The Behars lived a comfortable existence in the Netherlands until Albert's death in 1936. The thirteen-year-old Behar was sent to live with a wealthy aunt in Egypt, where he continued his education at the English School in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. He later attended
Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
to study Russian. While in Cairo, he was close to his cousin
Henri Curiel Henri Curiel (13 September 1914 – 4 May 1978) was a left-wing political activist in Egypt and France. Born in Egypt, Curiel led the communist Democratic Movement for National Liberation until he was expelled from the country in 1950. Settling in ...
, who was later to become a leader of the Communist
Democratic Movement for National Liberation The Democratic Movement for National Liberation ( ar, الحركة الديمقراطية للتحرر الوطنى, abbreviated حدتو, HADITU, french: Mouvement démocratique de libération nationale, abbreviated M.D.L.N.) was a communist organ ...
in Egypt. In 1991, Blake said that his encounter with Curiel, who was a decade older and already a
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
, shaped his views in later life. When the Second World War broke out, Behar was back in the Netherlands. In 1940, Germany invaded and quickly defeated the Dutch military. Behar was interned but released because he was only 17, and joined the Dutch resistance as a courier. In 1942, he escaped from the Netherlands and travelled to Britain via Spain and Gibraltar, reaching London in January 1943. There, he was reunited with his mother and his sisters, who had fled at the start of the war. In 1943, his mother decided to change the family name from Behar to Blake.


Espionage activities

After he reached Britain, Blake joined the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
as a
sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
before being recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in 1944. For the rest of the war, Blake was employed in the Dutch Section. He intended to marry an MI6 secretary, Iris Peake, but her family prevented the marriage because of Blake's Jewish background and the relationship ended. In 1946, he was posted to
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
and put in charge of the interrogation of German
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
captains. In 1947, the Navy sent Blake to study languages, including Russian, at Downing College, Cambridge, where his fellow students included the future foreign policy analyst Michael MccGwire. He was posted thereafter to the British
legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...
in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea, under
Vyvyan Holt Captain Sir Vyvyan Holt (1896 – 2 July 1960) was a British soldier, diplomat, and Oriental scholar, who was held captive by North Korea for nearly three years during the Korean War. Biography Born in London in 1896, the son of Teresa and Ar ...
, arriving on 6 November 1948. Under cover as a vice-consul, Blake's mission was to gather intelligence on Communist
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, Communist
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and the
Soviet Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
. The
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
broke out on 25 June 1950, and Seoul was quickly captured by the advancing
Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...
of the North. After British forces joined the
United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, an ...
defending the South, Blake and the other British diplomats were taken prisoner. As the tide of the war turned, Blake and the others were taken north, first to
Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...
and then to the
Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
. After seeing the
bombing of North Korea Air forces of the United Nations Command carried out an extensive bombing campaign against North Korea from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean War. It was the first major bombing campaign for the United States Air Force (USAF) since its inception in ...
, and after reading the works of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and others during his three-year detention, he became a communist. At a secret meeting arranged with his guards, he volunteered to work for the Soviet Union's spy service, the MGB. In an interview, Blake was once asked: "Is there one incident that triggered your decision to effectively change sides?" Blake responded:
It was the relentless bombing of small Korean villages by enormous American Flying Fortresses. Women and children and old people, because the young men were in the army. We might have been victims ourselves. It made me feel ashamed of belonging to these overpowering, technically superior countries fighting against what seemed to me defenceless people. I felt I was on the wrong side ... that it would be better for humanity if the Communist system prevailed, that it would put an end to war.
However, in his first ever interview in 1990 with Tom Bower for 'The Confession', a BBC TV documentary, Blake said that he had been tempted towards communism during his Russian course in Cambridge while serving with MI6, and had been finally convinced while reading
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's ''
Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in Historical mater ...
'' during his imprisonment in North Korea. Following his release in 1953, Blake returned to Britain as a hero, landing at
RAF Abingdon Royal Air Force Abingdon or more simply RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps. History The airfield was opened in 1932, initially as ...
. In October 1954, he married MI6 secretary Gillian Allan in St Mark's Church (North Audley Street) in London. In 1955, he was sent by MI6 to work as a
case officer In intelligence organizations, agent handling is the management of so-called agents (called secret agents or spies in common parlance), principal agents, and agent networks (called "assets") by intelligence officers typically known as case o ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where his task was to recruit
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
officers as double agents. But he also informed his KGB contacts of the details of British and American operations, including
Operation Gold Operation Gold (also known as Operation Stopwatch by the British) was a joint operation conducted by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1950s to tap into landline communic ...
, in which a tunnel into
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
was used to tap telephone lines used by the Soviet military. In order to protect Blake from exposure, the Soviet decided not to "discover" the tunnel until it had been in operation for nearly a year. According to the author of a 2019 book about the operation, the Soviets "value Blake so much, they fear dhis exposure more than they fear da breach of their secrets". In the course of nine years, Blake is said to have betrayed details of some forty MI6 agents to the KGB, destroying most of MI6's operations in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, although this remains unsubstantiated.Hermiston, pp. 252–253. Blake later said of this: "I don't know what I handed over because it was so much." In the same TV interview, Blake claimed to have betrayed 500 British agents. In 1959 Blake became aware of a
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
inside
GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
, and was possibly instrumental in exposing P. S. Popov, who was executed in 1960. Although Blake's espionage during the Cold War is famous and has regularly been pored over, it has been in a less detailed way than the
Cambridge Five The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active from the 1930s until at least into the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted for ...
spy ring, because "Blake was never part of this
lite Lite may refer to: Food and drugs *Diet food, food or beverage that is part of a weight loss program or diet *Diet soda, a version of soda pop *Low-alcohol beer, beer with little or no alcohol content **Miller Lite, a brand of light beer *Lights ...
class-ridden inner circle", according to an article by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' after Blake's death. "Born in Rotterdam to a Dutch mother and an Egyptian Jewish father ewas never considered one of them."


Discovery and conviction

In 1961, Blake fell under suspicion after revelations by Polish defector
Michael Goleniewski Michał Franciszek Goleniewski a.k.a. 'SNIPER', 'LAVINIA', (16 August 1922 – 12 July 1993), was a Polish officer in the People's Republic of Poland's Ministry of Public Security, the deputy head of military counterintelligence GZI WP, later hea ...
and others. He was arrested when he arrived in London after being summoned from
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, where he had been enrolled at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS). Three days into his interrogation, Blake denied he was tortured or blackmailed by the North Koreans. Without thinking about what he was saying, he stated that he had switched sides voluntarily. He then gave his MI6 interrogators a full confession. The maximum sentence for any one offence under section 1 of the
Official Secrets Act 1911 The Official Secrets Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo 5 c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889. The Act was introduced in response to public alarm at reports of wide-scale espionage, some of them ...
is 14 years, but his activities were divided into five time periods charged as five offences and, in May 1961 after an ''
in camera ''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...
'' trial at the
Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
, he was sentenced to the maximum term of 14 years consecutively on each of three counts of spying for a potential enemy and 14 years concurrently on both the two remaining counts—a total of 42 years imprisonment—by the
Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
, Lord Parker of Waddington. This sentence was reported by newspapers to represent one year for each of the agents who were killed when he betrayed them, although this is dubious. It was the longest non-life sentence ever handed down by a British court.


Escape from prison

Five years into his imprisonment in
Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...
, Blake escaped with the help of three men he had met in jail, namely
Sean Bourke Sean Aloysius Bourke (1934–1982), from Limerick, aided in the prison escape of the British spy George Blake in October 1966. Blake had been convicted in 1961 of spying for the Soviet Union. After the escape, Blake eventually made his way to Mosc ...
and two anti-nuclear campaigners,
Michael Randle Michael Randle (born 1933) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy George Blake escape from a British prison. Early life Born ...
and
Pat Pottle Patrick Brian Pottle (8 August 1938 – 1 October 2000), a long-time anti-war campaigner, was a founding member of the Committee of 100, an anti-nuclear direct action group which broke away from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). He wa ...
. The escape was masterminded by Bourke, who first approached Randle only for financial help with the escape. Randle became more involved and suggested they bring Pottle in on the plan as well, as he had suggested springing Blake to Randle in 1962 when they were both still in prison. Their motives for helping Blake to escape were their belief that the 42-year sentence was "inhuman" and because of a personal liking of Blake. Several sources also state that the plan was financed by film director
Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones (1963 film ...
. Bourke had smuggled a
walkie-talkie A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
to Blake to communicate with him while in jail. On 22 October 1966, Blake broke a window at the end of the corridor where his cell was located. Then between 6 and 7 p.m., while most of the other inmates and guards were at the weekly film showing, Blake climbed through the window, slid down a porch and made his way to the perimeter wall. There, Bourke, who had been released from the jail earlier, threw a rope ladder over the wall. Blake then used it to climb over the wall and they drove off to a
safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...
. During the escape, Blake fractured his wrist jumping from the perimeter wall, but apart from that it all went according to plan. After the escape, it became apparent that the safe house was not suitable, as it was a bedsit that was cleaned by the landlady once a week. Blake then spent several days moving between Randle and Pottle's friends' houses, including that of Rev.
John Papworth John Papworth (12 December 1921 – 4 July 2020) was an English clergyman, writer and activist against big public and private organizations and for small communities and enterprises. Life and work Born in London in December 1921, Papworth was ...
in
Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
. Subsequently, Blake and Bourke moved in with Pottle, staying with him while preparing to get out of the country. They smuggled Blake across the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
in a
camper van A camper van, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motor caravan or RV (recreational vehicle) in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans that have been fitt ...
, then drove across northern Europe and through
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
to the
Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing The Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing (german: Grenzübergang Helmstedt-Marienborn), named ''Grenzübergangsstelle Marienborn'' (GÜSt) (''border crossing Marienborn'') by the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was the largest and most import ...
. Having safely crossed the border without incident, Blake met his handlers in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
and completed his escape to the Soviet Union. Pottle and Randel were not prosecuted until 1991. Their defence was a claim of moral justification for aiding Blake, whose 42-year sentence they considered to be excessively long and "inhuman". Despite being directed that they must find the men guilty, the
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
acquitted them both - an act known as
jury nullification Jury nullification (US/UK), jury equity (UK), or a perverse verdict (UK) occurs when the jury in a criminal trial gives a not guilty verdict despite a defendant having clearly broken the law. The jury's reasons may include the belief that the ...
in which a jury uses its absolute discretion to find as it sees fit. Bourke was not prosecuted for his role since Ireland refused to extradite him to the United Kingdom to face charges that were political in nature.


Moscow

In November 1966, his wife Gillian, with whom he had three children, began
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
proceedings against him, and in March 1967 Mr Justice Orr granted a ''
decree nisi A decree nisi or rule nisi () is a court order that will come into force at a future date unless a particular condition is met. Unless the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute), and is binding. Typically, the condi ...
'' in Blake's absence, on the grounds that the conviction of a spouse for treason can amount to cruelty or constructive desertion. Custody of their three sons, Anthony, James, and Patrick, was awarded to Gillian. This caused Blake a good deal of grief, though he knew that Gillian would have struggled to settle into life in the Soviet Union. In 1990, Blake published the autobiography ''No Other Choice''. The book's British publisher had paid him about £60,000 before the government intervened to stop him profiting from sales. (Eventually, the amount seized by the government totalled £90,000.) He later filed a complaint charging the British government with a human rights violation for taking nine years to decide on his case, and was awarded £5,000 in compensation by the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
. In 1991, Blake testified by video recording when Randle and Pottle were put on trial for aiding his escape. They were acquitted. In an interview with
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
in 1991, Blake said he regretted the deaths of the agents he had betrayed. In a 1992 interview for the programme ''
As It Happens ''As It Happens'' is a Canadian interview show that airs on CBC Radio One in Canada and various public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio Exchange. Its 50th anniversary was celebrated on-air on November 16, 2018. It has bee ...
'', aired by Canada's
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
, Blake praised the general concept of communism. He said that he had offered his services to the Soviet Union because he viewed communism as "a great experiment of mankind, to create a more just society, to create, in fact, the kingdom of God in this world". During this discussion, he denied responsibility for the deaths of any British agents, having been assured by the Soviets that none were executed based on the intelligence that he had provided, and stating that he believes they didn't lie. However, according to NPR, "Blake gave up the identities of hundreds of British spies, some of whom were executed." In the 1992 CNN series
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, former KGB general
Oleg Kalugin Oleg Danilovich Kalugin (russian: Олег Данилович Калугин; born 6 September 1934) is a former KGB general (stripped of his rank and awards by a Russian Court decision in 2002). He was during a time, head of KGB political ope ...
remarked, "George Blake had that innocent mind, in a sense. He's still a very naïve man. He didn't want to know that many people he betrayed were executed. And I think we discussed this subject at one point, and he wouldn't believe it. He would say, 'Well, I was told that this would not happen!' It did happen. He was not told." Blake later married again in the Soviet Union in 1968 to Ida Mikhailovna Kareyeva with whom he had one child. He also reconciled with his other children. In late 2007, Blake was awarded the
Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...
on his 85th birthday by
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
. Blake's later book, ''Transparent Walls'' (2006), was reported by the
daily Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' Vzglyad'' ("The View"). Sergei Lebedev, the then director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation, wrote in the book's foreword that despite the book's being devoted to the past, it is about the present as well. He also wrote that Blake, the 85-year-old colonel of foreign intelligence, "still takes an active role in the affairs of the secret service". In 2012, he celebrated his 90th birthday, still living in Moscow on a KGB pension. His eyesight was failing and he described himself as "virtually blind". He remained a committed
Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
. Blake denied being a traitor, insisting that he had never felt British: "To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged." Five years later, Blake remained committed to Russia and to communism. In a November 2017 statement, he claimed that its spies now have "the difficult and critical mission" of saving the world "in a situation when the danger of nuclear war and the resulting self-destruction of humankind again have been put on the agenda by irresponsible politicians. It's a true battle between good and evil."


Death

Blake died on 26 December 2020, aged 98, in Moscow. The
RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asse ...
news agency first reported Blake's death, citing Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency. "We received some bitter news—the legendary George Blake passed away," it said. Russian President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, himself an ex-
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
agent, expressed his "deep condolences" to Blake's family and friends. In a message published on the Kremlin website, the Russian leader noted Blake's "invaluable contribution to ensuring strategic parity and maintaining peace on the planet." Putin also said of Blake, "Colonel Blake was a brilliant professional of special vitality and courage." Blake was buried with military honours at Moscow's
Troyekurovskoye Cemetery The Troyekurovo Cemetery (russian: Троекуровское кладбище, Troyekurovskoye kladbishche), alternatively known as ''Novo-Kuntsevo Cemetery'' (russian: Ново-Кунцевское кладбище, Novo-Kuntsevskoye kladbishch ...
.


In culture

The play '' Cell Mates'' (1995) by
Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. While teaching at Q ...
is about Blake and
Sean Bourke Sean Aloysius Bourke (1934–1982), from Limerick, aided in the prison escape of the British spy George Blake in October 1966. Blake had been convicted in 1961 of spying for the Soviet Union. After the escape, Blake eventually made his way to Mosc ...
. The original production starred
Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
as Blake and
Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...
as Bourke. The production was thrown into turmoil when Fry walked out following a bad review.
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
planned to make a film, ''
The Short Night ''The Short Night'' was a film planned by British director Alfred Hitchcock. The project was originally announced in the late 1960s at the time of '' Topaz'' and Hitchcock scouted locations in Finland. A romantic suspense thriller with espion ...
'', based on Blake, but died before doing so. In 2015, BBC '' Storyville'' made a documentary about Blake at the age of 92, which included interviews with Blake. The film was titled ''Storyville: Masterspy of Moscow – George Blake''. In 2021 the BBC radio play ''Breaking Blake'' by Barnaby Kay was broadcast. It covers his escape from prison and his flight to a Czechoslovakian border post with East Germany in a camper van's hidden compartment. George Blake appears as a character in Ian McEwan's novel '' The Innocent.''


See also

*''
Attorney General v Blake is a leading English contract law case on damages for breach of contract. It established that in some circumstances, where ordinary remedies are inadequate, restitutionary damages may be awarded. Facts George Blake was a member of the Secre ...
''


References


Sources

* * *


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

*
Radio interview (in Dutch) (OVT, VPRO) with George Blake, by Hans Olink (1999)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, George 1922 births 2020 deaths 1961 in military history 1961 in British politics 20th-century English criminals Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge British autobiographers British communists British intelligence personnel who defected to the Soviet Union British Marxists British people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union British spies for the Soviet Union British prisoners of war in the Korean War Double agents Dutch resistance members English people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom Dutch expatriates in Egypt English people of Turkish-Jewish descent Escapees from England and Wales detention People educated at Harrow School People from Rotterdam People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union People of Sephardic-Jewish descent Secret Intelligence Service personnel Royal Navy officers of World War II