https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-day-we-discovered-our-parents-were-russian-spies
The story is about a Russian spy couple in general.
Only the father was admitted to Harvard, and that was grad school, not undergrad. On the balance, this detail seems incidental to the story.
One does feel for the children of the spies They were part of the “cover,” and it sounds like they are very conflicted about being used.
Wow, that is a fascinating story! I feel bad for the sons; hopefully, they will find a home and be able to live a normal life.
I think it will be hard for folks close to the boys to ever know the boys’ true loyalties. They will always be conflicted—having some love for their parents while also wanting a country that they are able to converse in. So far, it doesn’t sound like any country had granted them citizenship.
The article says that they got Russian passports.
Yes, but they seem to want Canadian citizenship.
@damon30 I agree that the father’s going to Harvard graduate was incidental. Nevertheless, the story was fascinating. And I was struck by the fact that how even a Russian spy could get into Harvard or graduate school. I would think it’s harder to get into Harvard graduate school than Harvard undergraduate. I also wondered whether going to Harvard graduate school was an instruction on the part of Russia or it was something the father (Russian spy) wanted to do personally.
^ No, it’s considerably easier to get into the Kennedy School of Government than being admitted as a Harvard undergrad. Also keep in mind the possible hook of having some shady “donor” money in the background - think Jared Kushner. Who knows exactly why Harvard, it wasn’t mentioned in the story. It might just be some place the guy went to school.
A spy undetected as such at the time could have been academically competitive enough to get admitted.
Exactly. They also ate at the local Wendy’s and bought stuff on Amazon. All incidental. No one knew they were spies.
The story is actually 4 or 5 years old. Both boys are fighting through the courts to regain Canadian citizenship. They won the last round in 2018 and now the Canadian government is taking it to their highest court. For now, they have Canadian passports and, at least the younger one is living in Toronto.
Such an interesting story. Thanks for posting. Have to feel for the sons, having their entire family and life story upended.
Harvard has little to do with this story. I can’t even imagine being in the shoes of a child conceived and used as a part of their parents’ cover up, which is exactly what happened to these kids. Are the children (forever) responsible for their parents crimes?!!
It’s not at all surprising that a Russian spy could get into Harvard. On a podcast about the tv show The Americans, they had an FBI agent who worked on the unit dealing with Russian spies in the US. He said that unlike the criminals he dealt with in other roles in the FBI who were all either not very smart or mentally ill, the spies were for the most part brilliant, stable and highly educated. That’s why the Soviet Union chose them to work in the US.
Russia for decades and decades sent “regular people” to serve as spies to whatever Western country that would have them. Back in the day (70s-90s) there were dozens of spy families in Great Britain alone.