ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
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line was that a person was made to feel very insecure <strong>and</strong> vulnerable because it was fairly<br />
obvious that someone had been in the apartment. The implied message was: be careful,<br />
your behavior is being watched, <strong>and</strong> next time something far more serious can happen.<br />
I found this a very interesting <strong>for</strong>m of psychological harassment, <strong>and</strong>, while it never<br />
bothered me or my family particularly, it did lead to paranoia among some people. In<br />
some cases, I think, it led to people accusing the Soviets of doing things whenever<br />
anything went wrong, even if perhaps the Soviets were not actually at fault. You know, if<br />
the coffeemaker broke down people would assume, “Well, the KGB did this.” Sometimes<br />
the Soviets may have done it but at times they didn't <strong>and</strong> people just blamed them. But in<br />
a sense that also served the KGB purpose because it underlined the insecurity <strong>and</strong><br />
vulnerability, which is what the KGB wanted. So people’s paranoia would start working<br />
to the benefit of the KGB. We did experience such harassment a number of times—once<br />
when one of my wife’s coats disappeared <strong>for</strong> several months <strong>and</strong> then suddenly<br />
reappeared hanging in the closet. But how can someone protest that to the Foreign<br />
Ministry? That was the beauty of the KGB scheme.<br />
Q: Was there a problem of radiation at that time?<br />
PERINA: There was but we didn't know about it. We found out subsequently that this<br />
was the period when the building was being microwaved. There was some real anger<br />
about this toward the Department in later years because many people felt that the<br />
Department had an obligation to tell employees about something that could have negative<br />
health effects. The Department, of course, claimed there was no evidence of negative<br />
health effects but many people are not convinced <strong>and</strong> believe that the rates of cancer <strong>and</strong><br />
miscarriages in particular have been higher among employees who served in Moscow in<br />
those years.<br />
Q: Well the technical people knew about the microwaves, <strong>and</strong> the Ambassador must have<br />
been told. You can't disguise that sort of thing from people who have the technical<br />
capabilities to monitor it but do not tell their own.<br />
PERINA: No, we weren’t told. The later government argument was that it was below the<br />
level that can be damaging but as I underst<strong>and</strong> nobody quite knows what that level is. A<br />
similar thing at the time was the so-called “angel dust” that the KGB put on steering<br />
wheels <strong>and</strong> door knobs of some employees to trace their movements <strong>and</strong> so on. Again, as<br />
I underst<strong>and</strong>, people weren't told about that but it came out in later years. There, however,<br />
it is unclear if our government knew about it, but they certainly knew about the<br />
microwaves <strong>and</strong> did not tell us. The reason, as I have been told, is that we were doing the<br />
same thing to their Embassy in Washington so neither side wanted to make an issue of it.<br />
Q: How about leisure time <strong>for</strong> you <strong>and</strong> your family. Could you get around, see things, do<br />
things, or was it difficult? How was life?<br />
PERINA: Life could be difficult. For example, we lived in a diplomatic housing<br />
compound run by the Soviets which was luxurious by Soviet st<strong>and</strong>ards but not at all up to<br />
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