When it comes to modern spies, many people think of the KGB of the former Soviet Union, and the current president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is also from the KGB. This spy organization provided the Soviet Union with a wealth of intelligence, including secrets related to the atomic bomb.
In 1999, the British government released an investigative file in which a Soviet spy code-named "Hola" named Melita Norwood, who provided the Soviet Union with atomic bomb secrets. Despite reports written by mitrochin himself, a core KGB figure, and accounts of espionage that Melita Norwood personally admitted, The British courts were unable to convict him because of insufficient evidence.
1. Faithfulness to faith
Melita Norwood was born into a family of eunuchs in Latvia, when the world was in a critical period of war and revolution. The European region is the key region leading the world's changes, and various trends of thought continue to impact the political order of human society.
Communist ideas swept through Europe, and Melita Norwood's father was deeply influenced by Marxist-Leninist thought and passed this influence on to his daughter. Later, under pressure from anti-communist forces in Latvia, Melita Norwood moved to England because her mother was British.
Reading communist books and newspapers from his father's side from an early age made Melita Norwood regard Marxism-Leninism as his lifelong belief. When it comes to the socialist countries of the time, the Soviet Union is clearly the ideal state in melita Norwood's mind. Living in England for many years, she was not trapped by the Western capitalist system, but resolutely adhered to the communist ideals in her heart.
2. Partners
Everything needs the right timing, and Melita Norwood joined the Communist Party of England in her youth and had the privilege of joining the British Nonferrous Metals Research Association. However, the work of this association involved many major weapons projects in Britain, and Melita Norwood would never have dreamed that she would be involved in the production of the atomic bomb.
At that time, the KGB, a Soviet spy organization, learned in an investigation that britain's so-called non-ferrous metal research association was involved in a number of British research on sophisticated weapons, and its findings were extremely valuable to the Soviet Union. The best spying was to find Neying, and on the recommendation of the British Communist Party, the KGB contacted Melita Norwood.
At this time, Melita Norwood, with her excellent skills and meticulous work, was quickly recognized by her superiors, and gradually promoted to assistant to the president, and the level of documents she could access was gradually rising. The KGB made many representations with her, and for the sake of her faith, she decided to provide the KGB with classified information on weapons and equipment.
3. Stealing secrets
Given her assistant to the president, Melita Norwood also had access to high levels of documents, and she delivered many valuable documents to the Soviet side. But the entire theft program is not foolproof, after all, the British intelligence departments five and six are constantly watching the protection of state secrets.
Melita Norwood, code-named "Hola", was so special that the Soviets spared no effort to establish contact with him in an attempt to obtain more military intelligence. Later, British intelligence arrested several Soviet agents involved in espionage, one of whom was Melita Norwood's superior, who was responsible for connecting with him.
These agents were well aware of the importance of Melita Norwood and did not confess Melita Norwood even in the face of rigorous interrogation by the British army. Later, the Soviet Union experienced a series of political upheavals, but their list of agents always had the name of Melita Norwood, and from her hands, the latest military developments in Europe and the United States were always available.
Later, Melita Norwood met an elementary school math teacher named Hilary, who concealed her identity as an agent, and the two fell in love and eventually married. After getting married, Hillary learned melita Norwood's true identity, but chose to respect his wife's choice, and in this way, the two lived an ordinary life, while Melita Norwood continued to engage in espionage.
Fourth, grandmother spy
During World War II, under the strong military pressure of Germany, britain chose to cooperate with the United States in the development of atomic bombs, and Melita Norwood's non-ferrous metals research association undertook an important task, and the documents handled were absolutely top secret at that time. Melita Norwood's identity allows her to get documents effortlessly.
In this way, Melita Norwood repeatedly gave the information on the atomic bomb to the KGB, providing important first-hand information for the Soviet Union to develop the atomic bomb. On August 29, 1949, there was a loud noise in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union's nuclear test was successful.
It should be known that the number of people invested in research and development in the Soviet Union was less than half that of the United States, and it was four years after the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that the Soviet Union developed atomic bombs, which convinced britain, the United States and other countries that there must be internal spies that led to data leakage.
Mi5, dubbed the "men's club," did not target Melita Norwood for censorship, and in their stereotype, women could not accomplish the daunting task. When Melita Norwood's husband died in 1986 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Melita Norwood remained convinced of her faith.
After the dissolution of the KGB, its core member Vasily Mitterrow took the KGB's important archives and surrendered to Britain and the United States. The United States regarded him as a madman and drove him away, while in England he was valued and got the glory and wealth he wanted. When a volume of KGB secret intelligence was placed on the MI6 desk, it frantically explored the true identity of "Hola".
In the dossier, they learn that "Hola" is really melitah Norwood. As soon as the news came out, the British media immediately exploded, and everyone rushed to Melita Norwood's home to do an interview, and people were looking forward to a person with sharp eyes and a vicissitudes of face to appear in front of the camera.
But what appears in front of the camera is an ordinary old lady who lives in a dilapidated house and has less of a "secret agent flavor" on her body. She generously confessed to reporters that she was "Hola" and that she served the KGB herself, regretting when a reporter asked if she had provided information for the KGB. Melita Norwood said without hesitation: "No, absolutely not." ”
The British Intelligence Service later tried to prosecute Melita Norwood for espionage, but the British court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient. Perhaps the British Intelligence Service wants to save face through this move, but it is impossible to change the outcome of the matter, and further investigation will only bring new troubles.
5. Summary
The old woman who is over eighty years old is the "Hora" who has been looking for many years by the British Military Intelligence Service, and they all say that the near water tower platform has the first month, and for the staff who are so close to the top secret file, the British Intelligence Service actually did not list them as the object of censorship, paying the price for its subjective bias. And this "grandmother spy", with his enthusiasm for communism, also helped the Soviet Union get the first-hand information of the atomic bomb.
In 1979, the Soviet side offered the National Battle Medal and a large number of bonuses to Melita Norwood, but she only accepted the medal and declined the large number of bonuses offered by the Soviet side. In her eyes, the socialist camp must have a strategic nuclear strike capability in the face of capitalist provocations, and although the Soviet Union eventually collapsed, her past of fighting for ideals will never be erased.