View source for George Blake

{{Short description|British/Soviet espionage agent (1922–2020)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| name        = George Blake
| image       = George Blake spy.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = George Behar
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1922|11|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Rotterdam]], Netherlands
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2020|12|26|1922|11|11|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Moscow]], Russia
| death_cause = 
| known_for   = [[Espionage]]<br>[[Double agent]]<br>[[Treason]]
| alma_mater  = [[Downing College, Cambridge]]
| spouse      = 
| children    = 
| parents     = 
| allegiance  = {{ubl|United Kingdom|[[Soviet Union]]|Russia}}
| branch      = {{ubl|[[Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom)|Naval Intelligence Division]]
|[[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]]|[[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]]|[[KGB]]| [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR]]}}
| rank        = [[Polkovnik]] (Colonel)
}}

'''George Blake''' ({{né}} '''Behar'''; 11 November 1922&nbsp;– 26 December 2020) was a [[Espionage|spy]] who worked for Britain's [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) and became a [[double agent]] for the [[Soviet Union]]. Captured during the [[Korean War]], he was imprisoned by [[North Korea]]n forces and became a [[communist]], deciding to work for the [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|Ministry of State Security]] (MGB). Upon returning to the United Kingdom, he resumed work with MI6 while secretly passing classified information to the Soviets, betraying dozens of agents working on the eastern side of the [[Iron Curtain]].

Blake was eventually discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, one of the longest terms ever imposed for espionage in Britain. In 1966, with the help of fellow inmates and outside supporters, he escaped from [[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs]] in [[West London]]. He fled the country and made his way to the Soviet Union, where he was received as a hero.

Although not part of the [[Cambridge Five]], Blake later associated with members such as [[Donald Maclean (spy)|Donald Maclean]] and [[Kim Philby]] after arriving in Moscow. He continued to live in the Soviet Union and, after its dissolution in 1991, remained in [[Russia]]. Blake was granted citizenship and lived out the rest of his life there, defending his actions until his death in 2020 at the age of 98.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=324–328}}

==Early life==
[[File:George Blake with mother.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Blake with his mother upon his return to the UK in 1953]]
George Blake was born George Behar in [[Rotterdam]], the Netherlands in 1922.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Spy, The Enigma |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/review/spy-enigma |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=[[History Today]] |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506173014/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/review/spy-enigma |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the son of a [[Protestant]] [[Dutch people|Dutch]] mother, Catherine (née Beijderwellen),<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |title=George Blake obituary |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=28 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190156/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |url-status=live}}</ref> and an Egyptian father of [[Sephardi Jewish]] origin who was a naturalised British subject.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/redfiles/kgb/deep/interv/k_int_george_blake.htm |title=RED FILES: Secret Victories of the KGB – George Blake Interview |work=[[PBS]] |date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190154/https://www.pbs.org/redfiles/kgb/deep/interv/k_int_george_blake.htm |archive-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Blake|1990|p=26}} He was named George after [[George V of the United Kingdom]].{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=18–44, 47}} His father, Albert Behar, served in the [[British Army]] during the First World War. While Albert received the [[Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Meritorious Service Medal]], he embellished his war service when recounting it to his wife and children, and concealed his Jewish background until his death.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=2–5}} 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,<ref name=Storyville/> where he attended the English School in [[Cairo]]. He read Russian at [[Downing College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v11/n14/andrew-boyle/his-little-game |title=His Little Game |last=Boyle |first=Andrew |date=27 July 1989 |magazine=[[London Review of Books]] |access-date=12 November 2019 |pages=8 |issn=0260-9592 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190157/https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v11/n14/andrew-boyle/his-little-game |url-status=live}}</ref>

While in Cairo, he was close to his cousin [[Henri Curiel]], who was later to become a leader of the Communist [[Democratic Movement for National Liberation]] in Egypt. In 1991, Blake said that his encounter with Curiel, who was a decade older and already a [[Marxist]], shaped his views in later life.<ref name="independent">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/george-blake-i-spy-a-british-traitor-418245.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |title=George Blake: I spy a British traitor |first=Ian |last=Irvine |date=1 October 2006 |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190155/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/george-blake-i-spy-a-british-traitor-418245.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref name="BBCO">{{cite news |title=George Blake obituary |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25675566 |access-date=26 December 2020 |publisher=BBC |date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190158/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25675566 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1942, he escaped from the Netherlands and travelled to Britain via Spain and Gibraltar, reaching London in January 1943.<ref name="BBCO" /> 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.<ref name="dailytelegraph-2020-12-27-obit-pottle">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |title=Patrick Pottle (obituary) |date=4 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226143724/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Espionage activities==
After he reached Britain, Blake joined the [[Royal Navy]] as a [[sub-lieutenant]] before being recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in 1944. For the rest of the war, Blake was employed in the Dutch Section.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=46–57}} He intended to marry an MI6 secretary, [[Iris Dawnay|Iris Peake]], but her family prevented the marriage because of Blake's Jewish background and the relationship ended.<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary" />

In 1946, he was posted to [[Hamburg]] and put in charge of the interrogation of German [[U-boat]] 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1529901/Double-agent-sentenced-to-42-years-for-doing-untold-damage-in-the-Cold-War.html |title=Double agent sentenced to 42 years for doing untold damage in the Cold War |first=Phillip |last=Knightley |author-link=Phillip Knightley |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=27 September 2006 |access-date=3 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190215/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1529901/Double-agent-sentenced-to-42-years-for-doing-untold-damage-in-the-Cold-War.html |archive-date=26 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |page=90 |url=http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/associationnewsletter_2016_web.pdf |title=Downing College Alumni Association Newsletter 2015–16 – Obituaries |publisher=Downing College Alumni Association |year=2016 |access-date=3 October 2018 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190158/https://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/associationnewsletter_2016_web.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

He was posted thereafter to the British [[legation]] in [[Seoul]], South Korea, under [[Vyvyan Holt]], arriving on 6 November 1948. Under cover as a vice-consul, Blake's mission was to gather intelligence on Communist [[North Korea]], Communist [[China]], and the [[Soviet Far East]].{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=80, 84–85}}

The [[Korean War]] broke out on 25 June 1950, and Seoul was quickly captured by the advancing [[Korean People's Army]] of the North. After British forces joined the [[United Nations Command]] 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]] and then to the [[Yalu River]]. After seeing the [[bombing of North Korea]], and after reading the works of [[Karl Marx]] and others during his three-year detention, he became a communist.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/obituaries/george-blake-british-spy-dead.html |last1=McFadden |first1=Robert D |title=George Blake, British Spy Who Betrayed the West, Dies at 98 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 December 2020 |access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190157/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/obituaries/george-blake-british-spy-dead.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

At a secret meeting arranged with his guards, he volunteered to work for the Soviet Union's spy service, the [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]].{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=126, 129–134}} In an interview, Blake was once asked: "Is there one incident that triggered your decision to effectively change sides?" Blake responded:
<blockquote>It was the relentless bombing of small Korean villages by enormous American [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|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.<ref name="independent"/></blockquote>

In his first 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]]'s ''[[Das Kapital]]'' during his imprisonment in North Korea.<ref name="bbc-radio4-the-confession">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ly0nx |title=George Blake – The Confession |publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]] |date=3 August 2009 |access-date=10 August 2009 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029175134/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ly0nx |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:George Blake 1953.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Blake after returning from Korea in 1953]]
Following his release in 1953, Blake returned to Britain as a hero, landing at [[RAF Abingdon]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jAG563wOhPgC&pg=PT109 |title=Traitor: British Double Agents 1930–80 |first=John Frayn |last=Turner |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1780967295 |page=109 |access-date=28 August 2017 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125220124/https://books.google.com/books?id=jAG563wOhPgC&pg=PT109 |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 1954, he married MI6 secretary Gillian Allan in St Mark's Church (North Audley Street) in London.{{sfn|Blake|1990|p=165}} In 1955, he was sent by MI6 to work as a [[case officer]] in [[Berlin]], where his task was to recruit [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] officers as double agents. But he also informed his KGB contacts of the details of British and American operations, including [[Operation Gold]] in which a tunnel into [[East Berlin]] was used to [[telephone tapping|tap telephone lines]] used by the Soviet military, and the similar [[Operation Silver (1949)]] by the British in Vienna. He was called ''Agent Diomid''.{{sfn|Vogel |2019|p=141}} In order to protect Blake from exposure, the Soviets decided not to "discover" the tunnel until it had been in operation for nearly a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/betrayal-in-berlin-the-true-story-of-the-cold-wars-most-audacious-espionage-operation |title=Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation |date=18 November 2019 |work=[[Washington Independent Review of Books]] |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012547/http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/betrayal-in-berlin-the-true-story-of-the-cold-wars-most-audacious-espionage-operation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Storyville/> According to the author of a 2019 book about the operation, the Soviets "value[d] Blake so much, they fear[ed] his exposure more than they fear[ed] a breach of their secrets".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/28/950886192/cold-war-double-spy-george-blake-dies-at-98 |title=Cold War Double Spy George Blake Dies At 98 |date=28 December 2020 |work=[[NPR]] |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230230716/https://www.npr.org/2020/12/28/950886192/cold-war-double-spy-george-blake-dies-at-98 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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]], although this remains unsubstantiated.<ref name=h252>Hermiston, pp. 252–253.</ref> Blake later said of this: "I don't know what I handed over because it was so much."<ref name="bbc-radio4-the-confession" /> In the same TV interview, Blake claimed to have betrayed 500 British agents.<ref name="bbc-radio4-the-confession" /> In 1959 Blake became aware of a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] [[Mole (espionage)|mole]] inside [[Main Intelligence Directorate (Soviet Union)|GRU]], and was possibly instrumental in exposing [[Pyotr Semyonovich Popov|P. S. Popov]], who was executed in 1960.<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Hood |title=Mole |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine |date=1983 |isbn=9780345304919 |pages=246–247}}</ref>

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]] spy ring, because "Blake was never part of this [elite] class-ridden inner circle", according to an article by ''[[The Guardian]]''
after Blake's death. "Born in Rotterdam to a Dutch mother and an Egyptian Jewish father [he] was never considered one of them."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste |title=George Blake exemplified the desolation, waste and treachery of the cold war |first=Stephen |last=Dorril |author-link=Stephen Dorril |date=27 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=1 January 2021 |quote=never belonged to Kim Philby’s elite traitors' club |archive-date=1 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101023006/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Discovery and conviction==
In 1961, Blake fell under suspicion after revelations by Polish [[defector]] [[Michael Goleniewski]] and others. He was arrested when he arrived in London after being summoned from [[Lebanon]], where he had been enrolled at the [[Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies]] (MECAS).<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary" /> Three days into his interrogation,<ref name=Storyville/> 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.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=228–229}}

The maximum sentence for any one offence under section 1 of the [[Official Secrets Act 1911]] is 14 years, but his activities were divided into five time periods charged as five offences and, in May 1961 after an ''[[in camera]]'' trial at the [[Old Bailey]], 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 of England and Wales|Lord Chief Justice]], [[Hubert Parker, Baron Parker of Waddington|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.<ref name=h252/> It was the longest non-life sentence ever handed down by a British court.<ref name="BBCO" />

==Escape from prison==
[[File:Main gate to the HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in spring 2013 (1).JPG|thumb|right|[[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs]] in west London, from which Blake escaped in 1966]]
Five years into his imprisonment in [[Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)|Wormwood Scrubs]], Blake escaped with the help of three men he had met in prison, [[Sean Bourke]] and two anti-nuclear campaigners, [[Michael Randle]] and [[Pat Pottle]]. 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10116541/John-Quine.html |title=Obituary John Quine |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=12 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190241/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10116541/John-Quine.html |archive-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> Several sources also state that the plan was financed by film director [[Tony Richardson]].<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/britain/cold-war-superspy-george-blake-who-escaped-from-a-uk-jail-and-became-a-russian-hero-dies-at-98-39902931.html |title=Cold War 'superspy' George Blake, who escaped from a UK jail and became a Russian hero, dies at 98 |first=T Rees |last=Shapiro |date=27 December 2020 |newspaper=[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]] |location=Dublin |issn=0039-5218 |language=en-ie |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=On the night of October 25, 1966, the trio (financed by Oscar-winning movie director Tony Richardson) |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230213928/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/britain/cold-war-superspy-george-blake-who-escaped-from-a-uk-jail-and-became-a-russian-hero-dies-at-98-39902931.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/spy-helped-to-trap-notorious-soviet-agent-20130614-2o8sw.html |title=Spy helped to trap notorious Soviet agent |date=13 June 2013 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=Blake was sprung from the Scrubs by a group of fellow prisoners, all Left-wing activists and anti-nuclear protesters financed by the film director Tony Richardson) |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012827/https://www.smh.com.au/national/spy-helped-to-trap-notorious-soviet-agent-20130614-2o8sw.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bourke had smuggled a [[walkie-talkie]] to Blake to communicate with him while in prison. 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 prison 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]]. During the escape, Blake fractured his wrist jumping from the perimeter wall, but apart from that it all went according to plan.<ref name="BBCO" />

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]] in [[Earls Court]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/priest-admits-hosting-george-blake-after-1966-prison-escape-1.52937 |title=Priest admits hosting George Blake after 1966 prison escape |first=Tim |last=Moynihan |date=17 March 1997 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |issn=0791-5144 |location=Dublin |language=en-ie |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012933/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/priest-admits-hosting-george-blake-after-1966-prison-escape-1.52937 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]] in a [[camper van]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rusbridger |first1=James |title=The Intelligence game: The Illusions and Delusions of International Espionage |year=1991 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |isbn=1-85043-338-0 |location=London |oclc=59990814 |page=[[iarchive:intelligencegame0000rusb/page/52/mode/1up|52]]}}</ref> then drove across northern Europe and through [[West Germany]] to the [[Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing]].<ref name=Storyville/> Having safely crossed the border without incident, Blake met his handlers in [[East Germany]] and completed his escape to the Soviet Union.<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary" />

Pottle and Randle 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".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle: Anti-war campaigner who helped spring Soviet spy George Blake from jail |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |date=3 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=insisted that their action was morally justified, and, ignoring a clear direction from the judge to convict if the charges were proved, the jury unanimously acquitted them |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108094824/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite being directed that they must find the men guilty, the [[Juries in England and Wales|jury]] acquitted them both, an act known as [[jury nullification]] in which a jury uses its absolute discretion to find as it sees fit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/26/Activists-who-helped-free-British-double-agent-found-innocent/4390677908800/ |title=Activists who helped free British double agent found innocent |date=3 July 1991 |work=[[UPI]] |access-date=29 December 2020 |quote=) |archive-date=27 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227173205/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/26/Activists-who-helped-free-British-double-agent-found-innocent/4390677908800/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sentencingcrimeandjustice.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/george-blake-1922-2020-and-our-part-in-his-escape|title=George Blake (1922-2020) – and our part in his escape|date=29 December 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Root |first=Neil |date=11 October 2011 |title=Twentieth-Century Spies |publisher=Summersdale |isbn=9780857653314 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012907/https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Moscow==
In November 1966, his wife Gillian, with whom he had three children, began [[divorce]] proceedings against him, and in March 1967 [[Alan Stewart Orr|Mr Justice Orr]] granted a ''[[decree nisi]]'' 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 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.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|p=237}}

In 1990, Blake published the [[autobiography]] ''No Other Choice''.{{sfn|Blake|1990}} The book's British publisher had paid him approximately £60,000 before [[Attorney General v Blake|the government intervened to stop him profiting from sales]]. Eventually, the amount seized by the government totalled £90,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/double-agent-george-blake-dies-in-moscow-aged-98-fj8jk8hd2 |title=George Blake obituary |date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229083922/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/double-agent-george-blake-dies-in-moscow-aged-98-fj8jk8hd2 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/22/newsid_3135000/3135206.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=1966: Double-agent breaks out of jail |date=22 October 1966 |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-date=7 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307123607/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/22/newsid_3135000/3135206.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1991, Blake testified by video recording when Randle and Pottle were put on trial for aiding his escape. They were acquitted.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|pp=332–333, 339}} In an interview with [[NBC News]] in 1991, Blake said he regretted the deaths of the agents he had betrayed.<ref>{{cite news |title=George Blake, British Spy Who Betrayed the West, Dies at 98 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/obituaries/george-blake-british-spy-dead.html |access-date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190204/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/obituaries/george-blake-british-spy-dead.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 1992 interview for the programme ''[[As It Happens]]'', aired by [[Canada]]'s [[CBC Radio]], 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, assurances he accepted.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.5856459/george-blake-notorious-british-double-agent-for-the-soviets-dies-at-98-1.5856667 |title=George Blake, notorious British double-agent for the Soviets, dies at 98 |date=29 December 2020 |publisher=[[CBC Radio]] |access-date=30 December 2020 |quote=The spy spoke with former As It Happens host Michael Enright in 1992 about betrayal |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229223437/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.5856459/george-blake-notorious-british-double-agent-for-the-soviets-dies-at-98-1.5856667 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, according to NPR, "Blake gave up the identities of hundreds of British spies, some of whom were executed."<ref>{{cite news |title=British Double Agent George Blake Honored At His Moscow Funeral As A Russian Hero |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951550648/british-double-agent-george-blake-honored-at-his-moscow-funeral-as-a-russian-her |access-date=31 December 2020 |work=[[NPR]] |date=2020 |language=en |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230233549/https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951550648/british-double-agent-george-blake-honored-at-his-moscow-funeral-as-a-russian-her |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1992 CNN series [[Cold War (TV series)|Cold War]], former KGB general [[Oleg Kalugin]] 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."<ref>{{cite episode |title=Spies |series=Cold War |first=Oleg |last=Maj Gen Kalugin |network=CNN |season=1 |number=21 |date=1998}}</ref>

Blake married again, in 1968, to Ida Mikhailovna Kareyeva with whom he had one child. He also reconciled with his other children.<ref name=Storyville/> In late 2007, Blake was awarded the [[Order of Friendship]] on his 85th birthday by [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2865969.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517023556/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2865969.ece |archive-date=17 May 2008 |title=Vladimir Putin honours traitor George Blake with tit-for-tat birthday medal |last=Halpin |first=Tony |date=14 November 2007 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London}}</ref> Blake's later book, ''Transparent Walls'' (2006), was reported by the [[Newspaper|daily]] ''[[Vzglyad (newspaper)|Vzglyad]]'' ("The View"). [[Sergey Lebedev (politician)|Sergei Lebedev]], the then director of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|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".<ref>{{cite news |title=Top secret: A century of British espionage |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/top-secret-century-british-espionage-1798168.html |first=Simon |last=Usborne |date=6 October 2011 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=27 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227004824/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/top-secret-century-british-espionage-1798168.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, Blake 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-20297888 |title=Double agent George Blake celebrates 90th birthday |work=[[BBC News]] |date=12 November 2012 |access-date=12 November 2012 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190214/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-20297888 |url-status=live}}</ref> Blake denied being a traitor, insisting that he had never felt British: "To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged."<ref name="guardian-2020-12-26-george-blake-obituary" />

Five years later, Blake remained committed to Russia and to communism.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/10/russian-spies-must-save-world-warns-former-british-double-agent/ |title='Russian spies must save the world', urges former British double agent and defector George Blake |first=Alec |last=Luhn |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=10 November 2017 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190210/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/10/russian-spies-must-save-world-warns-former-british-double-agent/ |archive-date=26 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.therecord.com/news-story/7913953-ex-british-double-agent-says-russian-spies-must-save-world/ |title=Ex-British double agent says Russian spies must save world |last=Isachenkov |first=Vladimir |date=10 November 2017 |newspaper=[[Waterloo Region Record|The Record]] |location=Waterloo, Canada |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}{{Dead link|date=May 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/11/george-blake-russian-spies-must-save-world-from-nuclear-hell |title=George Blake: Russian spies must save world from nuclear hell |first=Ian |last=Cobain |date=11 November 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510013005/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/11/george-blake-russian-spies-must-save-world-from-nuclear-hell |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Death ==
Blake died on 26 December 2020, aged 98, in Moscow.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Heritage |first1=Timothy|last2=Ivanova |first2=Polina |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-people-george-blake-idUSKBN29009J |title=George Blake was last in line of Cold War spies who betrayed Britain |date=26 December 2020 |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=26 December 2020|archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190213/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-people-george-blake-idUSKBN29009J|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="BBCS">{{Cite news |date=26 December 2020 |title=George Blake: Soviet Cold War spy and former MI6 officer dies in Russia |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55452313|access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190212/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55452313 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[RIA Novosti]] news agency first reported Blake's death, citing Russia's [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR foreign intelligence agency]]. "We received some bitter news—the legendary George Blake passed away," it said.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/national-news/18970736.former-british-agent-soviet-spy-george-blake-dies-russia/ |title=Former British agent and Soviet spy George Blake dies in Russia |date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=[[East London and West Essex Guardian Series]] |agency=[[Press Association]] |publisher=[[Newsquest Media Group]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190256/https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/national-news/18970736.former-british-agent-soviet-spy-george-blake-dies-russia/ |archive-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]], himself an ex-[[KGB]] 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64753 |title=Condolences on the passing of George Blake: Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to George Blake's family and friends |website=[[President of Russia]] |date=26 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190219/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64753 |archive-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> Putin also said of Blake, "Colonel Blake was a brilliant professional of special vitality and courage."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/26/europe/george-blake-spy-double-agent-dies-gbr-intl/index.html |title=Infamous British-Soviet double agent George Blake dies in Moscow |date=26 December 2020 |last1=Rahim |first1=Zamira |last2=Ilyushina |first2=Mary |last3=Iddiols |first3=Robert |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226152208/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/26/europe/george-blake-spy-double-agent-dies-gbr-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Blake was buried with military honours at Moscow's [[Troyekurovskoye Cemetery]], in its Alley of Heroes, under the name '''Georgy Ivanovich Bekhter''', the name with which he lived from 1965.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/russia-buries-soviet-double-agent-george-blake-with-honors |title=George Blake, British spy and Soviet double agent, buried in Russia with honours |date=30 December 2020 |newspaper=[[National Post]] |location=Toronto |agency=[[Reuters]] |access-date=1 January 2021 |quote=Britain says Blake exposed the identities of hundreds of Western agents across Eastern Europe in the 1950s, some of whom were executed as a result of his treason |archive-date=8 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108111336/https://nationalpost.com/news/world/russia-buries-soviet-double-agent-george-blake-with-honors |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Svetlova |first=Anna |date=2020-12-30 |title=На Троекуровском кладбище попрощались с советским разведчиком Джорджем Блейком |trans-title=Farewell to Soviet spy George Blake at Troekurovskoye Cemetery |url=https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2020/12/30/n_15432860.shtml |work=Gazeta.Ru |language=ru |quote=Блейк упокоился на Аллее героев Троекуровского кладбища. На его могильной плите указано имя Георгия Ивановича Бехтера, под которым он с 1965 года жил в СССР и России. |trans-quote=Blake was laid to rest in the Alley of Heroes of the Troekurovsky Cemetery. His tombstone bears the name Georgy Ivanovich Bekhter, under which he lived in the USSR and Russia from 1965.}}</ref>

He is commemorated on a sculpture honouring intelligence officers outside the SVR's headquarters in Moscow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации |trans-title=Monument in honour of Russian intelligence officers unveiled at Foreign Intelligence Service headquarters |url=http://svr.gov.ru/smi/2020/09/monument-v-chest-rossiyskikh-razvedchikov-otkryt-v-shtab-kvartire-sluzhby-vneshney-razvedki-.htm |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=[[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|svr.gov.ru]] |language=ru |quote=Здесь же - легендарные Конон Молодый, Джордж Блейк, Алексей Козлов, прославленный начальник советской нелегальной разведки Юрий Дроздов, и др. |trans-quote=Also here are the legendary Konon Molodoy, George Blake, Alexei Kozlov, the famous head of Soviet illegal intelligence Yuri Drozdov, and others.}}</ref>

==Cultural references==
[[Desmond Bagley]]'s 1971 novel ''[[The Freedom Trap]]'' and its screen version, [[John Huston]]'s ''[[The Mackintosh Man]]'' from 1973, were loosely based on Blake's prison escape.

For his novel ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'' [[John le Carré]] used Blake's foreign background ("half a Dutchman and half a Jew") as partial inspiration for the characters of [[Toby Esterhase]] and Roy Bland. Le Carré later recalled "when I started putting together my little bestiary of suspects, I made sure there were at least two of them...who were alienated by birth from the class structure that they served."<ref>{{cite book |last1=le Carré |first1=John |title=Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: A George Smiley Novel |date=7 June 2011 |publisher=Penguin |location=Introduction |isbn=978-1-101-52878-5 |edition=1991 Paperback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFEajdUgSnMC&q=%22George+Blake%22+%22half+a+Dutchman+and+half+a+Jew%22&pg=PT11 |access-date=21 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The play ''[[Cell Mates (play)|Cell Mates]]'' (1995) by [[Simon Gray]] is about Blake and [[Sean Bourke]]. The original production starred [[Stephen Fry]] as Blake and [[Rik Mayall]] as Bourke. The production was thrown into turmoil when Fry left the production following a bad review.<ref name="BBCS" /><ref>{{cite news | last =Hill | first =Amelia | title =Stephen Fry returns to London stage 17 years after abandoning Cell Mates | newspaper =The Guardian | date =21 September 2012 | url =https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/sep/21/stephen-fry-on-stage-twelfth-night | access-date =26 December 2020 | archive-date =6 August 2020 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200806194539/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/sep/21/stephen-fry-on-stage-twelfth-night | url-status =live }}</ref> [[Alfred Hitchcock]] planned to make a film, ''[[The Short Night]]'', based on Blake, but died before doing so.{{sfn|Hermiston|2013|p=12}}

In 2015, BBC ''[[Storyville (TV series)|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''.<ref name=Storyville>{{citation |title=Storyville – Masterspy of Moscow – George Blake |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05nyyd9 |access-date=8 November 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190234/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05nyyd9 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Drama - Breaking Blake - BBC Sounds|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h7xr|access-date=2021-01-20|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123042257/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h7xr|url-status=live}}</ref>

George Blake appears as a character in Ian McEwan's novel ''[[The Innocent (McEwan novel)|The Innocent]].''

==See also==
*''[[Attorney General v Blake]]''

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |first=George|last=Blake|year=1990|title=No Other Choice|publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]]|location=London|isbn=0-224-03067-1|url=https://archive.org/details/nootherchoiceaut00blak|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last1=Hermiston|first1=Roger|year=2013|title=The Greatest Traitor: The Secret Lives of Agent George Blake|publisher=[[The Quarto Group|Aurum Press]]|location=London|isbn=978-1-78131-046-5|url=https://archive.org/details/greatesttraitors0000herm|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |first=Simon|last=Kuper|author-link=Simon Kuper|year=2021|title=The Happy Traitor. Spies, Lies and Exile in Russia: The Extraordinary Story of George Blake|publisher=[[Profile Books|Profile]]|location=London|isbn=978-1-78125-937-5}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00krvrd|title=George Blake Escapes|publisher=[[BBC World Service]]|website=Witness History|date=23 October 2011}}
* {{cite book|last1=Bourke|first1=Sean|author-link=Sean Bourke|title=The Springing of George Blake|location=London|publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]]|year=1970|isbn=0-304-93590-5|url=https://archive.org/details/springingofgeorg00bour|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kalugin|first1=Oleg|author-link=Oleg Kalugin|title=The First Directorate|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|year=1994|isbn=9780312114268|oclc=1034683217|url=https://archive.org/details/firstdirectorate00kalu|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last1=Stafford|first1=David|author-link=David A. T. Stafford|title=Spies Beneath Berlin|location=London|publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]|year=2002|isbn=0-7195-6323-2|url=https://archive.org/details/spiesbeneathberl00staf|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |last= Vogel |first= Steve |title= Betrayal in Berlin; the true story of the Cold War's most audacious espionage operation  |edition=  |orig-date=  |year= 2019 |publisher= Custom House/HarperCollins |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-06-244962-7 |oclc= |pages=24–47 }}
* {{Cite book|last1=West|first1=Nigel|author-link=Rupert Allason|title=Seven Spies Who Changed the World|year=1991|publisher=[[Harvill Secker|Secker & Warburg]]|isbn=0-436-56603-6|location=London|oclc=24747407}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|George Blake}}
* {{in lang|nl}} [https://www.vpro.nl/speel~POMS_VPRO_388769~de-wonderlijke-lotgevallen-van-meesterspion-george-blake-1-het-spoor-terug~.html Radio interview (in Dutch) (OVT, VPRO) with George Blake, by Hans Olink (1999)]

{{Soviet Spies}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, George}}
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