Dry Well

Having picked up this book with the expectation that it would prove as interesting as Gouzenko’s Iron Curtain, I was extremely disappointed. It gives no new or important information either concerning the Soviet Union or its espionage network abroad. It simply tells, in repetitive detail, the story of the Polish immigrant Dr. Bialoguski’s relations with Colonel Petrov, and how, finally, he helped the chief of the MVD in Australia to defect to the West.

The publishers, to be sure, claim that the author, working as a secret agent of Australian Security in his spare time, “singlehanded successfully waged a battle for the mind and loyalty of a dedicated Soviet agent.” The narrative clearly shows that he did no such thing—unless one counts the help he gave Petrov in getting acquainted with the fleshpots of the capitalist world. Bialoguski appears only in the role of a sympathetic listener, afraid to criticize the Soviet Union himself lest he lose his status as “a respected and trusted member of Communist circles in Sidney.” And Petrov’s defection appears from Bialoguski’s account to have been due to his troubles with his superiors, and to his hatred and envy of the ruling clique in Moscow, rather than to ideological conversion or revulsion against Communist tyranny in principle. Gouzenko risked his own and his wife’s life when he chose freedom. Petrov insisted that the Australian authorities not only promise him asylum but also give him eleven thousands pounds before he would defect.

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About the Author

Freda Utley

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Having picked up this book with the expectation that it would prove as interesting as Gouzenko’s Iron Curtain, I was extremely disappointed. It gives no new or important information either concerning the Soviet Union or its espionage network abroad. It simply tells, in repetitive detail, the story of the Polish immigrant Dr. Bialoguski’s relations with Colonel Petrov, and how, finally, he helped the chief of the MVD in Australia to defect to the West.

The publishers, to be sure, claim that the author, working as a secret agent of Australian Security in his spare time, “singlehanded successfully waged a battle for the mind and loyalty of a dedicated Soviet agent.” The narrative clearly shows that he did no such thing—unless one counts the help he gave Petrov in getting acquainted with the fleshpots of the capitalist world. Bialoguski appears only in the role of a sympathetic listener, afraid to criticize the Soviet Union himself lest he lose his status as “a respected and trusted member of Communist circles in Sidney.” And Petrov’s defection appears from Bialoguski’s account to have been due to his troubles with his superiors, and to his hatred and envy of the ruling clique in Moscow, rather than to ideological conversion or revulsion against Communist tyranny in principle. Gouzenko risked his own and his wife’s life when he chose freedom. Petrov insisted that the Australian authorities not only promise him asylum but also give him eleven thousands pounds before he would defect.