[HN Gopher] Unflinching prisoners of a grandiose make-believe
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       Unflinching prisoners of a grandiose make-believe
        
       Author : Caiero
       Score  : 53 points
       Date   : 2023-01-23 20:27 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (thebaffler.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (thebaffler.com)
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | The biography of Richard Sorge "an impeccable spy" might make an
       | interesting read for contrast. Sorge was part of a communist
       | community which the central party distrusted intensely, and his
       | information about Japanese war party trends was distrusted when
       | he was known as the source, because he was in the wrong faction.
       | His spymasters at times lied about him to avoid having to admit
       | he was the source. His information about the impending attack in
       | the west was discounted by Stalin.
       | 
       | His spying on the Japanese preparedness to invade the USSR on the
       | far east border was a critical component of the decision to
       | transfer troops to the west and the war with germany.
        
       | everybodyknows wrote:
       | For a parallel story, _Witness_ by Whittaker Chambers is a lively
       | read.
        
       | moloch-hai wrote:
       | I read most it in lockdown after finding it on my mother-in-law's
       | shelf. The article is a fair assessment. Read it to see just how
       | fanatical devotion and violence may share a mind, however
       | uncomfortably, with intelligence and sensitivity.
        
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       (page generated 2023-01-24 23:01 UTC)