You have been subpoenaed to appear before the Royal Commission on Espionage. A subpoena is a formal written order issued by a court commanding a person to appear under penalty as a witness in a trial or an inquiry such as a Royal Commission.
Vladimir Petrov playing chess inside the safe house in which he and his wife were held immediately following their defection to Australia. The photograph was presented as evidence to the Royal Commission on Espionage in 1954.
Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia.
All three members of the group will work closely together to prepare for the Character to appear before the Royal Commission. This will involve:
1. Preparing a speech (testimony) which outlines, from your point of view:
2. Preparing evidence (facts, documents etc) that supports your case.
3. You will be called when the Royal Commissioners are ready for you.
4. Be prepared to answer any questions from the Royal Commissioners especially about Soviet espionage in Australia.
“…all writers of spy stories will have to invent entirely new types of characters, for Petrov is physically the most un-cloak-and-dagger-man you can imagine.”
Ronald McKie, AM, 6/7/54
“In the days following his defection, Petrov was a bundle of nerves, too frightened to be alone even for a few minutes. For solace he took heavily to the bottle. In the evening under the influence, he would dream up heroic schemes to free his wife from the Embassy. By morning his resolve departed him and he retuned, in the words of the sardonic Safe House chronicler, to his usual uncourageous self.”
Robert Manne, The Petrov Affair, 1987
“The Soviet Embassy in Canberra, whose doors we entered for the first time on 5th February 1951, was, to a unique degree among foreign embassies, a microcosm of its parent. It was a Soviet fortress on alien territory, a little Moscow on Australian soil.”
The Petrovs, Empire of Fear, 1956
“The gates stood open during the day; postmen, telegraph boys, tradesmen and visitors came and went by the front entrance. But behind this undramatic façade was a mentality that was constantly on the defensive and maintained a barrier between ourselves and the town and people around us.”
The Petrovs, Empire of Fear, 1956
“…for the vast majority, including myself, the motive of self-advancement was the first and chief incentive to membership of the Communist Party.”
Vladimir Petrov, Empire of Fear, 1956
“I had an inside view of the great internal purges; I lived through the most fantastic reign of terror imposed by a modern government on its people, and a bloodbath almost too fearful to be believed. Those years can only be described as a nightmare, in the blind, inexplicable, capricious terror they unleashed.”
Vladimir Petrov, Empire of Fear, 1956
The CODE NAME for Petrov was PETER KARPITCH (this was given to him by Dr Bialoguski in the lead up to the defection).
When Petrov used Bialoguski’s surgery he used the CODE NAME BILL.
Petrov was responsible for a range of espionage functions in Australia. These included establishing an illegal apparatus of Australian spies, undermining anti-Soviet activities and obtaining general political intelligence. From his evidence, it appears he made little progress on all these fronts.
Petrov received his instructions from Moscow in the form of undeveloped film which he processed in the Embassy darkroom. He then decoded the Letters using the ‘List of Insertions’ to substitute words for codes.
The Petrov Affair exhibition was shown at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in 2003.
More information is available on the exhibitions page.