The Berlin Tunnel: The CIA's Greatest Wiretap Was Betrayed Before It Began
In the 1950s the CIA and British intelligence dug a tunnel almost a quarter-mile long, from West Berlin, under the most dangerous border on Earth, to tap the Soviet military's own phone and telegraph cables. It was the biggest wiretap ever attempted — and it had been betrayed to the KGB before the first shovel touched the ground, by a Soviet mole sitting in the planning meetings. The strangest part: the Soviets let it run anyway, because exposing the tap would have exposed their spy. Told from the CIA's own declassified Clandestine Services History of the operation and the NSA's companion account. Sources below — read them yourself. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Biggest Wiretap Ever Attempted 00:53 Why Berlin 01:56 The Vienna Precedent 02:57 Harvey's Hole 03:46 The Engineering Feat 05:00 The Heat That Could Betray It 05:53 Betrayed Before the First Shovel 06:59 The KGB's Cold Calculation 08:47 The Staged Discovery 09:31 The Propaganda That Backfired 10:07 The Take, and a Disagreement 11:15 Blake Unmasked 12:04 Legend vs. Record 12:40 A Blade With Two Edges SOURCES (primary first) [1] "Clandestine Services History: The Berlin Tunnel Operation 1952–1956" (CSHP-150) — CIA, declassified via FOIA — https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docum... [2] "Operation REGAL: The Berlin Tunnel" — NSA Center for Cryptologic History (declassified) — https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/docume... [3] "The Berlin Tunnel: America's Ear Behind the Iron Curtain" — CIA — https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/ber... 📚 Go deeper — the definitive narrative history: Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation (Steve Vogel): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062449621?... As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 📰 I build every video from primary sources. To see how today's outlets cover the same stories — and their bias — I use Ground News: ground.news (my referral link is coming soon) ⚠️ This video uses AI-generated illustrative imagery (Google) to reconstruct historical scenes. No claim is fictional; all facts are sourced above. Imagery is artistic reconstruction, not archival footage. #coldwar #declassified #history #cia #berlintunnel #operationgold #georgeblake #espionage #intelligencehistory #documentary
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