Calendar of Cultural Events

Please verify dates and times with The Kosciuszko Foundation Director of Cultural Affairs
Tom Pniewski -- (212) 734-2130 ext. 214

June 24 at 7 PM
Benjamin Weiser, of The New York Times, will discuss his recent book on Ryszard Kuklinski. A reception and book-signing will follow. No ticket is necessary, but reservations are required and can be made by calling the Office at (212) 734-2130.

Weiser writes: "In August 1972, Ryszard Kuklinski, a highly respected colonel in the Polish Army, embarked on what would become one of the most extraordinary human intelligence operations of the Cold War. Despite extreme risk to himself and his family, he contacted the American Embassy in Bonn, and arranged a secret meeting. He told the Americans that he deplored the Soviet domination of Poland; he believed his country was on the wrong side of the Cold War. The only way he could help Poland was to work against its oppressor, the Soviet Union, and deliver its deepest military secrets to the West.

Over the next nine years, Kuklinski rose quickly in the Polish Defense Ministry, acting as a liaison to Moscow, and helping to prepare for a "hot war" with the West. But he also lived a life of subterfuge - of dead drops, messages written in invisible ink, miniature cameras and electronic transmitters - as he passed invaluable intelligence to the Americans. In 1980, he told the CIA about preparations by Moscow to invade Poland. In 1981, he gave the CIA the secret plans to crush the burgeoning Solidarity movement. By late 1981, he had provided 40,265 pages of highly classified Soviet documentary intelligence, one CIA memorandum said, and was "the best placed source now available to the American government in the Soviet bloc." Then, as he was about to be discovered, Kuklinski revealed his covert activities to his stunned family, and asked them to join him in a dangerous escape to the West."

Weiser has pieced together Kuklinski's story from extended interviews with Kuklinski and others, and access to the CIA's restricted archives. He reviews the technology and methods used, and plans on bringing one of his main sources with him to the Kosciuszko Foundation. It promises to be a most interesting evening.

All events take place at the Foundation House, unless otherwise noted. Programs subject to change. Click here for directions.

Kosciuszko Foundation programs are supported by the Mary F. Koons Charitable Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Tadeusz Solowij Literary Fund, and the KF Cultural Fund.