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“Agent Sonya” – the story of the Soviet Union’s most important female spy

 

Ursula Muerton
a.k.a. “Agent Sonya”

Reviewed by BERNIE BELLAN I happened to have the radio on one Saturday afternoon – more as background noise than anything, when Elanor Wachtel’s CBC program on books, “Writers & Company”, came on. Normally I don’t pay attention to Wachtel’s program because it requires paying complete attention to the radio – something which I rarely do unless I’m out for a walk. However, as soon as Wachtel began to introduce her guest, a writer by the name of Ben Macintyre, the subject matter immediately grabbed my interest. Here is how she introduced Macintyre:

“Mrs. Len Beurton of Great Rollright, a tiny village in the Cotswolds, was an apparently ordinary housewife and mother of three, famous for her home-baked scones.
“In reality, she was Agent Sonya, a top Soviet operative, transmitting plans for the atomic bomb from an outhouse in her Oxfordshire garden. Her real name was Ursula Kuczynski and her intelligence work took her from her native Germany to Shanghai, Japanese-occupied Manchuria, Poland, Switzerland and England.
“Ursula’s eventful life is the subject of Ben Macintyre’s compelling new book. The British journalist is known for his bestselling accounts of international espionage — stories of intrigue, romance, betrayal, war, loyalty and conflicted morality. Over the past 30 years, he’s produced a dozen engaging, authoritative studies of high-profile figures ranging from Britain’s famed double agent Kim Philby to Moscow’s Oleg Gordievsky, who spied for Britain. He is also currently a columnist and associate editor for the Times U.K.”

As I listened with rapt interest to Macintyre describing the life of “Agent Sonya” I was determined to read his book – and I did, in less than a week.
Now, while I have somewhat of an interest in spy thrillers, including several I’ve read by Daniel Silva who features an Israeli spymaster by the name of Gabriel Allon (after being turned on to Silva two years ago during one of the meetings of the book club this paper co-sponsors with the Rady JCC, when our brilliant convener Sharon Freed who, unfortunately died much too young, included Silva’s “Rembrandt Affair” on the reading list that year), I much prefer reading non-fiction accounts of espionage, especially when they’re about the Mossad.
So, when Macintyre began to relate the story of an incredibly successful female spy for the Russians whose story has gone relatively unreported – and then happened to remark that she was Jewish to boot – well, he had me hooked.
Sonya Buerton (born Ursula Kuczynski, a.k.a. Sonya Hambuerger) was one of those rare individuals who not only succeeded brilliantly at her craft, she managed to live out her days dying a natural death in Moscow in the 1970s. That she survived the Stalin era in itself is rather extraordinary as Stalin’s paranoia led him to purge the ranks of his spy network on an ongoing basis – including a good many of the agents who had nurtured Sonya’s own career.

The fact that Ursula Kuczynski was born into an upper class Jewish family in Berlin in 1908 is something that I found most intriguing. The often pivotal roles that many Jews played in the spread of communist ideology in the first few decades of the 20th century is something that is widely known, but reading about someone who came from quite a prosperous family and who chose to commit herself to the pursuit of an ideology that was essentially antithetical to her own upbringing – and remained absolutely committed to that vision throughout her life, is not easy to understand.

Having experienced the chaos of the Weimar Republic in Germany one might well comprehend how someone as intelligent and well-educated as Ursula would have been drawn to communism in her late teens – at a time when Germany was being polarized into two camps – fascist and communist. It doesn’t seem, however, that the Kuczynski family’s being Jewish had much to do with what eventually became a thoroughly unquestioning loyalty to Soviet Communist ideology on the part of everyone of its members, including Ursula’s father, brother, and four sisters. That Ursula remained committed to communism throughout her life, however, despite all the betrayals of its goals perpetrated by Stalin and his disciples, is much more difficult to understand.

Macintryre doesn’t spend much time exploring the lure that communism held for Jews, but what I found particularly unsettling is how each member of this family was able to rationalize Stalin’s atrocities. Further, when the Russian Foreign Minister Molotov and his German counterpart Von Ribbentrop signed their non-aggression pact in 1939, the fact that so many communist sympathizers were able to twist themselves into pretzels defending a total betrayal of everything they had been espousing when it came to fighting fascism is really an indication how easily communist sympathizers could justify a 180 degree reversal in thinking without much compunction.
Ursula’s life, as told by Macintyre, was thoroughly documented throughout her lifetime, by her and by others, who kept detailed accounts all through the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. It turned out that Ursula was actually an excellent writer and her journals were not only detailed and very readable, when she eventually managed to escape to the Soviet Union shortly after the end of World War II, she managed to turn her fine writing talent into a craft as a writer of spy thrillers under the pen name “Ruth Werner”. (Her books, written in Russian and translated into several languages, actually sold quite well. As Macintyre notes, Ursula was merely one more former spy who was able to use their own experiences in order to turn out masterful spy novels. Included in that group also were Graham Greene and John Le Carré.)

Yet, as much as Ursula’s being Jewish does not play a central role in “Agent Sonya”, consider this: Her first marriage was also to a fellow Jew, an architect by the name of Rudolf Hamburger. Hamburger himself had no interest in Ursula’s communist leanings early on, and he was rather successful as an architect. But, in one of the most surprising twists in the story, once he and Ursula moved to China, where he helped to design some of the famous buildings along Shanghai’s Bund, and Ursula was first approached with the idea of becoming a Russian spy, even all the while that their marriage was falling apart, Hamburger was gradually transforming into a communist himself.
Further, even after Ursula left him – and the child that she bore while married to him, Hamburger became convinced that he too had to become a Russian spy! All the while he still loved Ursula too, even after he learned that she had become pregnant by another man and then again, by yet a third man.
It was in China that Ursula became a full-fledged Russian spy – with a change of name to Sonya. Several characters played key roles in leading to Ursula’s gradual induction into the world of Soviet espionage, including an America writer by the name of Agnes Smedley – a larger than life character who eventually became a leading apologist for Mao Tse Tung’s totalitarian rule.

The cast of characters in “Agent Sonya” is riveting. What Macintryre does so brilliantly is describe how ordinary individuals who would not stand out in any exceptional way possess the key ingredients that it takes to be a successful spy, including, among others: resourcefulness, an exceptional ability to lie one’s way through any situation, and what Ursula Kuczynski apparently possessed in spades: an ability to thoroughly compartmentalize one’s life.
Here we have a woman who, on the one hand, is a capable housewife – and mother – to three different children, by three different men no less! (and the children actually move with her from time to time as she’s relocated by her Soviet spymasters to different locations around the world, including Manchuria, Poland, Switzerland, and finally Britain), at the same time as she is able to insinuate herself into the upper echelons of enemy administrations wherever she is based.
In one passage that I found particularly compelling, “Sonya” describes how difficult it often was for her to sleep – and dream, without finding all the contradictory aspects of her various secret lives running up against one another. All the while she did this without resorting to alcohol or drugs – which is what almost inevitably become the crutches upon which spies lean. That she was also able to move from relationship to relationship with different men – twice at the order of her Soviet spymasters, and actually have honestly warm relationships with them to the point where she did love them yet, when ordered to leave those men, embark on a new assignment, is testament to her total acceptance of her role.

Here’s another interesting note about Sonya: As much as the intelligence she provided about various enemies, including: Chinese Republicans in Shanghai, Japanese occupiers in Manchuria, and German Nazis in Switzerland, was of great value to Russian intelligence, it was when she was able to move to England in 1941 that her greatest espionage coup was to come.
Living in a nondescript farmhouse in an out of the way village not too far from Oxfordshire – and by this time her name was now Sonya Buerton (the last man to whom she was married was also a spy by the name of Len Buerton), she was put in touch with a German-born scientist by the name of Klaus Fuchs. Fuchs was a brilliant physicist who was working on Britain’s own plan to develop an atomic bomb – separate and apart from what the Americans were doing at the same time. He was, however, a devout communist and determined to share whatever secrets he could with the Russians.
Sonya became his intermediary through which he was able to pass along reams of information to the Russians that proved to be of incalculable value in helping the Russians to leap frog what would undoubtedly have taken them years more to acquire on their own. Later, he moved to the U.S. to work on the fabled Manhattan Project. It was while he was in the U.S. that he had a change of heart, however, and turned himself in as a spy to the Americans. At the same time, though, he never betrayed Sonya.

Macintyre asks repeatedly how it was that Sonya was never caught by British intelligence, despite all the evidence that had been pointing for quite some time in her direction. Although he doesn’t arrive at a definitive conclusion, he suggests that more than anything, it was the total incompetence of the head of MI5 (Britain’s internal intelligence service), someone by the name of Roger Hollis, that led to Sonya’s being able to evade arrest.
At the time there was only one woman in a senior position in MI5, whose name was Millicent Bagot. Bagot was a dedicated – and thoroughly competent spychaser, far better qualified in her position than Hollis, who never believed that a woman could be a successful spy. Bagot was actually convinced early on that Sonya was a Russian agent and she bitterly fought to keep her from being allowed to enter Britain in 1941.

There is more than a little irony in the fact that one of Russia’s most successful spies of all time was a woman who was able to carry on her espionage precisely because she was a woman, while the one individual who would undoubtedly have been able to expose Sonya was also a woman but whose abilities were constantly underestimated, just as Sonya’s were, surrounded as she was by thick headed men.
“Agent Sonya” is a thoroughly compelling read. While the fact that Sonya was Jewish may be regarded as largely irrelevant to what became the story of her life since it never seemed to play any role in what ultimately ensued, I’m sure that for Jewish readers of this book the awareness that the person they are reading about was Jewish will lead to one’s wondering whether her being Jewish played a much larger role in her story than perhaps even Sonya herself was aware.
Here’s what Macintrye himself has to say in summing up Ursula’s life toward the end of his book: “If you had visited the quaint English village of Great Rollright in 1945, you might have spotted a thin, dark-haired and unusually elegant woman emerging from a stone farmhouse called The Firs, and climbing on to her bicycle. She had three children and a husband, Len, who worked in the nearby aluminium factory. She was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a faint accent. She baked excellent cakes. Her neighbours in the Cotswolds knew little about her.
“They did not know that the woman they called ‘Mrs Burton’ was really Colonel Ursula Kuczynski of the Red Army, a dedicated communist, a decorated Soviet military intelligence officer and a highly-trained spy who had conducted espionage operations in China, Poland and Switzerland, before coming to Britain on Moscow’s orders. They did not know that her three children each had a different father, nor that her husband was also a secret agent. They were unaware that she was a German Jew, a fanatical opponent of Nazism who had spied against the fascists during the Second World War and was now spying on Britain and America in the new Cold War. They did not know that in the outdoor privy behind The Firs, Mrs Burton had constructed a powerful radio transmitter tuned to Soviet intelligence headquarters in Moscow. The villagers of Great Rollright did not know that in her last mission of the war, Mrs Burton had infiltrated communist spies into a top-secret American operation parachuting anti-Nazi agents into the dying Third Reich. These “Good Germans” were supposedly spying for America; in reality, they were working for Colonel Kuczynski of Great Rollright.
“But Mrs Burton’s most important undercover job was one that would shape the future of the world: she was helping the Soviet Union to build the atom bomb.
“For years, Ursula had run a network of communist spies deep inside Britain’s atomic weapons research programme, passing on information to Moscow that would eventually enable Soviet scientists to assemble their own nuclear device. She was fully engaged in village life; her scones were the envy of Great Rollright. But in her parallel, hidden life she was responsible, in part, for maintaining the balance of power between East and West and (she believed) preventing nuclear war by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from one side to give to the other. When she hopped on to her bike with her ration book and carrier bags, Mrs Burton (or, more precisely, Beurton) was going shopping for lethal secrets.
“Ursula Kuczynski was a mother, housewife, novelist, expert radio technician, spymaster, courier, saboteur, bomb-maker, Cold Warrior and secret agent, all at the same time.”

“Agent Sonya” – the story of the Soviet Union’s most important female spy
“Agent Sonya”
By Ben Macintyre
354 pages
Published Sept., 2020
Available on Amazon

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Technology and innovation: how online casinos are adapting to players

There has currently been a significant increase in demand for online casinos in Canada due to the convenience and ease of access offered to players. With recurring technological advances and the constant search for innovation, online casino operators are striving to meet players’ growing expectations. Below, we’ll explore how online casinos in Canada are aligning themselves with technology and innovation, from the variety of games to attractive offers such as welcome bonuses and promotions to constantly adjusting to players’ needs.

Online gaming offers

Offering a wide range of games to suit players’ preferences is one of the main focuses of online casinos in Canada. In other words, operators are always looking to expand their collection of games to ensure a variety that caters to everyone, from the classics like backjack and roulette to slot releases and live casino games. What’s more, many online casinos are teaming up with famous game developers to offer high-quality, immersive experiences.

The commitment to providing an extensive selection of games tailored to diverse player preferences is a cornerstone of online casinos in Canada. This commitment manifests in continual efforts to expand the game library, ensuring a comprehensive assortment that appeals to a broad spectrum of players. Collaborations with renowned game developers further enhance the gaming experience, offering players access to high-quality, immersive gameplay across various genres, from classic favorites like blackjack and roulette to cutting-edge slot releases and live casino offerings.

Attractive bonuses and promotions

Online casinos in Canada often offer generous welcome bonuses to attract new players and reward existing ones. Bonuses can usually include free spins and extra cash, giving players the opportunity to explore casino games without using their own money at first. In addition, casinos can also give extra bonuses on subsequent deposits, loyalty programs and temporary promotions to keep players engaged.

A hallmark of online casinos in Canada is the generous incentives they offer to both new and existing players. Welcome bonuses, comprising complimentary spins and bonus cash, serve as enticing invitations for newcomers to explore the diverse offerings without financial risk. Moreover, ongoing bonuses on subsequent deposits, loyalty programs, and temporary promotions serve to maintain player engagement and reward loyalty within the platform’s ecosystem.

Gaming experience on mobile devices

Withthe increasing use of mobile devices, online casinos in Canada understand the importance of providing an optimized mobile gaming experience. Many operators use specific apps for iOS and Android devices, enabling players to access their favorite games anytime, anywhere. Online casinos are looking to adapt responsive designs on their websites to ensure an increasingly personalized usability experience on smartphones and tablets, without compromising the features and quality of the games.

Player security and privacy

Certainly one of the priorities for online casinos in Canada is player security and privacy. Operators implement and optimize increasingly robust security measures, such as SSL encryption and advanced firewalls, to guarantee the protection of players’ personal and financial data. Online casinos in Canada operate under regulated licenses, which guarantees compliance with the strictest security and integrity standards.

High-quality entertainment

Online casinos in Canada have often strived through the use of technology and innovation to adapt to the needs of players in a very competitive and constantly evolving market.

Providing a wide variety of games, good attractions and guaranteeing high security standards. Operators are definitely providing players with a fully personalized and immersive experience in the world of online casinos, as well as improving the experience for mobile devices and the convenience of playing at any time.

Online casinos in Canada continue to thrive and attract players looking for high-quality entertainment as well as exciting opportunities to win.

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Features

How to Protect Your Finances When Playing in Online Casinos 

Online casinos are a thrilling form of entertainment that a lot of adults enjoy in their free time. While it can be a great way to kick back and relax, it’s also important that you’re safeguarding your finances too. From the risk of gambling to cyber attacks and scams, here are some simple guidelines to follow that can help to ensure the safety of your money, so you can fully enjoy your favourite casino games. 

Choose Good Quality Casinos

This is the only way you can fully safeguard your finances. Choosing a reputable online casino that is fully licensed and regulated is crucial. Not only does this ensure that the casino is running legally and adhering to strict standards, but also the protection of your personal and financial information. Reading online reviews can be a great way to decipher the quality of a casino. Previous customers can tell you about any issues they’ve experienced, as well as providing insight into other aspects, such as customer service or the user-friendliness of the platform. 

A good quality casino will also have an impact on your experience. Be sure to look out for a wide variety of games and check out the different promotions and bonuses that a casino offers. With some bonuses, you can get spins on your favourite games. Taking advantage of bonuses and promotions can be a great way to safeguard your finances too. Instead of using your own money, you can use promotional funds to try out new games and experiment with different strategies. Just be aware that most promotions and bonuses come with wagering requirements, so make sure to read the terms and conditions before signing up. 

Protect Yourself

Another important factor of protecting your finances when playing in online casinos is learning how to protect yourself. This is essential for any online activity. When creating any online account, make sure to use strong and unique passwords. It’s also essential to never share this information with anyone else. Be aware and learn how to identify scams. Usually, if an offer is too good to be true, it usually is. In particular, be aware of phishing attempts and scams landing in your email inbox. It’s all about protecting yourself, like you would take supplements to aid your fitness, in this case, you apply yourself with knowledge to protect yourself and keep safe online. 

When depositing and withdrawing money, make sure to only use secure payment methods, this could include cryptocurrency, credit/debit cards or Apple Pay for example. You should use casinos that offer encrypted transactions. These precautions are essential when it comes to reducing the risk of your financial information falling into the wrong hands.

Gamble Responsibly

And finally, it’s not just about protecting yourself through security measures, it’s also important to be sensible with your money too. Gambling responsibly is essential when it comes to safeguarding your finances. A good way to do this is by setting limits and creating a budget for yourself. This will help to prevent you from overspending. 

Set limits for yourself in terms of how much money you are willing to spend and stick to these limits. Avoid chasing losses and never gamble with money that you can’t afford to lose. Make use of the deposit limit feature that most online casinos offer. If you ever find that you’re struggling, then it’s important to seek help and support. A lot of online casinos will be able to offer support and links to organisations that can help you. Gambling should always be a fun activity and nothing else. It’s definitely not a way to make money or solve financial problems.

In summary, these simple guidelines can help you to safeguard your finances when playing online. Remember that it’s not just about security, it’s also about being responsible with your money too. However, by choosing good quality casinos, learning how to protect yourself and gambling responsibly, you can enjoy your experience, all while ensuring your money stays safe. 

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Features

Kosher agencies make no bones about ‘flawed’ Canadian slaughter laws

oung Jewish children watch the Kaparot ceremony before Yom Kippur in September 2010 in Ashdod, Israel. Credit: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock.

“When the Jewish community is being treated differently than other communities in Canada because of our religious beliefs, that is discrimination,” said Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Kashruth Council of Canada.

By DAVE GORDON (March 15, 2024 / JNS) Two kosher certifying agencies and two meat processors have a big beef with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which suddenly changed the rules and made kosher slaughter a longer and more burdensome procedure.

CFIA has begun in recent months to enforce regulations it enacted in 2018 “with vigor,” Rabbi Saul Emanuel, executive director of Montreal Kosher, told JNS. It appears to be doing so “on a whim,” the rabbi said.

The government agency’s actions have already resulted in a 60% drop in domestic kosher meat production, facility closures, higher prices and larger shipments of imported meats from other countries, according to Emanuel.

An independent organization that oversees Canadian slaughter procedures, CFIA mandates that cows be shot in the head with a bolt gun, to avoid causing pain to the animal. Kashrut laws require that an animal be killed with a single, rapid motion with a sharp knife that instantly kills the animal by severing the primary blood supply to the brain. Kosher laws preclude the use of bolts, as Canadian law requires. 

CFIA requires that Jewish ritual slaughterers conduct a series of bodily checks in between each shechita to ensure that the animal is “insensible,” which means that slaughter houses must wait up to three minutes rather than 15 seconds between each slaughter. At an industrial scale, the three minutes add up.

Emanuel’s employer MK, the Kashruth Council of Canada in Toronto—known as COR—and the country’s two largest kosher meat producers, Shefa Meats and Mehadrin Meats, sued CFIA on March 8.

The plaintiffs allege that the government agency infringes on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of religious practice, according to Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Kashruth Council.

“I don’t want to speculate about the motivations of the CFIA and we have no indications that antisemitism is at play here, but when the Jewish community is being treated differently than other communities in Canada because of our religious beliefs, that is discrimination,” Rabkin told JNS.

‘Discrimination by effect’

Rabkin told JNS that the ideal would be a negotiated solution, and the four entities opted to sue only as a last resort and because the agency is independent and unbeholden to elected officials.

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