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THE CASE OF COLONEL PETROV by Michael Bialoguski

THE CASE OF COLONEL PETROV

By

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

The case of Colonel Petrov, the Russian Consul whose defection to the safety and liberty of a new life in Australia- had a tremendous news and propaganda impact at the time, is recorded here by the man who guided him gently towards this step. Polish born Michael Bialoguski escaped Russia in 1941 and volunteered to work for the Commonwealth Investigation Service. A doctor, a violinist in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Bialoguski was also to become Jack Baker, a spy, and at the Russian Social Club where he was active (as an informer) met the new Soviet Consul, Petrov. As Petrov's friend and political cicerone, Baker watched Petrov's growing suspicion of his Soviet colleagues; the westernization of his personality; the delays- in returning to the U.S.S.R., and finally helped him to reach the decision to desert in which his wife was ultimately to join him... It's a dossier of considerable curiosity and interest value, and much of this is sparked by Bialoguski's own experience- his precarious position not only with Petrov, but also with the reluctant- and sometimes resistant- Australian espionage system.