Karel Koecher

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Karl Koecher (* 21st September 1934 in Bratislava ) is a Czechoslovak translator who as KGB - Agent in the United States worked.

Life

After completing school, he initially worked as an author of radio satire pieces. In 1960 he became a member of the Communist Party (KSČ) and in 1962 he was recruited as an agent by the Czechoslovak Secret Service (StB). Because of his knowledge of English, Koecher was smuggled into the United States in 1965. He studied philosophy at Columbia University and received US citizenship in 1971. In 1973 he was employed as a translator by the US secret service CIA . Because of his translation work over the following years and the documents he made available to him, he became one of the most important sources of information for the Soviet secret service KGB.

He was married to Hana Koecher. On November 27, 1984, he and his wife were arrested by the US FBI . On February 11, 1986, he was exchanged for Anatoly Shcharansky on the Glienicke Bridge in Berlin . He returned to Prague , where he was received with all honors by representatives of the Czechoslovak government, and got a job at the Prague Institute for Economic Analysis .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Proč se by neměly vést nezávazné řeči s agentem StB Karlem Köcherem
  2. ^ Central Europe Review: Princess Diana, Al Fayed, the CIA and a Czech Spook
personal data
SURNAME Koecher, Karel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak KGB agent
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Bratislava , Slovakia