Kim Philby: More Secrets Revealed ; STASI Film

From The Telegraph - Kim Philby reveals his secrets in newly discovered Stasi film (1981)

BBC Radio 2, iPlayer, Jeremy Vine Show, from 36 minute point

BBC report - "Philby's hour-long address was preserved on video tape and never seen in public until now. The BBC unearthed it in the official archives of the Stasi in Berlin". Kim Philby gives a seminar to East German spies.

Philby, from the tape: "Because I had been born into the British governing class, because I knew a lot of people of influential standing, I knew they would never get tough with me. They'd never try to beat me up or knock me around...."

"There is one episode which is usually cited to illustrate the human cost of Philby's treachery.
When he was posted to Washington DC as MI6's liaison with the CIA and FBI, he betrayed an operation to secretly send thousands of Albanians back into their country to overthrow the communist regime. Many were killed. In his lecture, Philby tries to turn it to his credit - even claiming he helped prevent World War Three. He claims that if he had not compromised the operation and it had succeeded, the CIA and MI6 would have tried it again in countries like Bulgaria. He says the Soviet Union would then have become involved, leading to an all-out war".

This episode is of great interest as I have researched this topic at considerable length in the national archives in Washington DC and at Kew. I have also delivered a paper on the topic, for the Pan-Ionian Conference, 2014 (short version of my paper awaiting publication).

The Attempted Subversion of Albania and “Roll-Back” of Soviet Power
(Operation VALUABLE/BGFIEND, 1949) and Philby’s Betrayal

I focused on the first year (February-October, 1949) of the Joint Anglo-American Cold War subversive operation VALUABLE/BGFIEND, and the Advance Base Secret Radio Station on Corfu.

Researching Corfu and Albania in Washington's National Archives

Operation Valuable, 1949: The Corfu Connection

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More on Philby, Cahal Milmo - How my grandfather duelled with Cambridge spy Kim Philby

'Never confess', Cahal Milmo, The Independent