Umbrellas that shoot or poison, pistols hidden in gloves, watering cans that take secret pictures. Spies in the Cold War were not only unscrupulous, but also imaginative. The ingenuity of the technical departments of the secret services knew no bounds in inventing deadly tricks. Poisoning, shooting, stabbing, eavesdropping or observing, they knew no limit. All this is strongly reminiscent of James Bond movies. 007 makes his routine visit to Q, a mad scientist who equips him with gadgets, for every operation.
And it's often not clear whether the screenwriters were inspired by real spies, or whether it was the other way around.
The dirty, often deadly tricks of the spies, are exhibited in Berlin's Spy Museum. Jacket buttons that eavesdrop, calculators that are coders, shoes that hide microfilm are just a few to name.
On this episode of Arts Unveiled, we explore the dirty tricks that spies in the Cold War managed to get away with.
00:00 Introduction
02:14 Deadly Tricks
04:04 The Eye ot the Spy
10:04 Walls Have Ears
12:17 Secret Messages
16:18 Lost! In Hostile Territory
18:10 Licence to Kill
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