Herrmann, Rudolf Albert

(1929– )

   Dalibar Valoushek was a Czech border guard recruited by the KGB in the early 1950s to act as an illegal in the United States. He and his wife, Inga, were documented as German refugees, the Herrmanns, using the live double/ dead double ploy favored by the Soviet services. In 1957 the Herrmanns “escaped” to West Germany and five years later immigrated to Canada. The Herrmanns were successful in business in Canada and lived a cover that allowed them to have a middle-class lifestyle. Herrmann was also a successful agent handler, working with Hugh Hambleton. In 1968 the Herrmanns moved to the United States, where Herrmann worked as a photographer. The Herrmanns were moderately successful as spies: the KGB promoted Herrmann to colonel and made him illegal rezident for the United States. In 1972 Herrmann revealed his identity to his son Peter and recruited him. Peter was encouraged by Moscow to attend McGill University in Montreal, where he could become a member of the Canadian establishment. A year later, Peter transferred to Georgetown University, but by then family life was interrupted by American counterintelligence. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested the Herrmanns in 1977 and gave them the opportunity to avoid imprisonment by operating under FBI control. In 1979 the Herrmanns were resettled and began a new life. Information gleaned from an analysis of the Herrmann case led to Hambleton’s initial arrest in 1979.