Aleksandr Mikhailovich Orlov - Defection

Defection

Meanwhile, the Great Purge continued as Joseph Stalin and his inner circle sought to exterminate all suspected enemies of the people. Orlov was alerted as close associates and friends were arrested, tortured, and shot one by one. In 1938 Orlov realised that he would soon be next. When he received orders from Moscow to report to a Soviet ship in Antwerp, Orlov was certain that he was about to be arrested. Instead of obeying Orlov fled with his wife and daughter to Canada. Following his refusal to return to the Soviet Union when "invited" in 1969 the KGB made efforts to discredit Orlov. He was accused of stealing $60,000 in operational funds from the embassy safe before fleeing Spain and of taking part in the assassination of Rudolf Klement, a former secretary of Leon Trotsky, in Paris on 13 July 1938 - the day he left Paris for Quebec. The accusations, like so many other "revelations" from KGB files during and after the Cold War regarding General Orlov and other defectors, were full of easily spotted errors.

Before leaving Paris, Orlov left 2 letters for the Soviet Ambassador, one for Stalin and one for his henchman Yezhov. He told the dictator and the chief of the NKVD that he would reveal everything he knew about NKVD operations if any action was taken against him or his family. In a two-page attachment, Orlov listed the codenames of numerous illegals and moles operating in the West.

Orlov also sent a letter to Trotsky alerting him to the presence of the NKVD agent Mark Zborowski (codename TULIP) in the entourage of his son Lev Sedov. Trotsky dismissed this letter as a provocation. Then Orlov traveled with his family to the United States and went underground. The NKVD, presumably on orders from Stalin, did not try to locate him until 1969.