# What Things Did We Learn With The Opening Up Of Russia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855 "2007-01-13T19:20:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartigan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Cartigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartigan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/1 "2007-01-13T19:20:21Z")
Just wondering with the “death” of the Soviet Union and the opening up of it’s successor state Russia, did we learn? I was looking for things that the Soviet Union covered up. For example, did we learn weather Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were really spying for Russia? Did we learn anything about Russia that they blames on Germany in WWII? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/2 "2007-01-13T22:31:16Z")
We learned that Alger Hiss was guilty. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/3 "2007-01-13T22:36:16Z")
All of us very nearly got nuked off the planet in 1983 due to a systems anomaly (Wargames was released that year with a similar theme). One man, Colonel Stanislav Petrov refused to escalate the nuclear launch orders starting WWIII despite procedures and systems. The incident was an embarrassment because it showed how fragile things were at the time. Until the Soviet Union fell, the Cuban Missile Crisis was believed to be our closest call with nuclear annihilation. > **[Stanislav Petrov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov)** > > Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Станисла́в Евгра́фович Петро́в; 7 September 1939 – 19 May 2017) was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces who played a key role in the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident. On 26 September 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the Unit... ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/4 "2007-01-13T22:46:27Z")
I was surprised to learn that they drilled an oil well in Siberia that went straight to Hell - “Russian scientists hear screams of the damned!” [Here](http://www.amightywind.com/hell/aboutsounds.htm) is one account. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/5 "2007-01-14T00:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] I was surprised to learn that they drilled an oil well in Siberia that went straight to Hell - “Russian scientists hear screams of the damned!” [Here](http://www.amightywind.com/hell/aboutsounds.htm) is one account. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Sounds like the dead were gargling 😕 ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/6 "2007-01-14T00:54:32Z")
We learned what Lee Harvey Oswald did is Russia when he was there. Personally, it led me to believe that he was the lone gunman. Sorry, I have no cites. I watched a TV show many years ago and I am vague on the details. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/7 "2007-01-14T01:08:55Z")
[QUOTE=Cartigan] did we learn weather Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were really spying for Russia? [/QUOTE] Yep. Here’s your [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Rosenberg), though I feel their guilt was arguably much more damning than the entry allows, but yep, they were guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/8 "2007-01-14T03:51:47Z")
What astonished me was what an ecological disaster the iron curtain countries were. They just did any damned thing they pleased, with nary a thought about its effect on the environment. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/9 "2007-01-14T04:06:18Z")
So essentially Ol’ Joe McCarthy was right? Hehe. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/10 "2007-01-14T05:33:18Z")
The opening of the KGB archives helped provide evidence of Robert Hanssen’s [espionage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hanssen) . ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/11 "2007-01-14T05:42:23Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] We learned that Alger Hiss was guilty. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] As I understand it, little evidence has been brought forward since the collapse of the Soviet Union regarding Hiss’ guilt or innocence. The Wikipedia article on Hiss agrees - it says that a couple of former KGB agents have claimed Hiss was a spy, but the evidence they claim points to Hiss is pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/12 "2007-01-14T06:06:18Z")
We located Leon Theremin, inventor of the eponymous musical instrument (predecessor of the air guitar). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/13 "2007-01-14T15:59:12Z")
The best sources I know of to answer the OP are the two books by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin based on the “Mitrokhin archives” (a veritable s#@load of KGB documents smuggled to the west by former KGB archives clerk Vasili Mitrokhin): The Sword and The Shield: the Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, and The World Was Going Our Way: the KGB and the Battle for the Third World. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/14 "2007-01-14T17:13:24Z")
We also got a lot of info from Soviet archives on Nazi war criminals who had done their deeds in the FSU. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/15 "2007-01-14T18:37:51Z")
[QUOTE=solkoe] We learned what Lee Harvey Oswald did is Russia when he was there. Personally, it led me to believe that he was the lone gunman. Sorry, I have no cites. I watched a TV show many years ago and I am vague on the details. [/QUOTE] Norman Mailer’s book _Oswald’s Tale: An American Mystery_ makes much use of Oswald’s KGB file (IIR, Mailer paid someone for “exclusive” rights to the file). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/16 "2007-01-14T20:10:46Z")
We were taught that the Russians were vastly superior to the USA-Russian kids were studying advanced calculus in the 6th grade! The Russian educational system was later found to hav been in a shambles! The Russians were supposed to be ahead of us in atomic energy-in reality, their nuclear reactors were accidents waiting to happen. The same with their nuclear subs. We also learned (after the fall od communist Russia), that Russian agriculture was a shambles-they had to import massive amounts of grain! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/17 "2007-01-14T20:13:19Z")
We learned our military trumped them up as a equal adversary to get more political power for themselves and they did the same thing there. They caused our military to get too powerful and to waste too much of our resources. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/18 "2007-01-14T21:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The Russian educational system was later found to hav been in a shambles! The Russians were supposed to be ahead of us in atomic energy-in reality, their nuclear reactors were accidents waiting to happen. The same with their nuclear subs. We also learned (after the fall od communist Russia), that Russian agriculture was a shambles-they had to import massive amounts of grain! 😕 [/QUOTE] We already knew all of these things long before the Soviet Union collapsed. Their ecological carelessness, lack of safety in reactor designs, poor manufacturing quality control, and industrial ineptitude were widely appreciated. Many of the claims made by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in _The Gulag Archipelago_ and elsewhere about the political repression, systemic torture, forced relocation, bogus prosecution, et cetera were verified by the records that survived destruction prior to the collapse. There was really never any question of this–Solzhenitsyn had ample documentation, and of course first-hand experience, for his claims–but Western apologists for Soviet Communism frequently decried his claims as manufactured or exaggerated, whereas evidence displayed an even wider reign of terror (including wholesale slaughter in many eastern areas) than Solzhenitsyn claimed. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/19 "2007-01-14T21:34:27Z")
Cecil’s column on the Rosenbergs and VENONA: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040806.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040806.html) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855/20 "2007-01-14T22:34:37Z")
They were doing top secret research on launching airplanes from conveyor belts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-did-we-learn-with-the-opening-up-of-russia/387855.md?page=2)