Love, Sex, Scholarship, and the Cold War

«The UICTG [офис, организовывавший поездки американских scholars в СССР – g_d] defended its inquiries into personal behavior — particularly the students’ social (read: sexual) lives - as a security issue. Embassy staff worried that Soviet authorities were recruiting students by the “sexual entrapment” of married exchangees...

Munford [руководитель программы – g_d] ...asked participants about the conduct of their fellow students, focusing especially on their social contacts with Soviet citizens... When, a few months later, historian Thomas Hegarty announced his engagement to a Soviet woman, Munford was irate. He pressured one of Hegarty’s friends to get involved, ultimately leading to what Munford called an awkward “health recall” (his quotation marks). Embassy staff supported Hegarty, though, and the New York Times announced the marriage under the headline “Love Recognizes No Iron Curtain.”...

... actions were not always in defense of marriage. He worked vociferously to prevent the marriages of two students who participated in the 1960–1961 exchange. Economist Leonard Kirsch had been flagged during the State Department’s name-check, apparently for engaging in left-wing political activities as a student. The State Department pressured IUCTG to withdraw Kirsch from the program, though Byrnes refused to do so after seeing the classified information. Once in Moscow, Kirsch faced difficulty doing his work, perhaps giving him more time to socialize; in any case, he got engaged to Elena Kniazkina. Upon learning of Kirsch’s engagement (and about another student’s engagement, too), Byrnes [руководитель программы, сменивший Munford] and the embassy staff issued stern warnings about “the obvious dangers to themselves, the girls, and the student exchange program.” Kirsch followed through on his wedding plans, ultimately moving with Elena to the Boston area; his betrothed classmate wavered under pressure and left the USSR still a bachelor...»

(David C. Engerman, Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts (Oxford University Press, 2009, p.240-242) - книга в целом весьма познавательная и хорошо написана