S8 Ep1167: Alan Philps tells of Nadia, a translator at the Metropol Hotel who became a "secret dissident" after losing faith in Stalinism du

The John Batchelor Show · Jul 26, 2026 · 11m

Alan Philps tells of Nadia, a translator at the Metropol Hotel who became a "secret dissident" after losing faith in Stalinism during the purges. She trusted Australian journalist Godfrey Blunden, believing him to be more reliable than "snobbish" British or career-driven American reporters. She shared her true, dangerous views with him and even took him to visit private Soviet homes, which was strictly forbidden. However, Blunden betrayed her by publishing a novel that thinly disguised her identity and the locations she had shown him. This led to Nadia's arrest in 1948 and an eight-year…