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Vladimir Pozner Sr.

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Vladimir Pozner Sr.
Born24 October 1908
Died31 July 1975 (aged 66)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Occupation(s)Audio engineer, spy
RelativesVladimir Pozner Jr. (son)
Vladimir Pozner (writer) (cousin)
Victoria Mercanton (younger sister)

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Pozner (Russian: Владимир Александрович Познер; 24 October 1908 – 31 July 1975) was a Russian-Jewish émigré to the United States. During World War II he spied for Soviet intelligence while he was employed by the US government.[1]

Pozner was born in St. Petersburg. His family fled Soviet Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, and Vladimir Pozner became a Communist sympathizer while living in Europe.[2] Vladimir Pozner and his family moved to East Berlin and later to Moscow in the early 1950s. There he worked as a senior audio engineer for the Soviet film industry.

His sister, Victoria Mercanton, was an in-demand film editor based in France. He retired in 1968, and in 1969 suffered a heart attack. Pozner died on 31 July 1975 during a flight from Paris to Moscow.[1]

Vladimir Pozner's cover name as identified in the Venona project by NSA/FBI analysts was "Platon" or Plato in Russian. Pozner's son, Vladimir Pozner Jr., born in 1934, worked as a journalist and interpreter in the United States, Soviet Union and later in Russia.

References

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  1. ^ a b Pavel Pozner (12 October 2014) Владимир Познер-старший. Medved magazine
  2. ^ Taubman, Philip (30 December 1985). "Soviet Spokesman on American TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

Venona

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Pozner is referenced in the following Venona project decrypts:

  • 1131–1133 KGB New York to Moscow, 13 July 1943 [1]
  • 1930 KGB New York to Moscow, 21 November 1943 [2]
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