The Foreign Service Journal, December 2009

tivated a “T-144” program in our apart- ment. (There were several references to “T” programs, which probably were forms of technical surveillance.) Maj. Plicka had found a set of keys to our apartment, but was not sure they still worked. He would try our telephone when we were in the High Tatras on a winter holiday with the children; if there was no answer, he and another major would enter the apartment and install the electronic audio equipment. As with so many other reports, there was no account of what happened next, if anything. Some observations verged on the comical. One agent said I had dis- played unusual behavior walking along a Prague street. While my wife and children were watching, he wrote, I entered first one building and then an- other, pretending to look for an ad- dress. “His wife and children were complicit in his actions,” the report concluded, adding, “We must question all the people in the building.” The report jogged memories of in- cidents that were not recorded. Once while walking along a Prague street, I encountered what must have been the local police block-watcher: a corpulent, elderly man in rumpled clothes with ir- regularly spaced teeth. I had just vis- ited a Czech artist friend in an apartment overlooking the Vltava River. As I left, my friend mentioned in passing that the Havel family apart- ment was one floor up. I then de- scended the four flights of stairs (the elevator was not working, as often hap- pened in Prague). There, standing at the front door, was the neighborhood watchman, star- ing at me like a villager in a Brueghel painting. After exiting, I saw the open door of the next apartment building and, with mischievous intent, turned in and climbed its five flights of stairs, lis- tening for the wheezing chest and plodding feet that followed. RICHARD and PRAMEN Many of the reports were from two code names, RICHARD and PRA- MEN. Because RICHARD was iden- tified as coming from Presov and I only knew one person there, I suspect he was Dr. Michael Frank, a talented Czech English-teacher. Later, one of the reports confirmed that was the case and appended a five-page dossier on Frank, including a list of his relatives. Charlotte and I always assumed that we were being watched or recorded and that most of our contacts were being followed, as well. Our conversa- tion with Michael was standard dinner fare, although the reports noted that I “gave him suspect literature to read on the plane.” At some point, the secret police decided I was preparing to re- cruit him for espionage work, and they decided to do the same from their side. Frank would pass me incriminating documents, according to the plan spelled out in one report, and they would photograph the exchange and then try to compromise me. One ex- ercise had him showing me a list of five teachers from a summer seminar. He was to notice if I reacted to any of the names. That would be a telltale clue. Another report cautioned, “RICH- ARD must always be aware of the large, black pen Dr. Quinn carries but does not use. It must be assumed it is a technical device.” This was the long- serving Mont Blanc fountain pen I had carried with me for more than a de- cade. Then suddenly RICHARD disap- peared. I do not know what happened to him. I never returned to Presov, nor did he come again to the embassy or to our apartment. Perhaps talk of the rel- ative merits of Faulkner and Heming- way had lost its charm for the secret police. PRAMEN was Ivan Englich, an af- fable Czech cultural entrepreneur and omnipresent Mr. Fix-It who had been helpful to at least three of my prede- cessors, and who made little effort to hide his role. “They are everywhere,” he once whispered to me about a num- ber of Security Service agents who wore student clothes and joined guests at a bluegrass concert we had organized in the embassy garden. I knew PRA- MEN was Englich because one of the early reports said the source had invited me to his family’s chata (country house) 50 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 One recurring observation in the file was that I constantly gave Czechs “suspect” publications like Time , Newsweek and the New York Times . Dear Readers: In order to produce a high- quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 E-mail: miltenberger@afsa.org You Are Our Eyes & Ears!