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Trofimoff: I grew up hating Communists
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- The man on the witness stand said he hated Russians and Communists with a passion. He blamed them for the slaughter of his family. He condemned them for killing millions. His disdain was so great, he enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight them. "We could never forgive them for what they did to us," he said. That man was George Trofimoff, the retired Army Reserve colonel accused of spying for the Russians for 25 years during the Cold War. Trofimoff talked almost non-stop for three hours Thursday as his attorney, Danny Hernandez, questioned him about his family history, his childhood and his military years. The son of Russian emigres repeatedly stressed his contempt for Russia, a country he is accused of shuttling secret documents to for 25 years. "I hated them and so did my whole family," said Trofimoff, 74. Trofimoff, the highest ranking U.S. military officer charged with espionage, told jurors he is a descendant of Russian nobility, with ancestors dating back 400 years. His family was assassinated by the Bolsheviks in 1918, he said, leaving behind only his father. He was raised in Berlin by a foster family after his mother died when he was 1 year old. He grew close to his foster brother, Igor Susemihl, who later became the equivalent of a cardinal in the Russian Orthodox Church. Trofimoff moved to New York City in 1947, and enlisted in the U.S. Army the next year. "My first 20 years of my life, I didn't have a home, I didn't have a country," he said. "I raised my right arm, I was sworn in. I was on the front page of the Hartford Courant." Trofimoff said he found acceptance in the United States when he became a citizen in 1951. "For the first time in my life, I belonged someplace," he said, his voice breaking. Trofimoff served in the U.S. Army, specializing in intelligence work. He was honorably discharged from active duty in 1956. He took a number of civilian service jobs, and in 1969 became the top U.S. employee at the Joint Interrogation Center in Nuremberg, West Germany, interviewing Soviet bloc defectors and refugees. It is in this post that prosecutors say Trofimoff gained access to classified documents. Prosecutors have alleged that Trofimoff's foster brother, Igor Susemihl, recruited Trofimoff for the KGB and served as a courier for thousands of secret records. But Trofimoff refuted those claims by saying he brought order to the office, even gaining commendations for his work. He described the security measures used to protect the documents, complete with steel doors and motion detectors. He got a bit long-winded at times, appearing to lose the interest of some jurors who seemed to be nodding off. Trofimoff talked at such length that at one point Hernandez barked "whatever" to him when Trofimoff started to argue whether a person who drew a layout of the interrogation center office building was really an "artist." Hernandez leafed through pages of letters of commendations and awards and performance evaluations Trofimoff received throughout his military career. When shown one particularly glowing performance appraisal, Trofimoff asked Hernandez for the year it covered. When shown the period, 1969-70, Trofimoff said: "This is when I allegedly started my espionage activities." Earlier in the day, Hernandez called four of Trofimoff's friends, three of whom worked for him at the interrogation center. Each said they never witnessed any suspicious behavior and called his reputation "impeccable." One of the witnesses provided the most absorbing moment of the day. Bernhard Frenkel, an Army buddy of Trofimoff's and a former subordinate, flew in from Germany to talk about his friend. The 76-year-old German-born U.S. citizen spoke highly of Trofimoff. "I can't imagine anyone else who hated Russia, the Soviet Union, Communism more than he did," said Frenkel, a portly man with gray hair and a hearing aid. "He is 100 percent trustworthy." Under questioning by prosecutor Walter Furr, Frenkel grew irritated. Furr asked Frenkel how he would react if he were told that Trofimoff met with KGB agents in Austria to pass secret U.S. documents. "The KGB officer who told you that is a liar!" Frenkel seethed. Furr then asked Frenkel for his reaction if Trofimoff were to tell him that he received almost 1-million deutsche marks for his services. "I don't think he would ever say such a thing," Frenkel said. As the questions continued, Frenkel's indignation grew. "Are you familiar with Mr. Trofimoff's background?" he shot back at Furr. "You tell me the man, whose entire family got killed by the Soviet Union, act as a spy? I don't believe it!" Frenkel and Furr's heated exchange ended when Hernandez, Trofimoff's attorney, objected to one of Furr's statements. "Argumentative," Hernandez told U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew. "On which point?" Bucklew said, getting chuckles from the jury. Before he stepped down from the witness stand, Frenkel lashed out at Furr. "The prosecuting attorney should be well aware, all officials who had contact or worked in the Roman Catholic Church, all were controlled and had contact with the KGB. Otherwise, they couldn't do their job. It's impossible." As Frenkel walked past Trofimoff on his way out of the courtroom, he gave Trofimoff a hearty thumbs-up sign and grinned.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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