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Life in the shadows
Broadcast Date: May 3, 1996
Igor Gouzenko's wife Svetlana, still hiding her identity, says her family has lived in fear for 50 years. After her husband's defection, her family in Russia ended up either in the Gulag or in front of a firing squad and, in Canada, there were several attempts on Igor Gouzenko's life. The Gouzenko family is forever cautious around strangers. Evelyn Gouzenko, the eldest daughter, says it was a profound shock when the children learned in high school who they really were.Life in the shadows
• The Gouzenkos were tried in absentia in Russia and sentenced to death. Svetlana Gouzenko says her mother-in-law died under interrogation in Russia, and her father, mother and sister were arrested and disappeared.
• In 1989 Svetlana Gouzenko learned that her aunt and her daughter had survived and were living in Siberia. They were angry and sad about what Igor had done.
• Debate continues over what motivated Igor Gouzenko's defection. His family says it was a desire to help his adoptive country and to expose Soviet wrongdoing. Others say it was greed, or a desire for the good life in Canada.
• There are ongoing disputes between the Gouzenkos and the RCMP over money and identification documents that Svetlana Gouzenko says they never received.
Life in the shadows
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: May 3, 1996
Guest(s): Svetlana Gouzenko, Evelyn Gouzenko
Host: Hana Gartner
Reporter: Dan Bjarnason
Duration: 3:41
Last updated:
March 18, 2008
Life in the shadows.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: March 18, 2008.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]