RUSSIA SIN ALONG WITH SIG TO SOME OF THE YOUNGER STAFFERS IN 
BRITAIN'S MOSCOW EMBASSY, SMOOTH, CHARMING SIGMUND MIKHAILSKI WAS LIVING PROOF THAT 
A COMMUNIST NEEDN'T BE A CAD . AN INTERPRETER, SMILING SIG 
WAS HIRED IN 1954 AND SOON MADE HIMSELF A REGULAR MAN 
FRIDAY AROUND THE CHANCERY OFFICES ON SOFIISKAYA QUAY . WHEN NO 
ONE ELSE COULD GET BOLSHOI BALLET TICKETS, SIG DID . HE 
WAS EQUALLY SKILLFUL AT PRODUCING HARD-TO-GET GOODIES, OR BLACK-MARKETING THEIR CLOTHES 
OR WESTERN CURRENCY FOR A HANDSOME PROFIT . HE ALWAYS WENT 
OUT OF HIS WAY TO HELP THE LONELY ONES, SHOWED THEM 
THE SIGHTS, EVEN TOOK THEM TO RESTAURANTS WHERE THEY INVARIABLY MET 
RUSSIANS WHO SEEMED NOT AT ALL AFRAID TO TALK FREELY WITH 
WESTERNERS . OLDER EMBASSY HANDS WERE SKEPTICAL ABOUT SIG, KNOWING THAT 
HE WAS PROBABLY A SOVIET SPY . AFTER ALL, LOCAL HELP 
IN MOSCOW MUST BE HIRED FROM U.P.D.K., THE GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL AGENCY 
FOR FOREIGN EMPLOYERS OF THE EMBASSY FIRED SIG, THEY REASONED, HE 
WOULD PROBABLY ONLY BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER SPY WHO MIGHT BE 
A BOUNDER TO BOOT . IN ANY CASE, THE YOUNGER BRITONS, 
WHO INVITED HIM TO THEIR PARTIES AND WENT TO HIS, KNEW 
THAT ALL HIS FRIENDS WERE ATTACHED TO WESTERN EMBASSIES, AND FELT 
CERTAIN THAT HE HATED THE RUSSIANS . " YOU SEE, " 
EXPLAINED SIG, " I'M A POLE . " HE MADE A 
DETERMINED PASS AT EVERY NEW ENGLISH GIRL HE MET AND AT 
THE BOYS AS WELL . WHEN THEY RESISTED, HE EXPLAINED MOURNFULLY 
THAT LIFE IN MOSCOW WAS HARD ON A PASSIONATE POLE . 
UNUSUAL HAPPENINGS . ALAS, POOR SIG ! ONE DAY IN 1956, 
AFTER NEARLY FIVE YEARS AT THE EMBASSY, THE BRITISH SUDDENLY FIRED 
HIM . NOT WITHOUT CAUSE . SIG'S SAGA FINALLY CAME TO 
LIGHT LAST WEEK IN A REMARKABLY BLAND REPORT BY THE JUDICIAL 
TRIBUNAL THAT HAS SPENT THREE MONTHS INVESTIGATING THE LATEST BRITISH SPY 
SCANDAL : THE STRANGE CASE OF WILLIAM JOHN VASSALL, A HOMOSEXUAL 
ADMIRALTY CLERK WHO HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE MOSCOW EMBASSY FOR 
TWO YEARS, AND HAD BEEN SPYING FOR THE RUSSIANS FOR SEVEN 
. VASSALL'S SUPERIORS, AND ALL BUT ONE OF THE OFFICERS WHO 
PICKED HIM OUT OF 40 APPLICANTS FOR THE MOSCOW ASSIGNMENT, WERE 
EXONERATED BY THE TRIBUNAL, WHICH JUDGED HIM " WEAK " BUT 
NOT OVERTLY QUEER . HOWEVER, ADMITTED THE REPORT, VASSALL'S YOUNG COLLEAGUES 
IN THE MOSCOW EMBASSY RIDICULED HIS / EFFEMINATE " WAYS AND 
CALLED HIM " VERA . " THE PASSIONATE POLE SOON GUESSED 
HIS SECRET, AND LIFE BEGAN ANEW FOR VERA VASSALL . EAGER 
TO SHARE HIS NEW CONQUEST, SIG INTRODUCED VASSALL TO OTHER GAY 
TYPES . " I SHALL NEVER FORGET, " VASSALL WROTE TO 
AN OLDER MAN IN LONDON, " THE MANY UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY 
HAPPENINGS THAT GO ON HERE, WHICH MUST COME TO FEW PEOPLE 
. " HE DID NOT APPARENTLY REGARD IT AS TOO UNUSUAL 
WHEN ONE OF HIS NEW RUSSIAN FRIENDS PHOTOGRAPHED HIM IN THE 
ACT ONE EVENING . IT WAS NOT UNTIL VASSALL WAS CAUGHT 
REDHANDED WITH A SOVIET OFFICER THAT RUSSIAN SECRET POLICE INTERVENED AND 
EXPLAINED TO HIM THE GRAVITY OF HIS OFFENSE . WHEN THEY 
THREATENED TO SHOW THE COMPROMISING PHOTOGRAPHS TO LADY HAYTER, WIFE OF 
THE AMBASSADOR, VASSALL AGREED TO PROVIDE THEM WITH THE CLASSIFIED EMBASSY 
DOCUMENTS THEY WANTED . MANUFACTURED COMPROMISE . DURING HIS YEARS AT 
THE BRITISH EMBASSY, SAID THE TRIBUNAL'S REPORT, SIG TRIED TO BLACKMAIL 
THREE OTHER BRITONS FOR BLACK-MARKETING, GOT AT LEAST TWO MEMBERS OF 
OTHER WESTERN EMBASSIES INVOLVED IN HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITIES ; ALL THESE VICTIMS 
WERE HUSTLED HOME BY THEIR GOVERNMENTS AFTER REFUSING TO SPY FOR 
HIM . SIG ALSO TRIED HIS BEST TO SEDUCE A FEMALE 
SECRETARY IN THE BRITISH EMBASSY, BUT SHE GUESSED HIS AIM AND 
REPORTED HIM . STILL SIG STAYED ON . " THE MANUFACTURE 
OF COMPROMISING SITUATIONS, " CONCLUDED THE JUDGES' REPORT LAST WEEK, " 
MUST BE REGARDED AS ONE OF THE REGULAR INSTRUMENTS BY WHICH 
THE SOVIET SECRET SERVICE SEEKS TO SUBORN AND ENLIST BRITISH AGENTS 
WHO CAN FURNISH IT WITH OUR STATE SECRETS . " THUS 
WAS BRITAIN'S SECURITY SYSTEM WARNED ABOUT SOVIET SIGMUNDS . BUT WOULD 
IT EVER GET WISE TO BRITISH VERAS ? 