In a scene straight out of FX’s “The Americans,” a KGB agent — living here since 1978 — refused to go home because he had started a family here.
Jack Barksy, born Albrecht Dittrich in East Germany, was a bright college student before he was recruited by the KGB and sent to New York in 1978, according to “60 Minutes.”
The young spy came here to rise up in American society and get close to National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
He failed, but did well in his US cover job, got married and had a daughter, in a real-life version of what could have been a plot from “The Americans,” a drama about two Soviet spies living in 1980s America.
Barsky was ordered back to East Germany in 1988 because his mission was declared done, but he refused.
“Because of Chelsea,” Barsky explained to “60 Minutes,” referring to his daughter, who was 4.
The KGB threatened to kill him, but he claimed he was dying of AIDS, and his handlers decided they didn’t want him back.
“There’s three things . . . I tell people that the Russians were afraid of — AIDS, Jewish people and Ronald Reagan,” joked Barsky, now 70.
Barsky now lives upstate and works as a software developer for an organization that runs power lines across the state.