旧ソ連のスパイ道具競売へ　隠しマイクや毒入り義歯も

【ビバリーヒルズＡＦＰ＝時事】米ビバリーヒルズで13日、東西冷戦時代に旧ソ連の諜報（ちょうほう）員が使用していた品々が競売に掛けられる。（写真はデジタルカメラが隠されたたばこ。米ビバリーヒルズのジュリアンズ・オークションズで）
　マイクが内蔵されたペンや灰皿、磁器のプレートなど、会場に並ぶ古風なスパイ道具は、人気スパイ映画「００７」シリーズをほうふつとさせる。
　競売を手掛けるジュリアンズ・オークションズのコーディ・フレデリック氏は、「これらを実際に作製した人々は、小型化のパイオニアだった」と語る。
　同氏は、今では誰もがカメラとマイクを持っているが、競売に出品されている多くは、携帯電話が「れんが６個ほどの大きさ」だった時代のものだと続けた。
　競売には女性用ハンドバッグからベルトのバックル、靴ブラシや巣箱、指輪やネクタイまで、カメラが埋め込まれたさまざまな品が出品されており、どれも実際に諜報員が使用していたものだ。
　その他、致死性のシアン化物が入った「義歯」も。落札価格は最高１２００ドル（約１２万６０００円）と推定されている。目録によると「歯はある方法でかむと粉々になるように設計されており、捕らえられた諜報員が拷問や情報漏れを避ける必要があるときに、自分の命を絶つことができた」という。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/02/10-12:18）

Cyanide-filled fake teeth and cigarette packs concealing cameras are among the Soviet spy gadgets going under the hammer at a Beverly Hills auction this week.
Many retro espionage devices in the sale by US-based Julien's Auctions -- known for Hollywood and pop culture memorabilia -- would not be out of place in a classic James Bond movie, including microphones hidden within pens, ashtrays and porcelain plates.
The people that actually created these things were the pioneers of miniaturization, said director of gallery operations Kody Frederick.
Everybody now carries a camera, everybody now has a microphone, but many of the auction's spy gadgets hail from an era when cell phones were as big as six bricks, Frederick told AFP.
Miniature cameras fitted inside women's handbags, belt buckles, shoebrushes, birdboxes, signet rings and ties -- and used by real secret agents -- are all going on the block.
People are looking to get their hands on really unique, different pieces from a time when digital didn't exist and analog was the way of life, Frederick added.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the items were discarded in Eastern Europe and eventually made their way to New York's short-lived KGB museum, which opened in January 2019 but closed last year due to the pandemic.
Among those for sale this Saturday, both on-site in California and via the internet, are a fake tooth containing deadly cyanide expected to fetch up to $1,200.
The tooth was designed to shatter when bitten a certain way so that captured agents could end their own lives when necessary to avoid torture or the release of compromising information, explains the auction catalog.
- Deadly umbrella -
The collection includes a replica of the Bulgarian umbrella used in 1978 in London to fatally poison Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in one particularly infamous Cold War episode.
It is estimated at between $3,000 and $5,000.
But other initially announced items including a lipstick tube and a pen designed to fire bullets had to be withdrawn due to California's gun laws.
Spy enthusiasts will have to content themselves with clandestine devices used to store sensitive microfilm or other documents, including cufflinks, high-heeled shoes, hollowed-out coins... and even a rectal concealment capsule.
Alongside the double-agent gadgets, Cold War relics for sale will include Che Guevara's 1942 school report card, and letters signed by him and fellow Communist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
One Castro missive contains plans to infiltrate Havana, and is predicted to draw bids up to $1,500.
Further objects relate to the US-Soviet space race, such as NASA spaceship designs, vintage astronaut equipment and archive film stock including footage of the low-gravity testing of various fecal and urine collection devices.