Slice of Soviet spy-craft on display at Okanagan College

• Map of Halifax from Cold War-era
• Hand drawn by Soviet spies
• Available for viewing until Nov. 19

A map of Halifax created by Soviet Union spies during the Cold War is on display at Okanagan College.

This original 1974 map is from geography professor Terence Day’s private collection.

“I used to live in Halifax and to actually see my old house represented on a Soviet map is just absolutely astounding to me,” Day told Kelowna10.

These maps were closely guarded by the Soviets and only released at the end of the Cold War by the new Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Not a lot of information is known about the map, but Day said it wasn’t copied from other government maps available at the time. This means it was created from original Soviet satellite imagery, but the extensive detail points to a different approach as well.

“Somebody walked the streets of Halifax and collected a lot of information, and some of the information would have been classified,” Day explained. “Essentially there were Soviet spies walking around.”

Day said the maps would have been drawn by hand, and Ukrainian-born computer science professor Youry Khmelevsky, who saw the map in person for the first time just before the interview, agrees.

“I don’t know technology, what was available in 1970s except people,” Khmelevsky said.

“The fact that these maps were produced using somewhat archaic technology in the 1970s and the 1980s, and they were produced by people with a very different vision of what Canada looked like, makes them fascinating,” Day added.

The purpose for these maps isn’t clear. One belief is that it was for gathering intel for commando missions or planning invasions, given the great detail about Halifax’s military operations.

“All infrastructure, but most importantly, military infrastructure, which can probably be used by Soviets in that time to target special locations,” Khmelevsky explained.

Another possibility, according to Day, is that the map was simply used to store information.

“Having it printed onto paper was simply a way, potentially, of providing a repository for information,” Day said.

According to a media release, Halifax has long been Canada’s most important naval base.

The map is available for viewing at the Okanagan College Campus Library, on the second floor of the Centre for Learning E-Building until Nov. 19.

This feature is supported by a selection of books, e-books, and media from the library about Canada and the Cold War.