BACKGROUND
The recent movie, "The Bridge of Spies" brings to light a critical negotiation that took place at the very height of the cold war. The negotiation involved the exchange of a Soviet spy, Rudolph Abel, captured in the US in 1957, for a downed pilot of a U-2 "Dragon Lady" spy aircraft, Gary Powers, captured by the Soviets in 1960.
The situation was further exacerbated by a seemingly unrelated event - the capture of an American economics student, Frederic Pryor by the recently established German Democratic Republic (East Germany) around the same time.
The situation was further exacerbated by a seemingly unrelated event - the capture of an American economics student, Frederic Pryor by the recently established German Democratic Republic (East Germany) around the same time.
