His work involved extensive travel to various European countries including England, Germany and France.

Joseph Ditska died in August 1941, while on a special mission in Poland, the rear of the German forces.

[5] Between 1921 and 1925, Poliakova studied abroad - in Germany and Great Britain, where her parents worked in trade missions for the USSR.

As the family travelled with her father, Poliakova learned several languages including French, German and English.

From January 1935 to January 1936, she studied at the School of Intelligence Administration of the Frunze Military Academy, after which, on 19 June 1936, Poliakova was promoted to Senior lieutenant (Russian: старший лейтенант, starshy leytenant) During the 1930s, Poliakova was posted on several assignments abroad in France and Switzerland.

[6] In 1936–37, Poliakova was an illegal resident in the Soviet military intelligence network in Switzerland, that was later known as the Rote Drei.