Abel is a spy. Resurrection in the USA

Abel family and Fischer family in China.

The name of the Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel first appeared in 1957, when he was arrested by the FBI in the United States. Sentence: 32 years in prison. In 1962, he was exchanged for American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers. However, in reality there were two Rudolf Abels. Both are scouts, friends. And one of them was born in Riga.

Chimney Sweep's Son

Rudolf Ioannovich Abel was a real European gentleman: he spoke six languages, looked like a thoroughbred Aryan nobleman - tall, fair-haired, friendly, well-mannered. Meanwhile, he was born into the family of a simple Riga chimney sweep, graduated from a city four-year school, after which he worked as a courier.
In 1915, the young man moved to St. Petersburg, entered general education courses, and passed exams as an external student for all four courses at a real school. Knowing German as a native language was a big plus for the future intelligence officer, and this knowledge is not surprising - after all, he was born into a German family. But he also spoke impeccable English and French!
Little has been written about Rudolf Abel. In particular, there is no information about how he came to the revolution. Most likely, the example was the elder brother Voldemar - a Latvian rifleman who guarded Smolny, a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1917, a commissar of the Cheka of the Kronstadt Fortress. So, again, it is not surprising that Rudolf volunteered for the Baltic Fleet in 1917.
In 1924 he was demobilized and worked as an electrician and radio operator at Sovtorgflot in Vladivostok. His life changes dramatically in 1926. Rudolf is sent to Shanghai, one of the largest centers of Russian emigration, where he is appointed commandant of the Soviet mission. In 1927, Abel became an employee of the INO OGPU - as a radio operator-cipher operator at the USSR Embassy in Beijing.
Writer Nikolai Dolgopolov two years ago published the book “Abel Fisher”, where he describes Rudolf Abel as a real James Bond. From 1929 to 1936, Rudolf Abel became an illegal Soviet intelligence officer. According to Dolgopolov, in his personal file this is evidenced by a short entry: “Appointed to the position of authorized representative of the OGPU INO and is on a long-term business trip in different countries.” Was he sent to the Baltic states, taking into account his knowledge of local specifics? Alas, no specific countries are indicated in the official dossier. The writer was only able to establish that in October 1930, Abel appeared in Manchuria - under the guise of a Russian emigrant. He came there together with his wife Asya, who was of noble origin. They had no children.

One step away from the “enemy of the people”

In the fall of 1936, Abel returned to Moscow, to the central apparatus of foreign intelligence. However, years of repression began. The NKVD, and then the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs from Yezhov passes into the hands of Beria, the apparatus is cleansed, and Abel, like many other intelligence officers, is dismissed from the agency. The reason was the arrest of brother Voldemar, who by the mid-1930s had become a major party worker in Leningrad, head of the political department of the Baltic Shipping Company.
In 1938, the red shooter, devoted revolutionary Voldemar Abel, and 216 other people were sentenced to death “for participation in the Latvian counter-revolutionary nationalist conspiracy” and “for espionage and sabotage activities in favor of Germany and Latvia.”

There is a version that Rudolf Abel survived during the years of repression due to the fact that during the trial of his brother he was in a tuberculosis sanatorium.

After his dismissal, the former intelligence officer works in unimportant positions - as a shooter for paramilitary security, then as a censor, and then goes on an early and meager retirement. They remembered him only in 1941, when the war began and professionals were needed: Abel was returned to the intelligence department and sent to the Caucasus.
From August 1942 to January 1943, he was sent to the Main Caucasus Ridge, where he was responsible for defense activities, being the head of an operational reconnaissance group.
And soon after the Victory, in September 1946, Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Abel was sent into retirement again, and finally - at the age of 46! - becomes a pensioner, albeit a well-deserved one: awarded the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, and several medals. In 1955, the intelligence officer unexpectedly died of a heart attack and was buried in Moscow at the German Cemetery.

Resurrection in the USA

And suddenly, 2 years after the death of Rudolf Abel, in the USA the FBI arrests a Soviet spy... Rudolf Abel!

The public trial was called: “US Government vs. Rudolf Abel.” The accused was charged not only with illegal stay in the United States as an agent of a foreign power, but also with sending particularly important materials on American nuclear development to the USSR. Sentence: 32 years in prison. However, in 1962 he was exchanged for the American pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose reconnaissance plane was shot down over the USSR.
So, is Rudolf Abel resurrected? Of course not. Ten years after the trial, the Americans found out that the Soviet intelligence officer William Fisher was hiding under this name. He specifically named himself after Rudolf Abel - signaling to the Lubyanka about his failure and silence. In Moscow, they learned about the arrest of the intelligence officer from information in the American press, but before that they could not understand why he did not get in touch.

Arrest of agent Rudolf Abel.

Why did Fischer choose the name Rudolf Abel? But because they were friends - Rudolph and William. Both had German blood, only William (named after Shakespeare, whom his parents adored) was born in Great Britain, into a family of Bolshevik political emigrants who returned to Russia in 1920. Fischer's father knew Vladimir Lenin well since the 1890s - together with his wife they distributed Iskra. So William’s arrival in the revolution was natural.
Writer Nikolai Dolgopolov believes that William Fisher was a romantic and believed in social justice. And his biography is very similar to the biography of Rudolf Abel - with the exception of the “English period”, where he managed to graduate with honors from school and even enter the University of London. In Moscow, he was hired as a translator in the apparatus of the Comintern, and in 1924 he even entered the Indian department of the Institute of Oriental Studies. But then - the army, the radiotelegraph regiment, and in 1927 - joining the OGPU.

The fate of the resident

Rudolph and William met in China. Although Dolgopolov did not find official confirmation of this fact in the documents. Even Fisher’s daughter Evelina did not know that her father was in this country at that time!
“Grateful readers who read my books and articles back in the 90s suddenly began sending me photographs,” Dolgopolov said in an interview. — And in one photograph with the Chinese Wall four people are depicted: this is Willy Fischer, his friend and also security officer Willy Martens and his wife, as well as a man named Abel, Rudolf Ivanovich, and his wife Asya. When I showed this photograph to Evelina Vilyamovna Fischer, it simply infuriated her.”
In China, they were links in one chain: the power of radio transmitters of that era was low, so intelligence reports from foreign territory to the Soviet side were transmitted along the chain. Abel transmitted information from Canton, and Fischer was the receiving telegraph operator in Beijing. In 1938, Fischer, like Abel, was fired from the NKVD - without explanation.

The real Rudolf Abel.

Afterwards he worked at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, at a factory. Repeatedly submitted reports about reinstatement in intelligence. They were restored, like Abel, in 1941.
Willy Fischer, unlike his friend Rudolf Abel, with whom they were family friends in Moscow, was short, thin, unathletic, reserved and reserved in English. He was interested in astronomy, drew beautifully, and played the guitar. It was not James Bond or even Stirlitz. It was said that when the film “Dead Season” about intelligence officers was being filmed, William Genrikhovich, who commented on the film, and the leading actor Donatas Banionis met on the set. Banionis exclaimed: “I would never have thought that you were a scout!” Fischer smiled and replied: “You are not alone.”

Agent Rudolf Abel, aka Fischer.

Forget your name

William Fisher was in demand until his last days and worked with young intelligence officers. Died in 1971. But someone else’s name became not even a second name for Fischer, but a first one. After returning from the USA, only his family and close colleagues knew his real name. Everywhere and everywhere, including as a commentator for the film "Dead Season", he acted as Rudolf Abel!
Even a short obituary in the Red Star was also dedicated to Rudolf Abel. And they buried William Fisher in the Donskoy cemetery, just like Abel, although his wife and daughter raised a real uprising, trying to return the legendary intelligence officer to his own name, even after death.
“What my father was most worried about in his life was that someone else’s name stuck to him until the end of his days. The authorities did not allow me to part with him. He should have been known to the people only as Abel,” said his daughter Evelina.
Only many years later, on the monument next to the name Abel, although in parentheses, they added “William Genrikhovich Fischer.”

Abel Rudolf Ivanovich (real name and surname William Genrikhovich Fischer) (1903-1971), Soviet intelligence officer.

The future famous “atomic spy” was born on July 11, 1903 in Newcastle in the family of a Russified German, a Social Democrat, who emigrated to England.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Fishers returned to Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship. William, who knew English and French perfectly, in 1927 entered the foreign intelligence department of the GPU. In the 30s XX century He traveled to Europe twice and, while there in an illegal position, provided radio communication between the Soviet station and the Center.

During the Great Patriotic War, Fischer was involved in organizing reconnaissance and sabotage groups and partisan detachments. After the war, he was sent to America to obtain information about the US economy and military potential. Having successfully legalized himself in New York in 1948 under the guise of a free artist Emil Goldfus, Mark (the intelligence officer's code name) established connections with the Volunteers group, which included Americans who collaborated with Soviet intelligence for ideological reasons. The leader of the group, Luisi, and the liaison, his wife Leslie (wife Martin and Leontine Cohen), provided Mark with secret information about the development of the atomic bomb carried out in Los Alamos.

Mark was given away by his own radio operator-communicator. The arrest took place on June 21, 1957. Mark needed to inform Moscow about this so that the American intelligence services could not start a provocative game. Therefore, he confirmed his Soviet citizenship, but gave his name to a friend who also worked in the security agencies and was already deceased by that time - Rudolf Abel. It was under this name that Fischer went down in history.

He refused to cooperate with US intelligence agencies. The Abel trial was accompanied by a loud anti-Soviet campaign in the press. The intelligence officer was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

After four and a half years of imprisonment, he was exchanged for the American pilot F. Powers, who was shot down in 1960 in the skies over the USSR. CIA Director A. Dulles admitted: he would like the United States to have “three or four people like Abel in Moscow.”

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(real name William Genrikhovich Fischer; July 11, Newcastle upon Tyne, Great Britain - November 15, Moscow, USSR) - Soviet intelligence officer, illegal immigrant, colonel. Since 1948 he worked in the USA, in 1957 he was arrested. On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for American reconnaissance aircraft pilot F. G. Powers, who was shot down over the USSR, and American economics student Frederick Pryor ( English) .

Biography

In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship, without renouncing English, and, together with the families of other prominent revolutionaries, at one time lived on the territory of the Kremlin.

In 1921, William's older brother Harry died in an accident.

Upon his arrival in the USSR, Abel first worked as a translator in the Executive Committee of the Communist International (Comintern). Then he entered VKHUTEMAS. In 1925, he was drafted into the army into the 1st radiotelegraph regiment of the Moscow Military District, where he received the specialty of a radio operator. He served together with E. T. Krenkel and the future artist M. I. Tsarev. Having an innate aptitude for technology, he became a very good radio operator, whose superiority was recognized by everyone.

After demobilization, he worked at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force as a radio technician. On April 7, 1927, he married a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, harpist Elena Lebedeva. She was appreciated by her teacher, the famous harpist Vera Dulova. Subsequently, Elena became a professional musician. In 1929, their daughter was born.

On December 31, 1938, he was dismissed from the NKVD (due to Beria’s distrust of personnel working with “enemies of the people”) with the rank of GB lieutenant (captain) and worked for some time at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and then at an aircraft factory. He repeatedly submitted reports about his reinstatement in intelligence. He also addressed his father’s friend, the then secretary of the party’s Central Committee, Andreev.

Since 1941, again in the NKVD, in a unit organizing partisan warfare behind German lines. Fischer trained radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups sent to countries occupied by Germany. During this period he met and worked with Rudolf Abel, whose name and biography he later used.

After the end of the war, it was decided to send him to illegal work in the United States, in particular, to obtain information from sources working at nuclear facilities. He moved to the United States in November 1948 using a passport in the name of a US citizen of Lithuanian origin, Andrew Kaiotis (who died in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948). He then settled in New York under the name of the artist Emil Robert Goldfus, where he ran a Soviet intelligence network and, as a cover, owned a photography studio in Brooklyn. The Cohen spouses were identified as liaison agents for “Mark” (pseudonym of V. Fischer).

By the end of May 1949, “Mark” had resolved all organizational issues and was actively involved in the work. It was so successful that already in August 1949, for specific results, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In 1955, he returned to Moscow for several months in the summer and autumn.

Failure

To relieve “Mark” from current affairs, in 1952, illegal intelligence radio operator Häyhänen (Finnish: Reino Häyhänen, pseudonym “Vic”) was sent to help him. “Vic” turned out to be morally and psychologically unstable, and four years later a decision was made to return him to Moscow. However, “Vic,” suspecting something was wrong, surrendered to the American authorities, told them about his work in illegal intelligence and handed over “Mark.”

In 1957, "Mark" was arrested at New York's Latham Hotel by FBI agents. At that time, the leadership of the USSR declared that it was not involved in espionage. In order to let Moscow know about his arrest and that he was not a traitor, William Fisher, during his arrest, identified himself by the name of his late friend Rudolf Abel. During the investigation, he categorically denied his affiliation with intelligence, refused to testify at trial, and rejected attempts by American intelligence officials to persuade him to cooperate.

That same year he was sentenced to 32 years in prison. After the verdict was announced, "Mark" was kept in solitary confinement at a pre-trial detention center in New York, then transferred to the federal correctional facility in Atlanta. In conclusion, he studied solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. He painted in oils. Vladimir Semichastny claimed that the portrait of Kennedy painted by Abel in prison was given to him at the latter’s request and then hung in the Oval Office for a long time.

Liberation

After rest and treatment, Fischer returned to work in the central intelligence apparatus. He took part in the training of young illegal intelligence officers and painted landscapes in his spare time. Fisher also participated in the creation of the feature film “Dead Season” (1968), the plot of which is connected with some facts from the intelligence officer’s biography.

William Genrikhovich Fischer died of lung cancer at the age of 69 on November 15, 1971. He was buried at the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow next to his father.

Awards

For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, Colonel V. Fischer was awarded:

three Orders of the Red Banner
Order of Lenin - for activities during the Great Patriotic War
Order of the Red Banner of Labor
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
Order of the Red Star
many medals.

Memory

His fate inspired Vadim Kozhevnikov to write the famous adventure novel “Shield and Sword”. Although the name of the main character, Alexander Belov, is associated with the name of Abel, the plot of the book differs significantly from the real fate of William Genrikhovich Fischer.
In 2008, the documentary film “Unknown Abel” was shot (directed by Yuri Linkevich).
In 2009, Channel One created a two-part biographical film “The US Government vs. Rudolf Abel” (starring Yuri Belyaev).
Abel first showed himself to the general public in 1968, when he addressed his compatriots with an introductory speech to the film “Dead Season” (as an official consultant for the film).
In the American film by Steven Spielberg “Bridge of Spies” (2015), his role was played by British theater and film actor Mark Rylance, for this role Mark received many awards and prizes, including the Academy Award “Oscar”.
On December 18, 2015, on the eve of the Day of State Security Workers, a solemn opening ceremony of the memorial plaque to William Genrikhovich Fischer took place in Samara. The sign, authored by Samara architect Dmitry Khramov, appeared on house No. 8 on the street. Molodogvardeyskaya. It is assumed that this is where the intelligence officer’s family lived during the Great Patriotic War. At that time, William Genrikhovich himself taught radio science at a secret intelligence school, and later from Kuibyshev he conducted radio games with German intelligence.

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Notes

Literature

Nikolay Dolgopolov. Abel-Fischer. ZhZL, issue 1513, Moscow, Young Guard, 2011 ISBN 978-5-235-03448-8
Vladimir Karpov(compiler). Declassified by foreign intelligence//B. Ya. Nalivaiko. OPERATION “ALTGLINNIKE-BRUCKE”. M.: OLMA-PRESS Education, 2003. ISBN 5-94849-084-X.

Excerpt characterizing Rudolf Abel

The princess's face became covered with red spots at the sight of the letter. She hurriedly took it and bent down towards him.
- From Eloise? - asked the prince, showing his still strong and yellowish teeth with a cold smile.
“Yes, from Julie,” said the princess, looking timidly and smiling timidly.
“I’ll miss two more letters, and I’ll read the third,” the prince said sternly, “I’m afraid you’re writing a lot of nonsense.” I'll read the third one.
“At least read this, mon pere, [father,],” answered the princess, blushing even more and handing him the letter.
“Third, I said, third,” the prince shouted briefly, pushing away the letter, and, leaning his elbows on the table, pulled up a notebook with geometry drawings.
“Well, madam,” the old man began, bending close to his daughter over the notebook and placing one hand on the back of the chair on which the princess was sitting, so that the princess felt surrounded on all sides by that tobacco and senile pungent smell of her father, which she had known for so long. . - Well, madam, these triangles are similar; would you like to see, angle abc...
The princess looked fearfully at her father’s sparkling eyes close to her; red spots shimmered across her face, and it was clear that she did not understand anything and was so afraid that fear would prevent her from understanding all her father’s further interpretations, no matter how clear they were. Whether the teacher was to blame or the student was to blame, the same thing was repeated every day: the princess’s eyes grew dim, she saw nothing, heard nothing, she only felt the dry face of her stern father close to her, felt his breath and smell and only thought about how she could quickly leave the office and understand the problem in her own open space.
The old man would lose his temper: he would noisily move and move the chair on which he was sitting, make efforts on himself so as not to get excited, and almost every time he would get excited, curse, and sometimes throw his notebook.
The princess made a mistake in her answer.
- Well, why not be a fool! - the prince shouted, pushing away the notebook and quickly turning away, but immediately stood up, walked around, touched the princess’s hair with his hands and sat down again.
He moved closer and continued his interpretation.
“It’s impossible, princess, it’s impossible,” he said, when the princess, having taken and closed the notebook with the assigned lessons, was already preparing to leave, “mathematics is a great thing, my madam.” And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies. Will endure and fall in love. “He patted her cheek with his hand. - The nonsense will jump out of your head.
She wanted to go out, he stopped her with a gesture and took out a new uncut book from the high table.
- Here’s another Key of the Sacrament your Eloise sends you. Religious. And I don’t interfere with anyone’s faith... I looked through it. Take it. Well, go, go!
He patted her on the shoulder and locked the door behind her.
Princess Marya returned to her room with a sad, frightened expression that rarely left her and made her ugly, sickly face even more ugly, and sat down at her desk, lined with miniature portraits and littered with notebooks and books. The princess was as disorderly as her father was decent. She put down her geometry notebook and impatiently opened the letter. The letter was from the princess’s closest friend since childhood; This friend was the same Julie Karagina who was at the Rostovs’ name day:
Julie wrote:
"Chere et excellente amie, quelle chose terrible et effrayante que l"absence! J"ai beau me dire que la moitie de mon existence et de mon bonheur est en vous, que malgre la distance qui nous separe, nos coeurs sont unis par des liens indissolubles; le mien se revolte contre la destinee, et je ne puis, malgre les plaisirs et les distractions qui m"entourent, vaincre une certaine tristesse cachee que je ressens au fond du coeur depuis notre separation. Pourquoi ne sommes nous pas reunies, comme cet ete dans votre grand cabinet sur le canape bleu, le canape a confidences? Pourquoi ne puis je, comme il y a trois mois, puiser de nouvelles forces morales dans votre regard si doux, si calme et si penetrant, regard que j"aimais tant et que “je crois voir devant moi, quand je vous ecris.”
[Dear and priceless friend, what a terrible and terrible thing is separation! No matter how much I tell myself that half of my existence and my happiness lies in you, that, despite the distance that separates us, our hearts are united by inextricable bonds, my heart rebels against fate, and, despite the pleasures and distractions that surround me, I I cannot suppress some hidden sadness that I have been experiencing in the depths of my heart since our separation. Why aren’t we together, like last summer, in your big office, on the blue sofa, on the sofa of “confessions”? Why can’t I, like three months ago, draw new moral strength from your gaze, meek, calm and penetrating, which I loved so much and which I see before me at the moment I write to you?]
Having read up to this point, Princess Marya sighed and looked back at the dressing table, which stood to her right. The mirror reflected an ugly, weak body and a thin face. The eyes, always sad, now looked at themselves in the mirror especially hopelessly. “She flatters me,” thought the princess, turned away and continued reading. Julie, however, did not flatter her friend: indeed, the princess’s eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves), were so beautiful that very often, despite the ugliness of her whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty. But the princess had never seen a good expression in her eyes, the expression they took on in those moments when she was not thinking about herself. Like all people, her face took on a tense, unnatural, bad expression as soon as she looked in the mirror. She continued reading: 211
“Tout Moscou ne parle que guerre. L"un de mes deux freres est deja a l"etranger, l"autre est avec la garde, qui se met en Marieche vers la frontiere. Notre cher empereur a quitte Petersbourg et, a ce qu"on pretend, compte lui meme exposer sa precieuse existence aux chances de la guerre. Du veuille que le monstre corsicain, qui detruit le repos de l"Europe, soit terrasse par l"ange que le Tout Puissant, dans Sa misericorde, nous a donnee pour souverain. Sans parler de mes freres, cette guerre m"a privee d"une relation des plus cheres a mon coeur. Je parle du jeune Nicolas Rostoff, qui avec son enthousiasme n"a pu supporter l"inaction et a quitte l"universite pour aller s"enroler dans l"armee. Eh bien, chere Marieie, je vous avouerai, que, malgre son extreme Jeunesse, son depart pour l "armee a ete un grand chagrin pour moi. Le jeune homme, dont je vous parlais cet ete, a tant de noblesse, de veritable jeunesse qu"on rencontre si rarement dans le siecle ou nous vivons parmi nos villards de vingt ans. Il a surtout tant de franchise et de coeur. Il est tellement pur et poetique, que mes relations avec lui, quelque passageres qu"elles fussent, ont ete l"une des plus douees jouissances de mon pauvre coeur, qui a deja tant souffert. "est dit en partant. Tout cela est encore trop frais. Ah! Chere amie, vous etes heureuse de ne pas connaitre ces jouissances et ces peines si poignantes. Vous etes heureuse, puisque les derienieres sont ordinairement les plus fortes! Je sais fort bien, que le comte Nicolas est trop jeune pour pouvoir jamais devenir pour moi quelque chose de plus qu"un ami, mais cette douee amitie, ces relations si poetiques et si pures ont ete un besoin pour mon coeur. Mais n" en parlons plus. La grande nouvelle du jour qui occupe tout Moscou est la mort du vieux comte Earless et son heritage. Figurez vous que les trois princesses n"ont recu que tres peu de chose, le prince Basile rien, est que c"est M. Pierre qui a tout herite, et qui par dessus le Marieche a ete reconnu pour fils legitime, par consequent comte Earless est possesseur de la plus belle fortune de la Russie. On pretend que le prince Basile a joue un tres vilain role dans toute cette histoire et qu"il est reparti tout penaud pour Petersbourg.
“Je vous avoue, que je comprends tres peu toutes ces affaires de legs et de testament; ce que je sais, c"est que depuis que le jeune homme que nous connaissions tous sous le nom de M. Pierre les tout court est devenu comte Earless et possesseur de l"une des plus grandes fortunes de la Russie, je m"amuse fort a observer les changes de ton et des manieres des mamans accablees de filles a Marieier et des demoiselles elles memes a l "egard de cet individu, qui, par parenthese, m" a paru toujours etre un pauvre, sire Comme on s"amuse. depuis deux ans a me donner des promis que je ne connais pas le plus souvent, la chronique matrimoniale de Moscow me fait comtesse Earless. Mais vous sentez bien que je ne me souc nullement de le devenir. A propos de Marieiage, savez vous que tout derienierement la tante en general Anna Mikhailovna, m"a confie sous le sceau du plus grand secret un projet de Marieiage pour vous. Ce n"est ni plus, ni moins, que le fils du prince Basile, Anatole, qu"on voudrait ranger en le Marieiant a une personne riche et distinguee, et c"est sur vous qu"est tombe le choix des parents. Je ne sais comment vous envisagerez la chose, mais j"ai cru de mon devoir de vous en avertir. On le dit tres beau et tres mauvais sujet; c"est tout ce que j"ai pu savoir sur son compte.
“Mais assez de bavardage comme cela. Je finis mon second feuillet, et maman me fait chercher pour aller diner chez les Apraksines. Lisez le livre mystique que je vous envoie et qui fait fureur chez nous. Quoiqu"il y ait des choses dans ce livre difficiles a atteindre avec la faible conception humaine, c"est un livre admirable dont la lecture calme et eleve l"ame. Adieu. Mes respects a monsieur votre pere et mes compliments a m elle Bourienne. Je vous embrasse comme je vous aime.
“P.S. Donnez moi des nouvelles de votre frere et de sa charmante petite femme.”
[All of Moscow is talking about the war. One of my two brothers is already abroad, the other is with the guard, which is marching to the border. Our dear sovereign leaves St. Petersburg and, it is assumed, intends to expose his precious existence to the accidents of war. May God grant that the Corsican monster, which disturbs the tranquility of Europe, may be cast down by the angel whom the Almighty, in His goodness, has made sovereign over us. Not to mention my brothers, this war has deprived me of one of the relationships closest to my heart. I'm talking about young Nikolai Rostov; who, despite his enthusiasm, could not bear inaction and left the university to join the army. I confess to you, dear Marie, that, despite his extreme youth, his departure for the army was a great grief for me. In the young man I told you about last summer, there is so much nobility, true youth, which you see so rarely in our age among twenty-year-olds! He especially has so much candor and heart. He is so pure and full of poetry that my relationship with him, despite all its fleetingness, was one of the sweetest joys of my poor heart, which had already suffered so much. Someday I will tell you our farewell and everything that was said at parting. All this is still too fresh... Ah! dear friend, you are happy that you do not know these burning pleasures, these burning sorrows. You are happy because the latter are usually stronger than the former. I know very well that Count Nikolai is too young to become anything other than a friend to me. But this sweet friendship, this so poetic and so pure relationship was the need of my heart. But enough about that.
“The main news occupying all of Moscow is the death of old Count Bezukhov and his inheritance. Imagine, three princesses received some small amount, Prince Vasily received nothing, and Pierre is the heir to everything and, moreover, is recognized as the legitimate son and therefore Count Bezukhy and the owner of the largest fortune in Russia. They say that Prince Vasily played a very nasty role in this whole story, and that he left for St. Petersburg very embarrassed. I confess to you that I understand very poorly all these matters regarding spiritual wills; I only know that since the young man, whom we all knew under the name simply Pierre, became Count Bezukhy and the owner of one of the best fortunes in Russia, I am amused by observing the change in tone of the mothers who have brides’ daughters, and the young ladies themselves in attitude towards this gentleman, who (in parentheses it should be said) always seemed very insignificant to me. Since for two years now everyone has been amusing themselves with finding suitors for me, whom I mostly do not know, the marriage chronicle of Moscow makes me Countess Bezukhova. But you understand that I don’t want this at all. Speaking of marriages. Do you know that recently everyone’s aunt Anna Mikhailovna entrusted me, under the greatest secret, with the plan to arrange your marriage. This is nothing more or less than the son of Prince Vasily, Anatole, whom they want to settle down by marrying him to a rich and noble girl, and the parents’ choice fell on you. I don’t know how you look at this matter, but I considered it my duty to warn you. He is said to be very good and a big rake. That's all I could find out about him.
But he will talk. I’m finishing my second piece of paper, and my mother has sent for me to go to dinner with the Apraksins.
Read the mystical book I am sending you; it has been a huge success with us. Although there are things in it that are difficult for the weak human mind to understand, it is an excellent book; reading it calms and elevates the soul. Farewell. My respect to your father and my greetings to m lle Bourrienne. I hug you from the bottom of my heart. Julia.
PS. Let me know about your brother and his lovely wife.]

(real name - William Genrikhovich Fisher)

(1903-1971) Soviet intelligence officer

For many decades, the true name of this legendary intelligence officer was hidden under an impenetrable veil of secrecy. Only after his death did it become known that the name Abel, which he gave when arrested in the United States, belonged to his deceased friend and colleague.

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was born into a German family, several generations of which lived in Russia. William's father, Heinrich Fischer, was born on the Mologa estate of the Kurakin princes, located near Yaroslavl. The prince took his ancestors out of Germany, inviting them to work. Abel's grandfather was a cattle breeder and veterinarian, and his grandmother was a chicken breeder. They worked all their lives in Russia, which became their second homeland.

However Heinrich Fischer did not follow in the footsteps of his parents. He became an engineer, joined the Bolshevik Party, and then left with his wife for England, where he was engaged in business and at the same time carried out party work. There in Newcastle his son William was born. He went to school and soon began helping his father: he ran to turnouts, then became an activist in the “Hands Off Russia!” movement.

In 1921, the family returned to Russia, where William Fisher entered college and in 1927, while still studying, began working in Soviet intelligence. After graduating from college and undergoing special training, he was again sent to England, where he worked under his real name for almost ten years.

In 1938, when purges began in intelligence, Fischer, who had returned to the USSR by that time, was stripped of his military rank and fired. For several years he worked as an engineer at a Moscow plant. Already during the Finnish war, Fischer was remembered. His rank was returned to him and he was sent to a special radio battalion, where he served together with the famous polar explorer E. Krenkel.

Shortly before the start of the war, Fischer was again returned to foreign intelligence and was soon transferred to Germany. There he spent the entire war, reporting information to Moscow. Fisher continued to work in intelligence after the war.

On instructions from the Center, in 1947 he moved to Canada, and from there in 1948 he moved to the USA. Fisher crosses the border under the name of an American of Lithuanian origin, Andrew Kayotis. In the USA, he was legalized under a different name - Emil Goldfus.

Officially, he became a photographer-retoucher by profession, but in fact he was involved in organizing the receipt and transportation of intelligence information to the USSR. The unremarkable photographer lived in Brooklyn for many years, becoming the organizer and leader of an extensive network of agents.

In 1955, Fischer came to Moscow briefly for a vacation. This was his only visit, because 2 years after returning to the USA he was arrested on June 21, 1957. The scout was betrayed by one of his team members. None of Fischer's colleagues were exposed or harmed.

Unlike other intelligence officers, Fischer did not remain silent, but during the first interrogation he stated that he was a Soviet intelligence officer and his real name and rank was Colonel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. He made this statement to check how complete information the American intelligence services had. When they believed him, it became obvious that American counterintelligence officers had no other data other than operational information. A few months later, Fischer was given letters addressed to him from his daughter and wife. Now he knew that Moscow understood his move and entered the game. The trial of Rudolf Abel was a great success and was widely covered in the American press.

The court sentenced him to thirty years in prison. But he did not serve until the end of his sentence. Five years later, in February 1962, in East Berlin, Rudolf Abel was exchanged for the American pilot F. Powers, who was shot down over the territory of the USSR, and for two other detained agents.

Returning to the USSR, Rudolf Abel continued his intelligence activities. He was awarded the rank of general. He supervised the work of the Anglo-American intelligence network, trained young employees, and went on business trips to socialist countries several times. For his services, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The famous intelligence officer led a rather secluded and solitary life, and did not speak anywhere with stories about his activities, as many older generals liked to do. But one day he finally appeared on the silver screen, starring in S. Kulish’s film “Dead Season,” where an episode of an exchange of intelligence officers was shown.

In 1971, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel retired and soon died of lung cancer. For the first time, two surnames of the intelligence officer were placed together on his tombstone - Fischer and Abel.

Category: Intelligence Wars

The most successful Soviet intelligence officer of the Cold War

Failed artist

The future intelligence officer was born in Newcastle, England, where his parents settled, expelled from Russia in 1901 for revolutionary activities. The intelligence officer's father was closely acquainted with many prominent revolutionaries, including Vladimir Lenin. According to some reports, he took part in organizing the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP, held in London in the summer of 1903. Shortly before the start of the congress, where the Bolshevik faction took shape, on July 11, 1903, a second child was born into the family of Heinrich Matveyevich Fischer, named William in honor of Shakespeare. Willie's father spoke several languages, and his sons followed him. Well, the language environment helped. So Willie spoke three languages from early childhood. He also showed a keen interest in the natural sciences and had a very good understanding of chemistry and physics. But besides this, Willie drew well and played the piano and guitar. In general, I grew up as a versatile boy.
At the age of 15, William Fisher got a job as a draftsman's apprentice at a shipyard. A year later he passed the exams for admission to the University of London. But there is no reliably confirmed data about studying at the university. In 1920, the Fishers returned to Russia and took Soviet citizenship. For some time they lived together with other families of prominent revolutionaries on the territory of the Kremlin.
At first, William worked as a translator in the Executive Committee of the Comintern, then he entered VKHUTEMAS (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops). In 1924, Fischer entered the Institute of Oriental Studies and began studying India. But a year later he was drafted into the army, and had to leave his studies. William ended up serving in the 1st Radiotelegraph Regiment of the Moscow Military District. Where he served together with the future famous polar explorer Ernst Krenkel.
After demobilization, he worked at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force as a radio technician, giving up attempts to become an artist. He came to the INO (foreign department) of the OGPU in May 1927. At first he worked as a translator and radio operator, but quickly became a deputy resident. He worked illegally in Europe until 1938. And then the purges began in the OGPU, and Fischer ended up under a steamroller. Fortunately, he was not imprisoned, but only fired from the authorities.
Fischer was able to return to intelligence only in 1941. Participated in the training of radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups. It was then that he met and worked for quite a long time with Rudolf Abel. The fates of the two intelligence officers were very similar: both were dismissed from special forces in 1938 and called up for service in 1941.
After the war, Fischer worked for some time in Eastern Europe, establishing connections between the newly created intelligence services of socialist countries and the security agencies of the USSR. And then the colonel
It was decided to send Fischer to the United States, where he was to head a significant part of the Soviet station involved in the extraction of American atomic and nuclear secrets.
The intelligence officer arrived in the United States with documents in the name of Emil Robert Goldfus, an amateur artist and professional photographer, at the end of 1948. The main contacts of Mark (the intelligence officer's code name) were the Cohen spouses, whom we wrote about earlier. But the fruitful work with the Cohen couple lasted only two years. A “witch hunt” has begun in America, and the leadership decides to remove the spy spouses from the United States. Fisher was again left alone, and several dozen agents were in touch with him.
Mark's work in the USA turned out to be so successful that already in August 1949, less than a year after his arrival, the intelligence officer was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his enormous success in intelligence activities.

"Bad" assistant

William Fisher was a very careful intelligence officer who strictly followed the rules of secrecy. In those days it became very relevant. With the trial of the Rosenbergs, the US authorities showed the whole world that they are not going to mess around with spies. So the failed intelligence officer most likely faced the same path as the Rosenbergs: arrest, trial, death by electric chair. Illegal intelligence activity was again (as during World War II) transformed from an intellectual intelligence duel into a deadly activity.
To ordinary Americans, Emil Goldfuss was a respectable photography studio owner and amateur artist who often painted landscapes in city parks. And no one knew that during such drawings, secret information was often exchanged. For such exchanges, Fischer used the most unexpected hiding places. In particular, he was once painting a landscape in Fort Tryon and noticed an ordinary bolt that had almost fallen out of a street lamp. Fisher took it with him, personally drilled a cavity into it, and then returned it to its place. The agent took the bolt, put microfilm in it and inserted it back. A couple of weeks later, secret documents from Los Alamos were already being studied at the Kurchatov Institute.
According to some reports, Fisher was so well versed in the information he obtained that he often accompanied the encryption with his own comments. Once Kurchatov directly asked a KGB officer who provided comments on the information he was obtaining. Of course, he didn’t receive an answer, but he chuckled and said:
- When this commentator retires from you, I will take him to my institute.
It became more difficult for Fischer to cope alone with the ever-expanding intelligence network. In 1952, an assistant was sent to him in the USA. It was State Security Lieutenant Colonel Reino Heihanen. According to the recollections of the American resident, he did not immediately like the new assistant (code name Vic). But Heikhanen had high patrons in Moscow and he was trained for almost six months to work in the USA. So there was no need to wait for another assistant. Vic behaved extremely irresponsibly in the USA, summoned his common-law wife from Finland, where he had lived for the last few years, led a riotous lifestyle, often drank, beat his wife, even managing to attract the attention of the police. He completely refused to improve his language skills; I spent almost a year doing renovations in a small shop that was bought with money from the residency. In general, he's still a typical guy. And Fischer treated him accordingly. Assigning only small tasks. Heihanen didn't even know his real name.
In 1953, Vic, while drunk, managed to pay with about a nickel. It was not just a coin, but a real spy container for transferring microfilms. On June 22, this coin fell into the hands of a 13-year-old newspaper seller. And he dropped it on the pavement, causing the coin... to break into two halves. The boy showed the unusual coin to his girl neighbors, and they told their policeman father about the coin. A couple of days later, FBI specialists were already studying the spy container. They were unable to decipher the microfilm, but they were convinced that a deeply secret spy network was operating in New York. The FBI tried to trace the path of the coin, but this turned out to be impossible. The coin passed through different hands for at least six months and it was not possible to establish who the real owner of the container was. So this coin lay in the FBI bins for four long years.

The country has not forgotten

The last straw for Fischer was that Vic drank away five thousand dollars intended to pay for the lawyer of one of the agents arrested in the “Rosenberg spouses case.” Fischer was furious and demanded that Moscow recall his assistant. Soon Heyhanen received orders to arrive in Europe. However, the lieutenant colonel categorically did not want to return. Otherwise, I would have to answer for a lot. In May 1957, he arrived in France, from where he was to be transported to the socialist sector of Europe. But Vic went straight to the American embassy, gave his real name and asked for political asylum.
A few days later, the traitor was flown back to the United States on a military plane. He was supposed to help arrest the mysterious Mark, who, according to Heyhanen, was the head of the entire American residency tour. On June 21, 1957, a mysterious resident was arrested at the Latham Hotel in New York.
But that's where the Americans' luck ended. Heyhanen helped decipher the encryption that was found in the nickel. But this didn't help much. The encrypted message congratulated Vic on his legalization and wished him good luck. And no other encryption was intercepted. So only the arrested Mark could lead to the agents working for Soviet intelligence.
To let Moscow know about his failure, Fischer called himself Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. The scout knew that his colleague and friend had died suddenly a year and a half ago. But in Moscow, having received a request from the US State Department, they refused to recognize Abel as a citizen of the Soviet Union. At that time, the leadership of our country loudly declared that it was not involved in espionage. What Abel was happily informed about by the FBI. But the scout was sure that he would not be forgotten.
FBI employees tried to apply psychological methods to the arrested spy. They did not dare force testimony out of him. The head of the CIA (from 1953 to 1961), Allen Dulles, in a personal conversation with the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, strongly advised against using violence against Abel. The American intelligence officer had a very high opinion of the tenacity of Soviet intelligence officers and was confident that nothing could be achieved from them by force. There were only methods of persuasion, which were not always so harmless.
Rudolf Abel was threatened with the electric chair, kept in solitary confinement, promised mountains of gold, and claimed that only a bullet or the Gulag could await him in Moscow. But Abel did not split and did not betray anyone. On November 15, 1957, one of the most famous spy trials of the Cold War ended. Which was covered by all significant Western media. The jury found Abel guilty of espionage for the USSR and illegal stay in the United States. But the Americans did not dare to sentence the Russian intelligence officer to execution. They understood perfectly well that if in the case of the Rosenberg spouses they seemed to be excused by the fact that they were Americans, and therefore betrayed their country, then with a career Soviet intelligence officer the situation was different. No one doubted that if they executed Abel, then the failed American spies would try en masse to escape from custody, and at this time the guards would be forced to use weapons, or die from apoplexy. A log to the head.
Rudolf Abel was sentenced to 32 years in prison, which for the 54-year-old intelligence officer meant life imprisonment. To serve his sentence, Abel was sent to prison in Atlanta, where they again tried to turn his life into hell. But thanks to the American press, Abel was widely known among all segments of the population. Among criminals, he was openly admired: after all, the entire state machine of America could not break him. So in prison Abel enjoyed serious authority.
The Soviet intelligence officer spent almost five years in prison, solving mathematical problems, studying art history, and painting in oils. According to some reports, after John Kennedy came to power in 1961, Abel drew his portrait from photographs and sent it to the White House. Let us remember that it was under Kennedy that the first steps were taken to equalize the rights of black and white Americans. So Kennedy was popular among the communists. Kennedy, having received his portrait, hung it in his own office, which was written about by almost all newspapers in America.
Rudolf Ivanovich was still unaware that his return to his homeland would take place very soon. On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down near Sverdlovsk. It flew at an altitude of 20 thousand meters and, according to the Americans, was inaccessible to Soviet missiles. They were wrong. The pilot of the plane, Francis Gary Powers, waited until the disintegrating plane dropped to an altitude of 10 thousand meters and got out of the plane. At an altitude of five kilometers, he opened his parachute and landed near the village of Kosulino. Where he was detained by local residents.
In August 1960, Powers was sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage. In the USA, through the efforts of the pilot’s relatives, a real campaign was launched to bring the pilot home. The Russians agreed to exchange the spy pilot for Rudolf Abel. According to rumors, when Nikita Khrushchev was informed about the Americans’ consent, he asked:
- Abel, is this the one who painted Kennedy's portrait? Can Powers draw? No? Well then, let's change it.
On February 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge (it separated West and East Berlin and served as the main place for the exchange of spies), Rudolf Abel and Francis Powers moved towards each other. In his memoirs, CIA chief Allen Dulles called Abel the most productive illegal intelligence officer of the 20th century. William Fisher was awarded the Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree and the Red Star. He died on November 15, 1971 and was buried with military honors at the Donskoye Cemetery in Moscow. The traitor Reino Heihanen died in a car accident in 1964 under mysterious circumstances. The FBI is still confident that these “mysterious circumstances” were created by KGB agents.