Famous intelligence officer born in 1903 in Great Britain. His parents were Russian revolutionaries exiled to Europe for their activities. At birth the child will be named William Fisher (in honor of Shakespeare). The name Rudolf Abel would stick with him after his arrest as a spy in the United States.
Childhood
Father Heinrich Fischer came from a family Russian Germans who lived in the Yaroslavl province. He was a convinced Marxist and met Lenin back in the 90s years XIX century. An activist and propagandist, he was arrested and exiled abroad. Mother was a native of Saratov and also worked revolutionary activities. Together with her husband, she distributed the Iskra newspaper among workers.
Interestingly, Abel's father kept changing his names to confuse Tsarist secret police, which persecuted the revolutionaries. Therefore, the family has maintained a tradition of calling Henry differently. So, the younger Fischer addressed him in letters as Andrey.
Child from the very early childhood was distinguished by many talents. He was capable of natural sciences, loved to draw and play musical instruments. His artistic talent helped him in the USA when one of his portraits was presented to the then President
As a child, Rudolf Abel had a naughty character. He stole boats with a friend English fishermen, even though he couldn’t swim and was terribly afraid of water.
Return to homeland
The future Abel Rudolf Ivanovich never had time to finish his studies in England, because a revolution took place in Russia. The Bolsheviks came to power, and his family, as the oldest members of the organization, returned to Moscow and even lived in the Kremlin. Mother became friends with Lenin's sister Maria. However, life in Russia was almost immediately darkened by tragedy. One day the family went swimming in the river, and the older brother drowned in it. young man- Harry.
In the twenties, Rudolf Abel often changed jobs. At first he was a translator in the Executive Committee. Later he entered one of the recently opened Higher Art and Technical Workshops.
The year 1925 came, and Abel Rudolf Ivanovich ended up in the army. He became a radio operator in a radiotelegraph regiment. While in the service he became interested in technology, which helped him in future career. Along the same line, he later entered the research institute Air Force. There he was a brilliant radio engineer. Then he married Elena Lebedeva, a musician who played the harp. The couple had an only daughter.
Finally in 1927 knowledge foreign languages And family connections they bring Abel to the OGPU, or rather, to the department foreign intelligence. Here he was able to use all his talents. At first he was a full-time translator, but later he became a radio operator again.
Work for foreign intelligence
A capable young man was sent to Great Britain. It helped him that he himself was born in this country and lived there for part of his childhood. Throughout almost the entire 30s, Abel carried out illegal intelligence assignments. In particular, he was a radio operator in European residencies in Norway and Great Britain.
One of his most delicate orders of that time was the order to persuade him to return to his homeland famous physicist Peter Kapitsa. He lived and taught in Oxford, returning to the USSR only during vacations. However, Stalin personally wanted the scientist to remain in the country by any means, since at that time there was an outflow of qualified personnel.
Therefore, very soon a new friend and guest Rudolf Abel. The intelligence officer's biography allowed him to easily gain the trust of Kapitsa, if only because he himself was well versed in physics. In addition, the illegal immigrant had an excellent language - he convinced the scientist that the country of the Soviets had all the conditions for living and working.
He assured that Pyotr Leonidovich could always return to England. However, when he ended up in the USSR, the border was closed for him, and he remained in his homeland.
At the end of the 30s, mass purges took place in the NKVD, which Rudolf Abel did not escape. Photos from that time could have caught him at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, where he got a job after his dismissal. However, he was lucky: he was not shot or even arrested.
Moreover, the war began, and former intelligence officer returned to service. Now he trained radio operators who were supposed to go behind the German lines. It was during those years that another intelligence officer, Rudolf Abel, became his friend. William Fisher's pseudonym was taken from here.
US service
True, this was not his only false name. When Abel was sent to the United States after the war, the intelligence officer lived with different passports, also called a Lithuanian and a German artist. His place of residence was New York, where he opened his own photo studio, which played the role of an effective cover. It was from here that he directed the vast intelligence network of the USSR in America.
His nickname was Mark. In the late 1940s, he worked with the famous intelligence officers the Cohen couple. Abel’s activities were effective - specific documents and information were sent to the country.
Arrest
However, in 1957, the intelligence officer was surrendered to the CIA. There was a traitor in his circle. It was radio operator Vic who gave the American authorities information about the intelligence network.
When the arrest occurred, Fischer introduced himself as Rudolf Abel. It was under this name that he went down in history. Despite the fact that he did not admit his guilt, the court sentenced him to 32 years in prison. Abel was in solitary confinement in Atlanta and would have remained there until the end of his sentence if not for attempts to return his resident.
Liberation
When American pilot Francis Powers was shot down near Sverdlovsk in 1960, he was also sentenced to 10 years in the Vladimir Central Prison. However, the diplomacy of the two countries agreed to exchange prisoners.
The operation was carried out in Berlin on the Glienicke Bridge in 1962. This was the border between Western and Eastern world, where two touched political systems. Soon the bridge was called a “spy bridge”, since after that there were at least three more cases of the exchange of discovered spies. In addition to Powers, student Frederick Pryor, arrested on suspicion of espionage, returned to the United States.
Rudolf Abel returned to service in government agencies after a little treatment. He began teaching and training young intelligence officers. In 1968, he became known throughout the country thanks to the detective story “Dead Season.” The film was based on the facts of his biography, and the intelligence officer himself became an adviser to the film.
William Fisher died after a battle with lung cancer in 1971. He is buried in Novy The story of his life inspired the writer to create popular novel"The Shield and the Sword", which was later filmed.
The former deputy head of the First Main Directorate (Intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR, consultant of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Lieutenant General Vadim KIRPICHENKO, talks about Rudolf Abel.
- Vadim Alekseevich, were you personally acquainted with Abel?
The word "familiar" is the most accurate. No more. We met in the corridors, greeted each other, shook hands. You should take into account the age difference, and we worked in different areas. I knew, of course, that this was “the same Abel.” I think, in turn, Rudolf Ivanovich knew who I was and could have known my position (at that time - head of the African department). But, in general, everyone has their own area; we did not intersect in professional matters. This was in the mid-sixties. And then I went on a business trip abroad.
Later, when Rudolf Ivanovich was no longer alive, I was unexpectedly recalled to Moscow and appointed chief illegal intelligence. Then I got access to the questions that Abel was leading. And he appreciated Abel the scout and Abel the man.
"We still don't know everything about him..."
In Abel’s professional biography, I would highlight three episodes when he provided invaluable services to the country.
The first was during the war years: participation in Operation Berezino. Then Soviet intelligence created a fictitious German group Colonel Schorhorn, allegedly operating in our rear. It was a trap for German intelligence officers and saboteurs. To help Schorhorn, Skorzeny dropped more than twenty agents, all of whom were captured. The operation was based on a radio game, for which Fischer (Abel) was responsible. He carried it out masterfully; the Wehrmacht command did not understand until the very end of the war that they were being led by the nose; the last radiogram from Hitler's headquarters to Schorhorn is dated May 45th, it sounds something like this: we can no longer help you with anything, we trust in the will of God. But here’s what’s important: the slightest mistake by Rudolf Ivanovich - and the operation would have been disrupted. Then these saboteurs could end up anywhere. Do you understand how dangerous this is? How many troubles for the country, how many of our soldiers would pay with their lives!
Next is Abel’s participation in the hunt for American atomic secrets. Perhaps our scientists would have created a bomb without the help of intelligence officers. But scientific research is an expenditure of effort, time, money... Thanks to people like Abel, it was possible to avoid dead-end research, the desired result was obtained in shortest time, we simply saved a devastated country a lot of money.
And of course, the whole epic with Abel’s arrest in the USA, trial, and imprisonment. Rudolf Ivanovich then really risked his life, while from a professional point of view he behaved impeccably. Dulles' words that he would like to have three or four people like this Russian in Moscow do not require comment.
Of course, I am naming the most famous episodes of Abel's work. The paradox is that many others, very interesting ones, still remain in the shadows.
- Classified?
Not necessarily. The secrecy label has already been removed from many cases. But there are stories that are already in the background known information they look routine, discreet (and journalists, of course, are looking for something more interesting). Something is simply difficult to restore. The chronicler didn’t follow Abel! Today documentary evidence his works are scattered across many archival folders. Bringing them together, reconstructing events is painstaking, long work, who will get around to it? It’s just a pity that when there are no facts, legends appear...
- For example?
Didn’t wear a Wehrmacht uniform, didn’t take Kapitsa out
For example, I had to read that during the war Abel worked deep behind German lines. In fact, at the first stage of the war, William Fisher was busy training radio operators for reconnaissance groups. Then he took part in radio games. He was then on the staff of the Fourth (Intelligence and Sabotage) Directorate, the archives of which require separate study. The most that happened was one or two deployments to partisan detachments.
- In Valery Agranovsky’s documentary book “Profession: Foreigner”, written based on the stories of another famous intelligence officer, Konon Molodoy, such a story is described. A young fighter from the reconnaissance group, Molodoy, is dropped into the German rear, he is soon captured, brought to the village, where there is some colonel in a hut. He looks with disgust at the obviously “leftist” Ausweiss, listens to confused explanations, then takes the arrested man out onto the porch, gives a kick in the ass, throws the Ausweiss into the snow... Many years later, Young meets this colonel in New York: Rudolf Ivanovich Abel.
Not confirmed by documents.
- But Young...
Konon could have mistaken himself. He could have told something, but the journalist misunderstood him. Could have been deliberately launched beautiful legend. In any case, Fischer did not wear a Wehrmacht uniform. Only during Operation Berezino, when they parachuted into the Shorehorn camp German agents and Fischer met them.
- Another story - from Kirill Khenkin’s book “Hunter Upside Down”. Willy Fischer, during a business trip to England (the thirties), was introduced into Kapitsa's laboratory in Cambridge and contributed to Kapitsa's departure to the USSR...
Fischer was working in England at that time, but did not infiltrate Kapitsa.
- Henkin was friends with Abel...
He's confused. Or he makes it up. Abel was an amazingly bright and multifaceted person. When you see someone like that, when you know he’s a scout, but don’t really know what he was doing, myth-making begins.
"I would rather die than reveal the secrets I know"
He drew great professional level. In America he had patents for inventions. Played several instruments. IN free time solved the most complex mathematical problems. He understood higher physics. He could literally assemble a radio out of nothing. He worked as a carpenter, a plumber, a carpenter... A fantastically gifted nature.
- And at the same time he served in a department that does not like publicity. Did you regret it? He could succeed as an artist, as a scientist. And as a result... He became famous because he failed.
Abel didn't fail. It was failed by the traitor, Reino Heihanen. No, I don’t think that Rudolf Ivanovich regretted joining intelligence. Yes, he did not become famous as an artist or scientist. But, in my opinion, the work of an intelligence officer is much more interesting. The same creativity, plus adrenaline, plus mental tension... This special condition, which is very difficult to explain in words.
- Courage?
If you want. In the end, Abel went on his main business trip to the USA voluntarily. I saw the text of the report asking to be sent to work illegally in America. It ends something like this: I would rather accept death than give away the secrets I know, I am ready to fulfill my duty to the end.
- What year is this?
- Let me clarify this why: in many books about Abel it is said that at the end of his life he was disappointed in his previous ideals and was skeptical about what he saw in the Soviet Union.
Don't know. We were not close enough to take the liberty of assessing his moods. Our work does not lend itself to special frankness; at home you can’t even say too much to your wife: you proceed from the fact that the apartment can be bugged - not because they don’t trust you, but simply as a preventive measure. But I would not exaggerate... After returning from the USA, Abel was given performances at factories, institutes, even on collective farms. No mocking Soviet power it didn't sound there.
Here's something else you should keep in mind. William Fisher's life was not easy, he would like to be disappointed - there were enough reasons. Don’t forget, in 1938 he was fired from the police and suffered it very painfully. Many friends were imprisoned or shot. He worked abroad for so many years - what prevented him from defecting and playing a double game? But Abel is Abel. I think he sincerely believed in the victory of socialism (even if not very quickly). Don't forget - he comes from a family of revolutionaries, people close to Lenin. Belief in communism was imbibed with mother's milk. Certainly, smart man, he noticed everything.
I remember the conversation - either Abel spoke, or someone spoke in his presence, and Abel agreed. It was about exceeding plans. The plan cannot be exceeded, because a plan is a plan. If it is exceeded, it means either the calculation was incorrect or the mechanism is unbalanced. But this is not disappointment in ideals, rather constructive, cautious criticism.
- Smart, strong man V Soviet era constantly travels abroad. He couldn’t help but see that people live better there...
In life there is not only black or only white. Socialism means free medicine, the opportunity to educate children, and cheap housing. Precisely because Abel had been abroad, he knew the value of such things too. Although, I do not rule out that many things could irritate him. One of my colleagues almost became anti-Soviet after visiting Czechoslovakia. He was trying on shoes in a store, and suddenly the then Czechoslovak president (I think Zapotocki) sat down next to him with his shoes. “You see,” a friend said, “the head of state, just like everyone else, calmly goes to the store and tries on shoes. Everyone knows him, but no one fusses, the usual friendly service. Can you imagine this here?” I think that Abel had similar thoughts.
- How did Abel live here?
Like everyone else. My wife also worked in intelligence. Once she comes in shocked: “They threw out the sausages at the buffet, do you know who was standing in front of me in line? Abel!” - "So what?" - “Nothing. I took my half a kilo (they don’t give more to one person) and went away happy.” The standard of living is normal average Soviet. Apartment, modest dacha. I don't remember about the car. Of course, he didn’t live in poverty, after all, he was an intelligence colonel, a decent salary, then a pension - but he didn’t live in luxury either. Another thing is that he didn’t need much. Well-fed, clothed, shod, a roof over your head, books... This is the generation.
Without a Hero
- Why wasn’t Abel given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union?
Then the scouts - especially the living ones who were in the ranks - were not given a Hero at all. Even the people who obtained American atomic secrets received Gold Stars only at the end of their lives. Moreover, the Heroes of Russia, they are already new government awarded. Why didn't they give it? They were afraid of information leakage. A hero is additional authorities, additional papers. Can attract attention - who, for what? Extra people they will find out. And it’s simple - a man walked around without a Star, then he was gone for a long time, and appears with the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. There are neighbors, acquaintances, the inevitable question is - why? There is no war!
- Abel tried to write memoirs?
Once he wrote memoirs about his arrest, his stay in prison, and his exchange for Powers. Anything else? I doubt. Too much would have to be revealed, but professional discipline was ingrained in Rudolf Ivanovich, what can be said and what cannot be said.
- But an incredible amount has been written about him - both in the West, and here, and during Abel’s lifetime, and now. Which books to believe?
I am editing "Essays on Foreign Intelligence" - professional activity Rudolf Ivanovich is reflected there most accurately. What about personal qualities? Read "Strangers on a Bridge" by his US lawyer Donovan.
- I don’t agree. For Donovan, Abel is an iron Russian colonel. But Evelina Vilyamovna Fischer, daughter, remembers how her father argued with her mother over the garden beds at the dacha, was nervous if papers were rearranged in his office, whistled contentedly when deciding mathematical equations. Kirill Khenkin writes about his soulmate Willie, who served ideologically Soviet country, and at the end of his life he thought about the degeneration of the system, was interested in dissident literature...
So after all, we are alone with our enemies, different with our family, in different times- different. A person must be judged by specific deeds. In Abel's case - making allowances for time and profession. But any country will always be proud of people like him.
Reference
Abel Rudolf Ivanovich (real name - Fisher William Genrikhovich). Born in 1903 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (England) in a family of Russian political emigrants. My father is from a family of Russified Germans, a revolutionary worker. The mother also participated in revolutionary movement. For this, the Fisher couple were expelled abroad in 1901 and settled in England.
At the age of 16, Willie successfully passed the exam at the University of London. In 1920, the family returned to Moscow, Willie worked as a translator in the apparatus of the Comintern. In 1924 he entered the Indian department of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow, but after the first year he was drafted into the army and enrolled in a radiotelegraph regiment. After demobilization, he went to work at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force, and in 1927 he was accepted into the INO OGPU for the position of assistant commissioner. Performed secret missions V European countries. Upon returning to Moscow, he was awarded the rank of state security lieutenant, which corresponded to the military rank of major. At the end of 1938, he was dismissed from intelligence without explanation. He worked at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce and at a factory. He repeatedly submitted reports about his reinstatement in intelligence.
In September 1941 he was enrolled in a unit involved in organizing sabotage groups And partisan detachments behind the lines of the fascist occupiers. During this period, he became especially close friends with his work comrade Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, whose name he would later use when arrested. At the end of the war, he returned to work in the illegal intelligence department. In November 1948, it was decided to send him to work illegally in the United States to obtain information about American nuclear facilities. Nickname - Mark. In 1949 for successful work awarded the order Red Banner.
To relieve Mark from current affairs, illegal intelligence radio operator Heikhanen (pseudonym Vic) was sent to help him in 1952. Vic turned out to be morally and psychologically unstable, drank, and quickly went downhill. Four years later, a decision was made to return to Moscow. However, Vic informed the American authorities about his work in Soviet illegal intelligence and betrayed Mark.
In 1957, Mark was arrested by FBI agents. At that time, the leadership of the USSR declared that our country “does not engage in espionage.” In order to let Moscow know about his arrest and that he was not a traitor, Fischer gave the name of his late friend Abel during his arrest. During the investigation, he categorically denied his affiliation with intelligence, refused to testify at trial, and rejected attempts by American intelligence agencies to persuade him to cooperate. Sentenced to 30 years in prison. He served his sentence in a federal prison in Atlanta. In the cell I was working on the solution mathematical problems, art theory, painting. February 10, 1962 exchanged for American pilot Francis Powers, convicted Soviet court for espionage.
After rest and treatment, Colonel Fischer (Abel) worked in central office intelligence. He took part in the training of young illegal intelligence officers. He died of cancer in 1971. He was buried at the Donskoye Cemetery in Moscow.
Awarded the Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Patriotic War 1st degree, Red Star and many medals.
Rudolf Abel - aka William Fischer
Dozens of books and thousands of newspaper articles. However, in recent years from declassified archival documents KGB of the USSR, we learned that during the war, Rudolf Abel lived in Kuibyshev, where, on instructions from the leadership, he conducted secret radio games against the special services fascist Germany. The house, the walls of which remember Abel’s family, still stands in Samara - this is house number 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street.
Rudolf Abel conducted secret radio games from Kuibyshev against the intelligence services of Nazi Germany.
Our man overseas
Those who have seen the film “Off Season” have probably noticed that there is a short performance before the start of the film. Rudolf Abel. He says that shown in "Dead Season" Soviet intelligence officer, played by Donatas Banionis, has no real prototype in life. This - collective image. However, by the time the film was released, Abel’s name was already familiar not only to film critics, but also to a wide audience.
And here is what the head of the museum of the history of the FSB management says: Samara region Sergey Khumaryan:
“You can imagine my surprise when, while collecting information in the archives for our museum, I completely unexpectedly found here materials about the stay of the legendary Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel in Kuibyshev. Now, after 70 years, I think we can tell some details about his work in our city.”
In the 1960s soviet people already knew something about the history of the Soviet resident’s stay in the United States, and also heard about the vicissitudes of his exchange for American pilot Powers. Therefore, despite Abel’s speech before the start of the film “Dead Season,” Soviet people for many years were still confident that he was the main prototype of the movie hero. But not so long ago it became known that in fact the film “Dead Season” was dedicated to another, no less legendary, Soviet intelligence officer - Konon Molodoy(aka Lonsdale, aka Ben). However, this circumstance cannot in any way change our attitude towards Abel.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(aka - William Genrikhovich Fisher) was born in 1903 in England. His father Heinrich Fischer was a German, a native of the Yaroslavl province, and at the beginning of the twentieth century he was expelled from Russia for revolutionary activities. On the banks Foggy Albion Fischer met a Russian girl, Lyuba, a native of Saratov, and soon their son William was born. In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia and took Soviet citizenship. Soon after the move, William became a radiotelegraph operator. Fluent in not only Russian, but also English, German and French languages, in 1927 he became a career employee of the INO OGPU (foreign intelligence). During 1929-1936 he carried out command assignments in Poland, England and China.
During these same years, Fischer met the real Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a young Latvian who, since 1927, had also been an employee of the INO OGPU. In 1946, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and died nine years later. At the same time, the real Rudolf Abel never found out that his friend William Fischer, having been arrested in 1957 while working illegally in the USA, gave his name so as not to give away his affiliation with the KGB of the USSR. Subsequently, this surname appeared in all official documents, and it was under her that William Fisher subsequently entered the history of Soviet foreign intelligence.
In November 1957, a New York court sentenced Fischer-Abel to 30 years in prison. But in 1962 he was exchanged for American pilot Francis Powers. Upon returning home, Abel continued to serve in Soviet foreign intelligence. He died in Moscow in 1971.
School in Sernovodsk
In August 1941, when german army was rapidly approaching Moscow, the evacuation of enterprises, institutions, as well as hundreds of thousands of Muscovites from the capital to the east began. At the same time, Abel’s family was sent to Kuibyshev, although the intelligence officer himself still remained in the capital. However, at the beginning of September 1941, Abel himself came to the Kuibyshev region in accordance with the order to send him to work at the Kuibyshev intelligence school, based in the village of Sernovodsk on the territory of the Sergievskie resort mineral waters" Here he taught radio business to young intelligence officers.
During this time he regularly visited regional center, and in January 1942, to complete a special assignment, he finally moved to Kuibyshev. Now two addresses have been identified where the family of the future legend of Soviet foreign intelligence lived in our city. The first building where the Abels moved in 1942 has not survived to this day. However, it is known that it was private house in the village of Shchepnovka, in the vicinity of the elevator on the Volga embankment. But the second house, the walls of which still remember the family of Rudolf Ivanovich, still stands in Samara - this is house No. 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street (in 1942 - Kooperativnaya Street).
The first building where the Abels moved in 1942 has not survived to this day. But the second house, the walls of which still remember the family of Rudolf Ivanovich, still stands in Samara - this is house number 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street (in 1942 - Kooperativnaya Street).
By the way, an interesting fact from the American period of Abel’s work is connected with this address. Already in a New York prison, our intelligence officer somehow miraculously managed to Soviet ambassador to send a pencil drawing to his homeland, which depicted a house covered with snow, very similar to the one in which Abel once lived in Kuibyshev. Experts believe that some information was encoded in the drawing, understandable only to Abel himself and his immediate superiors from the KGB. Whether this is actually true, we will most likely never know.
The family of the famous Soviet intelligence officer lived in this house during the war.
Abel worked at the Sernovodsk intelligence school until January 1942, after which he was assigned to central authorities NKVD. His family lived in Kuibyshev until February 1943. Abel's wife Elena Stepanovna - musician - worked in an orchestra opera house. Her mother, niece and daughter Evelina lived with her in Kuibyshev.
Until the end of the war, Abel carried out special tasks command, working both in Kuibyshev and at headquarters Soviet intelligence, and at the end of the war - behind the front line. In particular, in 1944-1945, Abel was directly involved in Operation Berezina. Then, in order to confuse the Abwehr leadership in the Soviet rear, on the territory of Belarus, a pseudo-German group of troops was created, which was allegedly surrounded. During this operation, Rudolf Abel led a group of radio operators - both Soviet and German - who worked under our control.
His radio game turned out to be very successful. The Abwehr believed in the disinformation to such an extent that the German command diverted considerable forces to help its troops supposedly in trouble. In particular, the well-known German “saboteur No. 1” Otto Skorzeny then personally prepared special groups to be deployed to the Minsk region so that they would establish contact with the encircled group. It is clear that all the signalmen sent to our rear immediately fell into the hands of Soviet counterintelligence officers, and many of the prisoners subsequently agreed to work against their former masters.
"Deza" from Kuibyshev
In 1942-1943, when the People's Commissariat of State Security of the USSR was located in Kuibyshev, Soviet intelligence under direct participation Rudolf Abel conducted a radio game, which in the documents was designated as “Monastery” or “Novice”. The Germans were given information that an anti-Soviet organization was allegedly operating in Kuibyshev. religious group, which, according to legend, was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. This “underground” was led by Bishop Ratmirov from Kalinin, who allegedly went over to the German side during the occupation, but in fact carried out assignments from Soviet intelligence.
In 1942-1943, Soviet intelligence, with the direct participation of Rudolf Abel, conducted the radio game “Monastery”, or “Novice”. The Germans were given information that an anti-Soviet religious group was allegedly operating in Kuibyshev, which, according to legend, was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow.
The operation began with NKVD officers Ivanov and Mikheev being dropped into Kalinin under the guise of priests. Thanks to the guarantees of Ratmirov and Metropolitan Sergius, they quickly infiltrated the circle of churchmen who collaborated with the Germans in the occupied territory. After the liberation of Kalinin by Soviet troops, Ratmirov moved to Kuibyshev and, according to legend, led the local “religious underground”, and our officers, along with other sold-out clergymen, went to the West following the Germans. Now they were completely trusted, and therefore the intelligence officers, having in hand the recommendations of Bishop Ratmirov, under the guise of “novices” headed to Pskov.
Soon both intelligence officers came to the abbot of the Pskov monastery, who also allegedly worked for the Nazis. Since the “novices” were already well known to the Abwehr by the time they arrived in Pskov, they were easily believed here. As a result, the Germans sent radio operators from among Russian prisoners of war to Ratmirov in Kuibyshev, who were immediately detained and converted here. So, the security officers began a radio game with the German intelligence services, and Rudolf Abel was entrusted with providing communication channels.
Meanwhile, the “novice” officers, together with the abbot, began vigorous activity in the Pskov monastery, creating an intelligence bureau for the German command here. From here radio information flowed to Berlin about the transfer of raw materials and ammunition from Siberia to this or that site Soviet front. The basis of this “misinformation” was intelligence reports from the Kuibyshev “religious underground,” which was “led” by Bishop Ratmirov, well known to the Germans. The group worked so meticulously that the Abwehr leadership throughout the entire operation was completely confident in the reliability and authenticity of the information coming from Kuibyshev. This misinformation played important role in preparation successful operations Red Army in 1943.
After the end of the war, Bishop Ratmirov, by order of Stalin, was awarded a battle medal and a gold watch. Received military orders and foreign intelligence officers Ivanov and Mikheev, who directly supervised the bishop’s work and accompanied him behind German lines under the guise of clergy.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(real name William Genrikhovich Fischer; July 11, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - November 15, Moscow, USSR) - Soviet intelligence officer, illegal immigrant, colonel. Since 1948 he worked in the USA, in 1957 he was arrested as a result of betrayal. On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for American reconnaissance aircraft pilot F. G. Powers, who was shot down over the USSR, and American student Frederick Pryor. (Frederic Pryor) on the "spy bridge" (Glienicke Bridge connecting Berlin and Potsdam).
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. 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 1924 he entered the Institute of Oriental Studies, where, according to archival materials, he took up the study of India, but a year later 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 Mikhail Tsarev. Having a natural inclination towards 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. He entered the foreign department of the OGPU on May 2, 1927. He was recommended to work at the Cheka by his wife's elder sister, who worked there as a translator for Serafim Lebedev. In the central intelligence apparatus, he first worked as a translator (for English direction), then as a radio operator.
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.
At the very beginning of the 1930s, he applied to the British embassy with permission to return to the West, which was received. Having received a passport, he left for Western Europe. He worked in the field of radio engineering and was engaged in commercial activities. He worked in illegal intelligence in two European countries, simultaneously performing the duties of a radio operator in stations in several European countries, Norway, Denmark, and Scandinavian countries. During his second trip to the UK, he worked with members of the Cambridge Five. There he had to carry out an assignment to persuade physicist Kapitsa to return to the USSR, which was successful. Was recalled from England due to the betrayal of Alexander Orlov.
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 turned to his father’s friend, the then secretary of the party’s Central Committee, Andreev.
Since 1941, again in the NKVD, in the unit organizing guerrilla warfare behind German lines. V. 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.
In November 1948, it was decided to send him to work illegally in the United States to obtain information from sources working at nuclear facilities. He moved under the name of the artist Emil Robert Goldfus to the United States, where he led the Soviet intelligence network and, as a cover, owned a photo 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 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for specific results.
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 Heyhanen (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” committed betrayal, informed the American authorities about his work in illegal intelligence and betrayed “Mark”.
In 1957, "Mark" was arrested at the Latham Hotel in New York 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 officers to persuade him to betray.
He was sentenced to 32 years in prison (1957). After the verdict was announced, "Mark" was initially held in solitary confinement at the New York City Pretrial Detention Facility, and then transferred to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. In conclusion, he studied solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. He painted in oils.
Liberation
May 9th, 2013 , 10:03 am
Abel Rudolf Ivanovich (1903-1971) - an ace of Soviet espionage who operated in the United States in the 50s, and five years after his exposure was exchanged by the Americans for the I-2 reconnaissance plane pilot Francis G. Powers, shot down over Sverdlovsk.
Abel (real name Fisher William Genrikhovich) was born in Newcastle upon Gain (England) into a family of Russian political emigrants who were engaged in revolutionary activities. Since childhood, Abel was an excellent student and was very successful in the natural sciences, which helped him later become a specialist in chemistry and nuclear physics. Graduated from the University of London.
In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia. In 1922, Abel joined the Komsomol; Fluent in English, German, Polish and Russian, he works as a translator for the Comintern.
In 1924 he entered the Indian department of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow. After the first year he is drafted into the Red Army, serves in the radio unit, and after demobilization works at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force.
In 1927, Abel joined the Foreign Department of the OGPU as an assistant commissioner. Performs important tasks in the area of illegal intelligence in two European countries. Works as a radio operator in illegal European stations. For excellent service he is promoted and receives the rank of lieutenant of state security.
In 1938, without explanation, he was dismissed from the counterintelligence agencies. After that, he worked at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce and at an aircraft plant. He submitted several reports of reinstatement and finally achieved his goal: in September 1941, when the war was already underway, he was reinstated in the authorities without explaining the reason for his dismissal. As Rudolf Abel himself said in 1970, he was sure that the reason was his German surname, first name and patronymic.
During the Second World War, he was actively involved in training reconnaissance and sabotage groups and creating partisan detachments (all formations operated behind enemy lines). He trained about a hundred radio operators who were sent to countries occupied by Germany. At the end of the war, he became close friends with Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, whose name he later named for operational purposes. At the end of the war he received the rank of state security major.
One of the most famous episodes military activities Fischer is his participation in the Berezino operational game, led by Pavel Sudoplatov. The operation began back in 1942, when the fourth directorate supplied the department of Admiral Canaris with information about the presence of an underground monarchist organization called “The Throne” in Moscow. On her behalf, an agent of our counterintelligence was sent behind the front line, acting under the pseudonym Heine, referred to as Alexander in further contacts with the Germans and in radio telegrams. In 1944, according to the operational game plan, he was sent to Minsk, which had just been liberated from the Nazis. Soon the Abwehr received information that there were scattered groups of Germans in the Belarusian forests trying to break through the front line. The radio interception materials testified to the desire of the German command to provide them with all possible assistance in getting out of the Russian rear, while simultaneously using them to carry out sabotage actions.
In fact, a large detachment was created in Belarus from among captured Germans, which allegedly fought against Soviet Army in her rear. The leadership of this detachment maintained regular contact with German command, where information about sabotage allegedly committed by the detachment went. And from there, radio equipment, ammunition, food and German intelligence officers were thrown into the “German” unit. All this, naturally, did not fall into the hands of the mythical saboteurs, but at the disposal of the Red Army.
William Fischer led the German radio operators abandoned from Berlin. The entire radio game was conducted under his control. Some of the enemy scouts were converted, others were destroyed. Operation Berezino continued almost until the very end of the war. Only on May 5 did the Germans transmit their last radiogram: “With a heavy heart, we are forced to stop providing assistance to you. Due to the current situation, we can no longer maintain radio contact with you. Whatever the future brings, our thoughts will always be with you, who at such a difficult moment have to be disappointed in their hopes.”
This radiogram indicates that William Fisher had a certain sense of humor, even if it was somewhat dry.
After the victory, Abel continues to work in the Directorate of Illegal Intelligence. In 1947, he entered Canada illegally from France using documents in the name of Andrew Cayotis. In 1948, he crossed the US border, and in 1954 he legalized in New York, opening a photo studio on Fulton Street, and posing as the photographer (which, incidentally, he was) Emil R. Goldfus.
In six months, Fischer, operating under the operational pseudonym Mark, managed to partially restore and partially create an agent network on west coast USA. The task set before Fischer seemed impossible at first glance - he had to gain access to the secrets of the American nuclear program. And he succeeded - at least, this conclusion can be drawn from indirect data. In August 1949, Fischer was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. His contacts were the famous Cohen couple, about whom the Western press wrote: “Stalin could not have carried out the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1949 without these spies.” Leontyne Cohen indeed managed to find a channel for obtaining information directly from the nuclear center at Los Alamos, but it was Fisher who coordinated her activities and the activities of other members of the group.
Thanks to Fischer and his agents, the leadership of the Soviet Union received documentary evidence that Washington was preparing for World War III. The top secret Dropshot plan (“Last Shot”) was placed on Stalin’s desk, according to which at the first stage of the war it was planned to drop 300 atomic bombs 50 kilotons and 200,000 tons of conventional bombs per 100 Soviet cities, of which 25 atomic bombs - on Moscow, 22 - on Leningrad, 10 - on Sverdlovsk, eight - on Kyiv, five - on Dnepropetrovsk, two - on Lvov, etc. The developers of the plan calculated that as a result of this atomic bombing they would die about 60 million citizens of the USSR, and in total, taking into account further military operations, this number will exceed 100 million.
When we think back to the Cold War, we shouldn't forget about the Dropshot plan. To some extent, Fisher can be called the man who prevented the Third World War - the American atomic secrets obtained with his help made it possible to complete the Soviet atomic program in a short time, and information about the plans of the American military predetermined the “symmetrical response” of the USSR.
In reality, Abel was a resident of Soviet intelligence; he controlled agents and operations not only in New York, but also in the northern and central states of America. Abel maintained contact with Moscow by radio and through liaison agents. There is information that in 1954-1955 he secretly visited Moscow for secret meetings with the top leadership of the KGB. During his stay in the United States, he was awarded the rank of state security colonel.
And yet, very little is known about Fisher’s activities in the States - and this is one of the surest evidence that he was a brilliant intelligence officer. Because the best intelligence officers are those about whom nothing is known at all while they are alive, but intelligence officers whose activities are unknown even after their failure deserve even more respect.
Abel was arrested by the FBI in New York on June 21, 1957, after he was betrayed by agent Heikhanen, sent to help him from Moscow. One of the pieces of evidence that helped expose Abel was a hollow nickel that served as a spy container, which Abel accidentally gave to newspaper vendor (FBI informant) James Bozarth. So Abel was put on trial, found guilty of espionage, and sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $3,000 fine.
Rudolf Abel spent only a small part of his term in prison, and that was useful, working a lot on mathematical, history books and phrasebooks from the prison library (in prison he learned Spanish and Italian languages), on February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for spy plane pilot Powers on the Glinine Bridge, dividing Berlin into western and eastern zone. Returning to the USSR, Abel continued to work in the central office of the KGB to prepare graduates of intelligence schools for illegal activities.
Abel neither in his youth nor in mature age He didn’t stand out in any way: he was an inconspicuous, thin, bespectacled intellectual in modest clothes. But his penetrating, lively eyes, subtle ironic smile and confident gestures issued in it iron will, sharp analytical mind, loyalty to convictions. Everyone will certainly be interested to know what Abel especially valued in intelligence officers: the ability to work with his hands and head in the most various fields, that is, to have as many professions as possible. He himself once calculated that he possesses 93 skills and specialties!
He knew almost a dozen languages, was a fisherman and hunter, could repair a typewriter and a watch, a car engine and a television, painted excellently in oils and was a wonderful photographer, cut and sewed his own suits like God, understood electricity, could calculate the foundation and design a house, serve a banquet for twenty people and cook wonderful dishes. The KGB officially and publicly recognized Abel as its employee only in 1965.
From the life of intelligence officer Rudolf Abel
James Bozarth, an FBI agent and courier for the Brooklyn Eagle, discovered among his money a hollow 1948 nickel featuring Jefferson. The coin was a spy container containing microfilm.
Sergeant Roy Rhodes (US Army) spied for the USSR in the 50s while working at the embassy in Moscow. In 1957, Rhodes was pointed out by a Soviet defector, Colonel Reino Heikhanen, Abel's former liaison officer.
The converted Heyhanen led the FBI to Abel. When he was arrested, during a search of his darkroom, FBI agents found microfilm made, according to Heikhanen, by Rhodes. During interrogation, Rhodes confessed to his espionage activities. He and Heikhanen were key witnesses for the prosecution in Abel’s trial and, in fact, put him behind bars. Rudolf Abel was held in a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lawyer Donovan visited Abel after the trial. What he saw shocked him.“When I came to Abel’s prison cell after the trial, he was sitting, waiting for me, in a chair, crossing his legs, puffing on a cigarette. Looking at him, one would think that this man had no worries. But he suffered colossal physical and emotional torture: he was threatened electric chair. At that moment, such self-control of a professional seemed unbearable to me.”
On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down near Sverdlovsk. Its pilot, Francis G. Powers, was detained local residents and handed over to the KGB. Soviet Union accused the United States of espionage activities, President Eisenhower responded by advising the Russians to remember the “Abel Affair.”
This was the signal to start trading. Having received it, Nikita Khrushchev decided to exchange Abel for Powers (i.e., in fact, admit that Abel was a Soviet spy). Yuri Drozdov (hiding under the guise of the German Yu. Drivs) and lawyer V. Vogel entered into direct negotiations with American side all through the same James Donovan. The Americans asked not only Powers for Abel, but also two American students, one of whom was in Kyiv, and the other in Berlin prison on charges of espionage. Eventually agreements were reached and Abel was released in February 1962.
February 10, 1962 to the Alt-Glienicke bridge on the border of the GDR and West Berlin Several cars arrived. Abel was in one of the American vans. At the same time, at the famous Checkpoint Charlie, one of the students was handed over to the Americans. As soon as the signal about the successful transfer of the student came over the radio, the main exchange operation began.
First, officials from both sides met in the middle of the bridge. Then Abel and Powers were invited there. The officers confirmed that these were the same people regarding whom agreements had been reached. Following this, Abel and Powers each walked to their own side of the border. Unlike the film "Off Season", where the same scene is shown, Abel and Powers did not look at each other - this is evidenced by Donovan, who was present at the exchange, and Abel himself later spoke about this.
Until the end of his life, Abel remained a colonel and lived in an ordinary two-room apartment and received the corresponding military pension. For outstanding services in providing state security our country, Colonel V. Fischer was awarded the Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Red Star and many medals.
His fate inspired V. Kozhevnikov to write the famous adventure book"Shield and Sword."
The intelligence genius died in Moscow in 1971 at the age of 68 and was buried at the Donskoye Cemetery. And only ten years ago the “Top Secret” stamp was removed from his name. Only his wife Elena and daughter Evelina, as well as a few of Abel’s colleagues in the service, knew him real name- William Genrikhovich Fisher.
It was a rare talent. It was not for nothing that at one of the meetings with Abel’s lawyer Donovan, CIA Director Dulles said: “I would like us to have three or four people like Abel in Moscow.”
Powers was awarded a CIA award, received personal praise from Dallas and the President of the United States, received an order and a $20,000 “allowance.” Having got a job at the Lockheed Corporation, he received a huge salary, plus monthly fees from the CIA. He had a luxurious mansion, a yacht, a personal helicopter, security and lived like the Sultan of Brunei. In 1977, he crashed in a helicopter over Los Angeles.
Retired Colonel Boris Yakovlevich Nalivaiko is one of those who in the 60s participated in the famous operation to exchange our intelligence officer Abel for the American reconnaissance pilot Powers, convicted of flying over Soviet territory. And a little earlier, in 1955, the Americans tried to recruit Nalivaiko. Scouts are taciturn and know how to keep the secrets of their profession...
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