Rudolf Abel is a man who never told his enemy his name.

On October 14, 1957, a noisy trial began on charges of espionage against Rudolf Abel Ivanovich in the Federal Courthouse for the Eastern District of New York. He faced the death penalty or life imprisonment. During the investigation, Abel categorically denied his affiliation with Soviet foreign intelligence, refused to give any testimony in court, and rejected all attempts by American intelligence officials to persuade him to cooperate.

A month later, the judge read out the sentence: 30 years in prison, which for him at 54 years old was equivalent to life imprisonment.

After the verdict was announced, Abel was initially held in solitary confinement at a pre-trial detention center in New York and then transferred to a federal correctional facility in Atlanta.

The Motherland did not leave its scout in trouble. On February 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge, through which the border between West Berlin and the GDR passed, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was exchanged for the American pilot Francis Gary (in official documents of the Soviet court - Harry) Powers, convicted in the Soviet Union, who carried out a reconnaissance mission on May 1, 1960 flight over Soviet territory and shot down near Sverdlovsk.

William Genrikhovich Fisher

On November 15, 1971, the remarkable Soviet illegal intelligence officer died. But it was only in the early 1990s that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service officially announced that his real name was William Genrikhovich Fischer.

Why did William Fisher, who was arrested in the United States and lived in New York according to documents in the name of the free American artist Emil Robert Goldfus, call himself Rudolf Abel?

Now, after the passage of time, we can say with confidence that by posing as his friend and colleague in the state security agencies, the illegal Soviet intelligence officer thereby made it clear to the Center that it was he who ended up in prison. Foreign intelligence quickly figured out what was what. After all, the real Abel and his friendship with Fischer were well known here.

Until the end of his days, the foreign intelligence colonel remained Fischer, or Willy, to his family and colleagues, and to everyone else, Rudolf Abel. The legend was destined to remain a legend, and the mystery - a mystery.

And today, bowing our heads in memory of the legendary intelligence officer, we would like to remember his closest friend and comrade-in-arms, whose name, Rudolf Abel, was included in the intelligence textbooks of many countries and remained forever in history.

ABEL FAMILY

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was born on September 23, 1900 in the city of Riga. His father was a chimney sweep, his mother a housewife. Rudolf had two brothers: the elder, Voldemar, and the younger, Gottfried. Until the age of 15, Rudolf lived with his parents. He graduated from four classes of elementary school and worked as a delivery boy in Riga. In 1915 he moved to Petrograd. He studied general education courses and passed an external examination for four classes of a real school.

Rudolph, like his brothers, wholeheartedly accepted the October Revolution. Since the beginning of the revolution, he voluntarily went to serve as a private fireman on the destroyer "Retivy" of the Red Baltic Fleet. In 1918 he became a member of the Bolshevik Party. Then, as part of the Volga flotilla, he took part in battles with the Whites in the valleys of the Volga and Kama rivers. He was a direct participant in the daring operation of the Reds behind enemy lines, during which the barge of suicide bombers - Red Army prisoners - was recaptured from the Whites. He took an active part in the battles near Tsaritsyn, in the lower reaches of the Volga and on the Caspian Sea.

In January 1920, Abel was enrolled as a cadet in the class of naval radiotelegraph operators of the mine training detachment of the Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt. After graduating in 1921, the young naval specialist Abel, as part of a team of Baltic sailors, was sent to the emerging naval forces of the Far Eastern Republic. Served on ships of the Amur and Siberian flotillas. In 1923-1924 he headed the radiotelegraph station on Bering Island, then commanded naval radio operators on the Commander Islands.

In 1925, Rudolf married Anna Antonovna, née Stokalich, from the nobility, who received an excellent education and became his reliable assistant. It should be noted here that Rudolph himself was fluent in German, English and French. In the same year, Abel was sent through the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs to work at the Soviet consulate in Shanghai.

In July 1926, Rudolf Abel was transferred to Beijing, where he worked as a radio operator at the Soviet diplomatic mission until the severance of diplomatic relations with China in 1929. While abroad, in 1927 he became an employee of the Foreign Department of the OGPU (foreign intelligence), performing the duties of a cryptographic resident.

Upon returning from Beijing that same year, Abel was sent to work illegally outside the border. In the documents of that period, located in his personal file, it is briefly stated: “Appointed to the position of authorized representative of the INO OGPU and is on a long-term business trip in different countries.” He returned to Moscow in the fall of 1936.

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, Photo courtesy of the author

WILLIAM, RUDOLPH AND HIS BROTHERS

Could the paths of illegal immigrants Abel and Fischer cross behind the cordon? Official documents are silent about this. But be that as it may, finding themselves almost simultaneously in Moscow and working at the Center, they became great friends. Even then we always went to the dining room together. “Uncle Rudolph visited us often. He was always calm and cheerful,” recalled Evelina Fisher, the daughter of William Genrikhovich. “And they communicated well with their father.” During the war years, both lived in the same small communal apartment in the center of Moscow.

Getting acquainted with the biographies of these intelligence officers, you involuntarily come to the conclusion that their destinies had a lot in common, which contributed to their rapprochement. Both were enrolled in the INO OGPU in 1927, at almost the same time they were working illegally abroad, they worked together in the central intelligence apparatus, and during the Great Patriotic War - in the 4th Directorate of the NKVD. Both did not look like fortune's darlings; life sometimes treated them cruelly.

On the last day of 1938, William Fisher was fired from the state security services without explanation. And only in September 1941 he was offered to return to the NKVD.

With Rudolf Abel everything was much more complicated.

Here it is appropriate to remember his older brother Voldemar. From the age of 14, he sailed as a cabin boy on the ship “Petersburg”, then worked as a mechanic at a factory in Riga. In December 1917 he became a member of the RCP(b). A Red Army soldier, a Latvian rifleman who guarded Smolny, he bravely fought as part of the Red Guard, who fought on the Pulkovo Heights with the units of General Krasnov advancing on St. Petersburg. Later he served as a mechanic on the battleship Gangut.

Over time, Voldemar grew into a major party worker: commissioner of the All-Russian Emergency Commission of the Kronstadt Fortress, commissar of the communications service of the Naval Forces of the Far Eastern Republic, delegate of the XVII Party Congress. In 1934, he was appointed head of the political department of the Baltic State Shipping Company. And at the end of 1937 he was arrested for “participation in the Latvian counter-revolutionary nationalist conspiracy and for espionage and sabotage activities in favor of Germany and Latvia.”

Events developed rapidly. In October 1937, Voldemar was expelled from the party with the wording “for political myopia and weakened vigilance.” On November 10, he was arrested and by a resolution of the “two” (Ezhov and Vyshinsky) dated January 11, 1938, he was sentenced to capital punishment. And already on January 18, Voldemar Abel and 216 other people, “members of the counter-revolutionary Latvian nationalist organization,” were shot. On May 9, 1957, they were all rehabilitated.

The third of the Abel brothers - the youngest Gottfried - spent his entire life in his hometown. He graduated from university, worked at various Riga enterprises, and raised his daughters. The difficulties of big politics bypassed Gottfried.

RETURN TO THE INVISIBLE FRONT

But let's return to Rudolf Abel. Later in his autobiography, he would write: “In March 1938, he was dismissed from the NKVD in connection with the arrest of my brother Voldemar.”

Hard times came: at the age of 38 he became a shooter in the paramilitary guard, was fired again, then a meager pension. And then, like William Fisher, there was an offer to return to the NKVD. On December 15, 1941, State Security Major Rudolf Abel returned to duty again, and again to the invisible. He is sent to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD under the command of the famous General Pavel Sudoplatov and is appointed deputy head of one of the units. The main task of the 4th Directorate was to organize reconnaissance and sabotage operations in the rear of German troops.

In the certification for Rudolf Abel, signed on March 16, 1945, there is a lot left unsaid, understandable only to specialists:

“He has one of the special branches of undercover operational work... Comrade. In practical work, Abel successfully carried out the responsible tasks assigned to him... From August 1942 to January 1943, he was on the Caucasian Front as part of the task force for the defense of the Main Caucasus Ridge. During the Patriotic War, he repeatedly went out to carry out special missions... He carried out special missions to prepare and deploy our agents behind enemy lines.”

For the successful completion of operational tasks, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, many military medals, and the “Honored Worker of the NKVD” badge. On September 27, 1946, Lieutenant Colonel Abel was again dismissed from the state security agencies, this time due to age.

Friendship with the Fisher family remained unchanged. In November 1948, Fischer went on a business trip that was destined to last 14 years. Rudolf Ivanovich did not wait for his comrade to return. He died suddenly in December 1955. He was buried at the German Cemetery in Moscow.

He was never destined to learn that the arrested William Fisher impersonated Rudolf Abel, that under his name William Genrikhovich morally won the case “United States against Rudolf Ivanovich Abel.” Even after passing away, foreign intelligence officer Rudolf Ivanovich Abel helped both his friend and the cause to which he devoted himself completely.

Most of Abel’s biography still remains classified as “secret,” but even those facts that are available today are impressive and reveal a lot about his personality.

Hereditary communist

William Fisher (he would receive his pseudonym much later) was born in England into a family of Russian political immigrants - his father and mother participated in the revolutionary movement in their homeland and were even personally acquainted with Lenin. It can be said that Abel inherited devotion to the ideas of communism and faith in Soviet ideology - a faith that was not broken by imprisonment in an American prison, nor by the hardships of work and life in Soviet Russia, nor by the opportunity to go over to the American side in search of a well-fed and comfortable life.

Dismissal from service

Abel’s career in intelligence did not develop very consistently - so, after almost ten years of service and work in illegal intelligence in Norway and Great Britain, he was fired from the NKVD. The reason was Beria’s distrust of those who had connections with “enemies of the people,” specifically with Alexander Orlov, an intelligence officer who fled to the West in 1938. Abel also worked with him at one time. After leaving the service, he went to work at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and later moved to an aircraft industrial plant, where he worked until the start of the Great Patriotic War. Of course, such work was not for him: Abel’s intellect required solving more complex problems and much more responsible tasks, so while working at the plant, he constantly wrote reports to the party authorities with a request to reinstate him in his position. And after more than two years in the civil service, at the very beginning of the Second World War, he managed to return - Abel was enlisted in a unit engaged in organizing combat reconnaissance and sabotage groups and partisan detachments behind enemy lines.

Radio game “Berezino” and participation in the parade

During the Great Patriotic War, Fischer-Abel fully demonstrated his abilities, proving in practice the correctness of the decision to return him back to the central intelligence apparatus. He trained radio operators for partisan detachments and agents sent to the German rear. In addition, Abel participated in the strategic operation “Berezino”, where he was responsible for the most important part - the radio game (that is, transmitting disinformation to the enemy headquarters, allegedly on behalf of their agents), which he carried out exceptionally masterfully. On account of Abel and security services at the famous

Work in the USA and failure of the operation

After the end of World War II, Fischer received an extremely important task from his superiors - in 1948 he was sent to a key area of ​​​​foreign intelligence work - the United States. In the states, Fischer, under the operational pseudonym “Mark,” worked to recreate the Soviet intelligence network, and used an art workshop in Brooklyn as cover. Abel's main focus was collecting information about the atomic bomb being developed by the Americans and transferring it to our intelligence. Abel conducted intelligence activities in the United States for nine years and during this time managed to do a tremendous amount of work.
His failure was not the result of carelessness or miscalculation, the reason was the betrayal of another Soviet agent, Reino Heikhanen, who handed Abel over to the American intelligence services.

Agent alias

After the arrest, “Mark’s” main task was to avoid provocations from the FBI and inform Moscow about his arrest. Fischer understood who ratted him out and acted on this knowledge. Heikhanen did not know Mark's real name, so during interrogation he pretended to be another Soviet intelligence officer, his late friend, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, with whom he had worked side by side for a long time in Soviet intelligence. Since then, Fischer went everywhere under his name. Only in the early nineties, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service officially announced that the real name of the Soviet intelligence officer who identified himself as Abel during his arrest was William Genrikhovich Fischer.

Exchange and return to homeland

For collecting military information and espionage for the USSR, Abel faced the death penalty, but thanks to the efforts of his lawyer James Dokovan, who also incidentally once served in intelligence, the death sentence was commuted to imprisonment for thirty-two years, which at 54 years old was equivalent to life imprisonment sentence. But this court decision turned out to be very far-sighted. In May 1960, an American plane was shot down near Sverdlovsk and its pilot, Francis Powers, was captured. Under pressure from the public and the pilot's family, the CIA agreed to exchange Powers for a Soviet agent. The importance and weight of Abel’s figure allowed the Americans to return to their homeland not only the downed pilot, but also two more citizens of their country, detained and held on the territory of the Soviet Union. On February 10, 1962, a historic exchange took place on the Glienicke Bridge dividing East and West Berlin.

Creative talent

William Fisher was exceptionally educated and comprehensively developed not only professionally, but also culturally. He knew six languages ​​and even taught French to his cellmate, understood the humanities and natural sciences, and was well versed in music, literature, photography and painting (it was not for nothing that Abel’s cover in New York was working in a studio). During his imprisonment in an American prison, Abel also did not sit idle - he developed his technological process for silk-screen printing, solved mathematical problems, prepared detailed drawings for the best use of the prison building and painted oil paintings. There is even a legend, without solid evidence, that the portrait of Kennedy, painted by Fisher in prison, was presented to the president and even hung in the oval office.

Arrested for spying in East Berlin in August 1961.

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 as a gunner for paramilitary security. 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 Kayotis (who died in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948). He then settled in New York under the name of 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 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” of current affairs, in 1952, illegal intelligence radio operator Reino Heikhanen (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 penitentiary 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

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 it was here in the years

Soviet illegal intelligence officer, 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.

Soviet intelligence officer-illegal. His real name was William Genrikhovich Fischer, but he went down in the history of the 20th century as Rudolf Abel. In 1948, V. Fischer was sent to work illegally in the United States to obtain information from sources working at nuclear facilities. He worked under the pseudonym "Mark". And he succeeded so much that already in August 1949 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In 1957, as a result of the betrayal of a certain Heikhanen, who was sent to help Fischer as a radio operator, he was arrested. When arrested, he identified himself as Rudolf Abel - that was the name of his friend, also an illegal intelligence officer, who died in 1955. This was done intentionally so that the “Center” would understand that it was he who was arrested. In October 1957, a noisy trial began on charges of espionage against Abel Rudolf Ivanovich. Sentence: 32 years in prison. But on February 10, 1962, R. Abel was exchanged for the American pilot Francis Powers, who was shot down on May 1, 1960 near Sverdlovsk and convicted by a Soviet court of espionage.

For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of 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.”

V. Fischer died on November 15, 1971, remaining for the whole world Rudolf Abel. He was buried in Moscow at the Donskoye Cemetery (1st place).

How to find a grave

From the entrance to the cemetery, walk along the central alley keeping to the left. Landmark - sign "Common grave 1", "Common grave 2". Turn left and go straight. The grave of Rudolf Abel is on the left near the road. To the left of Abel’s grave, in the third row from the road, is the grave of another legendary intelligence officer - Konon the Young.

Pseudonym - Rudolf Ivanovich Abel

Real name William August (Genrichovich) Fischer. Born on July 11, 1903 in Newcastle upon Tyne (Great Britain), died on November 15, 1971 in Moscow. Soviet illegal intelligence officer, colonel. Since 1948 he worked in the USA.

He was named by his parents in honor of William Shakespeare. While serving in intelligence, he received agent alias"Mark". Using the name Emil Robert Goldfus as an artist, he crossed the border and legalized himself in the United States, where he managed a Soviet intelligence network and, as a cover, owned a photo studio in Brooklyn. After his failure, he used the name and biography of his friend Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, who died in 1955, whom he met and worked together during the Second World War.

Short biography.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne into a family of Marxist political emigrants expelled from Russia in 1901 for revolutionary activities. In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia and took Soviet citizenship. 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, 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 became a very good radio operator. Everyone recognized his primacy. 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. In the central intelligence apparatus, he worked first as a translator, then as a radio operator.

Rudolf Abel worked in illegal intelligence in two European countries, simultaneously performing the duties of a radio operator in stations in several European countries. On December 31, 1938, he was dismissed from the NKVD 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.

Since 1941, again in the NKVD, in a unit organizing partisan warfare behind German lines. V. Fischer trained radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups sent to countries occupied by Germany.

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. 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 1957, he was arrested as a result of the betrayal of the illegal intelligence radio operator Heikhanen. He refused to cooperate with American intelligence services. At an open trial, he was found guilty of espionage for the USSR, as well as other violations of US law. Sentenced to 32 years in prison and $3,000 fine. He served his sentence in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. In 1962, he was exchanged for the American reconnaissance pilot Harry Powers, who was shot down over the territory of the USSR, and the American student Frederick Pryor on the “spy bridge” (Glienicke Bridge connecting Berlin and Potsdam). Upon returning to the Soviet Union, he was used by intelligence agencies as a teacher of special disciplines and a consultant. Participated in the work on the film directed by S. Ya. Kulish "Dead Season" (1968).

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