(11 July 1903, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – 15 November 1971). German. Born into a family professional revolutionaries. Member of the Komsomol since August 1922, member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1931.
In 1919 he entered the university in London, but in May 1920, without completing his studies, he left for Moscow with his parents. From May 1921 he worked as a translator in the international relations department of the ECCI, from September 1921 as a draftsman in the Northern Sea Route Committee of the NKVT, then again as a translator in the ECCI.
He entered VKHUTEMAS, and in 1924 he moved to the Indian department of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies. After completing his first year, he was drafted into the army.
In the Red Army: from October 1925. Served in the 1st radiotelegraph regiment of the Moscow Military District, Vladimir. Demobilized in November 1926, he worked at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force.
In state security agencies: on May 2, 1927. He began his service in the 8th department (scientific and technical intelligence) of the INO OGPU as an assistant commissioner. Then he moved to the 1st department (illegal intelligence). In the early 30s. sent on his first trip abroad to Norway using his own English documents (operational pseudonym “Frank”). In January 1935 he returned to Moscow for a short time, after which he went to London. He was a radio operator of the illegal station "Shveda" (A.M. Orlov, aka L.L. Nikolsky, aka L.L. Feldbin). In 1937 he was again recalled to Moscow. He worked in the central apparatus of the 7th (foreign) department of the GUGB NKVD of the USSR, on December 31, 1938 he was dismissed from the NKVD.
In 1939, after a letter to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, A.A. Andreev, he got a job at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, then as an engineer at an aircraft plant.
In September 1941, he returned to serve in the NKVD, senior detective officer of the 2nd Department of the NKVD of the USSR, then worked in the 4th Directorate of the NKVD-NKGB. Since the summer of 1942, he was involved in technical support for the radio game Monastery. In 1944, he was in Belarus to participate in the radio game Berezino, portraying one of the officers of Lieutenant Colonel Scherhorn's unit operating in the Soviet rear.
After the war, he transferred to the illegal intelligence service of the PGU MGB (since 1947 - the 4th Directorate of CI under the Council of Ministers of the USSR). Until 1947 he worked in France. The leadership of KI and the MGB considered various options for its use in illegal work abroad (in the USA, Western Europe or Norway); at the end of 1947, a decision was made to withdraw it to the USA.
In 1948, V.G. Fisher was appointed an illegal resident of the CI (then MGB-MVD-KGB) in the USA, operational pseudonym “Arach”, since 1952 - “Mark”. In October 1948, he left for Europe under the name Andrew Kayotis (according to legend, Lithuanian, born in 1895, returning home to Detroit), on November 14, 1948, he arrived by ship in Quebec, Canada, then traveled by train to New York. Once in the USA, he changed his documents and legend and subsequently acted under the name of Emil Robert Goldfus, born in 1902, an American of German origin. As a cover, he opened a workshop where he studied photography, painting and invention.
On May 30, 1949, Arach reported to the Center that it was ready to begin work. Illegal immigrants Maurice and Leontine Cohen (“Volunteers”) were transferred to his subordination, who were mainly engaged in intelligence atomic problem. Also, the illegal station managed to collect information on the West Coast of the United States about American military supplies to China, using newly recruited American agents and illegal immigrants hiding under the guise of Czechoslovak emigrants in Latin America: “Firina” (M.I. Filonenko), “Claude” (V.V. Grinchenko) and “Patria” (M. de las Heras). The second network of agents was deployed on the East Coast of the United States and consisted mainly of German immigrants.
In July 1950, due to the increased risk of failure, the Volunteers were recalled to Moscow. They were replaced in October 1952 by a new station radio operator who arrived in the USA - Major GB, since 1957 - Lieutenant Colonel N.K. Ivanov, aka R. Heikhanen (operational pseudonym "Vic", according to legend Eugene Maki, an American of Finnish origin , lived in New Jersey).
In June–December 1955, Mark was on vacation in the USSR. By this time, “Vic” had become drunk and embezzled $5,000 of operational funds. At the end of 1955, Mark demanded that the Center replace him. In the spring of 1957, he was summoned to Moscow, but stopping on the way in Paris, he appeared at the American embassy and asked for political asylum. During interrogations by the FBI, he reported that the Soviet illegal resident “Mark” was operating in New York (he did not know Fischer’s real name), his rank and approximate address.
After Heikhanen's departure, "Mark" left for Daytona Beach, Florida, preparing, in case of danger, to flee to Mexico. On May 6, having received a message that Heyhanen had arrived in Paris, he returned to New York, where he rented a hotel room under the name Martin Collins. He returned to his old apartment several times to destroy incriminating materials and on one visit, on June 20, he was spotted by FBI agents monitoring the apartment. The next morning, he was arrested by FBI agents in his hotel room, on an arrest warrant issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
During interrogation, Fischer admitted that he was a citizen of the USSR, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, which was reported to the Soviet embassy. United States v. Abel was tried in New York federal court in August–October 1957. He was charged with conspiracy to collect and transmit defense information to the USSR and remaining on U.S. soil as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the State Department. He was found guilty on all charges. On November 15, 1957, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $3,000 fine. Held in prison in Atlanta, Illinois.
In June 1960, negotiations began on a possible exchange of Fisher for the pilot of the downed American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft F. G. Powers. On February 10, 1962, Powers was exchanged for Abel-Fischer on the Glieniker-Brücke bridge between West and East Berlin. At the same time, two more Americans arrested on charges of espionage were released: F. Pryor and M. Makkinen.
After returning, he worked in the 5th department of Directorate “S” of the KGB PGU under the USSR Council of Ministers. He retired in 1971 and soon died of cancer.
Ranks:
- Lieutenant GB (November 19, 1936);
- Major (as of 1948)
- Colonel (1957)
Awards: Order of Lenin (40s), 3 Orders of the Red Banner (60s), Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Patriotic War 1st degree and Red Star (1949), badge “Honorary State Security Officer” (March 1, 1962), medals.
Other photos:
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(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 specialist in chicken breeding. 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 by then returned to the USSR, was deprived of military rank and fired. For several years he worked as an engineer at a Moscow plant. Already during Finnish war they remembered Fischer. 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 transmission 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 possessed by American intelligence agencies. 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.
50 years ago, on February 10, 1962, on the Glienicker Brucke bridge connecting Berlin and Potsdam, where the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and West Berlin passed, the Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel was exchanged for the American pilot Francis Powers.
Soviet military intelligence officer, Colonel Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (real name and surname William Genrikhovich Fischer) has been in the United States since 1948, where he carried out the task of identifying the degree of possibility of a military conflict with the United States, created reliable illegal channels of communication with the Center, and obtained information about economic situation and military (including nuclear) potential.
As a result of betrayal, he was arrested on June 21, 1957. When arrested, he identified himself by the name of his friend and colleague - Rudolf Abel. 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.
On November 15, 1957, he was sentenced by an American court to 30 years in prison. He served his sentence in a federal prison in Atlanta.
Soviet intelligence began fighting for Abel's release immediately after his sentencing. Painstaking work went on for several years, carried out by a large group of KGB officers. The prisoner had a “cousin”, Jurgen Drives, under whose name Yuri Drozdov, an employee of the KGB station in East Berlin, worked, and correspondence was established between Abel’s family members and his lawyer in the United States, James Donovan, through his lawyer in East Berlin, Wolfgang Vogel. At first, things developed sluggishly. The Americans were very careful, checking the addresses of the relative and the lawyer, clearly not fully trusting “Cousin Drives” and Vogel.
Events began to develop faster after the international scandal that occurred on May 1, 1960. On this day, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flown by pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). The reconnaissance flight route of the aircraft ran from the Peshawar base (Pakistan) through the territory of Afghanistan, a significant part of the territory of the USSR (Aral Sea - Sverdlovsk - Kirov - Plesetsk) and was supposed to end at the Bude air base in Norway. His goal was to photograph military installations.
After crossing the USSR border, they tried to intercept the reconnaissance plane several times soviet fighters, but all attempts ended in failure, since the U-2 could fly at altitudes inaccessible to fighters of that time: more than 21 kilometers. The plane was shot down near the village of Povarnya near Sverdlovsk by an anti-aircraft missile missile complex(SAM) S-75, created at NPO Almaz (now the Head System Design Bureau of the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern). The S-75 air defense system was used for the first time to suppress aviation operations.
The missile hit the tail section of the U-2 aircraft at an altitude of more than 20 kilometers. The downed plane began to fall. Powers was saved by the fact that his cabin miraculously did not depressurize; he waited until he fell to the 10-kilometer mark and jumped out with a parachute. After landing, Powers was arrested and later sentenced to 10 years in prison.
At a press conference, in response to Soviet accusations that the United States was committing espionage by sending its planes over Soviet territory, US President Dwight Eisenhower advised the Russians to remember the Rudolf Abel affair.
Photos of Abel and materials about him again appeared in the press. The New York Daily News was the first to suggest trading Abel for Powers in an editorial. This initiative was taken up by other American newspapers. Soviet intelligence also intensified its activities. The Americans understood perfectly well that a high-class professional intelligence officer, Abel, was “worth” much more than a simple, albeit experienced pilot, Powers, and they hoped to make a profitable deal. As a result of negotiations, an agreement was reached to exchange Abel for three Americans. In addition to pilot Powers, the Soviet side agreed to release American student from Yale Frederick Pryor, arrested for spying in East Berlin in August 1961, and the young American Marvin Makinen from the University of Pennsylvania. He was in prison in Kyiv, Ukraine, serving an 8-year sentence for espionage.
It was decided to exchange Abel and Powers on February 10, 1962 on the Glieniker-Brücke Bridge. Exactly in the middle of the bridge, built over the channel between two lakes, passed state border between the GDR and West Berlin. This dark green steel bridge was about a hundred meters long; the approaches to it were clearly visible, which made it possible to take all precautions. In another area of Berlin, at Checkpoint Charlie, Frederick Pryor was to be released.
On the morning of February 10, American cars approached the bridge from one side, and Abel was in one of them. On the other are the cars of the Soviet and East German representatives who brought Powers. They were accompanied by a covered van with a radio station. Just in case, a group of border guards from the GDR took refuge in it.
As soon as the signal came over the radio that Pryor had been handed over to the Americans at Checkpoint Charlie, the main exchange operation began (Makinen was handed over a month later).
Officials from both sides met in the middle of the bridge and completed the pre-agreed procedure. Abel and Powers were invited there too. The officers confirmed that these are exactly the people they are waiting for.
After this, Abel was given a document of release, signed in Washington on January 31, 1962 by US President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Justice Robert Kennedy.
Following this, Abel and Powers each walked to their own side of the border.
Returning to Moscow, Fischer (Abel) was sent for treatment and rest, then continued to work in the central apparatus of foreign intelligence. He took part in the training of young illegal intelligence officers. He died in 1971 at the age of 68.
Returning to his homeland, Powers then flew on a television company's helicopter. In August 1977, he died when the helicopter he was piloting crashed while returning from filming fighting forest fires in the Los Angeles area.
(Additional
FBI Director Edgar Hoover once gave a kind of description of his professional qualities: “The persistent hunt for spymaster Abel is one of the most remarkable cases in our asset...” And the long-time head of the CIA, Allen Dulles, added another touch to this portrait, writing in his book “The Art of Intelligence”: “Everything that Abel did, he did out of conviction, and not for money. I would like us to have three or four people like Abel in Moscow.”
His biography - ready script not even for a feature film, but for an exciting serial saga. And even if something has already formed the basis of individual film works, not in every film you will see what this person really went through, what he experienced. He himself is a cross-section of history, its living embodiment. A visible example of worthy service to his cause and devotion to the country for which he took mortal risks
Don't think down on seconds
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (real name William Genrikhovich Fischer) was born on July 11, 1903 in the small town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, into a family of Russian political emigrants. His father, a native of the Yaroslavl province, was from a family of Russified Germans, actively participated in revolutionary activities and was sent abroad as “unreliable.” In England, he and his chosen one, the Russian girl Lyuba, had a son, who was named William - in honor of Shakespeare. My father was well versed in natural sciences and knew three languages. This love was passed on to Willie. At the age of 16, he successfully passed the exam at the University of London, but at that time his family decided to return to Moscow.
Here William works as a translator in the international relations department of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, and studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies. Was and military service by conscription - her future intelligence officer served in the radiotelegraph regiment of the Moscow Military District, as well as work at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force. In 1927, William Fisher was hired into the foreign department of the OGPU as an assistant commissioner. He performed illegal intelligence tasks in Europe, including acting as a station radio operator. Upon returning to Moscow, he received the rank of state security lieutenant, but after some time he was unexpectedly dismissed from intelligence. It is believed that this was Beria’s personal decision: he did not trust the personnel working with “enemies of the people,” and Fischer managed to work abroad for some time with the defector Alexander Orlov.
William got a job at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, later worked at an aircraft manufacturing plant, but at the same time bombarded his former “office” with reports of reinstatement. His request was granted in the fall of 1941, when the need arose for experienced, proven specialists. Fischer was enlisted in a unit involved in organizing sabotage groups and partisan detachments behind enemy lines, in particular, he trained radio operators to be deployed behind the front line. During that period, he became friends with his workmate Abel, whose name he would later use when arrested.
After the war, William Fisher was sent to the United States, where, living on different passports, he organized his own photo studio in New York, which played the role of an effective cover. It was from here that he directed the vast intelligence network of the USSR in America. In the late 40s, he worked with the famous intelligence officers the Cohen couple. This activity was extremely effective - important documents and information entered the country, including missile weapons. However, in 1957, the intelligence officer ended up in the hands of the CIA. There was a traitor in his circle - it was radio operator Heikhanen (pseudonym “Vic”), who, fearing punishment from his superiors for drunkenness and waste of official funds, passed on information about the intelligence network to the American intelligence services. When the arrest occurred, Fischer introduced himself as Rudolf Abel, and it was under this name that he went down in history. Despite the fact that he did not admit his guilt, the court imposed a sentence of 32 years in prison. The intelligence officer also rejected persistent attempts by American intelligence officers to persuade him to cooperate. In 1962, Abel was exchanged for the American U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Powers, who was shot down two years earlier in the skies over the Urals.
After rest and treatment, William Fisher - Rudolf Abel returned to work in the central apparatus of Soviet intelligence. He took part in the training of young specialists who were to go to the “front line” of foreign intelligence. The famous intelligence officer passed away on November 15, 1971. The SVR website notes that “Colonel V. Fischer for outstanding services in ensuring the state security of our country was awarded the Order of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the Red Star, many medals, as well as badge “Honorary State Security Officer”.
They whistle like bullets at your temple
The name of Abel-Fisher is known to the general public, by and large, only from the final episode of his work in America and the subsequent exchange for a downed US pilot. Meanwhile, his biography had many bright pages, including those about which not everyone knows everything. Special services historian, journalist and writer Nikolai Dolgopolov, in his book “Legendary Intelligence Officers,” focused on only some facts from the life of the legendary intelligence officer. But they also reveal him as a real hero. It turns out that it was Fischer who conducted the radio game on behalf of the captured German Lieutenant Colonel Schorhorn.
“According to the legend planted on the Germans by Pavel Sudoplatov’s department, a large Wehrmacht unit operated in the Belarusian forests and miraculously escaped capture. It allegedly attacks regular Soviet units, while simultaneously reporting to Berlin about the movement of enemy troops, writes Nikolai Dolgopolov. - In Germany they believed this, especially since the small group of Germans wandering in the forests actually maintained regular contact with Berlin. It was William Fisher, dressed in the uniform of a fascist officer, who played this game together with his radio operators.”
The Germans were fooled in this way for almost a year. For this operation and for his work during the war in general, William Fisher was awarded the Order of Lenin. He received the military order of the Red Star in the very first years of his work in the USA. Then, not only from New York, where he lived (by the way, he allegedly settled in mockery at 252 Fulton Street - near the FBI office), but also from the coast, radiograms came from the coast about the movements of military equipment, information regarding the operational situation in major American port cities, delivery, transportation of military cargo from the Pacific coast. Fischer also led the network of Soviet “atomic agents” - this, as Nikolai Dolgopolov notes, “was his first and most important task.” In general, “Mark” - this was the pseudonym Fischer had in the USA, managed to short time reorganize the illegal network that remained in the United States after World War II. The fact is that in 1948, Soviet intelligence suffered losses here: even before Fischer’s arrival, many Soviet agents were arrested due to betrayal, our consulates and official representative offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco were closed.
“Nine years of work, each of which counts to the illegal immigrant for two, several orders, and a promotion in rank. The colonel did not manage to accomplish even more, although he created all the conditions for successful work- his own and the agents’, notes Nikolai Dolgopolov. “The traitor Heihanen interfered.”
During the arrest, Fischer showed fantastic composure and composure. When people from the FBI called him a colonel, he immediately realized that the traitor was “Vic”: only the radio operator knew what officer rank at Mark's. Our intelligence officer also behaved courageously during the trial: his lawyer James Donovan later recalled with what admiration he watched his client. But the sentence for a 54-year-old man looked almost like death - 32 years in prison... By the way, in Steven Spielberg’s recent film Bridge of Spies, the image of the Soviet intelligence officer was talentedly portrayed by British actor Mark Rylance, showing the character of his hero without the usual Hollywood cliches and current anti-Russian hysteria . The role was so successful that the artist even received an Oscar for her performance. It is worth noting that Rudolf Abel himself took part in the creation of the feature film “Dead Season,” which was released in 1968. The plot of the tape, main role in which Donatas Banionis played, turned out to be connected with some facts from the intelligence officer’s biography.
To whom is infamy, and to whom is immortality
In his memoirs, set out in the book “Notes of the Chief of Illegal Intelligence,” the former head of department “C” (illegals) of the First Main Directorate of the KGBSSR, Major General Yuri Drozdov, spoke about some of the details of the exchange of Rudolf Abel for the American pilot Powers. In this operation, the security officer played the role of Abel’s “cousin,” a petty employee of Drives who lived in the GDR.
“Painstaking work was carried out by a large group of Center employees. In Berlin, in addition to me, the department’s leadership also dealt with these issues,” writes General Drozdov. - A relative of Drives was “made”, correspondence between Abel’s family members and his lawyer in the USA, Donovan, was established through a lawyer in East Berlin. At first, things developed sluggishly. The Americans were very careful and began checking the addresses of the relative and lawyer. Apparently they felt insecure. In any case, this was evidenced by the data that came to us from their office in West Berlin, and by monitoring the actions of their agents on the territory of the GDR.”
On the eve of the exchange, as Yuri Drozdov recalled, the head of the Office of the Commissioner of the USSR KGB in the GDR, General A. A. Krokhin, had his last meeting. “Early in the morning I woke up from a knock on the door. The car was already waiting for me below. I arrived at the exchange place without sleep. But the exchange went well - R.I. Abel returned home.”
By the way, Yuri Ivanovich remembered this detail - Powers was handed over to the Americans in a good coat, a winter fawn hat, physically strong and healthy. Abel crossed the exchange line in some kind of gray-green prison robe and a small cap that barely fit on his head. “On the same day, we spent a couple of hours buying him the necessary wardrobe in Berlin stores,” General Drozdov recalled. - I met him again in the late 60s, in the dining room of our building on Lubyanka, during my visit to the Center from China. He recognized me, came up, thanked me, and said that we should still talk. I couldn't because I was flying out that evening. Fate decreed that I visited Abel’s dacha only in 1972, but already on the anniversary of his death.”
The former deputy head of the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, Lieutenant General Vadim Kirpichenko, emphasized in one of his interviews that only the most famous episodes of Abel’s work are still named in open sources.
“The paradox is that many other, very interesting fragments still remain in the shadows,” the general noted. - Yes, the classification of secrecy 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, understandably, are looking for something more interesting. And some things are completely difficult to restore. The chronicler didn’t follow Abel! Today, documentary evidence of his work is scattered across many archival folders. Bringing them together, reconstructing events is a painstaking task, long work, who will get it? But when there are no facts, legends appear..."
Perhaps Rudolf Abel himself will forever remain the same legendary man. A real intelligence officer, patriot, officer.