Bridge of Spies. The real story of the main exchange of the Cold War

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The real name of the man who is considered the most outstanding intelligence officer of the twentieth century is William Genrikhovich Fisher. He was born on July 11, 1903 in the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

A professional revolutionary, a Russified German from the Yaroslavl province, Heinrich Fischer, by the will of fate, turned out to be a resident of Saratov. He married a Russian girl, Lyuba. For revolutionary activities he was expelled abroad.

Heinrich Fischer was a convinced Marxist who personally knew Lenin and Krzhizhanovsky. His mother, Lyubov Vasilievna, a native of Saratov, was his comrade-in-arms in the struggle. He could not go to Germany: a case was opened against him there, and the young family settled in England, in Shakespeare's places. On July 11, 1903, in the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Lyuba had a son, who was named William in honor of the great playwright.

At the age of sixteen, William entered the university, but did not have to study there for long: in 1920, the Fisher family returned to Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship. Seventeen-year-old William fell in love with Russia and became its passionate patriot. I didn’t have the chance to get into the Civil War, but I willingly joined the Red Army. He acquired the specialty of a radiotelegraph operator, which was very useful to him in the future.

The OGPU personnel officers could not help but pay attention to the guy, who spoke Russian and English equally well, and also knew German and French, who also knew radio and had an unblemished biography. In 1927, he was enlisted in the state security agencies, or more precisely, in the Foreign Department of the OGPU, which was then headed by Artuzov.

At first he performs the well-known duties of a translator, and then a radio operator. Since his homeland was England, the leadership of the OGPU decided to send Fisher to the British Isles to work.

Beginning in 1930, he lived in England for several years as a resident of Soviet intelligence, periodically traveling to other countries of Western Europe. He acted as a radio operator for the station and organized a secret radio network, transmitting radiograms to the center from other residents. On instructions that came from Stalin himself, he managed to persuade the famous physicist Pyotr Kapitsa, who was teaching at Oxford at that time, to return to the USSR from England. There is also some information that at this time Fischer was in China several times, where he met and became friends with his colleague from the foreign department of the OGPU, Rudolf Abel, under whose name he went down in history.

In May 1936, Fischer returned to Moscow and began training illegal immigrants. One of his students turned out to be Kitty Harris, a liaison to many of our outstanding intelligence officers, including Vasily Zarubin and Donald McLane. In her file, stored in the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service, several documents written and signed by Fischer were preserved. From them it is clear how much work it cost him to teach students who were incapable of technology. Kitty was a polyglot, well versed in political and operational issues, but proved to be completely immune to technology. Having somehow made her into a mediocre radio operator, Fisher was forced to write in the “Conclusion”: “in technical matters she is easily confused...” When she ended up in England, he did not forget her and helped with advice.

And yet, in his report, written after her retraining in 1937, detective William Fisher writes that “although “Gypsy” (alias Kitty Harris) received precise instructions from me and Comrade Abel R.I., she did not work as a radio operator Maybe…"

Here we first meet the name under which William Fisher would become world famous many years later.

Who was “t. Abel R.I.”?

Here are lines from his autobiography:

“I was born in 1900 on 23/IX in Riga. Father is a chimney sweep, mother is a housewife. He lived with his parents until he was fourteen years old and graduated from the 4th grade. elementary school... worked as a delivery boy. In 1915 he moved to Petrograd.”

Soon the revolution began, and the young Latvian, like hundreds of his compatriots, sided with the Soviet regime. As a private fireman, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel fought on the Volga and Kama, and went on an operation behind white lines on the destroyer “Retivy”. “In this operation, the death barge with prisoners was recaptured from the whites.”

Then there were battles near Tsaritsyn, a class of radio operators in Kronstadt and work as a radio operator on our most distant Commander Islands and on Bering Island. From July 1926 he was commandant of the Shanghai consulate, then radio operator of the Soviet embassy in Beijing. Since 1927 - an employee of the INO OGPU. Two years later, “in 1929, he was sent to illegal work outside the cordon. He was at this job until the fall of 1936.” There are no details about this business trip in Abel’s personal file. But let us pay attention to the time of return - 1936, that is, almost simultaneously with V. Fischer.

From that time on, judging by the above document, they worked together. And the fact that they were inseparable is known from the memories of their colleagues, who, when they came to the dining room, joked: “There, Abeli ​​has arrived.” They were friends and families. V. G. Fischer’s daughter, Evelyn, recalled that Uncle Rudolf visited them often, was always calm, cheerful, and knew how to get along with children...

R.I. Abel did not have his own children. His wife, Alexandra Antonovna, came from the nobility, which apparently interfered with his career. Even worse was the fact that his brother Voldemar Abel, head of the political department of the shipping company, in 1937 turned out to be “a participant in the Latvian counter-revolutionary nationalist conspiracy and was sentenced to VMN for espionage and sabotage activities in favor of Germany and Latvia.” In connection with these R.I. Abel was dismissed from the ranks of the NKVD. But with the outbreak of the war he returned to serve in the NKVD. As recorded in his personal file: “During the Patriotic War, he repeatedly went out to carry out special missions... carried out special missions to prepare and deploy our agents behind enemy lines.” At the end of the war he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and two Orders of the Red Star. At the age of forty-six he was dismissed from the state security agencies with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel died suddenly in 1955, never knowing that his name had gone down in intelligence history.

Pre-war fate also did not spoil William Genrikhovich Fischer. After the curator of residents in Western Europe, Alexander Orlov, fled to the United States in early 1938, taking with him the NKVD cash register, William Fisher was recalled to the USSR because he was in danger of being exposed. Having worked briefly in the foreign intelligence apparatus in Moscow, on December 31, 1938, he was dismissed from the agency without explanation and sent into retirement. After his dismissal, Fischer got a job, first at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and six months later at an aircraft industrial plant, while constantly writing reports to the Central Committee with a request to reinstate him in intelligence.

When the Patriotic War began, William Fisher was remembered as a highly qualified specialist, and in September 1941 he was appointed to the post of head of the communications department in the central intelligence apparatus at Lubyanka. There is evidence that he was involved in supporting the parade on November 7, 1941 on Red Square in Moscow. Until the end of the war, Fischer was engaged in technical training of radio operators of sabotage groups that were sent to the German rear, including countries occupied by Hitler. He taught radio science at the Kuibyshev intelligence school, participated in radio games with German radio operators, including “Monastery” and “Berezino”.

In the last of them, Fischer was able to fool such a German master of sabotage as Otto Skorzeny, who sent his best people to help the non-existent German underground on the territory of the USSR, where the Soviet secret services were already waiting for them. Until the end of the war, the Germans never learned that they had been cleverly led by the nose. For his activities during the Patriotic War he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

It is possible that Fischer personally carried out the task behind German lines. The famous Soviet intelligence officer Konon Molodoy (aka Lonsdale, aka Ben) recalled that, having been thrown behind the front line, he was almost immediately caught and taken for interrogation to German counterintelligence. He recognized the officer who interrogated him as William Fisher. He superficially interrogated him, and when left alone, he called him an “idiot” and practically pushed him out of the threshold with his boots. Is this true or false? Knowing Young’s habit of hoaxes, one can rather assume the latter. But there may have been something.

In 1946, Fischer was transferred to a special reserve and began to prepare for a long business trip abroad. He was then already forty-three years old. His daughter was growing up. It was very difficult to leave my family.

At the beginning of 1948, freelance artist and photographer Emil R. Goldfus, aka William Fisher, aka illegal immigrant “Mark,” settled in the Brooklyn borough of New York. His studio was at 252 Fulton Street. He drew at a professional level, although he never studied this anywhere.

It was a difficult time for Soviet intelligence. In the United States, McCarthyism, anti-Sovietism, “witch hunts,” and spy mania were in full swing. Intelligence officers who worked “legally” in Soviet institutions were under constant surveillance and expected provocations at any moment. Communication with agents was difficult. And from her came the most valuable materials related to the creation of atomic weapons.

Fischer's subordinates acted independently of the Soviet station with legal cover - diplomats and consular employees. Fischer had a separate radio communication system for communication with Moscow. As liaison agents, he had the later famous married couple “Louis” and “Leslie” - Maurice and Leontine Cohen (Kroger).

They later recalled that it was easy to work with Mark - Rudolf Ivanovich Abel: “After several meetings with him, we immediately felt how we were gradually becoming more operationally competent and experienced “Intelligence,” Abel liked to repeat, “is a high art... It is talent, creativity, inspiration...” Our dear Milt was just such an incredibly rich spiritually man, with high culture, knowledge of six foreign languages ​​- that’s what we called him behind his back. Consciously or unconsciously, we completely trusted him and always looked for support in him. It could not be otherwise: as a highly educated, intelligent person, with a highly developed sense of honor and dignity, integrity and commitment, it was impossible not to love him. He never hid his high patriotic feelings and devotion to Russia.".

Fischer managed to create a Soviet spy network not only in the United States, but also in Latin American countries - Mexico, Brazil, Argentina. In 1949, William Fisher was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for obtaining important data concerning the American atomic experiment "Manhattan". They obtained information about the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council in the United States, with a detailed list of tasks assigned to them.

Unfortunately, there is no access to materials about what William Fisher did and what information he transmitted to his homeland during this period. One can only hope that someday they will be declassified.

In 1955, Fischer returned to the Soviet Union for several months when his close friend Rudolf Abel died.

William Fisher's intelligence career ended when his signalman and radio operator, Reino Heihanen, betrayed him. Having learned that Reino was mired in drunkenness and debauchery, the intelligence leadership decided to recall him, but did not have time. He got into debt and became a traitor.

On the night of June 24-25, 1957, Fischer, under the name Martin Collins, stayed at the Latham Hotel in New York, where he conducted another communication session. At dawn, three people in civilian clothes burst into the room. One of them stated: “ Colonel! We know that you are a colonel and what you are doing in our country. Let's get acquainted. We are FBI agents. We have in our hands reliable information about who you are and what you do. The best solution for you is cooperation. Otherwise arrest».

William managed to go to the toilet, where he got rid of the code and telegram received at night. But FBI agents found some other documents and items that confirmed his intelligence affiliation. The arrested man was taken out of the hotel in handcuffs, put into a car, and then flown to Texas, where he was placed in an immigration camp.

Fischer immediately guessed that Heyhanen had betrayed him. But he did not know his real name. So, you don't have to name him. True, it was useless to deny that he came from the USSR. William decided to give his name to his late friend Abel, believing that as soon as information about his arrest became known, people at home would understand who he was talking about. He feared that the Americans might start a radio game. By taking a name known to the Center, he made it clear to the service that he was in prison. He told the Americans: “I will testify on the condition that you allow me to write to the Soviet Embassy.” They agreed, and the letter actually arrived at the consular department. But the consul did not understand the point. He opened a “case”, filed a letter, and answered the Americans that such a fellow citizen was not listed among us. But I didn’t even think to inform the Center. So our people only learned about the arrest of “Mark” from the newspapers.

In October 1957, a public trial against Fischer-Abel began in federal court in New York, in which he was accused of espionage; his name became known not only in the United States, but throughout the world. He categorically refused to admit guilt on all charges, refused to testify in court and rejected all offers from the American side for cooperation.

The American publicist I. Esten wrote about Abel’s behavior in court in his book “How the American Secret Service Works”: “ For three weeks they tried to convert Abel, promising him all the blessings of life... When this failed, they began to scare him with the electric chair... But this did not make the Russian more pliable. When asked by the judge whether he pleaded guilty, he answered without hesitation: “No!” Abel refused to testify.».

To this it must be added that both promises and threats were made to Abel not only during, but also before and after the trial. And all with the same result.

Abel's lawyer, James Britt Donovan, a knowledgeable and conscientious man, did a lot both for his defense and for the exchange. On October 24, 1957, he delivered an excellent defense speech, which largely influenced the decision of the “ladies and gentlemen of the jury.” Here are just a few excerpts from it:

« ...Let's assume that this person is exactly who the government says he is. This means that while serving the interests of his country, he was performing an extremely dangerous task. In our country's armed forces, we send only the bravest and smartest people on such missions. You have heard how every American who knew Abel involuntarily gave a high assessment of the moral qualities of the defendant, although he was called for a different purpose...

... Heihanen is a renegade from any point of view... You saw what he is: a good-for-nothing guy, a traitor, a liar, a thief... The laziest, most inept, most unlucky agent... Sergeant Rhodes appeared. You all saw what kind of man he was: a dissolute, a drunkard, a traitor to his country. He never met Heyhanen... He never met the defendant. At the same time, he told us in detail about his life in Moscow, that he sold us all for money. What does this have to do with the defendant?..

And on the basis of this kind of testimony, we are asked to make a guilty verdict against this person. Possibly sent to death row... I ask you to remember this when you consider your verdict...»

In November 1957, Fisher was sentenced to 32 years in prison, served in solitary confinement in Atlanta.

Allen Dulles

The most difficult thing for him in prison was the ban on correspondence with his family. It was allowed (subject to strict censorship) only after Abel’s personal meeting with CIA chief Allen Dulles, who, saying goodbye to Abel and turning to lawyer Donovan, dreamily said: “ I would like us to have three or four people like Abel in Moscow ».

The fight for Abel's release began. The painstaking work went on for several years. Events began to unfold at a more accelerated pace only after May 1, 1960, when an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down in the Sverdlovsk area and its pilot Francis Harry Powers was captured.

Still from the film "Low Season"

On February 10, 1962, an exchange procedure took place on the Glienicke Bridge between East and West Berlin. Since the Americans were well aware of the level of Agent Fisher, in addition to Harry Powers, the Soviet side also had to hand over Frederick Pryer and Marvin Makinen, students convicted in the USSR for espionage.

Eyewitnesses recall that Powers was handed over to the Americans wearing a good coat, a winter fawn hat, physically strong and healthy. Abel turned out to be wearing a gray-green prison robe and cap, and, according to Donovan, “looked thin, tired and very old.”

An hour later, Abel met his wife and daughter in Berlin, and the next morning the happy family flew to Moscow.

The last years of his life, William Genrikhovich Fischer, aka Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, aka “Mark,” worked in foreign intelligence. Once he acted in a movie with the opening speech for the film “Low Season”. Traveled to the GDR, Romania, Hungary. He often spoke to young workers, trained and instructed them.

Acted as a consultant during the creation of the Soviet film about intelligence officers “Dead Season”, where the facts of his own biography were filmed.

Died November 15, 1971. He was buried under his own name at the Donskoye Cemetery in Moscow. In 2015, in Samara, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived during the war.

The whole country started talking about Rudolf Ivanovich Abel in 1969 after the release of the feature film “Dead Season” on the screens of the Soviet Union.

In 2015, in Samara, a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived during the war.

In the same year, the film Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in Hollywood, telling the story of the life of William Fisher from the moment of arrest to the exchange.

Thanks for reading!

Materials used in preparing the article.

Abel Rudolf Ivanovich (real name Fisher William Genrikhovich) was born on July 11, 1903 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (England) into a family of Russian political emigrants. His father is a native of the Yaroslavl province, from a family of Russified Germans, and an active participant in revolutionary activities. Mother is a native of Saratov. She also participated in the revolutionary movement. For this, the Fisher couple were expelled abroad in 1901 and settled in England.

From childhood, Willie had a persistent character and was a good student. He showed particular interest in the natural sciences. At the age of 16 he successfully passed the exam at the University of London.

In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Moscow. Willie is hired as a translator to work in the international relations department of the Comintern Executive Committee.

In 1924, he entered the Indian department of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow and successfully completed the first year. However, then he was called up for military service and enlisted in the 1st radiotelegraph regiment of the Moscow Military District. After demobilization, Willie goes to work at the Red Army Air Force Research Institute.

In 1927, V. Fisher was hired by the INO OGPU for the position of assistant commissioner. He carried out important assignments from management through illegal intelligence in two European countries. He performed the duties of a radio operator in illegal stations, whose activities covered several European countries.

Upon returning to Moscow, he received a promotion for successfully completing the assignment. He was awarded the rank of state security lieutenant, which corresponded to the rank of major. At the end of 1938, without explanation, V. Fisher was fired from intelligence. This was explained by Beria’s distrust of the personnel working with “enemies of the people.”

V. Fisher got a job at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and later moved to an aircraft industrial plant. He repeatedly submitted reports about his reinstatement in intelligence.

In September 1941, his request was granted. V. Fischer was enrolled in a unit engaged in organizing sabotage groups and partisan detachments behind the lines of the Nazi occupiers. During this period, he became friends with a work comrade, Abel R.I., whose name he would later use when arrested. V. Fischer trained radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups sent to countries occupied by Germany.

At the end of the war, V. Fisher 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 from sources working in nuclear facilities. The Cohen spouses were appointed as liaison agents for “Mark” (the pseudonym of V. Fisher).

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.

To relieve “Mark” of current affairs, in 1952, illegal intelligence radio operator Heikhanen (pseudonym “Vic”) was sent to help him. “Vic” turned out to be morally and psychologically unstable, abused alcohol, and spent government money. Four years later, a decision was made to return 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 a hotel by FBI agents. At that time, the leadership of the USSR declared that our country was not engaged in “espionage.” In order to let Moscow know about his arrest and that he was not a traitor, V. Fischer, during his arrest, called himself by the name of his late friend R. 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.

After the verdict was announced, "Mark" 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. In conclusion, he studied solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. He painted oil paintings.

On February 10, 1962, on the border between West and East Berlin, on the Glienicke Bridge, he 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.

After rest and treatment, V. Fisher returned to work in the central intelligence apparatus. He took part in the training of young illegal intelligence officers.

For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of our country, Colonel V. Fisher 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 the badge "Honorary State Security Officer" .

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.

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 head of 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 - during the war years: participation in Operation Berezino. Then Soviet intelligence created a fictitious German group under Colonel Schorhorn, supposedly 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 1945 and sounds something like this: we can no longer help you, 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, we managed to avoid dead-end research, the desired result was obtained in the shortest possible 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, still remain in the shadows.

- Classified?

Not necessary. The secrecy label has already been removed from many cases. But there are stories that, against the backdrop of already known information, look routine and inconspicuous (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 of his work is 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 maximum 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 of the reconnaissance group, Molodoy, is dropped into the German rear, he is soon captured, brought to the village, 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. There could have been a deliberately launched beautiful legend. In any case, Fischer did not wear a Wehrmacht uniform. Only during Operation Berezino, when German agents were parachuted into the Schorhorn camp 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 that he is a scout, but you don’t really know what he was doing, myth-making begins.

"I would rather die than give away the secrets I know"

He drew excellently, at a professional level. In America he had patents for inventions. Played several instruments. In his free time, he solved 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 is a special state that is very difficult to explain in words.

- Courage?

If you want to. 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 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 preventative measure. But I would not exaggerate... After returning from the USA, Abel was given performances at factories, institutes, even on collective farms. There was no mockery of the Soviet regime 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 running away and starting 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. Of course, he was a 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.

- A smart, strong person constantly travels abroad during Soviet times. 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 polite service. Can you imagine this with us?” I think that Abel had similar thoughts.

- How did Abel live here?

As everybody. 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, they were already awarded Heroes of Russia by the new government. 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 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!

- Did Abel try to write memoirs?

Once he wrote memoirs about his arrest, his stay in prison, and his exchange for Powers. Something 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" - the professional activities of Rudolf Ivanovich are most accurately reflected there. 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, her 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, and whistled contentedly while solving mathematical equations. Kirill Khenkin writes about his soulmate Willie, who ideologically served the Soviet country, and at the end of his life thought about the degeneration of the system, and was interested in dissident literature...

So, after all, we are the same with our enemies, different with our family, different at different times. 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.

Rudolf Abel. Homecoming. Excerpt

"...The road went downhill, water and a large iron bridge were visible ahead. Not far from the barrier, the car stopped. At the entrance to the bridge, a large board announced in English, German and Russian: “You are leaving the American zone.”

We've arrived!

We stood there for a few minutes. One of the Americans came out, walked up to the barrier and exchanged a few words with the man standing there. A few more minutes of waiting. We were given the signal to approach. We got out of the car, and then it turned out that instead of two small bags with my things, they took only one - with shaving accessories. The second, with letters and court cases, remained with the Americans. I protested. They promised to give them to me. I received them a month later!

With leisurely steps we passed the barrier and along the easy rise of the bridge approached the middle. Several people were already standing there. I recognized Wilkinson and Donovan. There were also several people standing on the other side. I recognized one - an old work friend. Standing between the two men was a tall young man - Powers.

The representative of the USSR said loudly in Russian and English:

Wilkinson took some document out of his briefcase, signed it and handed it to me. I quickly read it - it certified my release and was signed by President John F. Kennedy! I shook hands with Wilkinson, said goodbye to Donovan, and went to join my comrades. I crossed the white line between the two zones, and my comrades hugged me. Together we walked to the Soviet end of the bridge, got into our cars, and after some time drove up to a small house where my wife and daughter were waiting for me.

The fourteen-year business trip is over!

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. Mother also participated in the 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 in 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 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for successful work.

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 he studied solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for the American pilot Francis Powers, convicted by a Soviet court of espionage.

After rest and treatment, Colonel Fischer (Abel) worked in the central intelligence apparatus. 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.

He 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.