The life story of Soviet intelligence legend William Fischer (better known as Rudolph Abel) is a chubby tome. And although it is full of white pages, the available material is enough for a dozen spy television series. Let's open the book of the life of William Genrikhovich and turn over the last few pages in it.
The Covetous Tear of an Illegal Scout
The returning scout is greeted by friends, associates and family. This is a holiday for all of them. The scout leaves on a "business trip" without fanfare. Parting with relatives, not even knowing how long the "business trip" will last (and whether he will return home) is an ordeal. Usually 1-2 employees accompany him, who know everything, understand everything.
Fischer was accompanied by Pavel Gromushkin. They sat in the car and waited for the announcement of the beginning of registration for the plane. They worked together since 1938, understood each other without words. “You know, Pasha,” William broke the silence, “I probably don't need to go. I'm tired. So many years … Alone all the time. It's hard for me. And the years … "-" Be patient, Willie, just a little more. A year and a half - and everything will be over,”Gromushkin tried to console his friend, but stopped short: a lonely tear was flowing down the cheek of the illegal scout.
The scouts believe in premonitions. More than once, an unconscious sense of danger saved them from failure. It did not deceive William at that time either.
But it was impossible not to go.
Atomic resident
During 1948-1957, Fischer was a resident of Soviet intelligence in the United States. He was a central figure in a network of spies and recruited agents mining US nuclear secrets for the USSR. Having detonated the atomic bomb, the Americans were not going to stop. New types of nuclear weapons were created, old ones were modified, and delivery systems were improved.
The USSR joined the atomic race and literally stepped on the Americans' heels. The scouts also took part in this "marathon". The Soviet genius Kurchatov (a genius without quotation marks!) Received up to 3,000 pages of information per month, obtained by Soviet intelligence. These data helped the war-torn country save millions of rubles, avoid dead-end research and get ready-made results without costly scientific research. The saved energy, money and time helped the USSR in the end to get ahead in this race.
In August 1953, in the Semipalatinsk Soviet Union, he detonated the first hydrogen bomb, and in 1961 - the largest ever detonated, 58-megaton "Tsar Bomb". (Its creators, remembering the threat of Khrushchev, among themselves called their offspring "Kuzka's mother.").
Volunteers
Fischer, in fact, organized not one, but two completely independent networks. One included scouts and agents operating in California, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, the other covered the US East Coast. There was also a third network created by him, which is not customary to talk about - from future saboteurs. In the event of a war between the USSR and the United States, these agents, divided into groups led by specialists who had gone through the school of guerrilla warfare, were supposed to paralyze the work of the US seaports. (Fortunately, the invaluable experience of these people was not needed).
Who were these "volunteers"? The overwhelming majority of them were employees of scientific centers and laboratories who worked for the USSR not for money, but out of conviction. Someone sympathized with the USSR, while others understood that only nuclear parity in the possession of nuclear weapons would keep the United States from the temptation to use an atomic bomb against Russia. And they stole nuclear secrets for the Soviets, not taking money for it, but risking their lives, because in case of failure, each of them was threatened with an electric chair. Let's pay tribute to these people, whose names we probably will never know …
Urgent replacement
It was very difficult for the Soviet intelligence officer. An intense double life for several years! Do not forget, because he also had to live a legal life, have a source of income, pay taxes so as not to become the object of interest of the tax inspection. It was she who, during a routine check, could unearth discrepancies in his biography. Fisher feared IRS more than the FBI. William opened a photo studio, painted and sold paintings, even patented inventions and constantly sent radiograms to the Center with a request to send an assistant, or even better - a replacement.
An experienced security officer, a high-class intelligence agent, Robert, was sent to help Mark. Fischer knew him personally and was preparing for the meeting. But in the Baltic Sea, the ship on which the scout was sailing was wrecked. Among the few rescued, Robert was not. I had to urgently look for an understudy. In 1952, to help Mark as a radio operator (with the prospect of a replacement), he was sent with his Finnish wife Reino Heikhanen (pseudonym Vik). Unlike Fischer, Vic had a real American passport, but Vic's gut was rotten.
Rotten insides
With anxiety, William began to notice that his assistant breaks down, drinks, wastes money, and is more and more negligent about his work. He was clearly not suitable for service in illegal intelligence. Vic was not just useless, he was becoming dangerous. The Heihanen couple had already been approached by the police several times, summoned by neighbors: the spouses' family scandals became more and more noisy.
Reino himself was taken to the police several times drunk, and once he even lost a "container" - a coin inside which a microdot was kept (1 frame of microfilm). Among illegal immigrants it is not customary to "knock" on their own, but there was simply no way out. Fischer sends a radiogram: "Call the courier!"
Vick was sent a radiogram that he was awarded the order and promoted. To present the order and retrain him, he is summoned to Moscow. Vic gets on a steamer and embarks on a long voyage with transfers and change of passports on the route Le Havre - Paris - West Berlin - Moscow. On May 1, Mark received a radiogram that Vic had arrived in Paris, that he was leaving for Germany tomorrow and would be in Moscow in a few days. But Vic did not go anywhere from Paris, but went straight to the American embassy.
Betrayal
The first reaction of the American embassy officials was to call the police. A slovenly dressed, foul-smelling, clearly drunk visitor claimed that he was a Soviet agent and demanded a meeting with the ambassador. All this looked like a badly concocted provocation. But the information given out on the mountain left no doubt - this chronic alcoholic who looks like a homeless person really has something to do with espionage. The ambassador received him.
The initial joy from the unexpected gift of fate was quickly replaced by disappointment: Vic had a "cat cried" worthwhile information. Fischer did not entrust the drunken Vick with a single agent, not a single address, not a single mailbox. Even about his patron, Vic knew a minimum: a pseudonym that he was recently awarded the rank of colonel, is engaged in photography, lives in New York, and could indicate the area of his alleged residence. District plus a verbal portrait - that was already something.
Resident hunting
The FBI began to methodically sweep the area. Soon the FBI found out: Mark is Emil Goldfuss, the owner of a photographic studio in Brooklyn. It turned out that the Soviet resident lived almost opposite the FBI office. During the examination of the apartment, a radio transmitter, microfilms, containers (bolts, pencils, cufflinks with hollowed out entrails) were found. But Mark himself was not in the apartment. The studio was monitored around the clock, but the landlord did not appear. Still not knowing about the failure, Mark cut off the only thread leading to him - he moved out of the photo studio. But one day he returned to pick up something that he held dear.
The meeting that did not take place
Illegal scouts often work as married couples. Having a partner is not only a strong psychological support, but also a solution to certain physiological problems. If the scout works alone, the burden of loneliness is added to the hard life in constant expectation of arrest.
Once Mark's courier Yuri Sokolov, who worked under diplomatic cover, received a strange task: to probe the resident, to find out how he is with the women? And during the next meeting, Sokolov somehow asked himself this delicate question. Fischer looked at the courier attentively: "Yura, have the bosses changed in Moscow?" - "Yes, how did you know?" “It's just that when the bosses change, they always ask me the same question. Tell Moscow that I have no one. I love my wife and I am faithful to her."
And then Mark asked to arrange a meeting with his wife in some cafe. She will be in one corner, he will be in another, he will just look at her, and that's it. But then he interrupted himself: “No, don't. I’m going to want to talk to her, to take her hand. You will arrange a meeting for us in a safe house, and this is already dangerous. Forget everything I asked for."
So the poignant scene of Stirlitz's meeting with his wife in a cafe is not from Fischer's biography. In fact, an illegal intelligence agent had no right even for that.
But Fischer was brought letters from his wife and daughter on rolled-up pieces of tissue paper, which he had to burn after reading. Against all instructions, Fischer kept the letters. After them, he returned to his apartment. Who dares to blame him for this?..
Invisible Man
Despite being watched, Mark managed to get into the apartment unnoticed. I must say that this was already his second visit to the apartment.
The scriptwriter of the film "Dead Season" Vladimir Vainshtok was simply dumbfounded when Fischer entered the intensive care ward, where he lay after the operation, with a string bag of tangerines. The entrance to the intensive care unit was strictly forbidden to outsiders. Quarantine! The wife, who worked as a doctor in a nearby department, could not get through. Fischer could. Without noise, without shouting, he passed all three posts. He was a professional who just knew how to go everywhere unnoticed.
Fatal accident
On his first visit, Fischer brought out a portable receiver and documents that he felt he had no right to leave behind. If these documents fell into the hands of the FBI, the people who obtained the information would pay for it with their lives. Having secured his "volunteers", Fischer found it possible to do something for himself. In the apartment, he carefully opened the cache, but the container with the letters fell out and rolled away somewhere. For several minutes the scout crawled, looked for him - and could not find him. He turned on the light for a few seconds, but that was enough. On leaving, FBI agents spotted Mark and escorted Fischer to his room at the Latham Hotel. When the photo of Mark was shown to Heihanen, he said: "Yes, this is it."
Arrest
For several days, the FBI monitored Mark, hoping that he would lead them to his agents, but the Soviet intelligence officer did not meet with anyone. On June 21, 1957, at 7:20 am, in the same hotel, Fischer was arrested. The Soviet intelligence officer did not lose his presence of mind and began to get ready. Having received permission to take his painting supplies with him, he packed brushes, paints and a palette, which he had previously cleaned, in his bag. The piece of paper he used to peel off the paint was sent down the toilet. This leaf was not the first one that came to hand. On it was written the text of a radio message received at night, but not yet decrypted. This is how, literally in front of the FBI, Fisher managed to destroy evidence.
To the first question "What is your name?" the Soviet intelligence officer replied: “Abel. Rudolf Ivanovich ".
Why Fischer became Abel
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was a close friend of William Henrikhovich Fischer. They worked together, were friends with families. In Moscow, they were waiting for a radiogram from Mark, but she was not there. But there was a message in the American press "Soviet spy Rudolph Abel arrested!" It was a message from Mark: "I'm under arrest." There were very few people who knew about the existence of a scout named Abel. In the United States, there was only one such - William Fisher.
The message also contained the second message: "I will be silent." An arrested intelligence officer, ready to surrender everyone and everything, will not hide such nonsense as his name. In Moscow, they understood everything and decided: "We will pull it out." But the Soviet intelligence officer William Fisher returned home almost 5 years later and not under his own name.
Fischer's Luck - Attorney Donovan
In all cases, the captured Soviet intelligence officer fell out of the electric chair. Abel himself did not doubt this. But the American order demanded a trial. The arrested Soviet intelligence officer was defended by a New York lawyer James Donovan, a former intelligence officer, captain III rank.
It was a great success. Unlike his colleagues, who were thirsty for blood, Donovan believed that in the future the Soviet intelligence officer could become an object of bargaining with the Soviets and therefore intended to seriously fight to save the life of his client. Two intelligence officers - one active, the other retired - quickly found language with each other.
For the sake of fairness, we note that until the last moment, lawyer Donovan, recalling past skills, tried to recruit his client, once again confirming the truth that there are no former intelligence officers.
The FBI agents who arrested Abel called him "Mr. Colonel", and Mark immediately knew who had betrayed him. In the United States, only two people knew about his promotion: himself and Vic who informed him about it. Having studied the realities of American life, Abel suggested that Donovan build a defense on discrediting the main prosecution witness, Heikhanen.
Court - 1
The chosen line of defense turned out to be correct. On the one hand, an honest officer. Yes, a hostile power, but courageously fulfilling his duty. (We are proud of our guys "working" in Moscow!) Loyal husband and loving father. (Donovan read letters from his wife and daughter - the very ones that became "fatal".) Photographer and artist (representatives of the local bohemia just sing praises), plays several musical instruments, a talented inventor (here are the patents). The neighbors are delighted. The police have no complaints. Pays taxes and rents regularly.
On the other hand, he is a traitor, a renegade. Tasteless and slovenly dressed, with illiterate English. Alcoholic beating his wife (here is the testimony of the neighbors). By the way, he is a bigamist, he has another wife and an abandoned child in the USSR (here are the references). A slacker who never worked anywhere. The $ 1,600 donovan paid out to private detectives on Abel's advice was not wasted. They dug up all the ins and outs of Heihanen, he almost burst into tears at the trial.
But all the same, on August 23, 12 jurors unanimously passed the verdict "guilty." The verdict did not rule out the death penalty.
Court - 2
Donovan rushed into another battle. Despite the abundance of evidence, the evidentiary part of the accusation was noticeably lame. Yes, a spy. But what harm did he do to the United States? Some guesses and assumptions! Vic did not know the essence of the encrypted radio messages he was transmitting. Not a single secret document was found with Abel. Who worked for him, what secrets were stolen - it is not known (Abel did not give up any of his agents). Where is the damage to US national security? Show me, I don't see him!
Abel himself was silent during the entire process, did not answer a single question, which led his lawyer alternately to despair, then to fury. The final sentence is 30 years in prison. After the trial, Abel thanked Donovan and insisted that one of his paintings be given to a lawyer as a gift.
In prison
The Soviet intelligence officer was to serve his term in an Atlanta prison. The prison administration was not at all happy about the eminent prisoner. Abel's personal file was plump and empty at the same time. His personal qualities, his past, even his real name remained unknown. The head of the prison said that he feared for the life of the convicted Abel. It is even possible that American convicts, out of a sense of patriotism, will beat a Russian spy to death.
The chief's fears did not materialize. On the first day, Abel's cellmate of the mafioso Vincenze Schilante from the Alberto Anastasi family said that he did not want to share the cell with the "commies" and demanded that the newcomer be transferred. It is not known what Abel and Vincenzo talked about at night, but in the morning the mafioso demanded a bucket of water, a hard brush and for several hours crawled on all fours around the cell, cleaning the floor. A few days later, the guards reported to the head of the prison that the criminals showed every respect to the new inmate and respectfully called him “Colonel” among themselves.
The Colonel soon became a prominent figure in the prison. He drew Christmas cards and handed them out to prisoners, taught them how to play bridge, and gave lessons in German and French. To the delight of the administration, he painted a portrait of the new President Kennedy.
There is a version that this portrait was later presented to the president and for some time hung in the Oval Office of the White House. Oh, how you want it to be true!
Return of Colonel Abel
Donovan turned out to be a prophet. On May 1, 1960, Soviet air defenses shot down a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, taking its pilot prisoner. Since 1958, the Soviet side has offered exchange options, but then it could only offer convicted Nazi criminals, which, of course, did not suit the Americans. Now there is a serious figure for the exchange. In Leipzig, "Frau Abel" was urgently found, who turned to the German lawyer Vogel for mediation in the release of her husband, who, in turn, contacted Donovan.
Although Abel remained a mystery to the Americans, they realized that a high-class reconnaissance officer had fallen into their hands, not like a spy pilot. There is an opinion about Abel Allen Dulles, director of the CIA (1953-1961): he dreamed of "having at least a couple of agents of Abel's level in Moscow." Therefore, for the exchange to be equivalent, the Americans demanded two more arrested agents. In addition to Powers, they went to Marvin Makinen, who was sitting in Kiev, and Frederick Pryor in the GDR.
On February 10, 1962, the famous exchange of Powers for Abel took place on the Gliniki Bridge. Subsequently, "meetings" on the bridge became regular, and the bridge received the honorary nickname "spy". According to the testimony of those present, the procedure was very accurately reproduced in the film "Dead Season". As Donovan wrote in his memoirs, while shouts and exclamations were heard from the east side, only one person approached Powers and said, "Well, let's go." Powers only smiled sourly in response.
So ended for William Genrikhovich Fischer his last "business trip", which lasted for 14 years.
Life under a false name
William Fischer returned to the USSR as Rudolf Abel. So he was represented everywhere, so he passed through many documents. Even in the obituary, it was said about the death of the outstanding Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. They even wanted to write “Abel” on the tombstone, but the widow and daughter rebelled. As a result, they wrote "Fisher" and in parentheses "Abel". William Genrikhovich himself was very worried about the loss of his name and did not like it when people called him “Rudolf Ivanovich”. Fisher often said that if he knew about the death of a friend (the real Abel died in 1955), he would never have called his name.
Without the right to fame
Among Fischer's awards there are 7 orders, many medals. There is no Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Giving a Hero is unnecessary instances, papers. And an illegal scout has no right to attract attention to himself once again. Yes, he returned, but there were others behind the cordon whom he attracted to work, we must first of all think about them. Such is the fate of an illegal scout - to remain in obscurity. Rudolf Abel (Fischer), declassified during his lifetime, is a rare exception. Therefore, there are so few Heroes and Generals among illegal immigrants. The fighters of the invisible front themselves are people without ambition, their motto is: "Without the right to glory, for the glory of the state."
