Rudolf Ivanovich Abel

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Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Soviet postage stamp 1990)

Rudolf Iwanowitsch Abel ( Russian Рудольф Иванович Абель , * as William Genrichowitsch Fischer July 11, 1903 in Benwell / Newcastle upon Tyne , Great Britain ; †  November 15, 1971 in Moscow ), alias Rudolf Ivanovich Abel , ("Willie") William Genrikowitsch (August ) Fisher (also Fischer) , Emil Robert Goldfus (also Goldfuss, Goldfuß) , Frank , Marc , Andrew Kayotis , Martin Collins , was one of the most successful agents of the USSR in the USA . Among other things, he was involved in the betrayal of American nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.

On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for the American U-2 pilot and CIA spy Captain Francis Powers on the Glienicke Bridge on the border between Potsdam ( GDR ) and West Berlin . This process at the latest made him known worldwide.

Life

1903-1948: Europe

Abel's father was of German descent Heinrich (Genrich) Matveyevich Fischer (* 1871 in Andrejewskoje, Yaroslavl region , Russia; † 1935 in Moscow), a companion of Lenin and revolutionary who was arrested in 1889 and to three years of exile was convicted. In 1901 he emigrated to Great Britain, where he organized the factory workers in Newcastle as secretary for 20 years. He smuggled weapons into Russia and was the author of the book W Rossii iw Anglii / В России и в Англии (1922, report on his life and work in Newcastle - In Russia and England ). Abel's mother was from Saratov Dating midwife Lyubov Vasilyevna. He also had an older brother, Heinrich (Genrich) Fischer.

In 1919 Abel passed the University of London entrance exams and became a British citizen . In 1921 Abel's family returned to Russia. Shortly after returning, Abel's brother drowned. Abel first worked as a translator for the Comintern and was trained at the Cheka . After Lenin's death in 1924, Abel's father lost his good relations and moved from Moscow to the Vologda region . Abel was drafted into the Red Army in 1925 , where he served as a radio operator in a telecommunications battalion until 1926. Through a recommendation from his sister-in-law, he got a job in the GPU security service in 1927 . He later worked there in the foreign department, mainly as a radio operator.

Abel married Jelena Stepanovna Lebedewa, a cellist in the orchestra of a children's theater. Their daughter Evelyn was born in 1929. In 1931 Abel went to Norway for his first assignment with his wife and daughter . He worked there under the code name Frank , received a new, real British passport and traveled to various European countries (such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Turkey) under his own name. There he organized a network of conspiratorial radio stations. Occasionally he appeared as an artist to disguise himself. In 1934 Abel returned to the Soviet Union. He was sent to Great Britain as a radio operator and cipher operator in 1935, from where he transmitted information from the group around Kim Philby to Moscow.

On Abel's initiative, his longtime companion, Kirill Chenkin, contacted the renowned Russian physicist Pyotr Kapiza ( Nobel Prize in Physics 1978). Chenkin believed it was important for Abel to persuade Kapiza, who was then living in England, to return to the Soviet Union. Kapiza's passport was confiscated when visiting the Soviet Union for family reasons in 1934. He was prevented from leaving because he wanted to leave, although he otherwise enjoyed many privileges and even had his own institute built for him. In Andrei Sakharov's memoir , Kapiza confirmed the incident and also mentioned Abel's real name Fischer . In 1936 Abel ran a training center for radio operators who were to be used in secret residences .

In the course of the great purges under Stalin , Abel was released from the intelligence service on December 31, 1938. Only good relationships with his stepbrother prevented him from being declared an enemy of the people (Russian враг народа) and exiled after his former boss in Great Britain, Alexander Mikhailovich Orlov , fled to the United States to avoid a possible shooting in Moscow. In 1939 Abel worked as a patent technician and later as an engineer in an aircraft factory. The NKVD hired him again in September 1941 and made him head of the radio department “Otdelnaya Brigada NKVD” in Pavel Sudoplatows “4. Directorate for Special Tasks ”(Sudoplatow was the head of a special department for information and sabotage “ MGB ”, known from 1950 as Bureau MGB N1 for foreign sabotage ). In 1942 Abel was responsible for the game station "Monastery", a facility that was intended to deceive the German defense with targeted false reports . During this time he shared his Moscow apartment with the real Rudolf Abel and the later dissident Kirill Chenkin . The real Rudolf Abel was his colleague (born September 23, 1900, Riga , Latvia , not July 2, 1902, as Abel later stated at the FBI ). In 1946 Abel moved to the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) under the direction of Alexander Korotkow , but was still available to Sudoplatow. In 1948 Abel received special training for his later assignment in the USA.

1948-1961: USA

Hollow cufflinks for microfilm transport (Photo: FBI )

On October 12, 1948 Abel traveled under the code name "Arach" via France and Canada to the USA. To set up his camouflage, he received a one-off $ 5,000 and a monthly salary of $ 500. Abel boarded a ship in Le Havre , France, and disembarked in Quebec , Canada on November 14, 1948 . As a tourist, Abel reached the United States on November 16, 1948. He was traveling on Andrew Kayotis' US passport . The name and passport used was that of an American citizen (born October 10, 1895, immigrated to the USA October 1916, US citizen from December 30, 1930 in Grand Rapids , Michigan ), who was in a hospital in the Lithuanian SSR ( Soviet Union ) had died.

Abel's task was to reorganize and expand an illegal spy network. Agents with "legal" coverage who had passports as consular members or who were members of the diplomatic corps were not subject to him. He was supposed to set up an independent system of radio links to Moscow. He also set up a sabotage network, actually two separate networks: West Coast and East Coast . The "Western Network" recruited agents in California , Brazil , Argentina and Mexico . The Latin American agents were sabotage specialists with particular experience in guerrilla warfare against Germany. One of them, Maria de la Sierra (code name "Patria"), was Leon Trotsky's former secretary (aka "Africa").

Michael and Anna Filonenko were Abel's contacts in Brazil. Michael Filonenko was an extremely successful Soviet agent in South America. He was smuggled there as an immigrant in 1951 via the People's Republic of China . His mathematical knowledge and experience in blowing up bridges and railway systems brought him into business with the Brazilian government and the dictator Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay . After Abel's arrest in 1957, Filonenko's contacts were maintained in the Atlantic via a special “fishing boat”, a Soviet spy ship disguised as a fishing steamer.

Hollow nail for microfilm transport

Abel's first targets were the military facilities on the west coast near Long Beach . His agents had contact with US Chinese who were carrying explosives on ships to and from the Far East . On the east coast Abel was supported by Kurt Wissel , chief engineer at a shipyard in Norfolk , who brought in his sabotage experience from pre-war Europe. They built up a sabotage network of shipyard workers, service personnel and people of German origin.

In 1949 Abel led the attempts to establish contact with leading nuclear scientists in order to induce them to support the "International Antifascist Scientific Community". Meanwhile the " Cold War " had broken out and it was clear to the Americans that the Soviets already had nuclear weapons . In New York he met Theodore Alvin Hall to dispel doubts Hall had about espionage. Hall (code name Perseus, Mlad), who was just 19 years old, became one of the most important sources of information about the Los Alamos National Laboratory . He provided information for the Soviet reconnaissance because he was "concerned about the dangers of an American monopoly of nuclear weapons ". In addition to the "special tasks ", Abel kept in touch with the existing nuclear espionage ring. He tried to expand and develop relationships with nuclear physicists and scientists involved in nuclear projects. He directed the activities of the well-known spies Lona Cohen and Morris Cohen (code names: Volonteer, Lesly), with whom he was close friends. The Cohens were staunch Stalinists and recruited a number of informants . They kept in touch with Theodore A. Hall and with Soviet command officers.

In 1950 Abel set up a studio apartment under the name Emil R. Goldfus in the "Orvington Studios" Brooklyn , 252 Fulton Street. He disguised himself as a photographer and artist, although he had little talent for artistic photography . He acted as a laboratory assistant to colleagues in the house. Friends in the house were also suspicious of his work. He operated several covert radio stations on the east coast between New York and Norfolk , on the west coast and on the Great Lakes .

Seized photographic equipment

After the outbreak of the Korean War in the fall of 1950, Abel called all Latin American explosives experts together for two months in order to have them available for possible missions. A network of conspiratorial apartments and a special infrastructure were specially provided for the incident. Permanent radio links were used to establish contact with task forces in Mexico who were supposed to come quickly across the border as seasonal workers. Following the discovery of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg , Lona and Morris Cohen fled to Paris, then were sentenced to 20 years in prison in the UK and later exchanged.

After the successful Soviet atomic bomb tests in 1952, Hall decided that he had done enough to balance the forces and wanted to get out. Abel tried in vain to persuade him to continue working.

Hollow coin for microfilm transport

A 5-cent piece containing a microfilm in a cavity was discovered in Brooklyn on June 22, 1953 . The coin was accidentally given as change and was later assigned to Abel. Abel moved from the 5th floor to the 4th floor in January 1954. Abel's assistant Robert (Andrei Stepanowitsch Gjawgjanen, * 1920) drowned under strange circumstances in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. Abel was assigned to Reino Häyhänen (born May 14, 1920 near Petrograd ) as a new assistant. Häyhänen only knew Abel by the code name Marc. In 1955 Abel was called to Moscow for a few months to “check the reliability”. On that occasion, he asked for a call back from Häyhänen, who he considered untrustworthy, before returning to New York.

Exposure and imprisonment

Rudolf Abel's arrest on June 21, 1957

At the end of April 1957, Abel set out on a trip to Florida . He pretended to acquaintances that he urgently needed to recover because of his heart problems - Abel was a very heavy smoker. The headquarters had advised him to go into hiding temporarily. Häyhänen was ordered to report to Moscow and left almost at the same time with the ship for Europe. At the beginning of May, Häyhänen presented himself to the American authorities at the US embassy in Paris. He feared strict measures at the Moscow headquarters. After the interview, he was transferred to the United States for further interrogation by the FBI . Based on the testimony of Häyhänen, FBI investigators believed they had discovered Abel on May 28, 1957 on a park bench opposite his home. Since he only observed the house but did not enter, the trail was lost. It later turned out that it was Abel. The house was kept under surveillance, but the suspicions were insufficient for a proper identification. Abel was located by the FBI on June 13, 1957 at the Hotel Latham, Manhattan ( 4, 28th St E, between Madinson Av. And Park Av. South ), where he was staying under the name Martin Collins. He was under constant surveillance. On June 15, 1957, Häyhänen clearly identified 'Marc' - Abel on a photo taken by the FBI while monitoring. Abel was arrested in the early hours of June 21, 1957. Since he was not officially registered under the name Martin Collins, he was charged with a violation of immigration regulations, which initially justified a longer detention. He did not admit, but the evidence was overwhelming.

File photo (FBI)

Abel was charged on October 14, 1957 on three counts. On November 15, 1957, Judge Mortimer W. Byers pronounced the verdict: Guilty on all three counts ( analogous, abridged translation ):

  1. Submission of defense information to the Soviet Union: 30 years imprisonment
  2. Defense intelligence spying: 10 years + US $ 2,000 fine
  3. Work as a foreign state agent without government authorization: 5 years + US $ 1,000 fine

Abel's attorney, James B. Donovan , appealed against the ruling before the Supreme Court of the United States because the search of Abel's effects had been carried out without a search warrant and the evidence obtained was not usable. On March 28, 1960, Abel's objection was rejected and the judgment was confirmed (Abel v. United States, 362 US 217).

Exchange and death

Abel was exchanged for the American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers on February 10, 1962 on the Glienicker Bridge ( West Berlin / Potsdam , GDR ) . After a tumultuous reception, he moved to Moscow, where he lived in relative luxury. He traveled around at home and (socialist) abroad, represented and gave lectures. He received numerous medals and awards, was promoted to colonel of the KGB and was awarded an honorary doctorate . In 1970 he visited the GDR as a guest of the government and the MfS and toured the Glienicke Bridge. Abel died on November 15, 1971 as Dr. hc Rudolf Iwanowitsch Abel with the rank of Colonel of the KGB with lung cancer after an evening of prosperity. He was buried next to his father in the Donskoy cemetery . His tombstone, with a photograph of him, bears both names (Fischer, Abel).

His daughter reported that his last words in English were “Don't forget that we are Germans anyway” (“Don't forget that we are Germans, one way or the other”).

Indirect honors

  • The MfS gave medals (metal (gold-plated?), Meissen porcelain) with the inscription “ Dr. HC Rudolf Iwanowitsch Abel 1903–1971 - Scouts fight out as internationalists ”. Further medals in the series: “Dr. Richard Sorge ”,“ Harro Schulze-Boysen ”. These were presumably given away to deserving employees and friends of the Stasi.
  • In Berlin-Hohenschönhausen there was the 32nd POS Colonel Rudolf Iwanowitsch Abel during the GDR era. In 1990 it was renamed "Stauffenberg-Gymnasium".
  • In 1990 Abel was honored with his portrait on a Soviet postage stamp (Mi-No. 6143).
  • In 2003, a group of KGB veterans held a memorial service at his grave.

Abel in popular culture

In the novel It doesn't always have to be caviar by Johannes Mario Simmel , Abel's exposure in New York is portrayed close to the facts and attributed to the fictional hero of the novel Thomas Lieven.

In Steven Spielberg's historical drama Bridge of Spies - The negotiators from the 2015 Abel by actor Mark Rylance played.

literature

Monographs

  • Phillip J. Bigger: Negotiator: the life and career of James B. Donovan ; Bethlehem, Lehigh University Press, America 2006; ISBN 9780934223850
  • Louise Berkinow: Abel. Ballantine Books, New York 1982, ISBN 0-345-30212-5 .
  • James B. Donovan : The Fall of Colonel Abel ( Strangers on a Bridge. ) Scheffler, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
  • Pawel Anatoljewitsch Sudoplatow : The henchmen of power. Revelations of a KGB general ( Special tasks. ) Econ, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-430-18906-3 .
  • Nigel West (Rupert Allason): Games of intelligence. The classified conflict of international espionage. Crown Books, New York 1990, ISBN 0-517-57811-5 .
  • Hans-Dieter Behrendt: In the shadow of the “agent bridge”. GNN, Schkeuditz 2003, ISBN 3-89819-140-0 .

Essays

  • Sanche De Gramont: Rudolf Abel. In: Burke Wilkinson (ed.): Cry Spy. True stories of 20th century spies and spy catchers. Bradbury Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1969.
  • Richard Friedman: A stone for Willy Fisher. In: Studies in Intelligence. Volume 30, 1986, No. 4.
  • Frank Gibney: Intimate portrait of a russian spymaster. In: Life . November 17, 1957, pp. 122-130.

Web links

Commons : Rudolf Abel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

German

English

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Phillip J. Bigger: Negotiator
personal data
SURNAME Abel, Rudolf Ivanovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abel, Rudolf Ivanovich (pseudonym); Fischer, William Genrikowitsch (maiden name); Fischer, Willie; Fisher, William Genrikowitsch August; Goldfus, Emil Robert (pseudonym); Goldfuß, Emil Robert (pseudonym); Kayotis, Andrew (pen name); Collins, Martin (pseudonym); Абель, Рудольф Иванович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Soviet agent in the USA
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
DATE OF DEATH 15th November 1971
Place of death Moscow