He was to deliver a report from a Soviet agent at the United Nations secretariat, to a dead-letter box for collection. Additionally, the kind of typewriter which had been used in preparing the coded message could not be identified. [12] Though Fisher was not as hard-working as Henry, he showed aptitude for science, mathematics, languages, art and music, inherited in part from his father's abilities. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. [60] Donovan subsequently brought in attorney Thomas M. Debevoise to assist him;[61] Fisher was tried in Federal Court at New York City during October 1957, on three counts:[59]. He died in 1971. Hayhanen had proved a poor spy during his five years in the United States and was being recalled to the USSR, where he feared he would be disciplined. On May 7, the United States acknowledged that the U-2 had probably flown over Soviet territory but denied that it had authorized the mission. The latter must have "felt it" - . In keeping with instructions contained in a message he received from Soviet officials, Hayhanen was met by Mark at a movie theater in Flushing, Long Island, during the late summer of 1954. Just before their transfer, Frederic Pryoran American student held by East German authorities since August 1961was released to American authorities at another border checkpoint. 26. After completing a two-year stint with a radio battalion of the Red Army, he joined the OGPU security agency in 1927. From the fall of 1952 until early in 1954, he said, Mikhail served as his espionage superior in New York. The .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Steven Spielberg-helmed flick starred Tom Hanks as Donovan, with British actor Mark Rylance taking on the role of the mysterious Soviet spy. [32] Fisher was relieved when the Rosenbergs did not disclose any information about him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but the arrests heralded a bleak outlook for his new spy network. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. Theodore "Ted" Hall (codenamed "MLAD"), a physicist, was the most important agent in the network in 1945, passing atomic secrets from Los Alamos. In his studio, FBI investigators found a hollow pencil used for concealing messages, a shaving brush containing microfilm, a code book, and radio transmitting equipment. this is just under two hours. The FBIs next task was to identify Mark, the Soviet agent who had succeeded Mikhail as Hayhanens contact man. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. . The Lord respected Abel's sacrifice but did not respect that offered by Cain. WE CONFIRM THE RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER TO THE ADDRESS `V REPEAT V AND THE READING OF LETTER NUMBER 1.2. During the FBIs extensive interviews with him, in May 1957 Hayhanen was carefully questioned regarding the codes and cryptosystems which he had used in the various Soviet intelligence agencies he had served since 1939. ) (n. 11 iulie 1903, Newcastle Marea Britanie - d. 15 noiembrie 1971, Moscova ), nsc. They then contacted James B. Donovan. I left Estonia for Finland in June 1943, and have resided here for the reason that I have no funds with which to pay my transportation to the United States.. It read: 1. During his eight years as an illegal resident he appears not to have recruited, or even identified, a single potential agent. Subtract. Changing the day will navigate the page to that given day in history. [6], Fisher and his brother, Henry,[11] won scholarships to Whitley Bay High School and Monkseaton High School. Why does the Government what James Donovan to negotiate the Trade? Upon its receipt in Washington on June 26, 1953, the nickel was subjected to the thorough scrutiny of a team of FBI scientific experts. Since the FBI Laboratory maintains a reference file concerning typewriters manufactured in the United States, a foreign-made typewriter undoubtedly was involved. [65], Fisher served just over four years of his sentence. It is known he occasionally drew attention to himself by indulging in heavy drinking sessions and heated arguments with his Finnish wife Hannah. However the report never arrived. He died in 1971 at the age of 68. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudolf-Abel, Federal Bureau of Investigation - Biography of Rudolph Ivanovich Abel, Rudolf Abel - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). display. On February 10, 1962, American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier. 2/9/2021, 7:27:06 PM. One year laterJuly 28, 1952a passport was issued to Hayhanen as Eugene Maki at Helsinki. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel ( Russian: ), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 - 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. For the past five years, I have been operating in the United States. Months of determined probing by the FBIs scientists and investigative staff had led merely to one blind alley after another. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. After serving four years of a 30-year sentence in an Atlanta, Georgia, prison, Rudolf Abel was traded to the Soviet Union for American pilot Francis Gary Powers, who had been shot down in a U-2 spy plane over Russia. From 1953 to 1957, though every effort was made to decipher the microphotograph, the FBI was unable to solve the mystery. Two days later, on June 24, 1953, during a discussion of another investigation, a detective of the New York City Police Department told an FBI agent about the strange hollow nickel which, he had heard, was discovered by a Brooklyn youth. The FBI first became aware of Abel's activities in 1953, when Abel's incompetent junior colleague Reino Hayhanen carelessly spent a hollow nickel that ended up in the hands of a paperboy. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the United States in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers. Hayhanen obtained the impression that Mikhail was a Soviet diplomatic officialpossibly attached to the embassy or the United Nations. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. The lawyer even appealed Fishers 45-year prison sentence on the grounds that the search of his studio had been unconstitutional, though the Supreme Court upheld the original ruling in 1960. [2] In Fisher's New York hotel room the FBI found $4,000,[54][55] a hollow ebony block containing a 250-page Russian codebook, a hollow pencil containing encrypted messages on microfilm and a key to a safe-deposit box containing another $15,000 in cash. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the United States in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers. On June 15, a photograph of Goldfus which the FBI took with a hidden camera was shown to Hayhanen. [7] Revolutionaries of the Tsarist era, his father was of German origins and his mother was of Russian descent. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The longtime intelligence operative died in Moscow in 1971, his story later revived in the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies. It was collecting time again. The microfilm bore a typewritten message which identified Quebec as Army sergeant Roy Rhodes and stated the Soviet agents had recruited him in January 1952. After handing back Kayotis's passport and documents, Fisher assumed the name Goldfus. This man was followed down Fulton Street to a nearby subway station. In 1948, a well-trained Soviet intelligence agent arrived in the United States. [5] Following his recruitment, he worked for the OGPU as a radio operator in Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and France. Abel, who was born in Newcastle as William Fisher and once worked at Swan Hunter in Wallsend, went on to become a Russian spy during the Cold War. Upon returning to the United States, Powers was cleared by the CIA and the Senate of any personal blame for the U-2 incident. There were not enough. It contained the following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or 9thas I was advised he should. Donovan is widely known for negotiating the 1960-1962 exchange of captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers and American student Frederic Pryor for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, and for negotiating the 1962 release and return of 9,703 prisoners held by Cuba after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. On May 16, 1957, FBI agents showed a group of photographs to Hayhanen. The real Andrew Kayotis was Lithuanian born and had become an American citizen after migrating to the United States. The KGB Center, with the help of KGB's Ottawa resident, set about procuring two new passports for Fisher in the names of Robert Callan and Vasili Dzogol, but this process would take time. In one of the dead drops mentioned by Hayhanena hole in a set of cement steps in Prospect ParkFBI agents found a hollowed-out bolt. The proprietors of novelty stores and related business establishments in the New York vicinity were contacted. A member of the OGPU's "illegals" division, Fisher spent several years training operatives in radio work throughout Europe. With the end of this war in 1940, Hayhanen was assigned to check the loyalty and reliability of Soviet workers in Finland and to develop informants and sources of information in their midst. Decided March 28, 1960. When he picked it up, almost like magic, the coinsplit in half. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! He moved to Russia in the 1920s, and served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s and early 30s. On June 21, 1957, he was arrested by the FBI, and on October 25, 1957, a federal district court in Brooklyn found him guilty of espionage, relying in part on testimony by Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen, who had defected to the West and who stated that he had been Abels chief coconspirator in the United States. Inside was a tiny photograph, showing a series of numbers too small to read. ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUEST, WE WILL TRANSMIT THE FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF SOFT FILM AND NEWS SEPARATELY, TOGETHER WITH (YOUR) MOTHERS LETTER.4. With this data, the FBI Laboratory succeeded in breaking through the curtain of mystery which surrounded the coded message. [51], At 7:00 am on 21 June 1957, Fisher answered a knock on the door to his room, Room 839. He served as a case officer for the "Volunteer" spy network, which was tasked with relaying atomic secrets, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1949. The Soviet intelligence service had a new assignment for Hayhanenone which would require him to sever relations with his family, to study the English language, and to receive special training in photographing documents, as well as to encode and decode messages. Since he was posing as an artist and photographer, nobody questioned his irregular working hours and frequent disappearances. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, alias Mark, alias Collins, alias Goldfus v. United States. The case, which had made international headlines and turned James Donovan into a public pariah, faded into obscurity. [37] Fisher was disturbed by Hyhnen's lack of work ethics and his obsession with alcohol. EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT WITH THE FAMILY. Abel returned to Moscow, where he was forced into retirement by the KGB, who feared that during his five years of captivity U.S. authorities had convinced him to become a double agent. [2][50], On 15 June 1957, Hyhnen was shown a photograph of Fisher taken by the FBI with a hidden camera. Following his return to Russia what happened to Rudolf Abel? Near the tavern, he was told, he would find a signpost marked Horse Carts, You will let Mikhail know of your arrival by placing a red thumb tack in this signpost, a Soviet official told him. Still using Kayotis' passport, he went to Montreal and crossed into the United States on 17 November. One of the coins seemed to have a peculiar ring. Something went wrong. [45] Fisher, unsuspecting, advised Hyhnen to leave the U.S. immediately to avoid FBI surveillance and handed him $200 for travel expenses. He admitted his first Soviet contact in New York had been "MIKHAIL" and upon being shown a series of photographs of Soviet officials identified "MIKHAIL" as Mikhail Svirin. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. In 1948, he slipped across the Canadian border into the United States, where he set about reorganizing the Soviet spy network. They sold their belongings and left their Idaho farm for New York to book passage on a ship to Europe. Astrological Sign: Cancer, Death Year: 1971, Death date: November 15, 1971, Death City: Moscow, Death Country: Russia, Article Title: Rudolf Abel Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime/rudolf-abel, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: May 18, 2021, Original Published Date: October 14, 2015. None could recall seeing a nickel or other coin quite like this one. Donovan had read the newspaper accounts, which, he wrote, "described Abel in a sinister way as a 'master spy' heading all illegal Soviet espionage in the United States." [62] The jury retired for three and a half hours and returned on the afternoon of October 25, 1957, finding Fisher guilty on all three counts. [2][39][40] Over time his artistic technique improved and he became a competent painter, though he disliked abstract painting, preferring more conventional styles. [43] Fisher checked his drop points only to find messages several months old, while Hyhnen's radio transmissions had routinely been sent from the same location using incorrect radio frequencies. Count Two (Conspiracy to obtain defense information), 10 years imprisonment and $2,000 fine. He occasionally met with Reino Hyhnen, another Soviet agent residing in New York. In 2008, Yuri Linkevich shot the documentary "Unknown Abel". Wait a moment and try again. Codenamed "VIK", Hyhnen arrived in New York on the RMS Queen Mary, under the alias Eugene Nikolai Maki. In exchange for asylum, he promised CIA agents he could help expose a major Soviet spy network in the United States and identify its director. Hollow coins, though rarely seen by the ordinary citizen, are occasionally used in magic acts and come to the attention of federal law enforcement agencies from time to time. However, at the first session, the summit collapsed after President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused to apologize to Khrushchev for the U-2 incident. One of these was Morton Sobell, whose wife had failed to receive the $5,000 embezzled by Hyhnen. [68] For the sake of its own reputation it suited the KGB to portray "Abel's" nine years of being an undetected agent in the United States as a triumph by a dedicated NKVD member. He was, however, able to tell the FBI about Fisher's studio and its location. FBI mugshot of William August Fisher, a.k.a. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Russian: ), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. Abel, a colonel in the KGB, ha. [32][69], After his return to Moscow, Fisher was employed by the Illegals Directorate of the KGB's First Chief Directorate, giving speeches and lecturing school children on intelligence work, but became increasingly disillusioned. The real Eugene Nicolai Maki was born in Enaville, Idaho on May 30, 1919. He also must be identified. From New York came a half dollar which had been ground in such a manner that smaller coins could be concealed under it. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1936, as head of a school that trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residences. Investigation was to establish that the Emil Goldfus whose birth certificate Mark displayed had died in infancy. On May 5, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced that the American spy aircraft had been shot down and two days later revealed that Powers was alive and well and had confessed to being on an intelligence mission for the CIA. \$523.89 -\$154.79 $523.89$154 . They carefully wrapped the nickel and microphotograph for shipment to the FBI Laboratory. Because he had served as a wartime counsel in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and had years of courtroom experience, the Bar Association believed Donovan was uniquely qualified to act as Fisher's defense lawyer. He wanted to defectto desert the Soviet camp. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. After their introduction at this theater, Hayhanen and Mark held frequent meetings in Prospect Park, on crowded streets, and in other inconspicuous places in the area of Greater New York. By pooling the coins in their pocketbooks, they were able to give the newsboy change for a dollar. ENCIPHER SHORT LETTERS, BUT THE LONGER ONES MAKE WITH INSERTIONS. Youve found him, the former Soviet Agent exclaimed. [6] In 1896, he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to three years internal exile. The information which Hayhanen furnished to U.S. officials in Paris, France, in May 1957, was immediately checked. Operating as a Soviet spy in New York City, he was imprisoned for espionage following a high-profile trial in 1957. [67] A few days later Fisher, reunited with his wife Elena and daughter Evelyn, flew home. And both coins had a small hole in one printed letter so that a sharp-pointed instrument, such as a needle, could be used to open them. While the surveillance continued at 252 Fulton Street, other FBI agents made daily checks on the dead drops that Hayhanen stated he and Mark had used. She was to join him in the United States on February 20, 1953four months after his arrival here. spies," is based on the story of rudolf abel, arrested in new york city, convicted, and exchanged for u.s. biplane pilot. Alternate titles: Emil R. Goldfus, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, William August Fisher. This false build up, of course, was merely part of Hayhanens preparation for a new espionage assignment. [41] Fisher sometimes related made-up stories of previous lives, as a Boston accountant and a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest. Answer (1 of 4): Rudolf Abel fell victim to poor selection of a helper, if it was not enemy conspiracy in Moscow. All Rights Reserved. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957. The four powers were to discuss tensions in the two Germanys and negotiate new disarmament treaties. As the spies waited, negotiators talked in the center of the bridge where a white line divided East from West. 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