Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Encyclopedia
Vilyam Genrikhovich (August) Fisher (Вильям Генрихович Фишер) (July 11, 1903 – November 16, 1971) was a noted Soviet
intelligence officer
. He is generally better known by the alias
Rudolf Abel, which he adopted on his arrest.
His last name is sometimes given as Fischer; his patronymic
is sometimes less exactly transliterated as Genrikovich.
, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1903. His parents, ethnic Germans from Russia
, had been active in the revolutionary movement in Russia, and had fled to England in 1901. His father, Genrikh (Heinrich), was a keen Bolshevik
who took part in clandestine operations shipping arms and literature from the North East coast. Genrikh, published a book V Rossii i v Anglii ("In Russia and in England") in 1922 detailing his life in Newcastle.
Willie grew up in Whitley Bay
, to where the family moved, and attended the Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar school (Now Whitley Bay High School
). The family lived at several addresses, mostly in Lish Avenue. Their last residence was at No. 18. Willie became an apprentice draughtsman at Swan Hunter
Wallsend
, in 1918, but attended evening classes at Rutherford College and matriculated for London University in 1920. The Fisher family left Whitley Bay, however, for the newly established Soviet Union in 1921, where Genrikh died in 1935.
. During his military service in 1925-1926 he was trained as a radio operator. He worked briefly in Soviet Military Intelligence
and was then recruited by the OGPU, a predecessor of the KGB
in 1927. He worked for them as a radio operator in Norway, Turkey, Britain, and France then returned to Russia in 1936 as head of a school which trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residences.
He narrowly escaped the Great Purges. Besides being from England, a close relative had been accused of being a Trotskyite. He escaped prosecution but was dismissed from the NKVD
in 1938. During the Second World War he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines. In 1944-1945 he was in charge of the funkspiel
component of Operation Beresino
(Operation Scherhorn in English sources).
for entry into the United States
. He traveled to Canada
under a false identity, then entered the United States on November 17, 1947. He adopted the name of Emil Robert Goldfus (the real Goldfus had died at the age of 14 months). The Soviets had constructed an elaborate legend for Goldfus, a fictitious biography of his life from 1902 to 1947.
As cover for his illegal residence, he opened an artist's studio in the Orvington Studios in Brooklyn, although he had only minimal artistic talent. He represented himself as a retired photofinisher to the other artists with whom he came into contact. He made friends with a small group of younger men, mostly artists who shared his preferences for realistic art. He made no attempt to sell paintings, but continued working on his technique. His friends found him intelligent and knowledgeable, but somewhat secretive; for example, he never disclosed where he lived.
He expressed admiration for the Russian artist Isaak Levitan.
His job as resident was to recruit and supervise agents who gathered intelligence information. He was given control of a pre-existing group of agents which included Lona Cohen
and Morris Cohen
, who are believed to have been the couriers for the Rosenberg
/Greenglass
/Fuchs
nuclear
spy ring, and who later operated in Britain as Peter and Helen Kroger.
Fisher is not known to ever have had any contact with the Communist Party USA
. As a part of his legend, he sometimes fabricated stories about earlier days as a lumberjack
in the Pacific Northwest during the time of the Wobblies
.
, in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case
(referring to Fisher's transporting of microfilm inside a hollow nickel). He was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for espionage.
When Fisher was arrested, the hotel room and photo studio that he lived in contained multiple modern espionage equipment items: cameras and film for producing microdot
s, cipher pads, cuff links, hollow shaving brush, shortwave radios, and numerous "trick" containers.
Fisher was brought to trial in New York City Federal Court and indicted as a Russian spy, in October, 1957, on three counts:
Häyhänen testified against Fisher at the trial.
On October 25, 1957, the jury found Fisher guilty on all three counts. Judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced him, sentences to be served concurrently, on November 15, 1957, count one: 30 years' imprisonment; count two: 10 years' imprisonment and $2,000 fine; count three: 5 years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine.
On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for Central Intelligence Agency
U-2
pilot Gary Powers
and an American student Frederic Pryor
at the Glienicke Bridge
between Potsdam
and West-Berlin, Germany
. After his return to Moscow, he continued to work as a trainer for the KGB and was rewarded with the Order of Lenin
.
Rudolf Abel was the alias Fisher adopted on his arrest, which signaled his capture to the Soviet Government. The alias was the name of another, less well known NKVD agent, who had once shared a flat with Fisher. The real Abel was born in Latvia
in 1900 and died in 1955, but not much seems to be publicly known about his career.
Fisher died of lung cancer
in 1971 and was buried next to his father in the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow
. His gravestone displays both of his names. A group of KGB veterans celebrated his centenary at the graveside in 2003.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
intelligence officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
. He is generally better known by the alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Rudolf Abel, which he adopted on his arrest.
His last name is sometimes given as Fischer; his patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
is sometimes less exactly transliterated as Genrikovich.
Early life
He was born in England at 142 Clara Street, BenwellBenwell
Benwell is an area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.-History:Benwell village was recorded in A.D. 1050 known as Bynnewalle which roughly translates as "behind the wall" or "by the wall". Referring to its position relative to Hadrian's Wall...
, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1903. His parents, ethnic Germans from Russia
History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
, had been active in the revolutionary movement in Russia, and had fled to England in 1901. His father, Genrikh (Heinrich), was a keen Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
who took part in clandestine operations shipping arms and literature from the North East coast. Genrikh, published a book V Rossii i v Anglii ("In Russia and in England") in 1922 detailing his life in Newcastle.
Willie grew up in Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a town in North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the North Sea coast and has a fine stretch of golden sandy beach forming a bay stretching from St. Mary's Island in the north to Cullercoats in the south...
, to where the family moved, and attended the Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar school (Now Whitley Bay High School
Whitley Bay High School
Whitley Bay High School is a foundation state school in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, England.-Admissions:It is a mixed school with around 1600 pupils, 500 of these being in the school's Sixth Form. In 2006 the school was awarded Specialist College Status in Science & Humanities. The school has...
). The family lived at several addresses, mostly in Lish Avenue. Their last residence was at No. 18. Willie became an apprentice draughtsman at Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...
Wallsend
Wallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
, in 1918, but attended evening classes at Rutherford College and matriculated for London University in 1920. The Fisher family left Whitley Bay, however, for the newly established Soviet Union in 1921, where Genrikh died in 1935.
Early career
After the family's return to the Soviet Union in 1921 Fisher worked as a translator for CominternComintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. During his military service in 1925-1926 he was trained as a radio operator. He worked briefly in Soviet Military Intelligence
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
and was then recruited by the OGPU, a predecessor of the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
in 1927. He worked for them as a radio operator in Norway, Turkey, Britain, and France then returned to Russia in 1936 as head of a school which trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residences.
He narrowly escaped the Great Purges. Besides being from England, a close relative had been accused of being a Trotskyite. He escaped prosecution but was dismissed from the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
in 1938. During the Second World War he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines. In 1944-1945 he was in charge of the funkspiel
Funkspiel
Funkspiel was the name given to a counter-espionage operation carried out by German counter-intelligence during the Second World War. It consisted of using captured and "turned" clandestine radio operators in France to send false messages back to the enemy , and allowed the German services to...
component of Operation Beresino
Operation Scherhorn
Operation Scherhorn or Operation Berezino , Operation Beresino was a secret deception operation performed by the NKVD against the Nazi secret services in August 1944 – May 1945...
(Operation Scherhorn in English sources).
In the Secret Service
In 1946 he again entered Secret Service and was trained as a spySPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
for entry into the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He traveled to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
under a false identity, then entered the United States on November 17, 1947. He adopted the name of Emil Robert Goldfus (the real Goldfus had died at the age of 14 months). The Soviets had constructed an elaborate legend for Goldfus, a fictitious biography of his life from 1902 to 1947.
As cover for his illegal residence, he opened an artist's studio in the Orvington Studios in Brooklyn, although he had only minimal artistic talent. He represented himself as a retired photofinisher to the other artists with whom he came into contact. He made friends with a small group of younger men, mostly artists who shared his preferences for realistic art. He made no attempt to sell paintings, but continued working on his technique. His friends found him intelligent and knowledgeable, but somewhat secretive; for example, he never disclosed where he lived.
He expressed admiration for the Russian artist Isaak Levitan.
His job as resident was to recruit and supervise agents who gathered intelligence information. He was given control of a pre-existing group of agents which included Lona Cohen
Lona Cohen
Leontine Theresa "Lona" Cohen , also known while she was in London as Helen Kroger, was an American spy for the Soviet Union. She was the wife of another spy, Morris Cohen.-Espionage:...
and Morris Cohen
Morris Cohen (Soviet spy)
Morris Cohen also known in London as Peter Kroger was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent.-Birth and education:...
, who are believed to have been the couriers for the Rosenberg
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
/Greenglass
David Greenglass
David Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union who worked in the Manhattan project. He was the brother of Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
/Fuchs
Klaus Fuchs
Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the American, British and Canadian atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II...
nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
spy ring, and who later operated in Britain as Peter and Helen Kroger.
Fisher is not known to ever have had any contact with the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
. As a part of his legend, he sometimes fabricated stories about earlier days as a lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
in the Pacific Northwest during the time of the Wobblies
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
.
Capture and later
Fisher was captured by the FBI in New York on June 21, 1957, partially as the result of the defection of his assistant Reino HäyhänenReino Häyhänen
Reino Häyhänen, was an ethnic Finn Soviet Lieutenant Colonel who defected to the United States.-Birth and education:...
, in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case
Hollow Nickel Case
The Hollow Nickel Case , refers to the method that the Soviet Union spy Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher used to exchange information between himself and his contacts, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin and Reino Häyhänen.-Background:On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy , collecting for the...
(referring to Fisher's transporting of microfilm inside a hollow nickel). He was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for espionage.
When Fisher was arrested, the hotel room and photo studio that he lived in contained multiple modern espionage equipment items: cameras and film for producing microdot
Microdot
A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size onto a 1mm disc to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular around one millimetre in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials such as polyester...
s, cipher pads, cuff links, hollow shaving brush, shortwave radios, and numerous "trick" containers.
Fisher was brought to trial in New York City Federal Court and indicted as a Russian spy, in October, 1957, on three counts:
- Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union (count one)
- Conspiracy to obtain defense information (count two)
- Conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notification to the Secretary of State (count three)
Häyhänen testified against Fisher at the trial.
On October 25, 1957, the jury found Fisher guilty on all three counts. Judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced him, sentences to be served concurrently, on November 15, 1957, count one: 30 years' imprisonment; count two: 10 years' imprisonment and $2,000 fine; count three: 5 years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine.
On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
pilot Gary Powers
Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.- Early life :...
and an American student Frederic Pryor
Frederic Pryor
Frederic L. Pryor is a Senior Research Scholar of Economics at Swarthmore College. He is best known for his subsidiary role in a Cold War spy swap.-Cold War incident:In August, 1961, Pryor was arrested and held without charge by the East German police...
at the Glienicke Bridge
Glienicke bridge
The Glienicke bridge is a bridge on the edge of Berlin that spans the Havel River to connect the cities of Potsdam and Berlin near Klein Glienicke...
between Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
and West-Berlin, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. After his return to Moscow, he continued to work as a trainer for the KGB and was rewarded with the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
.
Rudolf Abel was the alias Fisher adopted on his arrest, which signaled his capture to the Soviet Government. The alias was the name of another, less well known NKVD agent, who had once shared a flat with Fisher. The real Abel was born in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
in 1900 and died in 1955, but not much seems to be publicly known about his career.
Fisher died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1971 and was buried next to his father in the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. His gravestone displays both of his names. A group of KGB veterans celebrated his centenary at the graveside in 2003.
Further reading
- Andrew, Christopher (1999). The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-00310-9.
- Arthey, Vin (2005). Like Father Like Son, A Dynasty of Spies. St. Ermin's Press, Trafalgar Square. ISBN 1-903608-07-4.
- This is the current definitive reference on Vilyam Fisher. The book shows that from 1930 to 1960, Fisher was connected to virtually everything: Alexander Orlov, Cambridge Five, Rosenberg Ring, Volunteer Group, Perseus. (Laes)
- Bernikow, Louise (1970). Abel. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-12593-4 (1982) Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-30212-5
- Donovan, James B. (1964). Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel. New York: Atheneum.
- Hearn, Chester G. (2006). Spies & Espionage A Directory. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, California. ISBN 978-1-59223-508-7
- Sudoplatov, Pavel and; Anatoli Sudoplatov, Jerrold L. Schecter, Leona Schecter (1994). Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-77352-2 (1995) Lightning Source. ISBN 0-316-82115-2
- West, Nigel (1990). Games of Intelligence: The Classified Conflict of International Espionage. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-57811-5
- Whittell, Giles. (2010). A True Story of the Cold War: Bridge of Spies. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85720-163-8 or ISBN 978-0-85720-164-5
External links
- FBI - "Hollow Nickel Case" Biography at the website of Russian Foreign Intelligence ServiceForeign Intelligence Service (Russia)The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service is Russia's primary external intelligence agency. The SVR is the successor of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB since December 1991...
- Washington Times: "U.S. intel braces for Kremlin blowback as result of spy case" by Bill GertzBill GertzBill Gertz is an American editor, columnist and reporter for The Washington Times. He is the author of six books and writes a weekly column on the Pentagon and national security issues called "Inside the Ring". During the administration of Bill Clinton Gertz was known for his stories exposing...
Posted: June 30, 2010. Retrieved: December 29, 2010.