Exchange of Soviet intelligence officer Abel for US pilot Powers. Reference

Rudolf Abel - aka William Fischer

Dozens of books and thousands of newspaper articles have been written about this man. However, in recent years, from declassified archival documents of the KGB of the USSR, we learned that during the war, Rudolf Abel lived in Kuibyshev, where, on instructions from the leadership, he conducted secret radio games against the intelligence services of Nazi Germany. The house, the walls of which remember Abel’s family, still stands in Samara - this is house number 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street.

Rudolf Abel conducted secret radio games from Kuibyshev against the intelligence services of Nazi Germany.

Our man overseas

Those who have seen the film “Off Season” have probably noticed that there is a short performance before the start of the film. Rudolf Abel. He says that the Soviet intelligence officer shown in “Dead Season”, played by Donatas Banionis, has no real prototype in life. This is a collective image. However, by the time the film was released, Abel’s name was already familiar not only to film critics, but also to a wide audience.

And here is what the head of the museum of the history of the FSB administration in the Samara region says Sergey Khumaryan:

“You can imagine my surprise when, while collecting information in the archives for our museum, I quite unexpectedly found here materials about the stay of the legendary Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel in Kuibyshev. Now, after 70 years, I think we can tell some details about his work in our city.”

In the 1960s, Soviet people already knew something about the history of the Soviet resident in the United States, and also heard about the vicissitudes of his exchange for the American pilot Powers. Therefore, despite Abel’s speech before the start of the film “Dead Season,” Soviet people for many years were still confident that he was the main prototype of the movie hero. But not so long ago it became known that in fact the film “Dead Season” was dedicated to another, no less legendary, Soviet intelligence officer - Konon Molodoy(aka Lonsdale, aka Ben). However, this circumstance cannot in any way change our attitude towards Abel.

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(aka - William Genrikhovich Fisher) was born in 1903 in England. His father Heinrich Fischer was a German, a native of the Yaroslavl province, and at the beginning of the twentieth century he was expelled from Russia for revolutionary activities. On the shores of foggy Albion, Fisher met a Russian girl, Lyuba, a native of Saratov, and soon their son William was born. In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia and took Soviet citizenship. Soon after the move, William became a radiotelegraph operator. Fluent not only in Russian, but also in English, German and French, in 1927 he became a staff member of the INO OGPU (foreign intelligence). During 1929-1936 he carried out command assignments in Poland, England and China.

During these same years, Fischer met the real Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a young Latvian who, since 1927, had also been an employee of the INO OGPU. In 1946, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and died nine years later. At the same time, the real Rudolf Abel never found out that his friend William Fischer, having been arrested in 1957 while working illegally in the USA, gave his name so as not to give away his affiliation with the KGB of the USSR. Subsequently, this name appeared in all official documents, and it was under this name that William Fisher subsequently entered the history of Soviet foreign intelligence.

In November 1957, a New York court sentenced Fischer-Abel to 30 years in prison. But in 1962 he was exchanged for American pilot Francis Powers. Upon returning home, Abel continued to serve in Soviet foreign intelligence. He died in Moscow in 1971.

School in Sernovodsk

In August 1941, when the German army was rapidly approaching Moscow, the evacuation of enterprises, institutions, and hundreds of thousands of Muscovites from the capital to the east began. At the same time, Abel’s family was sent to Kuibyshev, although the intelligence officer himself still remained in the capital. However, at the beginning of September 1941, Abel himself came to the Kuibyshev region in accordance with the order to send him to work at the Kuibyshev intelligence school, based in the village of Sernovodsk on the territory of the Sergievsky Mineral Waters resort. Here he taught radio business to young intelligence officers.

At this time, he regularly visited the regional center, and in January 1942, to complete a special assignment, he finally moved to Kuibyshev. Now two addresses have been identified where the family of the future legend of Soviet foreign intelligence lived in our city. The first building where the Abels moved in 1942 has not survived to this day. However, it is known that this was a private house in the village of Shchepnovka, in the vicinity of the grain elevator on the Volga embankment. But the second house, the walls of which still remember the family of Rudolf Ivanovich, still stands in Samara - this is house number 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street (in 1942 - Kooperativnaya Street).

The first building where the Abels moved in 1942 has not survived to this day. But the second house, the walls of which still remember the family of Rudolf Ivanovich, still stands in Samara - this is house number 8 on Molodogvardeyskaya Street (in 1942 - Kooperativnaya Street).

By the way, an interesting fact from the American period of Abel’s work is connected with this address. Already in a New York prison, our intelligence officer somehow miraculously managed to send a pencil drawing to his homeland through the Soviet ambassador, in which he depicted a house covered with snow, very similar to the one in which Abel once lived in Kuibyshev. Experts believe that some information was encoded in the drawing, understandable only to Abel himself and his immediate superiors from the KGB. Whether this is actually true, we will most likely never know.

The family of the famous Soviet intelligence officer lived in this house during the war.

Abel worked at the Sernovodsk intelligence school until January 1942, after which he was assigned to the central authorities of the NKVD. His family lived in Kuibyshev until February 1943. Abel's wife Elena Stepanovna, a musician, worked in the orchestra of the opera house. Her mother, niece and daughter Evelina lived with her in Kuibyshev.

Until the end of the war, Abel carried out special command assignments, working both in Kuibyshev and at the headquarters of Soviet intelligence, and at the end of the war - behind the front line. In particular, in 1944-1945, Abel was directly involved in Operation Berezina. Then, in order to confuse the Abwehr leadership in the Soviet rear, on the territory of Belarus, a pseudo-German group of troops was created, which was allegedly surrounded. During this operation, Rudolf Abel led a group of radio operators - both Soviet and German, working under our control.

His radio game turned out to be very successful. The Abwehr believed in the disinformation to such an extent that the German command diverted considerable forces to help its troops supposedly in trouble. In particular, the well-known German “saboteur No. 1” Otto Skorzeny then personally prepared special groups to be deployed to the Minsk region so that they would establish contact with the encircled group. It is clear that all the signalmen sent to our rear immediately fell into the hands of Soviet counterintelligence officers, and many of the prisoners subsequently agreed to work against their former masters.

"Deza" from Kuibyshev

In 1942-1943, when the People's Commissariat of State Security of the USSR was located in Kuibyshev, Soviet intelligence, with the direct participation of Rudolf Abel, conducted a radio game, which in documents was designated as “Monastery” or “Novice”. The Germans were given information that an anti-Soviet religious group was allegedly operating in Kuibyshev, which, according to legend, was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. This “underground” was led by Bishop Ratmirov from Kalinin, who allegedly went over to the German side during the occupation, but in fact carried out assignments from Soviet intelligence.

In 1942-1943, Soviet intelligence, with the direct participation of Rudolf Abel, conducted the radio game “Monastery”, or “Novice”. The Germans were given information that an anti-Soviet religious group was allegedly operating in Kuibyshev, which, according to legend, was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow.

The operation began with NKVD officers Ivanov and Mikheev being dropped into Kalinin under the guise of priests. Thanks to the guarantees of Ratmirov and Metropolitan Sergius, they quickly infiltrated the circle of churchmen who collaborated with the Germans in the occupied territory. After the liberation of Kalinin by Soviet troops, Ratmirov moved to Kuibyshev and, according to legend, led the local “religious underground”, and our officers, along with other sold-out clergymen, went to the West following the Germans. Now they were completely trusted, and therefore the intelligence officers, having in hand the recommendations of Bishop Ratmirov, under the guise of “novices” headed to Pskov.

Soon both intelligence officers came to the abbot of the Pskov monastery, who also allegedly worked for the Nazis. Since the “novices” were already well known to the Abwehr by the time they arrived in Pskov, they were easily believed here. As a result, the Germans sent radio operators from among Russian prisoners of war to Ratmirov in Kuibyshev, who were immediately detained and converted here. So, the security officers began a radio game with the German intelligence services, and Rudolf Abel was entrusted with providing communication channels.

Meanwhile, the “novice” officers, together with the abbot, began vigorous activity in the Pskov monastery, creating an intelligence bureau for the German command here. From here, radio information flowed to Berlin about the transfer of raw materials and ammunition from Siberia to one or another section of the Soviet front. The basis of this “misinformation” was intelligence reports from the Kuibyshev “religious underground,” which was “led” by Bishop Ratmirov, well known to the Germans. The group worked so meticulously that the Abwehr leadership throughout the entire operation was completely confident in the reliability and authenticity of the information coming from Kuibyshev. This disinformation played an important role in preparing the successful operations of the Red Army in 1943.

After the end of the war, Bishop Ratmirov, by order of Stalin, was awarded a battle medal and a gold watch. Foreign intelligence officers Ivanov and Mikheev, who directly supervised the bishop’s work and accompanied him in the German rear under the guise of clergy, also received military orders.

Great Britain, England, Newcastle upon Tyne

USSR, RSFSR, Moscow

UK UK
USSR USSR

1921 - 1957
1962 - 1970

The Great Patriotic War

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(real name William Genrikhovich Fischer; July 11, 1903, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - November 15, 1971, Moscow, USSR) - Soviet illegal intelligence officer, colonel. Since 1948 he worked in the USA, in 1957 he was arrested. On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for the pilot of an American reconnaissance aircraft, F. G. Powers, who was shot down over the USSR on the “spy bridge” (Glienicke Bridge connecting Berlin and Potsdam). At the same time as Powers, American economics student Frederick Pryor was released at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Failure
  • 1.2 Release
• 2 Awards
• 3 Memory
• 4 Notes
• 5 Literature
• 6 Links

Biography

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain into a family of Marxist political emigrants expelled from Russia in 1901 for revolutionary activities. Abel’s father, Genrikh Matveevich Fischer, a native of the Yaroslavl province, from a family of Russian Germans, an active participant in revolutionary activities, repeatedly met with V.I. Lenin and G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, was fluent in German, English and French. Mother, a native of Saratov, also participated in the revolutionary movement. He was named by his parents after Shakespeare. He was the second child in the family. Older brother - Harry. Since childhood, William showed a special interest in natural sciences. He also played piano, mandolin and guitar. I drew a lot. He made sketches of acquaintances and painted still lifes.

At the age of 15, he got a job as a draftsman's apprentice at a shipyard. At the age of 16 he successfully passed the exam at the University of London, but there is no reliable evidence of his studies there.

In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship, without giving up English, and together with the families of other prominent revolutionaries at one time lived on the territory of the Kremlin. 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 1925, 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 served together with E. T. Krenkel and the future artist M. I. Tsarev. Having a natural inclination towards technology, he became a very good radio operator, whose superiority was recognized by everyone.

After demobilization, he worked at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force as a radio technician. On April 7, 1927, he married a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, harpist Elena Lebedeva. She was appreciated by her teacher, the famous harpist Vera Dulova. Subsequently, Elena became a professional musician. In 1929, their daughter was born.

He entered the foreign department of the OGPU on May 2, 1927. He was recommended to work at the OGPU by his wife’s elder sister Serafima Lebedeva, who worked there as a translator. In the central intelligence apparatus, he worked first as a translator (in English), then as a radio operator.

In 1930, he applied to the British Embassy for permission to return, which was received. Having received a British passport, he worked through illegal intelligence (but under his real name), simultaneously performing the duties of a radio operator at stations in Norway in 1930-1935 and in Great Britain in 1935-1937. In Great Britain, he had to carry out an order to persuade physicist Pyotr Kapitsa to return to the USSR, which he succeeded in doing.

Kapitsa loved to be friends with his superiors. And his friend was Ivan Maisky, the USSR Ambassador to England. Every year, when Kapitsa went on vacation to Moscow for a month, Maisky wrote to Rutherford, Kapitsa’s manager, a letter of guarantee, a petition asking that Kapitsa be released to the USSR, with the understanding that he would return later. This is despite the fact that Kapitsa had an all-terrain passport, which allowed him to move freely across European borders. But in 1935, Maisky said to Kapitsa: why are we writing this stupid letter, and to the lord, he doesn’t even understand why this piece of paper is needed. And he didn’t write. Maisky knew that Stalin had decided not to let Kapitsa back. Because shortly before this, another major Soviet physicist, Gamow, remained in the West. I think that our famous spy Willie Fischer played some role in this story. He appeared in London and charmed Kapitsa - Fischer understood radio engineering well. He became Kapitsa's house friend and told him stories about how wonderful everything was in Russia. Kapitsa went to Moscow without a letter, and a few days later he was informed that he would not return back to England.

Was recalled from England after the flight of Alexander Orlov.

On December 31, 1938, he was dismissed from the NKVD (due to Beria’s distrust of personnel working with “enemies of the people”) 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. He repeatedly submitted reports about his reinstatement in intelligence. I turned to my father’s friend, the then secretary of the party’s Central Committee, Andreev.

Since 1941, again in the NKVD, in a unit organizing partisan warfare behind German lines. Fischer trained radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups sent to countries occupied by Germany. During this period he met and worked together with Rudolf Abel, whose name and biography he later used.

After the end of the war, it was decided to send him to illegal work in the United States, in particular, to obtain information from sources working at nuclear facilities. He moved to the United States in November 1948 using a passport in the name of a US citizen of Lithuanian origin, Andrew Kayotis (who died in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948). He then settled in New York under the name of the artist Emil Robert Goldfus, where he ran a Soviet intelligence network and, as a cover, owned a photo studio in Brooklyn. The Cohen spouses were appointed as liaison agents for “Mark” (the pseudonym of V. Fischer).

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 1955, he returned to Moscow for several months in the summer and autumn.

Failure

To relieve “Mark” of current affairs, in 1952, illegal intelligence radio operator Heyhanen (Finnish: Reino Häyhänen, pseudonym “Vic”) was sent to help him. “Vic” turned out to be morally and psychologically unstable, and four years later a decision was made to return him to Moscow. However, “Vic” informed the American authorities about his work in illegal intelligence and handed over “Mark”.

In 1957, "Mark" was arrested at the Latham Hotel in New York by FBI agents. At that time, the leadership of the USSR declared that it was not engaged in espionage. In order to let Moscow know about his arrest and that he was not a traitor, William Fisher, during his arrest, identified himself by the name of his late friend Rudolf Abel. During the investigation, he categorically denied his affiliation with intelligence, refused to testify at trial, and rejected attempts by American intelligence officials to persuade him to cooperate.

He was sentenced to 32 years in prison (1957). After the verdict was announced, “Mark” was kept in solitary confinement at a pre-trial detention center in New York, then transferred to a federal correctional facility in Atlanta. In conclusion, he was engaged in solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. He painted in oils. Vladimir Semichastny claimed that the portrait of Kennedy painted by Abel in prison was given to him at the request of the latter and then hung in the Oval Hall for a long time.

Liberation

On February 10, 1962, on the border between West and East Berlin on the Glienicke Bridge, Rudolf Abel was exchanged for the American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft pilot Francis Powers, who was shot down on May 1, 1960 near Sverdlovsk and sentenced by a Soviet court to 10 years in prison for espionage. At the same time (at the request of the American side, which did not agree to a head-to-head exchange), an American economics student, Frederic Pryor, who was arrested on suspicion of espionage, was released at the Checkpoint Charlie checkpoint in Berlin. The operation was attended by the future head of illegal intelligence - Directorate "S" of the KGB PGU Yuri Drozdov (under the pseudonym "Jurgen Drives" played the role of the German cousin Abel) and lawyer Wolfgang Vogel.

After rest and treatment, Fischer returned to work in the central intelligence apparatus. He took part in the training of young illegal intelligence officers and painted landscapes in his spare time. Fischer also participated in the creation of the feature film “Dead Season” (1968), the plot of which is connected with some facts from the intelligence officer’s biography.

William Genrikhovich Fischer died on November 15, 1971, at the age of 69, from lung cancer. He was buried at the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow next to his father.

Awards

For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, Colonel V. Fischer was awarded:

• three Orders of the Red Banner
• Order of Lenin - for activities during the Great Patriotic War
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
• Order of the Red Star
• many medals.

Memory

• His fate inspired Vadim Kozhevnikov to write the famous adventure novel “Shield and Sword.” Although the name of the main character, Alexander Belov, is associated with the name of Abel, the plot of the book differs significantly from the real fate of William Genrikhovich Fisher.
• In 2008, the documentary film “Unknown Abel” was shot (directed by Yuri Linkevich).
• In 2009, Channel One created a two-part biographical film “The US Government vs. Rudolf Abel” (starring Yuri Belyaev).
• Abel first showed himself to the general public in 1968, when he addressed his compatriots with an introductory speech to the film “Dead Season” (as the film’s official consultant).
• In the American film “Bridge of Spies” (2015) Mark Rylance plays the role of Abel.

Notes

1. http://www.a-lubyanka.ru/images/pubs/portfolio/2011/12/zn-psotr-gb-100.jpg
2. Great Russian Encyclopedia: 30 volumes / Chairman of scientific editor. Council Yu. S. Osipov. Rep. edited by S. L. Kravets. T. 1. A - Questioning. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2005. - 766 p.: ill.: map.
3. 1 2
4. Powers is Freed by Soviet in an Exchange for Abel; U-2 Pilot on the Way to U.S. Retrieved January 12, 2013. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013.
5. “WHO IS WHO”, No. 2 1999, “WHO ARE YOU, RUDOLF ABEL?”
6. 1 2 3 4 Who are you, Abel Fischer?
7. The last witness of the golden age
8. Nikolai Dolgopolov. Abel-Fischer (ZhZL series), “Young Guard”, 2011, pp. 49-50, 104
9. May 3
10. Nikolai Dolgopolov. Abel-Fischer (ZhZL series), “Young Guard”, 2011, p. 220
11. VLADIMIR SEMICHASTNY: THE MONSTER WERE MADE TOOTHLESS. Retrieved April 9, 2013. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013.
12. According to Lieutenant General of Foreign Intelligence V.G. Pavlov: “The first chapter of the novel, called “Shield and Sword,” aroused categorical objections from me and R.I. Abel. Soviet intelligence officer Alexander Belov appeared before readers as a kind of modification of James Bond, with adventurous antics and immoral actions. R.I. Abel resolutely expressed his strong reluctance to associate his name with such a hero” (V.G. Pavlov, “Operation Snow.” M.: “Gaia.” 1996. P. 188).

Literature

• Nikolai Dolgopolov. Abel-Fischer. ZhZL, issue 1513, Moscow, Young Guard, 2011 ISBN 978-5-235-03448-8

Links

• Yuri Drozdov. Notes from the head of illegal intelligence. in the library of Maxim Moshkov
• Abel Rudolf Ivanovich. Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (2000). Retrieved May 3, 2010. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
• Photo of the grave

scout Rudolf Abel, Rudolf Abel, Rudolf Abel biography, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel

Rudolf Abel Information About

May 9th, 2013 , 10:03 am

Abel Rudolf Ivanovich (1903-1971) - an ace of Soviet espionage who operated in the United States in the 50s, and five years after his exposure was exchanged by the Americans for the pilot of the I-2 reconnaissance plane, Francis G. Powers, who was shot down over Sverdlovsk.

Abel (real name Fisher William Genrikhovich) was born in Newcastle upon Gain (England) into a family of Russian political emigrants who were engaged in revolutionary activities. Since childhood, Abel was an excellent student and very successful in the natural sciences, which helped him later become a specialist in chemistry and nuclear physics. Graduated from the University of London.

In 1920, the Fischer family returned to Russia. In 1922, Abel joined the Komsomol; Fluent in English, German, Polish and Russian, he works as a translator for the Comintern.
In 1924 he entered the Indian department of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow. After the first year he is drafted into the Red Army, serves in a radio unit, and after demobilization works at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force.
In 1927, Abel joined the Foreign Department of the OGPU as an assistant commissioner. Performs important tasks in the area of ​​illegal intelligence in two European countries. Works as a radio operator in illegal European stations. For excellent service he is promoted and receives the rank of lieutenant of state security.
In 1938, without explanation, he was dismissed from the counterintelligence agencies. After that he worked at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, at an aircraft plant. He submitted several reports of reinstatement and finally achieved his goal: in September 1941, when the war was already underway, he was reinstated in the authorities without explaining the reason for his dismissal. As Rudolf Abel himself said in 1970, he was sure that the reason was his German surname, first name and patronymic.
During the Second World War, he was actively involved in training reconnaissance and sabotage groups and creating partisan detachments (all formations operated behind enemy lines). He trained about a hundred radio operators who were sent to countries occupied by Germany. At the end of the war, he became close friends with Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, whose name he later named for operational purposes. At the end of the war he received the rank of state security major.

One of the most famous episodes of Fischer’s military activities is his participation in the Berezino operational game, led by Pavel Sudoplatov. The operation began back in 1942, when the fourth directorate supplied the department of Admiral Canaris with information about the presence of an underground monarchist organization called “The Throne” in Moscow. On her behalf, an agent of our counterintelligence was sent behind the front line, acting under the pseudonym Heine, referred to as Alexander in further contacts with the Germans and in radio telegrams. In 1944, according to the operational game plan, he was sent to Minsk, which had just been liberated from the Nazis. Soon the Abwehr received information that there were scattered groups of Germans in the Belarusian forests trying to break through the front line. The radio interception materials testified to the desire of the German command to provide them with all possible assistance in getting out of the Russian rear, while simultaneously using them to carry out sabotage actions.
In fact, a large detachment was created in Belarus from among captured Germans, which supposedly fought against the Soviet Army in its rear. The leadership of this detachment maintained regular contact with the German command, where information was sent about sabotage allegedly committed by the detachment. And from there, radio equipment, ammunition, food and German intelligence officers were thrown into the “German” unit. All this, naturally, did not fall into the hands of the mythical saboteurs, but at the disposal of the Red Army.
William Fischer led the German radio operators abandoned from Berlin. The entire radio game was conducted under his control. Some of the enemy scouts were converted, others were destroyed. Operation Berezino continued almost until the very end of the war. Only on May 5 did the Germans transmit their last radiogram: “With a heavy heart, we are forced to stop providing assistance to you. Due to the current situation, we can no longer maintain radio contact with you. Whatever the future brings, our thoughts will always be with you, who at such a difficult moment have to be disappointed in their hopes.”
This radiogram indicates that William Fisher had a certain sense of humor, even if it was somewhat dry.

After the victory, Abel continues to work in the Directorate of Illegal Intelligence. In 1947, he entered Canada illegally from France using documents in the name of Andrew Cayotis. In 1948, he crossed the US border, and in 1954 he legalized in New York, opening a photo studio on Fulton Street, and posing as a photographer (which, incidentally, he was) Emil R. Goldfus.

Within six months, Fisher, operating under the operational pseudonym Mark, managed to partially restore and partially create an agent network on the west coast of the United States. The task set before Fischer seemed impossible at first glance - he had to gain access to the secrets of the American nuclear program. And he succeeded - at least, this conclusion can be drawn from indirect data. In August 1949, Fischer was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. His contacts were the famous Cohen couple, about whom the Western press wrote: “Stalin could not have carried out the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1949 without these spies.” Leontyne Cohen indeed managed to find a channel for obtaining information directly from the nuclear center at Los Alamos, but it was Fisher who coordinated her activities and the activities of other members of the group.
Thanks to Fischer and his agents, the leadership of the Soviet Union received documentary evidence that Washington was preparing for World War III. The top secret Dropshot plan (“Last Shot”) was placed on Stalin’s desk, according to which, at the first stage of the war, it was planned to drop 300 50-kiloton atomic bombs and 200,000 tons of conventional bombs on 100 Soviet cities, of which 25 atomic bombs would be dropped on Moscow, 22 - to Leningrad, 10 - to Sverdlovsk, eight - to Kiev, five - to Dnepropetrovsk, two - to Lvov, etc. The developers of the plan calculated that as a result of this atomic bombing, about 60 million citizens of the USSR would die, and in total, taking into account further combat operations, this number will exceed 100 million.
When we think back to the Cold War, we shouldn't forget about the Dropshot plan. To some extent, Fisher can be called the man who prevented the Third World War - the American atomic secrets obtained with his help made it possible to complete the Soviet atomic program in a short time, and information about the plans of the American military predetermined the “symmetrical response” of the USSR.

In reality, Abel was a resident of Soviet intelligence; he controlled agents and operations not only in New York, but also in the northern and central states of America. Abel maintained contact with Moscow by radio and through liaison agents. There is information that in 1954-1955 he secretly visited Moscow for secret meetings with the top leadership of the KGB. During his stay in the United States, he was awarded the rank of state security colonel.
And yet, very little is known about Fisher’s activities in the States - and this is one of the surest evidence that he was a brilliant intelligence officer. Because the best intelligence officers are those about whom nothing is known at all while they are alive, but intelligence officers whose activities are unknown even after their failure deserve even more respect.
Abel was arrested by the FBI in New York on June 21, 1957, after he was betrayed by agent Heikhanen, sent to help him from Moscow. One of the pieces of evidence that helped expose Abel was a hollow nickel serving as a spy container, which Abel accidentally gave to newspaper vendor (FBI informant) James Bozarth. So Abel was put on trial, found guilty of espionage, and sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Rudolf Abel spent only a small part of his sentence in prison, and that was useful, working a lot on mathematical, historical books and phrasebooks from the prison library (in prison he learned Spanish and Italian), on February 10, 1962 he was exchanged for a spy plane pilot Powers on the Glinine Bridge, which divided Berlin into western and eastern zones. Returning to the USSR, Abel continued to work in the central office of the KGB to prepare intelligence school graduates for illegal activities.
Abel, neither in his youth nor in adulthood, did not stand out in any way: he was an inconspicuous, thin, bespectacled intellectual in modest clothes. But his penetrating, lively eyes, subtle ironic smile and confident gestures betrayed his iron will, the sharp mind of an analyst, and loyalty to his convictions. Everyone will certainly be interested to know what Abel especially valued in intelligence officers was the ability to work with their hands and heads in a wide variety of areas, that is, to have as many professions as possible. He himself once calculated that he possesses 93 skills and specialties!

He knew almost a dozen languages, was a fisherman and hunter, could repair a typewriter and a watch, a car engine and a television, painted excellently in oils and was a wonderful photographer, cut and sewed his own suits like God, understood electricity, could calculate the foundation and design a house, serve a banquet for twenty people and cook wonderful dishes. The KGB officially and publicly recognized Abel as its employee only in 1965.

From the life of intelligence officer Rudolf Abel

James Bozarth, an FBI agent and courier for the Brooklyn Eagle, discovered among his money a hollow 1948 nickel featuring Jefferson. The coin was a spy container containing microfilm.
Sergeant Roy Rhodes (US Army) spied for the USSR in the 50s while working at the embassy in Moscow. In 1957, Rhodes was pointed out by a Soviet defector, Colonel Reino Heikhanen, Abel's former liaison officer.

The converted Heyhanen led the FBI to Abel. When he was arrested, during a search of his darkroom, FBI agents found microfilm made, according to Heikhanen, by Rhodes. During interrogation, Rhodes confessed to his espionage activities. He and Heikhanen were key witnesses for the prosecution in Abel’s trial and, in fact, put him behind bars. Rudolf Abel was held in a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lawyer Donovan visited Abel after the trial. What he saw shocked him.“When I came to Abel’s prison cell after the trial, he was sitting, waiting for me, in a chair, crossing his legs, puffing on a cigarette. Looking at him, one would think that this man had no worries. But he endured colossal physical and emotional torture: he was threatened with the electric chair. At that moment, such self-control of a professional seemed unbearable to me.”

On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down near Sverdlovsk. Its pilot, Francis G. Powers, was detained by local residents and handed over to the KGB. The Soviet Union accused the United States of espionage activities, and President Eisenhower responded by advising the Russians to remember the “Abel Affair.”
This was the signal to start trading. Having received it, Nikita Khrushchev decided to exchange Abel for Powers (i.e., in fact, admit that Abel was a Soviet spy). Yuri Drozdov (hiding under the guise of the German Yu. Drivs) and lawyer V. Vogel entered into direct negotiations with the American side, all through the same James Donovan. The Americans asked not only Powers for Abel, but also two American students, one of whom was in a Kyiv prison and the other in a Berlin prison on charges of espionage. Eventually agreements were reached and Abel was released in February 1962.

On February 10, 1962, several cars drove up to the Alt-Glienicke bridge on the border of the GDR and West Berlin. Abel was in one of the American vans. At the same time, at the famous Checkpoint Charlie, one of the students was handed over to the Americans. As soon as the signal about the successful transfer of the student came over the radio, the main exchange operation began.

First, officials from both sides met in the middle of the bridge. Then Abel and Powers were invited there. The officers confirmed that these were the same people regarding whom agreements had been reached. Following this, Abel and Powers each walked to their own side of the border. Unlike the film "Off Season", where the same scene is shown, Abel and Powers did not look at each other - this is evidenced by Donovan, who was present at the exchange, and Abel himself later spoke about this.

Until the end of his life, Abel remained a colonel, lived in an ordinary two-room apartment and received an appropriate military pension. For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of our country, Colonel V. Fischer 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.

His fate inspired V. Kozhevnikov to write the famous adventure book “Shield and Sword.”

The intelligence genius died in Moscow in 1971 at the age of 68 and was buried at the Donskoye Cemetery. And only ten years ago the “Top Secret” stamp was removed from his name. Only his wife Elena and daughter Evelina, as well as a few of Abel’s colleagues in the service, knew his real name - William Genrikhovich Fischer.
It was a rare talent. It was not for nothing that at one of the meetings with Abel’s lawyer Donovan, CIA Director Dulles said: “I would like us to have three or four people like Abel in Moscow.”
Powers was awarded a CIA award, received personal praise from Dallas and the President of the United States, received an order and a $20,000 “allowance.” Having got a job at the Lockheed Corporation, he received a huge salary, plus monthly fees from the CIA. He had a luxurious mansion, a yacht, a personal helicopter, security and lived like the Sultan of Brunei. In 1977, he crashed in a helicopter over Los Angeles.

Retired Colonel Boris Yakovlevich Nalivaiko is one of those who, in the 60s, participated in the famous operation to exchange our intelligence officer Abel for the American reconnaissance pilot Powers, convicted of flying over Soviet territory. And a little earlier, in 1955, the Americans tried to recruit Nalivaiko. Scouts are taciturn and know how to keep the secrets of their profession...
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Most of Abel’s biography still remains classified as “secret,” but even those facts that are available today are impressive and reveal a lot about his personality.

Hereditary communist

William Fisher (he would receive his pseudonym much later) was born in England into a family of Russian political immigrants - his father and mother participated in the revolutionary movement in their homeland and were even personally acquainted with Lenin. It can be said that Abel inherited devotion to the ideas of communism and faith in Soviet ideology - a faith that was not broken either by imprisonment in an American prison, or by the hardships of work and life in Soviet Russia, or by the opportunity to go over to the American side in search of a well-fed and comfortable life.

Dismissal from service

Abel’s career in intelligence did not develop very consistently - so, after almost ten years of service and work in illegal intelligence in Norway and Great Britain, he was fired from the NKVD. The reason was Beria’s distrust of those who had connections with “enemies of the people,” specifically with Alexander Orlov, an intelligence officer who fled to the West in 1938. Abel also worked with him at one time. After leaving the service, he went to work at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and later moved to an aircraft industrial plant, where he worked until the start of the Great Patriotic War. Of course, such work was not for him: Abel’s intellect required solving more complex problems and much more responsible tasks, so while working at the plant, he constantly wrote reports to the party authorities with a request to reinstate him in his position. And after more than two years in the civil service, at the very beginning of the Second World War, he managed to return - Abel was enlisted in a unit engaged in organizing combat reconnaissance and sabotage groups and partisan detachments behind enemy lines.

Radio game “Berezino” and participation in the parade

During the Great Patriotic War, Fischer-Abel fully demonstrated his abilities, proving in practice the correctness of the decision to return him back to the central intelligence apparatus. He trained radio operators for partisan detachments and agents sent to the German rear. In addition, Abel participated in the strategic operation “Berezino”, where he was responsible for the most important part - the radio game (that is, transmitting disinformation to the enemy headquarters, allegedly on behalf of their agents), which he carried out exceptionally masterfully. On account of Abel and security services at the famous

Work in the USA and failure of the operation

After the end of World War II, Fischer received an extremely important task from his superiors - in 1948 he was sent to a key area of ​​​​foreign intelligence work - the United States. In the states, Fischer, under the operational pseudonym “Mark,” worked to recreate the Soviet intelligence network, and used an art workshop in Brooklyn as cover. Abel's main focus was collecting information about the atomic bomb being developed by the Americans and transferring it to our intelligence. Abel conducted intelligence activities in the United States for nine years and during this time managed to do a tremendous amount of work.
His failure was not the result of carelessness or miscalculation, the reason was the betrayal of another Soviet agent, Reino Heikhanen, who handed Abel over to the American intelligence services.

Agent alias

After the arrest, “Mark’s” main task was to avoid provocations from the FBI and inform Moscow about his arrest. Fischer understood who ratted him out and acted on this knowledge. Heikhanen did not know Mark's real name, so during interrogation he pretended to be another Soviet intelligence officer, his late friend, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, with whom he had worked side by side for a long time in Soviet intelligence. Since then, Fischer went everywhere under his name. Only in the early nineties, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service officially announced that the real name of the Soviet intelligence officer who identified himself as Abel during his arrest was William Genrikhovich Fischer.

Exchange and return to homeland

For collecting military information and espionage for the USSR, Abel faced the death penalty, but thanks to the efforts of his lawyer James Dokovan, who also incidentally once served in intelligence, the death sentence was commuted to imprisonment for thirty-two years, which at 54 years old was equivalent to life imprisonment sentence. But this court decision turned out to be very far-sighted. In May 1960, an American plane was shot down near Sverdlovsk and its pilot, Francis Powers, was captured. Under pressure from the public and the pilot's family, the CIA agreed to exchange Powers for a Soviet agent. The importance and weight of Abel’s figure allowed the Americans to return to their homeland not only the downed pilot, but also two more citizens of their country, detained and held on the territory of the Soviet Union. On February 10, 1962, a historic exchange took place on the Glienicke Bridge dividing East and West Berlin.

Creative talent

William Fisher was exceptionally educated and comprehensively developed not only professionally, but also culturally. He knew six languages ​​and even taught French to his cellmate, understood the humanities and natural sciences, and was well versed in music, literature, photography and painting (it was not for nothing that Abel’s cover in New York was working in a studio). During his imprisonment in an American prison, Abel also did not sit idle - he developed his technological process for silk-screen printing, solved mathematical problems, prepared detailed drawings for the best use of the prison building and painted oil paintings. There is even a legend, which has no solid evidence, that the portrait of Kennedy, painted by Fisher in prison, was presented to the president and even hung in the oval office.

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 ones, 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 most 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 reveal 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 defecting and playing 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!

- Abel tried 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.

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.