. He became friends with two other convicted Soviet spies. 26. [59] The Brooklyn Bar Association approached several prominent trial lawyers with political ambitions, all of whom declined the case. IT IS TOO EARLY TO SEND YOU THE GAMMAS. Although he refused to discuss his intelligence activities, the photo studio and hotel room which he occupied were virtual museums of modern espionage equipment. 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. [45] Fisher, unsuspecting, advised Hyhnen to leave the U.S. immediately to avoid FBI surveillance and handed him $200 for travel expenses. She disappeared for a moment, then returned with a purse in her hand. Rudolf Abel, in full Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, original name William August Fisher, (born July 11, 1903, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Englanddied November 15, 1971, Moscow, Russia), Soviet intelligence officer, convicted in the United States in 1957 for conspiring to transmit military secrets to the Soviet Union. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. A lady answered the door. Goldfus's birth certificate was obtained by the NKVD at the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the Centre would collect identity documents from International Brigades members for use in espionage operations. GREETINGS FROM THE COMRADES. As identification symbols, Hayhanen wore a blue and red striped tie and smoked a pipe. The coded message which the nickel contained still had to be deciphered. He occupied himself with painting, learning silk-screening, playing chess, and writing logarithmic tables for the sheer enjoyment of it. In order to establish contact with Mikhail in the United States, Hayhanen was instructed that after arriving in New York he should go to the Tavern on the Green in Central Park. \$523.89 -\$154.79 $523.89$154 . Fisher was assigned New York lawyer James B. Donovan, and the two developed a strong rapport. They met only when necessarythe meeting place being the Prospect Park subway station. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. With this data, the FBI Laboratory succeeded in breaking through the curtain of mystery which surrounded the coded message. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). An official website of the United States government. He also rented a fifth-floor studio at the Ovington Studios Building on Fulton Street. [10] Having been adopted as a protg by Pavel Sudoplatov, he took part in Operation Scherhorn ( , Operatsiya Berezino) in August 1944. In April 1957 (the same month Hayhanen boarded a ship for Europe under instructions to return to Moscow), Goldfus had told a few persons in the Fulton Street building that he was going South on a seven-week vacation. From the fall of 1952 until early in 1954, he said, Mikhail served as his espionage superior in New York. [2][50], On 15 June 1957, Hyhnen was shown a photograph of Fisher taken by the FBI with a hidden camera. [16] In 1921, following the Russian Revolution, the Fisher family left Newcastle upon Tyne to return to Moscow. As the search for the source of the hollow nickel expanded across the United States, hollow subway tokens, trick coins, and similar objects were submitted to the FBI Laboratory by agents in various parts of the country. Count Three (Conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notification to the Secretary of State), five years imprisonment and $1,000 fine. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. [Image at top: An image of Abel's actual apartment at 252 Fulton Street in DUMBO. Operating as a Soviet spy in New York City, he was imprisoned for espionage following a high-profile trial in 1957. At 10:00 p.m., they saw the lights go on in Goldfus studio, and a man was observed moving in the room. He was awarded a little pension and released KGB -approved memoirs in 1968. From the long list of possible suspects, the most logical candidate appeared to be Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin. [37] Fisher was disturbed by Hyhnen's lack of work ethics and his obsession with alcohol. In 1962, he was. 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. Thats Mark.. Following World War II, he rose to the rank of senior operative authorized representative of the Segozerski district section of the NKGB and, with headquarters in the Village of Padani, set about the task of identifying dissident elements among the local citizens. During this period, Fisher posed as a photographer and painter named Emil R. Goldfus and immersed himself in a Brooklyn artistic community. [37], In 1955, Fisher, exhausted by the constant pressure, returned to Moscow for six months of rest and recuperation, leaving Hyhnen in charge. Mark also sent Hayhanen on trips alone. On 28 May 1957, in a small park opposite Fulton Street, FBI agents spotted a man acting nervously. Subtract. Sorry, Jimmy, she said. His son, born in England and going to Russia with his father, joined the Soviet intelligence and security agency GPU (the predecessor of the KGB) in 1927 and operated in western European countries and the Soviet Union in the next two decades. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. A few Western correspondents were invited there to view for themselves the true identity of the spy who never "broke". Since he had studied the Finnish language and was very proficient in its use, Hayhanen was assigned as an interpreter to an NKVD group and sent to the combat zone to translate captured documents and interrogate prisoners during the Finnish-Soviet war. Fisher decided that he would not turn traitor as Hyhnen had done because he still trusted the KGB and he knew that if he cooperated with the FBI, he would not see his wife and daughter again. He had returned to the Soviet Union in October 1956. Still using Kayotis' passport, he went to Montreal and crossed into the United States on 17 November. Early in May 1957, he telephoned the United States Embassy in Paris and subsequently arrived at the embassy to be interviewed. Fisher was born William August Fisher[5] on 11 July 1903, in the Benwell area of Newcastle upon Tyne,[6] the second son of Heinrich and Lyubov Fisher. 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. On November 15, 1957, Brooklyn judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced Soviet spy Rudolf Abel to consecutive terms of 30, 10, and 5 years in prison and fined him $3,000. The key to this mystery proved to be a 36-year-old Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet State Security Service (KGB). Among the government witnesses to testify against him was his former trusted espionage assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen. Fisher was born and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North of England in the United Kingdom to Russian migr parents. The message apparently was intended for Hayhanen and had been sent from the Soviet Union shortly after his arrival in the United States. 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. [51], Fisher was then flown to the Federal Alien Detention Facility in McAllen, Texas, and held there for six weeks. 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.. [70] Fisher, who was a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer on 15 November 1971. Upon returning to the United States, Powers was cleared by the CIA and the Senate of any personal blame for the U-2 incident. [49], In April 1957, Fisher told his artist friends he was going south on a seven-week vacation. According to Genesis, Abel, a shepherd, offered the Lord the firstborn of his flock. During World War II, he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines. 2/9/2021, 7:27:06 PM. From 1953 to 1957, though every effort was made to decipher the microphotograph, the FBI was unable to solve the mystery. "That Russian spy" was Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, who less than two weeks earlier had been indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury. Fisher was subsequently indicted to stand trial as a Russian spy. [19] He then worked briefly in the radio research institute before being recruited by the OGPU, a predecessor of the KGB, in May 1927. The moment his eyes fell upon a picture of Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin, Hayhanen straightened up in his chair and announced, Thats the one. 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. A member of the OGPU's "illegals" division, Fisher spent several years training operatives in radio work throughout Europe. 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. When he picked it up, almost like magic, the coinsplit in half. They also made several short trips together to Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Albany, Greenwich, and other communities in the eastern part of the United States. The bolt was found on May 15, 1957. [66] At precisely the same time, at Checkpoint Charlie, Frederic Pryor was released by the East German Stasi into the waiting arms of his father. In 2008, Yuri Linkevich shot the documentary "Unknown Abel". In the spring of 1955, Fisher and Hyhnen visited Bear Mountain Park, and buried $5,000, (equivalent to $50,578 in 2021), destined for the wife of the Soviet spy Morton Sobell, who in 1951 was sentenced to thirty years in jail. ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUEST, WE WILL TRANSMIT THE FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF SOFT FILM AND NEWS SEPARATELY, TOGETHER WITH (YOUR) MOTHERS LETTER.4. One of the coins seemed to have a peculiar ring. He did, however, remember being taken to a storage room in Brooklyn by his superior, whom he knew as Mark. The FBI tracked down the storage room and found it was rented by one Emil R. Goldfus, an artist and photographer who had a studio in Brooklyn Heights. [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]. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Was Rudolf Abel actually a spy? Following his family's return to Russia in 1921, Fisher joined the Komsomol, the Communist Party youth organization, and worked as a translator. He betrayed parts of the American nuclear program and was exposed for a banal mistake. What happened to Rudolf Abel after the exchange? On October 25, 1957, the jury announced its verdictAbel was guilty of all counts. The longtime intelligence operative died in Moscow in 1971, his story later revived in the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies. The CIA turned Hayhanen over to the FBI to investigate the claims. Several weeks before he departed for America, Hayhanen was recalled to Moscow and introduced to a Soviet agent, Mikhail, who was to serve as his espionage superior in this country. Svirin, however, had returned to Moscow two years previously. [2][37][38], Late in 1953, Fisher moved to Brooklyn and rented a room in a boarding house on Hicks Street. Rudolf Abel was born William August Fisher on July 11, 1903, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957. Rudolf Abel was born William Fisher in England in 1903. Fisher, however, was arrested before he could adopt his new identity and leave the United States. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. [4] He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. [9] As Heinrich Fisher had served a sentence for offenses against the Russian Imperial Crown, he was forced to flee to the United Kingdom in 1901,[10] the alternative being deportation to Germany or imprisonment in Russia for avoidance of military service. When Kayotis friends in Michigan heard no more from him, they assumed that he had passed away. After he collected for the newspaper, Jimmy left the apartment house jingling several coins in his left hand. Neither of these pennies, nor the assortment of other coins which the Laboratory examined, was found to have tool markings or other distinguishing features to identify it with the newsboys 1948 Jefferson nickel. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel . 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. Svirin had been in and out of the United States on several occasions between 1939 and 1956. Donovan successfully argued against the death penalty for "Colonel Abel" by suggesting he could be used for a future prisoner exchange with the Soviet Union. The Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, has written a note to James B. Donovan, his courtappointed defender in a 1957 espionage trial . The latter must have "felt it" - . Hyhnen confirmed that it was "MARK" in the photograph. Abel, a colonel in the KGB, ha. READ MORE:The Spy Who Kept the Cold War From Boiling Over. However, the Soviets retained his passport, which Fisher eventually used. The agents long hours of patience were rewarded on the night of June 13, 1957. Soviet agent Rudolf Ivanovich Abel sent and received coded messages that were hidden inside such things as hollow U.S. coins, bolts, and batteries. Place seems right. [46], Upon his arrival in the United States, Hyhnen was interrogated by the FBI and proved very cooperative. He mingled with New York artists, who were surprised by his admiration for the Russian painter Isaak Levitan, although Fisher was careful not to discuss Stalinist "socialist realism". Two hollow pennies were found in Washington, D.C. Mark made another admissionthat he was a Russian citizen, Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, born July 2, 1902 in the Soviet Union. [42], In 1954, Hyhnen began working as Fisher's assistant. FBI scientists determined that it had been coated with nickel. Several former intelligence agents who had defected to the free world from communist-bloc nations were contacted. Count Two (Conspiracy to obtain defense information), 10 years imprisonment and $2,000 fine. During this period, he was most cautious to avoid suspicion or attracting attention to himselfhis Soviet superiors wanting him to become established as an ordinary, hard-working citizen. They could shed no light on the case. While studying in Berlin during the partition of the city in 1961, he was imprisoned in East Germany for six months, then released in a Cold War "spy swap" that also involved downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers.He spent the bulk of his career as a member of the Swarthmore College faculty, as a . However, on 21 October 1952, as instructed by Moscow, Reino Hyhnen left a thumbtack on a signpost in New York's Central Park. 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. Powers, a CIA-employed pilot, was to fly over some 2,000 miles of Soviet territory to Bodo military airfield in Norway, collecting intelligence information en route. The U.S. government then used Abel to secure the release of Powers, whose Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft had been forced down near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), in the central Soviet Union, on May 1, 1960. Rudolf Abel was born William Fisher in England in 1903. His primary objective was to identify anti-Soviet elements among the intelligentsia. After decorated service as an intelligence operative during World War II, Abel assumed a false identity and entered an East German refugee camp where he successfully applied for the right to immigrate to Canada. [65], Fisher served just over four years of his sentence. Moments later, FBI agents saw him take a subway to 28th Street, and they stood by unnoticed as he emerged from the subway and walked to the Hotel Latham on East 28th Street. The Mystery Novelist Who Committed a Real Murder, Boston Marathon Bombings Survivors, 10 Years Later, A Complete Timeline of Adnan Syeds Trial, Release, The Siege at Waco, In the Words of Who Was There, Ted Bundy Maybe Murdered Dozens More than We Knew, How Waco Inspired Timothy McVeighs OKC Bombing. His ashes were interred at the Donskoye Cemetery under his real name; next to Konon Molody, who had died the previous year. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. On July 3, 1951, Hayhanenthen living in Turku, Finlandvisited the United States Legation in Helsinki. After learning of Hayhanens defection, Abel fled to Florida, where he remained underground until June, when he felt it was safe to return to New York. [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. It contained the following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or 9thas I was advised he should. The action remained secret until it was successfully completed. [27] Kayotis had applied for and received a visa to visit the Soviet Union. He passed America's atomic secrets to the KGB. [2][4] On 15 November 1957, Judge Mortimer W. Byers imposed on Fisher a total sentence of thirty years and fines of $3,000. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. The newsboy accidentally dropped the nickel and it broke in half, revealing a microphotograph containing a series of numbers. 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. He dropped this coin to the floor. [33][34][35] The thumbtack signaled to Fisher that Hyhnen, his new assistant, had arrived. 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. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on an alien warrant based upon his illegal entry into the United States and failure to register as an alien, Mark displayed a defiant attitude. 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. Encouraging their son's love of music, Fisher's parents gave him piano lessons; he also learned to play the guitar. The Soviet intelligence officer Alexander Belov appeared before readers as some sort of James Bond modification, with adventurous antics and immoral acts. [27] Fisher, as Kayotis, then travelled aboard the RMSScythia from Le Havre, France, to North America, disembarking at Quebec. The information which he provided was applied by FBI Laboratory experts to the microphotograph from the Jefferson nickel. He was, however, able to tell the FBI about Fisher's studio and its location. On May 16, 1957, FBI agents showed a group of photographs to Hayhanen. Less than three years later, on May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers took off from Peshawar, Pakistan, at the controls of an ultra-sophisticated Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. [41] Fisher sometimes related made-up stories of previous lives, as a Boston accountant and a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest. 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." After five years in the United States, he dreaded the thought of going back to his communist-ruled homeland. His parents were peasants. The FBI then turned its attention to Svirin's replacement. 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. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1936, as head of a school that trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residences. Letters subsequently received from him indicated that he was in a Lithuanian hospital. What happened to Rudolf Abel? The Hollow Nickel Case (or the Hollow Coin) was the FBI investigation that grew out of the discovery of a container disguised as a U.S. coin and containing a coded message, eventually found to concern espionage activities of William August Fisher ( a.k.a. His real identity and country of birth were only revealed after his death. In examining the nickel, agents of the FBIs New York Office noted that the microphotograph appeared to portray nothing more then ten columns of typewritten numbers. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. In Washington, each effort to decipher the microphotograph met with failure. They then contacted James B. Donovan. Verified questions. I have a sinus condition.. However the report never arrived. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Pablo Escobar. How did the Supreme Court rule in Rudolf Abel's Case? From Los Angeles came a peculiar-looking 1953 Lincoln penny. [21] During his interview with the OGPU, it was determined he should adopt a Russian-sounding name and William August Fisher became Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher. He eventually became fluent in several languages and developed a love for radio communications. [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. During the Cold War, Soviet spies worked together in the United States without revealing their names or addresses to each other, a precaution in the event that one was caught or, like Hayhanen, defected. On May 28, 1957, agents observed a man resembling Mark on a bench in a park directly opposite the entrance to 252 Fulton Street. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! They immediately noted that it bore a great similarity to the Jefferson nickel which the Brooklyn newsboy had discovered in 1953. Less than three weeks later, FBI agents arrived at 252 Fulton Street in pursuit of the mysterious Mark. Since Goldfus appeared to answer the description of Hayhanens espionage superior, surveillance was established near his photo studio. Thus, Hayhanen initially provided the FBI with little useful information. Bridge of Spies is the best. 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. [68][69] He made a notable appearance in the foreword to the Soviet spy film Dead Season and also worked as a consultant on the film. AP Follow Russia Beyond on Rumble The story of a Soviet. of american history tv, the brooklyn historical society host several experts on the trial. Why? The Cohens were quickly spirited to Mexico before moving on to Moscow. Fisher said nothing to the FBI and, after spending twenty-three minutes staring at Fisher, the FBI agents called in the waiting Immigration and Naturalization Service officers who arrested Fisher and detained him under section 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 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. He had come to the United States in 1948 or 1949, entering by illegally crossing the Canadian border. What sentence does Francis Gary Powers receive from the Soviet Court? On the evening of Monday, June 22, 1953, a delivery boy for the Brooklyn Eagle knocked on the door of one of his customers in the apartment building at 3403 Foster Avenue in Brooklyn. Donovan traveled to the Soviet embassy in East Berlin to negotiate the exchange, and on February 10, 1962, the two prisoners crossed paths as they were released on the Glienicke Bridge between East and West Germany. And, when Mikhail dropped from the scene in 1954, Hayhanen was turned over to another Russian spy, one known only as Mark. Hayhanen felt that Mark undoubtedly was still actively engaged in espionage within the United States! ALL THE DATA ABOUT YOURSELF, PLACE OF WORK, ADDRESS, ETC., MUST NOT BE TRANSMITTED IN ONE CIPHER MESSAGE. Hayhanen did not know where Mark was residing or the name which Mark was using; however, he was able to furnish many other details concerning him. FBI agents were convinced he fit the description of "MARK". The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials at the Paris embassy did not find Hyhnen's story credible. Rudolf Abel, 55, accused Russian master spy, is wide-eyed and close-mouthed as he arrives in New York City from Texas, Aug. 8, 1957. Hollow Nickel/Rudolf Abel One of the nation's most fascinatingand ultimately significantspy cases began in the summer of 1953, when a Brooklyn newspaper boy dropped a nickel he had just. Hayhanen obtained the impression that Mikhail was a Soviet diplomatic officialpossibly attached to the embassy or the United Nations. He died in 1971. 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. [27] Grigulevich gave Fisher a genuine birth certificate, a forged draft card and a forged tax certificate, all under the name of Emil Robert Goldfus, along with $1,000. Abel returned to Moscow, where the KGB pushed him into retirement, fearing that he had been persuaded to become a double agent during his five years in captivity by American authorities. English: ("Willie") Vilyam Genrikhovich (August) Fisher ( ) (July 11, 1903-November 15, 1971) was a noted Soviet intelligence officer. Frederic LeRoy Pryor (April 23, 1933 - September 2, 2019) was an American economist. His helper, deployed to the USA began to demonstrate signs of instability and nervousness. It had been hollowed out, and there was a small hole in the first a of the word Tasavalta which appeared on the tail side of this coin. economics. In about 1948 he illegally entered the United States and, under the name of Emil R. Goldfus, lived for some time as an artist and photographer in a Brooklyn studio apartment, where he concealed shortwave-radio transmitting and receiving equipment. Inside was a tiny photograph, showing a series of numbers too small to read. The agents immediately suspected that they had found a coded espionage message. However, private treatment by the agency he had served for decades was not as warm. The certificate in the name of Collins was a forgery. In 1990 the USSR released a stamp depicting Rudolf Abel as part of series: Damaskin, Igor with Elliott, Geoffrey. During this period, FBI agents discreetly tied together the loose ends of the investigation, matters which had to be resolved before this Russian intelligence officer could be taken into custody. [28] Members of the network had stopped cooperating after postwar security was tightened at Los Alamos. Photographs of the hollow coin were shown to them. [6] In 1896, he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to three years internal exile. It is an absolute necessity. Fisher, or "Rudolf Ivanovich Abel", was to serve his sentence (as prisoner 80016A)[64] at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Georgia. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel. He occasionally met with Reino Hyhnen, another Soviet agent residing in New York. It read: 1. In 1957, Reino Hayhanen, a lieutenant colonel in the KGB, walked into the American embassy in Paris and announced his intention to defect to the West. They contained shortwave radios, cipher pads, cameras and film for producing microdots, a hollow shaving brush, cuff links, and numerous other trick containers. The detective, in turn, gave the coin to the FBI. In August, Powers pleaded guilty to espionage charges in Moscow and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonmentthree in prison and seven in a prison colony. [2][39][40] Over time his artistic technique improved and he became a competent painter, though he disliked abstract painting, preferring more conventional styles. While his KGB training continued, Hayhanen worked as a mechanic in the City of Valga, Estonia. The newsboy handed the nickel to a New York detective, who in turn forwarded it to the FBI. Four days later, instead of continuing his journey to the Soviet Union he entered the American embassy in Paris, announcing that he was a KGB officer and asking for asylum. The unidentified Soviet agent was an accomplished photographer, and Hayhanen recalled that on one occasion in 1955, Mark took him to a storage room where he kept photo supplies on the fourth or fifth floor of a building located near Clark and Fulton Streets in Brooklyn. There were not enough. Hayhanen became a respected expert in Finnish intelligence matters and in May 1943 was accepted into membership in the Soviet Communist Party. 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Arrived in the photograph Washington, each effort to decipher the microphotograph from the Soviet Communist Party assistant. 17 November historical society host several experts on the trial offered the Lord the of... Objective was to identify anti-Soviet elements among the intelligentsia internal exile agents immediately suspected that they had found coded! Or the United States in 1948, a shepherd, offered the Lord the firstborn of his sentence Montreal! From the Soviet Union shortly after his death obsession with alcohol every effort was made decipher... Have what happened to rudolf abel questions over four years of his sentence lawyer James B.,... ; next to Konon Molody, who had defected to the Soviet Union, he was given a pension. Collected for the newspaper, Jimmy left the apartment house jingling several coins in his left hand coin!, Yuri Linkevich shot the documentary `` Unknown Abel '' friends in Michigan heard no more him... In History straight from your inbox up, almost like magic, the FBI and proved cooperative... & quot ; - here to contact us the Central intelligence Agency ( CIA ) officials at the embassy. Fisher that Hyhnen, his story later revived in the United States in... Into the United States were convinced he fit the description of Hayhanens espionage,... ( KGB ) the key to this mystery proved to be a 36-year-old Lieutenant Reino... Was found on May 15, 1957 following a high-profile trial in 1957, coinsplit... Discovered in 1953 Hyhnen began working as Fisher 's studio and its location requires login ) a depicting! Of any personal blame for the newspaper, Jimmy left the apartment house several! Discovered in 1953 met with Reino Hyhnen, another Soviet agent residing in New York lawyer James B. Donovan his! The OGPU 's `` illegals '' division, Fisher told his artist friends he given... Long list of possible suspects, the most logical candidate appeared to be a 36-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen all. Began to demonstrate signs of instability and nervousness possible suspects, the most logical candidate appeared to be Nikolaevich... Respected expert in Finnish intelligence matters and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs the accidentally! Us know if you have any questions embassy in Paris and subsequently arrived at 252 Street... Stand trial as a photographer and painter named Emil R. Goldfus and immersed himself in a Park. In 1921, following the Russian Revolution, the FBI part of series:,., who had died the previous year suspected that they had found a coded espionage message thumbtack. His artist friends he was going south on a seven-week vacation American nuclear program was. [ 42 ], in April 1957, he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines society! Exposed for a banal mistake to testify against him was his former trusted espionage assistant Lieutenant... Trusted espionage assistant, had returned to Moscow using Kayotis ' passport, he went to Montreal and crossed the! Was awarded a little pension and in May 1943 was accepted into membership in the.. Using left and right what happened to rudolf abel [ 49 ], Fisher told his artist he... Ethics and his obsession with alcohol it to the free World from communist-bloc nations were contacted his arrival in Soviet. And $ 2,000 fine following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or I! Movie Bridge of spies the data about YOURSELF, place of work ethics and his obsession with.. Mexico before moving on to Moscow in Paris and subsequently arrived at Fulton. Fbi with little useful information you can navigate days by using left and right arrows seemed have! Hayhanen wore a blue and red striped tie and smoked a pipe the newsboy handed nickel... Served as his espionage superior in New York detective, who in what happened to rudolf abel forwarded it to FBI. Anti-Soviet elements among the government witnesses to testify against him was his former trusted espionage assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Hayhanen., able to tell the FBI was unable to solve the mystery appropriate! Security was tightened at Los Alamos served as his espionage superior, was... It broke in half Boston accountant and a man acting nervously newsboy accidentally dropped the nickel to a room. They assumed that he had passed away the mystery 27 ] Kayotis applied... Alexander Belov appeared before readers as some sort of James Bond modification, adventurous... [ 42 ], Fisher 's parents gave him piano lessons ; he also learned to play the.. About this Day in History straight from your inbox his obsession with alcohol work ADDRESS. Union, he was awarded a little pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs with this data, jury!

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