One story that might lend credence to that idea occurred when Silverman and Goldfus were once again in the studio late at night. Abel heeds Donovan, ignoring a CIA functionarys command, and stays put until Pryor is freed. If so, wasnt that the greatest betrayal of all; that their entire friendship had been part of a cover story? WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. He changed his name toGoldfus. He was also Emil Goldfus, a kindly, unassuming, retired photofinisher and amateur painter, developing his craft with a group of fledgling Realist artists living and working in Brooklyn in the 1950s. Had it been a trap? When journalists were granted access in 1957, the small studio contained some of Abels paintings, as well as his spying materials. Goldfusregistered at the Hotel Latham under the name of Martin Collinswas kept under surveillance from the night of June 13 until the morning of June 21, 1957. It was the archetypal Cold War tale - an undercover operative arrested after his cover was blown. I also thought we could talk about your feelings about America and the people you met there. Operating as a Soviet spy in New York City, he was imprisoned for espionage following a high-profile trial 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. ALL THE DATA ABOUT YOURSELF, PLACE OF WORK, ADDRESS, ETC., MUST NOT BE TRANSMITTED IN ONE CIPHER MESSAGE. Youve had no contact with your friend since his arrest. Ideological adversaries like Abel and Donovan who submit to the connection, he says, can be heroes of a sort, and are always needed. Abel sizes up Donovan similarly. They also made several short trips together to Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Albany, Greenwich, and other communities in the eastern part of the United States. Hayhanen was born near Leningrad on May 14, 1920. It was both real and a lie. In 1962, after only serving four years of his sentence, Goldfus was sent back to the Soviet Union, traded for downed U-2 Pilot Gary Powers in a truly filmic exchange on the Glienicke Bridge, known during the Cold War as the Bridge of Spies for the numerous transactions that occurred there. My father called him a friend. It was composed of copper-silver alloy, there being a shortage of nickel during World War II. Image via Awesome Stories]. For example, in 1954, Mark instructed him to locate an American Army sergeant, one formerly assigned to the United States Embassy in Moscow. Welcome to Americas Most Elite Girls Boarding School. Inside was a tiny photographapparently a picture of a series of numbers. The agents long hours of patience were rewarded on the night of June 13, 1957. Negotiated by Donovan, the exchange occurs, as it did in the actual event, in February 1962 on Berlins Glienicke Bridge the Bridge of Spies. In 1972, a Western journalist visited his grave, and saw the name Willie Fisher had been added to the tombstonethe first time anyone outside of the Kremlin learned that Abel was an alias as well. Mikhail, the Soviet with whom Hayhanen maintained contact from the fall of 1952 until early 1954, was yet to be identified. Emil Goldfus was convicted of conspiracy to obtain and transmit U.S. defense information, and of acting as an agent of a foreign government. Everyone is encouraged to see their own healthcare professional to review what is best for them. Here was a man who was very, very careful, who had avoided detection for nine years. He then sees that he may be defending an incongruously estimable man, and it triggers a new zealousness in his professional endeavor. The key to this mystery proved to be a 36-year-old Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet State Security Service (KGB). Silvermans time on the stand was brief. Assuming that their calls and letters were tapped and were being studied for some form of covert activity, they instead devised a system in which Burt would send a telegram saying he was running out of a particular color of paint to indicate danger, So Cadmium Yellow became my S.O.S.. The book about you will, I think, be a truthful and honest one. First, about things long past: Im sorry I didnt write to you in Atlanta. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. On October 25, 1957, the jury announced its verdictAbel was guilty of all counts. 2001-2023 The Pain Reliever Corporation. At the bar, we met a British businessman and we talked about why we were there., We were put in touch with a man called Viktor Louis, a leaker of unofficial Soviet information (a standard part of all diplomacy) that went back and forth to Great Britain constantly, Silverman explains. [Image at top: An image of Abels actual apartment at 252 Fulton Street in DUMBO. The coded message which the nickel contained still had to be deciphered. Required fields are marked *. Let the Hazing Begin. 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. 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. It contained the following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or 9thas I was advised he should. In Moscow, however, plans were being made for a new Eugene Maki, one thoroughly grounded in Soviet intelligence techniques, to enter the scene. The only person that we know ever received these messages from Goldfus was Hayhanen. They showed what is known as "Socialist realism" and reflected little that Even his wife knew him only as Eugene Maki, so carefully did he cover his previous life. 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. 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. Silverman tried to explain,but they were unable to assuage Louiss fears that he was being set up, either by the Americanswith Silverman and Bernikow in the role of undercover CIA operativesor by the KGB itself, with the two now placed in the unlikely role of double agents, trying to expose and entrap Viktor. Photographs of the hollow coin were shown to them. One of the coins seemed to have a peculiar ring. did Rudolph Abel paint James Donovans portrait in real life and where is it now ???? WebThe art works of Col. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, the Russian spy suspect, were viewed yesterday. The information which he provided was applied by FBI Laboratory experts to the microphotograph from the Jefferson nickel. Before departing, Silverman wrote a letter to Goldfus, saving a handwritten draft and sending the final copy to Goldfus. After his return, the U.S.S.R. feted him as a national heroan operative who had evaded and subverted the Americans for nine years without detection. Some other time perhapswhen the two of us can meet simply as old friends. He betrayed parts of the American nuclear program and was exposed for a banal mistake. There was a strange, rolling r sound when he said my nameBurrrrrtas if he had a Scottish burr, though he explained it with a story about an aunt from Scotland that had raised him.. Maybe the reason Im here now is to make up for that. They sold their belongings and left their Idaho farm for New York to book passage on a ship to Europe. (I hope you are aware that I have been trying to arrange a meeting with no success.) In the summer of 1954, going by the alias MARK, Goldfus had his first meeting with his new assistant, Reyno Hayhanen, code name VIK, living under the alias Eugene Nikolai Maki. Despite that, they plunged into the heart of the Soviet colossus, Silverman toting drawing supplies and Bernikow notepads and pencils, trying to find Goldfus, to ask him well, everything. He had no way to contact him, knowing no other family members or individuals outside of the group at Ovington who might know anything about his whereabouts. Hayhanen became a respected expert in Finnish intelligence matters and in May 1943 was accepted into membership in the Soviet Communist Party. (Avoiding Spoilers) Overview a Soviet spy working undercover in 1957 Brooklyn. But just over four years later he would be handed over in return for Gary Powers, an American apprehended by the Soviets when his U-2 plane was shot down in 1960. He displayed a birth certificate from the state of Idaho which showed that he was born in Enaville on May 30, 1919, and, in the presence of a Vice Consul, he executed an affidavit in which he explained that his family had left the United States in 1928: I accompanied my mother to Estonia when I was eight years of age and resided with her until her death in 1941. display The action remained secret until it was successfully completed. Mainly, he sat on the periphery of the conversations, as one might expect of an older, wiser man, amused by the fiery convictions and enflamed sensibilities of youth, his ardor tempered by a certain degree of cynicism and the realities of life. Pingback: Why was abel painting a portrait of himself? He described Mikhail as probably between 40 and 50 years old; medium build; long, thin nose; dark hair; and about five feet, nine inches tall. Collection; Search the Collection; Exhibitions; Public Art; Nordic Art and Culture In keeping with instructions contained in a message he received from Soviet officials, Hayhanen was met by Mark at a movie theater in Flushing, Long Island, during the late summer of 1954. Investigation in Detroit disclosed that several persons there considered Kayotis to be in poor physical condition at the time of his departure from the United States. There are probably more sensitive, national security-type messages that arent freely available online, but those we can access read like inter-office memos. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. It was collecting time again. Suddenly, there are no random occurrences, no coincidences. NUMBER 1, 3RD OF DECEMBER.. Rudolf Abel was the most important Soviet agent the FBI ever got on the net. To exchange messages and intelligence data, they used dead dropsinconspicuous hiding placesin the New York area. While his KGB training continued, Hayhanen worked as a mechanic in the City of Valga, Estonia. He refused to cooperate at all. He was also a frequent visitor to Silvermans studio, accruing a vast amount of knowledge just by spending time with him and watching him paint, saying nothing. Two separate coins obviously had been used in making this trick 50 Markka piece. Imagine standing in the corridor of the federal courthouse at Cadman Plaza, waiting to be called. WebBrowse 21 rudolf abel stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. If you want to be anonymous in New York, its a pretty easy thing to do. No questions about his political beliefs, no insinuations that hed somehow been involved with Goldfuss espionage, just a typewriter. If Goldfus was very, very careful, Hayhanen was the opposite. To Silverman, Jules Feiffer said, You know, Emil gives me the feeling of a guy whos been on the bum. The agents immediately suspected that they had found a coded espionage message. Full information concerning Rhodes involvement in Russian espionage was disseminated to the Army; and following a court-martial, he was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor.). Count One (Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union), 30 years imprisonment. American pilot Francis Gary Powers , aka Gary Powers, There were other odd moments as well: nagging details and incidents that just didnt make sense. Our Learning and Creativity team has developed at-home art activities for familiesand kids of all ages. You just couldnt place it. I dont have any change. In the mid-1920s, Eugene Makis parents became deeply impressed by glowing reports of conditions in the new Russia. Hollow coins, though rarely seen by the ordinary citizen, are occasionally used in magic acts and come to the attention of federal law enforcement agencies from time to time. There was five digits in each number and 21 numbers in most columns. 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. discovered: the coin, the hairbrush, etc. They were in Goldfuss room and his shortwave radio was on, sputtering an unfamiliar, Strauss-like tune along with an indecipherable, Central European-sounding commentator. After arriving in Moscow, Silverman and Bernikow found that the interview with Goldfus had fallen through. An investigation which had started with a newsboys hollow nickel ultimately resulted in the smashing of a Soviet spy ring. Why? In the intelligence and counterintelligence field, patience is more than a virtue. He was a balding, middle-aged man with a wiry build and a sharp bony profile, who seemed to wear nothing but gray. I had hoped to talk to you about all of it. He was born Vitaly Yevgenyevich Lui, worked as journalist with the Western media, and though he was not a declared member of the KGB, Had a dacha; a summer residence that is usually reserved for upper-echelon party bureaucrats.. The detective had received his information from another police officer whose daughter was acquainted with the newsboy. NUMBER 1, 3RD OF DECEMBER. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. ISBN 1-4198-3392-8 Other fine movies recently, for instance, von Dannersmarcks The Lives of Others (2006) also get at this point. He appeared before Judge Mortimer W. Byers on November 15, 1957 and was sentenced as follows (the three sentences to be served concurrently): Colonel Abel appealed his convictions, claiming that rights guaranteed to him under the Constitution and laws of the United States had been violated. He wanted to defectto desert the Soviet camp. Perched up there, the arena packed with thousands of subservient but still wildly cheering admirers, everyone from Nicholas Romanoff to the Commissars would feel invulnerable and impervious to change or the march of history. Letters subsequently received from him indicated that he was in a Lithuanian hospital. Hindsight, and a changed political climate have made those decisions and that counsel seem excessively cautious or worse. Apparently, this is not to be. He returned to the Soviet Union in the 1920s, served in military intelligence in a variety of functions, joined the KGB after World War II, and was eventually sent to the United States as a mole. The Picassos is Complete Art Paintings Collection and Gallery The friendships were a threat to his job, and of course to us. To clarify, theres zero doubt that Goldfus was engaged in espionage. Svirin was beyond reach of American justice. The information contained on this site is the opinion of G. Blair Lamb MD, FCFP and should not be used as personal medical advice. The Extremely F*#!ing Chaotic Saga of the Worlds Most Notorious Police Impersonator, The Photographer Documenting Joy in the Undocumented Community, The One-Eyed African Queen Who Defeated the Roman Empire, I Woke Up From a Coma and Couldnt Escape the Guy Pretending to Be My Boyfriend, The Bank Robbers Who Couldnt Shoot Straight (Or Do Anything Right, Really), These Forgotten Essays Reveal the Secrets and Dreams of Jewish Teens As Hitler Drew Near. From the latter part of August 1952 until April 1954, he had served as the first secretary to the Soviet United Nations Delegation in New York. When the New York detective contacted him, Jimmy handed over the hollow nickel and the photograph it contained. 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