An official website of the United States government. NUMBER 1, 3RD OF DECEMBER.. When the New York detective contacted him, Jimmy handed over the hollow nickel and the photograph it contained. Pingback: Why was abel painting a portrait of himself? In the summer of 1948, Hayhanen was called to Moscow by the KGB. Your continued use of this site indicates your acceptance of the terms and conditions specified. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. discovered: the coin, the hairbrush, etc. WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. One year laterJuly 28, 1952a passport was issued to Hayhanen as Eugene Maki at Helsinki. He changed his name toGoldfus. Youre Sydney, right? Hollow Nickel/Rudolf Abel FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation There are probably more sensitive, national security-type messages that arent freely available online, but those we can access read like inter-office memos. It will try to explain why you are remembered so clearly by many of the people you met. No questions about his political beliefs, no insinuations that hed somehow been involved with Goldfuss espionage, just a typewriter. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The younger man took on the role of teacher, instructing him on how to prepare canvases, what brushes to use, the basics of color theory and how to render the human form. To an embassy official, the Russian espionage agent explained, Im an officer in the Soviet intelligence service. For the most part, this simply meant going to the same store to buy the same brand of cigarettes and having a passing encounter with the shopkeeper. Had it been a trap? The information which Hayhanen furnished to U.S. officials in Paris, France, in May 1957, was immediately checked. The key to this mystery proved to be a 36-year-old Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet State Security Service (KGB). 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. TRANSMIT INSERTIONS SEPARATELY. After he collected for the newspaper, Jimmy left the apartment house jingling several coins in his left hand. 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. A few weeks later, Silverman was working late at night when Goldfus knocked at his door and asked to borrow a cup of turpentine. Art. Links: der sowjetische Spion Rudolf Abel, 1957 verhaftet Our show brought a bit of the old revolutionary fervor back, the idea that he was fighting the establishment. As he was leaving the stand, he caught Goldfuss eye. The Day My Therapist Dared Me to Have Sex With Her. After five years in the United States, he dreaded the thought of going back to his communist-ruled homeland. 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. Near the tavern, he was told, he would find a signpost marked Horse Carts, You will let Mikhail know of your arrival by placing a red thumb tack in this signpost, a Soviet official told him. During the FBIs extensive interviews with him, in May 1957 Hayhanen was carefully questioned regarding the codes and cryptosystems which he had used in the various Soviet intelligence agencies he had served since 1939. 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. There were not enough. Accordingly, passage was secured for Hayhanen on an airliner, and he was permitted to return to the United States. 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. But I see now that this was not even involved. The idea is to provide a semblance of due process to uphold Americas image of liberal rectitude on the way to Abels inevitable execution. Among the government witnesses to testify against him was his former trusted espionage assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen. Other fine movies recently, for instance, von Dannersmarcks The Lives of Others (2006) also get at this point. He refused to cooperate at all. Award-winning blogazine, primarily about painting. Thank you. To Silverman, Jules Feiffer said, You know, Emil gives me the feeling of a guy whos been on the bum. Evidently, the affable gentleman they met at the National Hotel happened to be a friend of an AP reporter. 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. GREETINGS FROM THE COMRADES. In 1962, he was released to the Soviet Union in exchange for Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If Goldfus really were the master spy, the man behind the iron curtain who the papers were eagerly exploiting, why would he risk making friends? Letters that they wrote to their former neighbors showed that Mr. and Mrs. Maki were very unhappy and sorely missed America. On October 25, 1957, the jury announced its verdictAbel was guilty of all counts. He appeared before Judge Mortimer W. Byers on November 15, 1957 and was sentenced as follows (the three sentences to be served concurrently): Count One (Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union), 30 years imprisonment. But Emils the first person that I ever did that with, and what it taught me was that two people could provide some kind of comfort, some kind of ease, but without speaking. He was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. Ill ask the people across the hall, he said. He was practical, not an ideologue in any sense of the word. Now, its a relatively normal thing for me to do to allow someone around while I work, Silverman adds. This was his life. In reality, hed gone back to Moscow. Silverman adds: You could tell that he wanted to be a part of something and that he was excited. He certainly didnt disagree with the howls of protest about the with-us-or-against-us mentality, or the groups belief that the all-powerful, all-pervasive, creeping Communist menace within our midst was a red herring (pun intended)an excuse to stamp out thinking or behavior that was at odds with Coolidges dictum that The business of America is business. They were enraged by the wiretaps, committee hearings and trampling of the First Amendment, and saw them as part of a slippery slope towards Fascism. Certainly all my friends have that memory and think of you affectionately. Most of all, youre not sure if youll be able to look your friend in the eye. Everyone is encouraged to see their own healthcare professional to review what is best for them. 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. It contained the following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or 9thas I was advised he should. Maybe the reason Im here now is to make up for that. He also must be identified. Thats not to say that there wasnt actual espionage occurring, both on Goldfuss part and by othersthere was. From Los Angeles came a peculiar-looking 1953 Lincoln penny. The information contained on this site is the opinion of G. Blair Lamb MD, FCFP and should not be used as personal medical advice. ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUEST, WE WILL TRANSMIT THE FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF SOFT FILM AND NEWS SEPARATELY, TOGETHER WITH (YOUR) MOTHERS LETTER.4. In 1955, Goldfus told Silverman that he had a color-printing device that he wanted to try to sell and that hed be going to California for a few months. It was the archetypal Cold War tale - an undercover operative arrested after his cover was blown. Perhaps this is a measure of my navet. He looked at meand I remember it very specificallyI felt like he was saying Its okay, that he understood, and that he forgave me.. THE PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED TO YOUR WIFE PERSONALLY. While Goldfus was in Moscow, Silverman had no idea what had happened to his friend. The friendships were a threat to his job, and of course to us. Letters subsequently received from him indicated that he was in a Lithuanian hospital. WE CONFIRM THE RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER TO THE ADDRESS `V REPEAT V AND THE READING OF LETTER NUMBER 1.2. He snapped, Dont ever say such a thing like that on the telephone again. The F.B.I alleges that Goldfus was in charge of a ring of spies, a massive network of agents. When Kayotis friends in Michigan heard no more from him, they assumed that he had passed away. 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. Contributed by Sharon Butler / While working on The Portrait Project the incisive and Conrad Vogel grew up in Briarcliff Manor, New York, graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1977, traveled in Italy, and then moved to New York City where he lived as an artist for more than forty years. After leaving the United States, the Maki family settled in Estonia. 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.. In reality, he never left New York City; he just needed time away from the Ovington Studios to reorganize his network. So Abel has left no doubt that Donovan will have the painting regardless of what happens on the bridge. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. Hi. He was a colonel in the KGBa master spy, a mole deeply embedded in the United States, and the central Please check.. 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. Donovan takes his job as an advocate far more seriously and does it far better than the CIA and most other Americans, some of whom threaten and harass him, hoped he would. Collection; Search the Collection; Exhibitions; Public Art; Nordic Art and Culture Conspiracy charges have been built on far flimsier evidence than ill-considered jokes, especially via telephone. Upon its receipt in Washington on June 26, 1953, the nickel was subjected to the thorough scrutiny of a team of FBI scientific experts. The papers called him a master spy, an identity-shifting KGB colonel dispatched to mid-century America to lead a vast network of espionage. As a whole, these angry young men veered sharply to the left, especially within the context of the stultifying, downright paranoid atmosphere that was Joe McCarthys America. THE PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED TO YOUR WIFE PERSONALLY. Two hollow pennies were found in Washington, D.C. Theres some ego involved as well. Your email address will not be published. He was exchanged in 1962 for He also had other locations set up as signal areas, for determining if he had received a message, for notifying others that a message was ready for pickup, and for when a face-to-face meeting was necessary. Silverman refused, explaining that, as much as hed like to, the political climate of the Cold War made that impossible. I had also fantasized a trip we could have made to the Hermitage to talk about art and painting once again. How could you be a friend to that?, I said, You know what I feel betrayed about? 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. 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. He was an electronics engineer, and one day, while visiting Silvermans studio, he got into a conversation about physics with Goldfus, finding that he possessed a degree of expertise that was surprising for someone that wasnt a professional. The daily grind may be boring, but it does elevate the mundane. He had returned to the Soviet Union in October 1956. WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. It didnt deter him.. Sign up for our Newsletter, Love this Narratively story?Sign up for our Newsletter, 2012-2023 Narratively. Art and Film: Painter-Spy in Bridge of Spies - Two Coats of Paint Upon first meeting Emil Goldfus and hearing his story about working as a photofinisher, he said that Goldfus was too worldly and too educated for that particular trade, saying, You know, the whole thing sounds fishy. If thats `Mark, hell return, they correctly surmised. They struck up a conversation, the older gentleman admiring the artwork he saw and referring to a nineteenth-century Russian landscape painterSilverman had never heard of named Isaac Levitan. The Amateur: The Cold War Life of Rudolf Abel, Artist & KGB Spy - Kindle edition by Ward, Nathan. Among the items he had been supplied by the Soviets were hollow pens, pencils, screws, batteries, and coinsin some instances magnetized so they would adhere to metal objects. 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. Heres a translation of microdotted messages that were left for Hayhanen by Goldfus, according to the F.B.I.s file on the case. On August 7, 1957, my father, Burton Silvermana young artist fresh out of the Armywas walking down the street on the way to his layout and graphic design job for the then-liberal New York Post when he caught a glimpse of a blaring headline at a newsstand: RUSSIAN COLONEL IS INDICTED HERE AS TOP SPY IN U.S. and the sub-header, Suspect Said to Have Used Brooklyn Studio to Direct Network. The lede further stated that he was, The most important spy ever caught in the United States.. ALL THE DATA ABOUT YOURSELF, PLACE OF WORK, ADDRESS, ETC., MUST NOT BE TRANSMITTED IN ONE CIPHER MESSAGE. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. ISBN 1-4198-3392-8 Months of determined probing by the FBIs scientists and investigative staff had led merely to one blind alley after another. 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. I wrote in Bernikows book (and I still believe this) that he was the enemy, but he was my friend, says Silverman. FOR ORGANIZATION OF COVER, WE GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO TRANSMIT TO YOU THREE THOUSAND IN LOCAL (CURRENCY). Surrounded by genuinely scary, overeager party hacks that may or may not have seen our arrival and desire to talk to Goldfus as an opportunity to strike a blow against the degenerate United States., 1967 was the fiftieth anniversary of the revolution and the Politburo was not disposed to a sensational interview with their hero secret agent man. 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