Fisher was assigned New York lawyer James B. Donovan, and the two developed a strong rapport. The Lord respected Abel's sacrifice but did not respect that offered by Cain. In 1962, he was released to the Soviet Union in exchange for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers. Click to read about one of the pieces of espionage equipment found in Abels apartment. An official website of the United States government. The hollow nickel found by the Brooklyn newspaper boy, The coded message contained in the hollow nickel. [37] For six months Hyhnen checked the thumbtack and no one had made contact. The money Hyhnen received from the KGB to support the network was instead spent on alcohol and prostitutes. Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union 30 years imprisonment; Conspiracy to obtain defense information 10 years imprisonment; Conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notification to the Secretary of State 5 years imprisonment. . [37] Fisher was disturbed by Hyhnen's lack of work ethics and his obsession with alcohol. Abel reported to command and asked evacuation of the guy. 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. The newsboy rested this coin, a nickel, on the middle finger of his hand. At Donovan's initial meeting with Fisher, the latter accepted Donovan as his defense counsel. Hayhanen was born near Leningrad on May 14, 1920. They also made several short trips together to Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Albany, Greenwich, and other communities in the eastern part of the United States. Rudolf Abel was the most important Soviet agent the FBI ever got on the net. The two ladies who had changed the newboys dollar on the evening of June 22 were located. [24] Fisher's role in this operation was rewarded with what his superiors regarded as one of the most prestigious postings in Soviet foreign intelligence, the United States. Omissions? [41] Fisher sometimes related made-up stories of previous lives, as a Boston accountant and a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest. As a member of a Soviet spy ring operating on American soil, Hyhnen came under the FBI's jurisdiction and they began verifying his story. 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. The real Eugene Nicolai Maki was born in Enaville, Idaho on May 30, 1919. In 1948, the KGB had called Hyhnen to Moscow where they issued him a new assignment. He dropped this coin to the floor. (2001). Reargued November 9, 1959. He admitted his first Soviet contact in New York had been "MIKHAIL" and upon being shown a series of photographs of Soviet officials identified "MIKHAIL" as Mikhail Svirin. His ashes were interred at the Donskoye Cemetery under his real name; next to Konon Molody, who had died the previous year. There was five digits in each number and 21 numbers in most columns. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. Fisher could not leave the country as Martin Collins, Emil Goldfus, or even the long-forgotten Andrew Kayotis. When the New York detective contacted him, Jimmy handed over the hollow nickel and the photograph it contained. [45] Fisher, unsuspecting, advised Hyhnen to leave the U.S. immediately to avoid FBI surveillance and handed him $200 for travel expenses. 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. [52] Upon opening the door, he was confronted by FBI agents who addressed him as "colonel" and stated that they had "information concerning [his] involvement in espionage." In Abel v. United States, the United States Supreme Court upheld his conviction by a vote of 5-4. He was, however, able to tell the FBI about Fisher's studio and its location. For example, in 1954, Mark instructed him to locate an American Army sergeant, one formerly assigned to the United States Embassy in Moscow. It contained the following typewritten message: Nobody came to meeting either 8 or 9thas I was advised he should. [7] While living in the United Kingdom, Fisher's father, a keen Bolshevik, took part in gunrunning, shipping arms from northeast England to Russia's Baltic coast. 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. 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. He died in 1971 at the age of 68. At 10:00 p.m., they saw the lights go on in Goldfus studio, and a man was observed moving in the room. Afterward, Fisher sent Donovan two rare manuscripts as a show of his appreciation. He died in 1971. Goldfus disappeared about April 26, 1957. [4] He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. The man who became one of the Soviet Union's greatest spies told the orderly that he was born and reared in England and that his father was an agitator in the British labor movement of the early 1900s. [53] During this period Fisher stated that his "real" name was Rudolf Ivanovich Abel and that he was a Soviet citizen, although he refused to discuss his intelligence activities. 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. If you suspect that you are under surveillance, place a white thumb tack on the board.. There were two ladies in the apartment across from the one occupied by Jimmys customer. Letters that they wrote to their former neighbors showed that Mr. and Mrs. Maki were very unhappy and sorely missed America. From Los Angeles came a peculiar-looking 1953 Lincoln penny. 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. Argued February 24-25, 1959. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! The bolt was about two inches long and one-fourth inch in diameter. [26] His new passport bore the name Andrew Kayotis, the first of Fisher's false identities. this is just under two hours. The Irish American New York lawyer who defended a Russian spy, and negotiated on behalf of the thousands of prisoners captured after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, is remembered by his daughter Jan. It can often appear that the lives of individuals depicted on the silver screen are too fantastic to be real. Try again The two men were brought to separate sides of the Glienicker Bridge, which connects East and West Berlin across Lake Wannsee. The trail of the hollow nickel ended when a thirteen-year-old newsboy was collecting for his weekly deliveries. For example, during the fall of 1948, while en route to the United States from the Soviet Union, he had adopted the identity of Andrew Kayotis. Mikhail, the Soviet with whom Hayhanen maintained contact from the fall of 1952 until early 1954, was yet to be identified. [51], Fisher was then flown to the Federal Alien Detention Facility in McAllen, Texas, and held there for six weeks. This man occasionally walked about the park; he appeared to be nervous; and he created the impression that he was looking for someonepossibly attempting to determine any unusual activity in the neighborhood. Count Two (Conspiracy to obtain defense information), 10 years imprisonment and $2,000 fine. business math. [63] In Abel v. United States, the United States Supreme Court upheld his conviction by a vote of 54. Rudolf Abel was born William Fisher in England in 1903. The search for this storage room led FBI agents to a building at 252 Fulton Street. The surveillance continued on "MARK" and, on the night of 13 June, a light was seen to go on in Fisher's studio at 10:00 pm. ) (n. 11 iulie 1903, Newcastle Marea Britanie - d. 15 noiembrie 1971, Moscova ), nsc. 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. WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. [25], After rejoining the KGB in 1946, Fisher was trained as a spy for entry into the United States. At the time he related this information to FBI agents in May 1957, Hayhanen could not remember the Army sergeants name. On July 15, 1947, Andrew Kayotis, then residing in Detroit, was issued a passport so that he could visit relatives in Europe. For the past five years, I have been operating in the United States. On June 15, a photograph of Goldfus which the FBI took with a hidden camera was shown to Hayhanen. 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. In Moscow, however, plans were being made for a new Eugene Maki, one thoroughly grounded in Soviet intelligence techniques, to enter the scene. However, Hyhnen performed his duties poorly, and when he was recalled to the Soviet Union in 1957, he instead fled to the U.S. Embassy in Paris and revealed his secrets. On May 28, 1957, agents observed a man resembling Mark on a bench in a park directly opposite the entrance to 252 Fulton Street. Why does the Government what James Donovan to negotiate the Trade? What happened to Rudolf Abel? Place seems right. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the United States in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers. End of preview. We strive for accuracy and fairness. His parents Heinrich and Lyubov were Bolshevik supporters from Russia, and young Fisher helped his father by distributing "Hands Off Russia" literature during World War I. [17], Fluent in English, Russian, German, Polish and Yiddish,[18] Fisher worked for the Comintern as a translator following his family's return to the Soviet Union. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. 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. In the mid-1920s, Eugene Makis parents became deeply impressed by glowing reports of conditions in the new Russia. [65], Fisher served just over four years of his sentence. Hayhanen described Mark as about 50 years old or possibly older; approximately five feet ten inches tall; thin gray hair; and medium build. [58], As Fisher was no longer considered an alleged illegal alien, but rather an alleged spy, he was flown from Texas to New York on 7 August 1957, to answer the indictment. The action remained secret until it was successfully completed. [16] In 1921, following the Russian Revolution, the Fisher family left Newcastle upon Tyne to return to Moscow. The message apparently was intended for Hayhanen and had been sent from the Soviet Union shortly after his arrival in the United States. FBI mugshot of William August Fisher, a.k.a. In 1990 the USSR released a stamp depicting Rudolf Abel as part of series: Damaskin, Igor with Elliott, Geoffrey. 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