Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher Vilyam " Willie " Genrikhovich Fisher ( ) ( July 11 , 1903 – November 15 , 1971 ) was a Soviet intelligence officer . He is generally better known by the alias Rudolf Ivanovich Abel ( Рудольф Иванович Абель ) , which he adopted when arrested on charges of conspiracy by FBI agents in 1957 . Born in the United Kingdom to Russian émigré parents , Fisher moved to Russia in the 1920s and served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s and early 1930s . He later served in an instructional role before taking part in intelligence operations against the Germans during World War II . After the war , Fisher began working for the KGB , which sent him to the United States where he worked as part of a spy ring based in New York City . In 1957 , for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case , the U . S . Federal Court in New York convicted Fisher on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy and sentenced him to 45 years ' imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary , Georgia . Fisher served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U - 2 pilot Gary Powers . Back in the Soviet Union , he lectured on his experiences before dying in 1971 at the age of 68 . Early life . Fisher was born on July 11 , 1903 , in Benwell , Newcastle upon Tyne , United Kingdom , the second son of Heinrich and Lyubov Fisher . Revolutionaries of the Tsarist era , his parents were ethnic Germans from Russia . Fisher ' s father , a revolutionary activist , taught and agitated with Vladimir Lenin at Saint Petersburg Technological Institute . In 1896 he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to three years internal exile . As Heinrich Fisher had served a sentence for offences against the Russian state , he was forced to flee to the United Kingdom in 1901 , the alternative being deportation to Germany or imprisonment in Russia for avoidance of military service . While living in the United Kingdom , Fisher ' s father , a keen Bolshevik , took part in gunrunning , shipping arms from the North East coast to the Baltic states to help the proletariat . Fisher and his brother , Henry , won scholarships to Whitley Bay High School and Monkseaton High School . 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 . Encouraging their son ' s love of music , Fisher ' s parents gave him piano lessons ; he also learned to play the guitar . It was during this period that Fisher developed an interest in amateur radio , constructing rudimentary spark transmitters and receivers . In 1918 , at the age of 15 , Fisher became an apprentice draughtsman at Swan Hunter , Wallsend , and attended evening classes at Rutherford College before being accepted into London University in 1919 . Though Fisher qualified for university , the costs prohibited him from attending . In 1921 , following the Russian Revolution , the Fisher family left Newcastle upon Tyne to return to Moscow . Early career . Fluent in English , Russian , German , Polish and Yiddish , Fisher worked for the Comintern as a translator , following his family ' s return to Russia . Trained as a radio operator , he served in a radio battalion of the Red Army in 1925 and 1926 . He then worked briefly in the radio research institute before being recruited by the OGPU , a predecessor of the KGB , in May 1927 . That year he married Elena Lebedeva , a harp student at Moscow Conservatoire . They would have one child together , a daughter named Evelyn who was born on October 8 , 1929 . Following his recruitment , Fisher worked for the OGPU as a radio operator in Norway , Turkey , United Kingdom , and France . He returned to Russia in 1936 , as head of a school that trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residence s . One of these students was the British - born Russian spy Kitty Harris , who was later more widely known as " " The Spy With Seventeen Names " " . Despite his foreign birth and the accusation that his brother - in - law was a Trotskyite , Fisher narrowly escaped the Great Purge , which took place during 1936 – 1938 . He was , however , in 1938 dismissed from the NKVD , which in 1934 replaced the OGPU . During World War II he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines . Having been adopted as a protégé of Pavel Sudoplatov , Fisher took part in Operation Scherhorn ( Операция Березино ) in August 1944 . Sudoplatov later described this operation as " the most successful radio deception game of the war " . < ref name = " Sudoplatov / Schecter 1994 – 1995 , p . 168 " > Sudoplatov / Schecter ( 1994 – 1995 ) , p . 168 . < / ref > Fisher ' s role in this operation was rewarded with what his superiors regarded as the most prestigious posting in Russian foreign intelligence , the United States . KGB service . In 1946 , Fisher rejoined the KGB , and was trained as a spy for entry into the United States . In October 1948 , using a Soviet passport , he travelled from Leningradsky Station to Warsaw . He then travelled via Czechoslovakia and Switzerland to Paris . His passport bore the name Andrew Kayotis , the first of Fisher ' s fake identities . The real Andrew Kayotis ( ) was Lithuanian born , and had become an American citizen after migrating to the United States . Kayotis was in poor health and died while visiting relatives in Europe . Kayotis had applied for , and received a visa to visit the Soviet Union , however the Russians retained his passport which Fisher would eventually use . Fisher then travelled aboard the SS " Scythia " from Le Havre , France , to North America , disembarking at Quebec . Still using Kayotis ' passport , he travelled to Montreal and crossed into the United States on November 17 . On November 26 , Fisher met with Soviet " illegal " Josef Romvoldovich Grigulevich ( codenamed " MAKS " or " ARTUR " ) . 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 one thousand dollars . Fisher then handed back Kayotis ' s passport and documents , and assumed the name Goldfus . His codename was " MARK " . In July 1949 , Fisher met with a " legal " KGB resident from the Soviet consulate general , who provided him with money . Shortly afterwards Fisher was ordered to reactivate the " Volunteer " network to smuggle atomic secrets to Russia . Members of the network had stopped cooperating after postwar security was tightened at Los Alamos . Lona Cohen ( codenamed " LESLE " ) and her husband Morris Cohen ( codenamed " LUIS " and " VOLUNTEER " ) had run the Volunteer network and were seasoned couriers . Theodore " Ted " Hall ( codenamed " MLAD " ) , a physicist , was the most important agent in the network in 1945 , passing atomic secrets from Los Alamos . The Volunteer network grew to include " Aden " and " Serb " , nuclear physicists contacted by Hall , and " Silver " . Fisher spent most of his first year organizing his network . While it is not known for certain where Fisher went or what he did , it is believed he travelled to Santa Fe in New Mexico , the collection point for stolen diagrams from the Manhattan Project . Kitty Harris , a former pupil of Fisher ' s , had spent a year in Santa Fe during the war , where she passed secrets from physicists to couriers . During this period , Fisher received the Order of the Red Banner , an important Soviet medal normally reserved for military personnel . In 1950 , Fisher ' s illegal residency was endangered by the arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg , for whom Lona Cohen had been a courier . The Cohens were quickly spirited to Mexico before moving on to Moscow . They were to resurface in the United Kingdom using the identities of Peter and Helen Kroger . Fisher was relieved the Rosenbergs did not disclose any information about him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) . He was safe but it heralded a bleak outlook for his new spy network . However on October 21 , 1952 , as instructed by Moscow , Reino Häyhänen left a thumbtack on a signpost in New York ' s Central Park . The thumbtack signaled to Fisher that Häyhänen , his new assistant , had arrived . Codenamed " VIK " , Häyhänen arrived in New York on the RMS " Queen Mary " , under the alias Eugene Nikolai Maki . The real Maki had been born in the United States to a Finnish - American father and a New York mother in 1919 . In 1927 , the family migrated to Estonia . In 1948 , the KGB called Häyhänen to Moscow where they issued him a new assignment . In 1949 , Häyhänen freely obtained Maki ' s birth certificate . He was then to spend three years in Finland taking over Maki ' s identity . After arriving in New York , Häyhänen spent the next two years establishing his identity . During that time he received money from his superiors left in dead - letter box es in the Bronx and Manhattan . It is known he occasionally drew attention to himself by indulging in heavy drinking sessions and heated arguments with his Finnish wife Hannah . For six months Häyhänen checked the thumbtack and no one had made contact . He also checked a dead - drop location he had memorized . There he found a hollowed - out nickel . However , prior to opening the coin Häyhänen had misplaced it , either buying a newspaper with it or using it as a subway token . For the next seven months the hollow nickel travelled around the New York City economy , unopened . The trail of the hollow nickel ended when a thirteen - year - old newsboy was collecting for his weekly deliveries . The newsboy accidentally dropped the nickel and it broke in half , revealing a microphotograph containing a series of numbers . The newsboy handed the nickel to a New York detective , who in turn forwarded it to the FBI . From 1953 to 1957 , though every effort was made to decipher the microphotograph , the FBI was unable to solve the mystery . Late in 1953 , Fisher moved to Brooklyn and rented a room in a boarding house in Hicks Street . He also rented a fifth - floor studio at the Overton Studios Building on Fulton Street . Since he was posing as an artist and photographer , nobody questioned his irregular working hours and frequent disappearances . Over time his artistic technique improved and he became a competent painter , though he disliked abstract painting , preferring more conventional styles . 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 " . The only visitors to Fisher ' s studio were artist friends with whom he felt safe from suspicion . In particular , he became a friend of Burton Silverman . Fisher would sometimes relate made - up stories of previous lives , as a Boston accountant and a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest . In 1954 , Häyhänen began working as Fisher ' s assistant . He was to deliver a report from a Soviet agent at the United Nations secretariat , to a dead - letter box for collection . However the report never arrived . Fisher was disturbed by Häyhänen ' s lack of work ethics and his obsession with alcohol . In the spring of 1955 , Fisher and Häyhänen visited Bear Mountain Park , and buried five thousand dollars , destined for the wife of the Soviet spy Morton Sobell , who in 1951 was sentenced to thirty years in jail . In 1955 , Fisher , exhausted by the constant pressure , returned to Moscow for six months of rest and recuperation , leaving Häyhänen in charge . While in Moscow , Fisher informed his superiors of his dissatisfaction with Häyhänen . Upon his return to New York in 1956 , he found that his carefully constructed network had been left to disintegrate in his absence . Fisher checked his drop points only to find messages several months old , while Häyhänen ' s radio transmissions had routinely been sent from the same location using incorrect radio frequencies . The money Häyhänen received from the KGB to support the network was instead spent on alcohol and prostitutes . By early 1957 , Fisher had lost patience with Häyhänen and demanded that Moscow recall his deputy . In January 1957 , upon hearing he was due to return to Moscow , Häyhänen was fearful that he would be severely disciplined or even executed . Häyhänen fabricated stories to justify his delay , claiming to Fisher that the FBI had taken him off the RMS " Queen Mary " . Fisher , unsuspecting , advised Häyhänen to leave the U . S . immediately to avoid FBI surveillance , and handed him two hundred dollars for travel expenses . Prior to his departure , Häyhänen returned to Bear Mountain Park and retrieved the buried five thousand dollars , for his own use . Häyhänen arrived in Paris on May Day , having sailed from the U . S . aboard " La Liberté " . Making contact with the KGB residency he received another two hundred dollars for his journey to Moscow . Four days later , instead of continuing his journey to Russia , he entered the American embassy in Paris announcing that he was a KGB officer and asked for asylum . When Häyhänen announced himself at the embassy on May 4 , he appeared drunk . The Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) officials at the Paris embassy suspected Häyhänen was delusional , and a psychiatric assessment confirmed that he was an unstable alcoholic . Nevertheless , the CIA returned him to the United States on May 11 , and handed him over to the FBI . As a member of a Soviet spy ring operating on American soil , Häyhänen came under the FBI ' s jurisdiction and they began checking out his story . Upon his arrival in the United States , Häyhänen was interrogated by the FBI and proved very cooperative . 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 . Svirin , however , had returned to Moscow two years previously . The FBI then turned its attention to Svirin ' s replacement . Häyhänen was able to only provide Fisher ' s codename " MARK " , and a description . He was , however , able to tell the FBI about Fisher ' s studio and its location . Häyhänen was also able to solve the mystery of the " hollow nickel " , which the FBI had been unable to decipher for four years . The KGB did not discover Häyhänen ' s defection until August , although it is more than likely they notified Fisher earlier when Häyhänen failed to arrive in Moscow . As a precaution , Fisher was ordered to leave the United States . Escape was complicated because , if " MARK " had been compromised by Häyhänen , Fisher ' s other identities could have been compromised as well . Fisher could not leave the country as Martin Collins , Emil Goldfus , or even the long - forgotten Andrew Kayotis . The KGB Center , with the help of KGB ' s Ottawa resident , set about procuring two new passports for Fisher in the names of Robert Callan and Vasili Dzogol , but this process would take time . The Canadian Communist Party succeeded in obtaining a new passport for Fisher in the name of Robert Callan . Fisher , however , was arrested before he could adopt his new identity and leave the United States . Capture . In April 1957 , Fisher told his artist friends he was going south on a seven - week vacation . Less than three weeks later , acting on Häyhänen ' s information , surveillance was established near Fisher ' s photo studio . On May 28 , 1957 , in a small park opposite Fulton Street FBI agents spotted a man acting nervously . From time to time the man got up , and walked around eventually left . FBI agents were convinced he fit the description of " MARK " . The surveillance continued on " MARK " and on the night of June 13 , a light was seen to go on in Fisher ' s studio at 10 : 00 pm . On June 15 , 1957 , Häyhänen was shown a photograph of Fisher taken by the FBI with a hidden camera . Häyhänen confirmed that it was " MARK " in the photograph . Once the FBI had a positive identification , they stepped up surveillance , following Fisher from his studio to the Hotel Latham . Fisher was aware of the " tail " , but as he had no passport to leave the country he devised a plan to be used upon his capture . Fisher decided that he would not turn traitor as Häyhänen 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 . At 7 : 00 am on the morning of June 21 , 1957 , Fisher answered a knock on the door to his room , Room 839 . 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 . " Fisher knew that the FBI ' s use of his rank could have only come from Häyhänen . Fisher said nothing to the FBI and , after spending twenty - three minutes staring at Fisher , the FBI agents called in the waiting Immigration and Nationality Service officers who arrested Fisher and detained him under section 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act . Fisher was then flown to the Federal Alien Detention Facility in McAllen , Texas , and held there for six weeks . 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 . By stating his real name , Fisher was trying to send a covert signal to Moscow to let them know that he had been captured . During Fisher ' s detainment the FBI had been busy searching his hotel room and photo studio , where they discovered espionage equipment including shortwave radio s , cipher pads , cameras and film for producing microdot s , a hollow shaving brush , and numerous " trick " containers including hollowed - out bolts . In Fisher ' s New York hotel room the FBI had found four thousand dollars ; a hollow ebony block containing a 250 - page Russian codebook ; a hollow pencil containing encrypted messages on microfilm and a key to a safe - deposit box containing another fifteen thousand dollars in cash . Also discovered were photographs of the Cohens , and recognition phrases to establish contact between agents who had never met before . As Fisher was no longer considered an alleged illegal alien , but rather an alleged spy , he was flown from Texas to New York on August 7 , 1957 , to answer the indictment . Fisher was subsequently indicted to stand trial as a Russian spy . The Brooklyn Bar Association approached several prominent trial lawyers with political ambitions , all of whom declined the case . They then contacted James B . Donovan . Because he had served as a wartime counsel in the Office of Strategic Services ( OSS ) and had years of courtroom experience , the Bar Association believed Donovan was uniquely qualified to act as Fisher ' s defense lawyer . At Donovan ' s initial meeting with Fisher , the latter accepted Donovan as his defense counsel . Fisher was tried in Federal Court at New York City during October 1957 , on three counts : Häyhänen , Fisher ' s former assistant , testified against him at the trial . The prosecution failed to find any other alleged members of Fisher ' s spy network , if there were any . The jury retired for three and half hours and returned on the afternoon of October 25 , 1957 , finding Fisher guilty on all three counts . On November 15 , 1957 , Judge Mortimer W . Byers sentenced Fisher to concurrent terms of imprisonment of thirty , ten and five years on the three counts and fined him a total of three thousand dollars . Fisher , or " Rudolf Ivanovich Abel " , was to serve his sentence ( as prisoner 80016 – A ) at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary , Georgia . He tried to busy himself with painting , learning silk - screening , playing chess , and writing logarithmic tables for the sheer enjoyment of it . He became friends with two other convicted Soviet spies . One of these was Morton Sobell , whose wife had failed to receive the five thousand dollars embezzled by Häyhänen . The other prisoner was Kurt Ponger , an Austrian who had been sentenced for conspiracy to commit espionage . Release and later life . Fisher would only serve just over four years of his sentence . On February 10 , 1962 , he was exchanged for the shot - down American U - 2 pilot Gary Powers . The exchange took place on the Glienicke Bridge that linked West Berlin with Potsdam , and which became famous during the Cold War as the " " Bridge of Spies " " . At precisely the same time , at Checkpoint Charlie , Frederic Pryor was released by the East German Stasi into the waiting arms of his father . A few days later Fisher , reunited with his wife , Elena , and daughter , Evelyn , flew home . For the sake of its own reputation it suited the KGB to portray " Abel ' s " nine years of being an undetected agent in the United States as a triumph by a dedicated NKVD member . The myth of the master spy Rudolf Abel replaced the reality of Fisher ' s illegal residency . Yet the party hierarchy was well aware that Fisher had achieved nothing of real significance . During his eight years as an illegal resident he appears not to have recruited , or even identified , a single potential agent . 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 . He died of lung cancer on November 15 , 1971 . His ashes were interred at the Donskoy Cemetery under his real name , and a few Western correspondents were invited there to view for themselves the true identity of the spy who never " broke " .