The Man Behind the Rosenbergs

493 Pages·2002·9.936 MB·English

by  Alexander Feklisov

©
e ■ i g m a
b o « k s

ALEXANDER FEKLISOV
and
SERGEI KOSTIN
The Man
Behind the Rosenbergs
By the KGB Spymaster
who was the case officer of
Julius Rosenberg, Klaus Fuchs,
and helped resolve the
Cuban Missile Crisis
Introduction by Ronald Radosh
enigma books
All rights reserved under the International
and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by
enigma books
580 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
www.enigmabooks.com
Originally published in French under the tide: Confession d’un agent soviétique
Translated by Catherine Dop
© enigma books 2001
Introduction copyright © Ronald Radosh 2001
© Éditions du Rocher, 1999
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the written
permission of enigma books.
Printed in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Feklisov, Aleksandr, 1914-
[Confession d’un agent soviétique]
The man behind the Rosenbergs : by the KGB spymaster who was
the case officer of Julius Rosenberg, Klaus Fuchs, and helped resolve
the Cuban Missile Crisis / Alexander Feklisov and Sergei Kostin ;
introduction by Ronald Radosh.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 1-929631-08-1
Translated from the French by Catherine Dop.
1. Feklisov, Alexander, 1914- 2. Rosenberg, Julius, 1918-1953.
3. Rosenberg, Ethel, 1915-1953.4. Espionage, Soviet—United States.
5. Spies—Soviet Union—Biography. 6. Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.
7. Soviet Unioin—Relations— United States. 8. United States—
Relations—Soviet Union. I. Kostin, Sergei. II. Radosh, Ronald.
III. Dop, Catherine, 1948- IV. Title. V. Title: Confession d’un agent
soviétique.
UB271.R92 F4513
327.1/2/0947 B
The Man Behind the Rosenbergs

Contents
Abbreviations iii
Introduction by Ronald Radosh v
The Crossroads of History xxiii
PART ONE
From Worker's Alley to 61st Street 1
PART TWO
Foul Play or Gentleman's Profession? 47
PART THREE
Fighting Comrade and Fellow Soldiers 101
PART FOUR
A New War 159
PART FIVE
The Puritan of Espionage 189
PART SIX
The Wrecking of a Network 265
PART SEVEN
The Clash of the Titans 337
Notes 413
Index 421
Acknowledgements 428

Abbreviations
Abwher German military intelligence, 1933-1945
Amtorg Soviet trade organization based in New York City
Cheka First Soviet Secret Police 1917-1922
Cl Committee of Information, Soviet intelligence
coordination committee 1947-1952, also spelled KI
CIA Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. foreign espionage
Comintern Communist International 1919-1943, dissolved by Stalin
CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union
CPUS A Communist Part of the United States of America
DST Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, French coun­
terintelligence
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. counterespionage
FSB Federalnaya Slu^hba Be^opasnosti — Federal Security Ser­
vice - new name of the Russian internal security police;
formerly the KGB
GDR German Democratic Republic: East Germany from
1949-1989
GE General Electric Corporation
Gestapo Nazi Germany’s secret police 1933-1945
GPU Soviet Secret Police 1922-1934
GRU Soviet military intelligence
INO Soviet Foreign Intelligence 1920-1934 initials also used
when referring to the PGU
KGB Committee for State Security - included all the secret
services of the USSR
MI5 British counterintelligence
MI6 British foreign intelligence
MID Soviet foreign ministry
MGB Ministry of State Security, 1946-1954
NKVD People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs 1923-1943
NS A National Security Agency — U.S. signals intelligence unit
OSS Office of Strategic Services — American foreign espio­
nage during the Second World War (predecessor of the
CIA)
Alexander Feklisov
PGU Soviet foreign intelligence from 1934 to 1991 also known
as the First Chief Directorate of the KGB
SED East German Socialist Unity Party 1949-1989
SIS U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service, predecessor of
the NSA
Stasi Staatssicherheits East German secret police and informa­
tion service
SVR Slu^hba Vneshney Ra^yedki foreign intelligence service of
Russia since 1991 when it replaced the PGU depart­
ment of the KGB.