Wolf Goldstein, the most successful Soviet spy in the ranks of Israel's Mossad
He handed over to the Soviet Union all Mossad agents in Europe.
Israeli intelligence "Mossad" is rightfully considered one of the strongest intelligence agencies on the planet. At one time, the department of the young country quickly gained prestige in the world. Stealing a Nazi criminal from South America or stealing missile boats frozen by France - it seems that nothing was impossible for them.
But the Mossad began with a series of failures. Agents in Europe failed one after another, and German gunsmiths suspected of working for Israel were expelled from Egypt with a scandal. And all because in the ranks of Israeli intelligence there was an ideological supporter of the USSR, recruited by Lubyanka long ago.
Who was that intelligence officer and diplomat, and how did you manage to recruit him? What did the Soviet Union learn from his work? And like a random phrase of the director of "Mossad"
He admired Lenin and made friends with the "Czech" from the GRU.
The most successful Soviet spy in the ranks of the Mossad is called a native of Riga, Wolf Goldstein. True, he did not remember the city on the Baltic coast at all and did not speak Russian.
His family had to move frequently. A staunch socialist, Goldstein Sr., was expelled from the country by the Latvian authorities for taking part in strikes.
He moved the family to Berlin, where, with the rise of the Nazis in 1933, it became restless. So the Goldstein family ended up in quiet Switzerland. With them, the parents took only the most valuable things and books - the collected works of Lenin. Young Wolf so read the works of the leader that he himself became an ardent supporter of Lenin's ideas.
His communist views were strengthened by his acquaintance with a like-minded person, the Czechoslovak emigrant Karel Vybir. The erudite Czech became Wolf's friend and mentor.
Karel gave him free Russian lessons so that he could read the works of his idol in the original. Scout F. Kruglikov, who worked under the name of Karel Vybiral. But in fact, Vybiral was not a Czech at all, but an employee of the GRU Fedor Fedorovich Kruglikov. In Switzerland, he carried out tasks for Soviet intelligence. It is worth talking separately about this man of unbending will. Not being a radio specialist, the illegal intelligence officer independently assembled a radio transmitter.
In the shortest possible time, Fedor Fedorovich learned four languages. After participating in an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler in the fall of 1939, Kruglikov hid in the mountains from the Gestapo for a long time. He had the hardest time in 1941, when the Czechoslovak government in exile declared war on Germany.
According to the laws of neutral Switzerland, a citizen of a belligerent country had to leave it or be interned. To get out of the internment camp, Kruglikov went through all the circles of medical hell.
He feigned mental illness, underwent several tests, and even endured a painful spinal tap procedure in order to get legal grounds to leave the camp and live as before.
Saboteur and diplomat.
Goldstein spent the war years in the ranks of an infantry regiment of the Swiss army on the border with Germany. He did not forget his "Czech" friend. On holidays, he told Fyodor Fyodorovich about the situation at the border. Kruglikov used his acquaintance to the benefit of the country. He taught his friend the basics of sabotage and reconnaissance.
As Petr Lukimson writes in his book "Jewish Intelligence: A History of Victories and Defeats", Wolf Goldstein created an underground anti-fascist cell during the war.
Under the leadership of "Tony" (such a pseudonym was given to him by a Soviet intelligence officer), the activists collected intelligence about the activities of the Germans and committed sabotage.
Under fire were Swiss firms collaborating with the Nazis and trains with cargo for the Reich. When the USSR and Switzerland established diplomatic relations at the end of the war, sabotage activities were curtailed. And soon it was time for friends to say goodbye. In 1947, Kruglikov was recalled from his homeland fondue to Moscow. Zeev Avni with family. Saying goodbye, Fedor Fedorovich admonished Wolf for further struggle against world imperialism. He advised the born scout to pay attention to the Middle East, where the State of Israel was about to appear. "Tony" had to settle down in his historical homeland, remember the password and wait for a call.
And so he did. In the spring of 1948, Wolf Goldstein and his wife Edith set foot on the Promised Land. There was still a long way to go to the corridors of Israeli power.
Having changed his name to Zeev Avni, the Swiss Jew served in the Israeli army, changed several jobs and slowly infiltrated the new society.
No matter how much the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the young country needed valuable personnel, it was not easy to get there. The inspiration came to Zeev in Zurich, which became his native, where he came on family business. The young man had a good European education, knew several foreign languages and was ready for the most responsible work.
With such a description, he came to the Israeli embassy, where his offer to work at least as an archivist, at least as a translator, was appreciated. From the Israeli ambassador to Switzerland, he received a letter of recommendation, which helped him get a job at the Foreign Ministry.
"Krot" knew everything.
In 1950, Zeev Avni finally got a job in the Israeli Foreign Ministry. At first he worked as a simple security officer, but knowledge of languages helped him move up the career ladder. And so, in 1952, Avni had already become an assistant to the Israeli consul in Belgium.
As soon as he began to equip his Brussels apartments, people from the USSR found him. The voice on the other end of the telephone wire gave the correct password and appointed a meeting place. Everything as Karel said Chose.
It is hard to imagine how successful Zeev Avni's business trip to Belgium turned out to be for Moscow. First, Brussels was the site of important negotiations.
Officially, there Israel discussed with Germany payments to the victims of the Holocaust. But in fact, it was in Brussels that the representatives of Tel Aviv agreed on the supply of weapons from Belgium, France and Germany. Zeev Avni (1921-2007) in the Israeli army. Secondly, the Israeli diplomatic mission was strikingly small. Only three people worked there, including the consul, and Zeev Avni was just his assistant. All diplomatic mail, all official appeals and classified materials passed through the Lubyanka agent. And all this was known in our country.
Thirdly, Mossad drew attention to Zeev. In those years, Israeli diplomats reluctantly agreed to cooperate with the secret services. Avni, on the contrary, actively cooperated.
He was entrusted with delivering secret Mossad reports to agents throughout Europe. So he got acquainted with the entire European residency, and at the same time they "met" in the KGB.
In 1953, the responsible officer was transferred to the post of trade attaché in Yugoslavia. As before, he combined diplomatic work with courier work, regularly supplied Soviet intelligence with information and was eager for a full-time job in the Mossad. This caused great suspicion to "Tony".
Spy trap.
In April 1956, Mossad chief Iser Harel received a suspicious request from an employee. Avni asked to be transferred from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Mossad, and at the same time to entrust him with the expansion of residency in Yugoslavia. Usually diplomats refused to work with the department, and in this case, the employee of the trade mission himself asked.
In addition, Israel had good relations with Yugoslavia and was not going to spoil them. And Moscow, as you know, was at odds with Belgrade and needed its agents in the Balkans.
The Mossad chief ventured to suggest that the persistent employee is the same "red mole" because of which the special service is haunted by failures.
He summoned Ze'ev to his "personal office", which was actually an Israeli counterintelligence safe house. Harel immediately showed Avni: "You bastard, a Soviet spy who has been working for Moscow since his arrival in the country!"
Avni was shocked by what he said. Even greater fear was given by the realization that instead of the office of the chief, he fell into the tenacious paws of counterintelligence in a safe house. They would have simply dealt with him and no one would have known about it. Then Zeev decided to agree with the accusation, but not to reveal his secrets to anyone. Zeev Avni is retired.
At the trial, the prosecution demanded the most severe punishment for the man who surrendered all Mossad agents in Europe. Under three articles, Zeev Avni could have received 42 years in prison, but the judge took pity on it to 14. For a long time, the Mossad could not split the staunch supporter of socialism, who was reconciled to his ideas even in a prison cell.
For years, the former diplomat was treated with persistent persuasion and anti-Soviet literature. In the end, Zeev Avni gave in and told everything he knew.
He inflicted much more damage on the Israeli intelligence services than they expected. Almost the entire residency had to be withdrawn from the Old World.
For exemplary behavior in 1963, Zeev Avni was released. He worked as a psychologist in the Israeli army, later founded a private clinic in the capital and calmly met his old age in his historical homeland.
Every time it is striking how powerful the ideological "soft power" the Soviet Union possessed. Thousands of convinced communists, such as Zeev Avni, without demanding a penny for their work, selflessly cooperated with Soviet intelligence. It is unfortunate that today our special services no longer have such a trump card.