Bomb for gruppenführer
"Stirlitz, and I will ask you to stay!" Who does not know the catch phrase from the legendary television film "Seventeen Moments of Spring"! Or another replica from the same tape: “In our time, you cannot trust anyone, even yourself. I can". These words were uttered by none other than the Gestapo chief Gruppenführer Muller performed by charming Leonid Bronev. But then - in the movie. And what was the life of the head of the IV Directorate of the RSHA (AMT 4 - the secret political police), Heinrich Muller? Could he have been completely trusted by the Nazis, “comrades in the fight”, or was he secretly acting in the interests of completely different people? In the fate of this man a lot of mysteries. Let's try to understand some of them.
Memoirs of Schellenberg
In 1956, a remarkable book was published at Harper in New York. These were the memoirs of the SS brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg, head of political intelligence of the Reich security service (VI Administration of the RSHA). Now these memories are published in our country. A significant role is assigned to them to Heinrich Muller.
At the first mention Schellenberg characterizes this person very impartially. Coarse, sharp in communication, does not have nothing to itself, in other words - the exact opposite of the image created by Armor. However, we are not interested in the personal impressions of Schellenberg, but in the way he presents the events related to the Gestapo chief. The former brigadenführer recalls, in particular, his meeting with Muller in the spring of 1943. According to Schellenberg, the Gestapo chief said at that time about the inevitability of the defeat of Germany and spoke in superlatives about Stalin. “I am increasingly inclined to believe that Stalin is on the right track. He is immeasurably superior to Western statesmen, and we should have reached a compromise with him as soon as possible. ” These are the words of Muller. This is how the author of the book Schellenberg reacted to them.
“I pretended that I didn’t take it seriously and tried to turn this dangerous conversation into a joke, saying:“ Well, then, Comrade Muller, we will henceforth say “Heil Stalin!”. And Papa Muller will become the head of the NKVD department. ” Muller angrily looked at me and said: "You are infected by the West." Perhaps he could not express himself more clearly. I interrupted the conversation and said goodbye, but this strange monologue of Muller did not leave my mind. Now it became clear to me that he had completely changed his views and was no longer thinking about the victory of Germany. ”
In the future, Schellenberg does not quote the statements of the head of the Gestapo, but as if by passing reports: “At the end of 1943, Muller established contact with the Russian secret service. In 1945, he joined the Communists, and in 1950, one German officer, who returned from Russian captivity, told me that in 1948, he saw Muller in Moscow. Shortly after that meeting, Müller died. ”
That's all. As you can see, Schellenberg does not at all strive to give his information about the "rebirth" and the fate of Muller a certain sensational nuance. On the contrary, he is extremely dry and laconic, as if we are talking about a fact that has long been established and undeniably, almost bored by its obviousness and does not need additional justification.
The question of the authenticity of the memoirs of Schellenberg among historians did not arise, it is proved. Another thing is how truthful the author himself. We will continue a small investigation.
Oscar Linda Slip
Heinrich Muller9 March 1945, Müller needed to travel to one of the local criminal police offices, located on the outskirts of Berlin. However, the case detained him in the capital, and he commissioned Otto Frishke to replace himself on a trip to the Sturmbannführer, giving him his car and driver. Twelve minutes after leaving Frishke, the car exploded. The power of the bomb was such that little was left of the car, the driver and the passenger. Terrorist attack! Now the office of Muller resembled an anthill into which boiled water was splashed. It was clear to everyone that they had encroached upon the chief himself.
The investigation established: the bomb was hidden under the hood of the car. This could only be done by a person who had access to the Muller machine. Soon they decided on the suspects, among whom was one Oscar Lind, who worked in the Gestapo garage. Most of the evidence pointed to him. It was decided to arrest Linda, but he ... disappeared. It turns out that someone warned him. There is no information about this. But did he disappear without a trace?
Revelation of the old scout
The name Linda reappeared again in our days in a conversation with Ivan Antonovich Pavlov (let's call him that). A retired KGB colonel asked not to disclose his real name: the elderly security officer did not want to become the object of public attention.
So, in 1960, Captain Pavlov, working in the archives, dealt with the affairs of German citizens, who came to the attention of the Soviet counterintelligence in post-war Berlin, but were released due to the absence of compromising materials on them. Nevertheless, the officers continued to "lead" those who once found themselves on their hook, regardless of whether these people were guilty or not. Consultations were held with German comrades, during which it was unobtrusively clarified where the master is located, what he is doing now.
Behind Hitler - Gestapo ChiefThe work inherited by Ivan Pavlov was very important, becoming the first stage of the widely conceived Operation Solo. The essence of this operation was as follows. Not every German citizen released by the Soviet counterintelligence was loyal to the authorities. There were quite a few who fully deserved several years of Siberian camps. If this were necessary, the experts of the NKVD would “even bring an angel under the time limit”. What can we say about the Germans! Some of them had to buy their freedom at the cost of transferring the necessary information to our bodies. In other words, by agreeing to cooperate with the Soviets, they blurted out important secrets.
Some of these agents lived in the West, occupying a prominent position in society. Many of the secrets they issued concerned the commercial interests of the largest German concerns that survived the war. If the administration, say, the Igrek concern, would know that the politician X supported and financed, secretly cooperating with the NKVD, would inflict great damage on the concern, such a “figure” would have to be very bad. This was the essence of blackmail.
As part of Operation Solo, Captain Pavlov had to familiarize himself with the records of the interrogations of American intelligence officer James West, who was detained in 1956 in Moscow, working under journalistic protection.
Mr. West's solo
Who is James West? During the war years he was an employee of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) of the United States, the forerunner of the CIA. Responding to questions about his activities during the war period, he spoke about the attempt on Muller. As West claimed, the attempt was planned by the Americans, and the same Oscar Lind who worked for American intelligence was chosen as the performer. Motives? At that time, active negotiations were conducted between representatives of the German command and the Western allies. Muller was out of this operation. But since they were suspected of OSS, and according to West, they knew that Müller was a Soviet agent, it was decided to remove him. Being too close to the center of events, he could pass unwanted information to the Soviets. After Lind's unsuccessful attempt, several more attempts were planned, but all of them were not carried out for various reasons.
How did Ivan Antonovich Pavlov comment on the testimony of the West? He did not say anything definite, as he did not have access to information concerning the shadow activity of Muller. We are with you a little talk.
Julian Semenov and negotiations
From left to right: Franz Josef Huber, Arthur Nebe, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Muller. 1939 year.
In the afterword to his novel “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, Julian Semenov says: “Of course, Stirlitz is a figment, or rather, a generalization. There was not one Stirlitz. However, there were many such intelligence officers as Stirlitz. But the fact of the negotiations of the Western allies with the Germans was. " As you can see, the fact is confirmed. Only now these negotiations were not secret. Even before the start of their allies officially notified Stalin. However, the most important details of the negotiations, their nuances were omitted. What scout can I get to know for details? Of course, the one who is close to the top of the Reich. And if Muller really worked for the Soviet Union, then the attempt on him, the revelations of West and Schellenberg, and the disappearance of Muller after the war become understandable. Of course, it can be assumed that both Schellenberg and West and Colonel Pavlov simply invented it all. But then the question arises: why? And where did they get identical information?
So it’s not at all possible that Julian Semenov’s misconception about Muller in his novel. It is likely that the Soviet intelligence owes a lot to the real Muller not to the mythical Stirlitz ...
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