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IN . L. Kheifets, L. S. Kheifets The activities of Soviet diplomats as a factor in the development of the left movement in Mexico in the 1920s Alexandra's mission: changing the appearance of the old model M international relations in modern and contemporary times. Materials of the international scientific conference, dedicated to the memory of Professor K. B. Vinogradov St. Petersburg, 2005 Characteristic of Soviet foreign policy in the 1920s. In the twentieth century, the desire to simultaneously support the world revolution and ensure the national interests of the USSR was fully manifested in relations with Mexico. Both the mission of the RSFSR Consul General M. Borodin, the purpose of which was to restore relations between the two countries, and the activities of the first plenipotentiary S. Pestkovsky, were closely connected with the Comintern. Both directly combined diplomatic work with the functions of emissaries of the Third International to organize the communist movement in Latin America. Pestkovsky's stay in Mexico was marked by two troubles. If the first of them, caused by the ambiguous statement of the People's Commissar G. about Mexico as a base for the development of the activities of the Communist Party, was considered exhausted, then the second - direct Soviet intervention in the struggle of local trade unions, aroused the indignation of the largest trade union association, KROM, closely associated with the government. After statements by Soviet trade unions in 1927 about providing material assistance to the railway strike, directed through the embassy, ​​it became obvious that Pestkovsky’s ability to represent the USSR without constant confrontation with the Mexican authorities had been exhausted. The appointment of a little-known diplomat instead of Pestkovsky could be perceived in the country's labor movement as a refusal of the USSR to support the communists. Therefore, an adequate replacement was found in the person of Alexandra. At the time of the announcement of her appointment as plenipotentiary, no one in the world could have imagined that she did not intend to act in the manner of Pestkovsky. It turned out to be easiest for her to make changes in the system of relations between the Comintern, the embassy in Mexico City and the country's communist parties. During a meeting with I. Stalin on the eve of departure, she received clear instructions: “less coddling from the outside” with the communist parties ... if they make mistakes, it’s not a problem”; the plenipotentiary representative should not “succumb to false ideas about the growing revolution, to which Mexico is still very far away,” but must strengthen friendly relations between the two countries, without succumbing to the “temptations of revolutionary adventures.” The plenipotentiary representative herself, who was well acquainted with Stalin, could not help but understand that it would be a mistake to take his words literally and that we were not talking about a radical change in line (by “revolutionary adventures” they meant, first of all, anti-government riots on the ground); but she could not help but accept the announced rules of the game (“conduct a prudent policy without losing sight of the principled line”). She hardly had a detailed idea of ​​what Pestkovsky’s policy looked like, but she was clearly sure: “the line of his work went in a very different direction from the line that was given to me in Moscow.” A few weeks before her departure, the plenipotentiary told the press, that “the current diplomat must” refrain from “any propaganda and interference in the internal affairs of the host country.” was aware of Mexico's strategic position in Soviet foreign policy, but she was also aware of the increasingly intense American pressure on the country. Pestkovsky's forced departure and the US State Department's refusal to grant her a transit visa were clear indications of the difficult situation awaiting her in Mexico. The first manifestation of change was the refusal to meet with the communists who came to the train station in Mexico City, since this was contrary to diplomatic protocol; in presenting her credentials, she praised the political and social achievements of the Mexican Revolution, immediately emphasizing that her main work in Mexico was to promote bilateral trade. At a meeting with the head of government, Calles, on February 2, 1927, she again repeated that she did not intend to create difficulties for the government, which the president understood unequivocally: she did not intend to enter into conflict with the CROM and help the Communist Parties. I had to solve an important dilemma for myself: what is more in the interests of the USSR and the world revolution - friendly relations with the Calles government (which “is pursuing a strong policy against Washington”) or a bet on supporting the local anti-imperialist movement (closely associated with the Communist Party), which would at the same time anti-government. An analysis of the diary entries and letters she made shows: the diplomat believed that Mexico had a leading role in the Latin American anti-imperialist movement, but this did not at all mean a refusal to develop the left-wing revolutionary movement within Mexico itself (she did not overestimate the importance of the Communist Party, noting that “ours” ( communists) are few in number and swing between anarchosyndicalism and the opportunism of the anarchists... Our friends are a handful and politically powerless"). They considered it necessary to continue to actively support the Communist Party and not camouflage these ties. The friendly relations with KROM, which I tried to establish, never developed, which was natural. The leaders of the trade union center had a negative attitude towards the USSR, knowing what efforts the Comintern was making to support KROM's competitors. The intentions of the new plenipotentiary to show that she is “not Pestkovsky” could not but go in vain. In general, the Kromists were not far from the truth. No matter how much she wanted to demonstrate a new line, she strictly followed the instructions given to her in Moscow, immediately handing over to the strikers those who had arrived from the USSR, which provoked a stormy campaign in the press and the demand of CROM to expel the plenipotentiary from the country. The Mexican Foreign Ministry reacted almost equally harshly, presenting a note of protest against “anti-government actions” on behalf of the president. Understanding very well the dependence of the Soviet trade unions on the government, Calles demanded that all influence be used to stop their support for the Mexican strikers. And at that moment it became clear, how skilful a maneuver Moscow undertook at one time by undertaking a personnel change in the diplomatic mission. pleaded that she was not aware of the illegality of the strike, believed that the strike was directed against a foreign company and was being supported by the anti-imperialist Mexican government, and failed to inform her government accordingly. All participants in the events understood perfectly well that this was not so, but managed to pretend that they believed in what was said and heard. It was not possible to act in a purely diplomatic manner, including for reasons beyond her control. The policy of the United States, which entangled Mexico in the propaganda of Bolshevism, sharply reduced the value of the energy with which the plenipotentiary intended to carry out her work. The Americans' confidence in her personal participation in the transportation of Mexican communists to the United States put her in a delicate situation in relations with the Calles government.

Domestic James Bond - Max Otto von Stirlitz is one of the most popular and beloved characters of the Soviet era. No other hero managed to even come close to his glory. Meanwhile, there is still no consensus on who could serve as the prototype for the famous Standartenführer, so beloved by the residents of our country (and especially its female half). The debate about who Yulian Semyonov took as a model when creating the central character of the famous epic, consisting of thirteen novels, continues to this day.

In fact, the figure of Maxim Maksimovich Isaev (in reality Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov), the elusive colonel of Soviet intelligence, is a literary cast from classified materials gleaned by the writer from the archives of the special services. Behind every line of stories about Colonel Isaev there are real people, Soviet intelligence officers who entered into a deadly confrontation with fascism. The names of most of them have already been declassified today. And each one is a legend. And we must remember them.

You can speculate for a long time about the real prototype of the famous hero, but the only person who knew the truth to the end was the creator of Stirlitz himself, Yulian Semenov. At the end of the sixties, he was entrusted with an honorable mission - to write a patriotic work about the exploits of a Soviet intelligence officer. To bring the plot as close as possible to real circumstances, by order of Yuri Andropov himself, the writer was allowed to familiarize himself with the archival documents of some Soviet residents. In later interviews, Semyonov said that most of the events that happen to Stirlitz in his novels are taken from real life, but they all happened to different intelligence officers. The writer masterfully combined them into one literary biography.

In one of the episodes of the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” a brief description of Stirlitz is given, which states that he is the Berlin tennis champion. The only Soviet intelligence officer professionally involved in tennis and football was Alexander Korotkov, although he never managed to reach the title of champion. In addition, being both a secret agent and a champion in any sport in real life is almost impossible. In addition to the need for constant training, the athlete’s personality is under close attention of the public and intelligence services. For Korotkov, the career of a secret intelligence officer began precisely on the tennis court, where the security officers first took note of him. Later, on the recommendation of V.L. Gerson, he got a job at Lubyanka as an ordinary elevator operator. Soon Korotkov was transferred to the position of clerk in a foreign department, and later sent to individual training, which in those days every intelligence officer was required to undergo. Alexander was taught to drive a car, master various types of motor skills, and he mastered the German language perfectly. After several years of hard work, he was sent abroad. Before the war, Korotkov worked in France, heading a group created specifically to eliminate traitors. He is credited with the destruction of Agabekov and Klement. At the end of the thirties, the name Korotkov was recognized by many in a narrow circle of professional intelligence officers. On the eve of the New Year 1939, Beria summoned Alexander and several other agents to his place. However, instead of the expected congratulations, he informed them... about his dismissal. The impulsive Korotkov did not want to put up with such an outcome and decided on a desperate act - he wrote a personal letter to Beria, in which, without excuses or requests, he demanded that he be reinstated at work. Korotkov understood that such a step was tantamount to suicide, but he dared to argue in detail the groundlessness of his resignation. To everyone's surprise, after reading the letter, Beria reinstated him in his service. In 1940, Korotkov worked in Berlin as a secret agent, and in March 1941, it was perhaps he who was the first to convey information about the inevitability of a German attack on the USSR. In the early forties, Korotkov, in the conditions of the most severe counterintelligence activities of the fascists, managed to establish reliable connections with the underground group “Red Chapel”, which was engaged in undermining the Hitler regime. Using underground radio stations, this organization transmitted secret information for the USSR and allied countries.

The famous Soviet spy Kim Philby said after watching the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring”: “With such a concentrated and intense face, the real Stirlitz would not have lasted a day!” Critics have also argued that the image of Nazi Germany created in the series is more reminiscent of the USSR during the Stalinist period. For example, according to the historian Zalessky, “such a Third Reich did not exist... All the relationships between the characters, the entire spirit has nothing to do with reality. Nazi Germany was different. No worse or better, just different.”

On June 19, 1941, a scout working under the pseudonym Breitenbach informed the Soviet leadership of a German attack planned in three days. According to many sources, this agent can also be considered as one of Stirlitz’s prototypes. Under the secret name was Wilhelm Lehmann, who, like Stirlitz, was a Gestapo officer, SS Hauptsturmführer and spy for the Soviet Union. According to some sources, the initial initiative came from the German officer himself, he deliberately sought a meeting with Soviet intelligence until he was officially recruited. Lehman's desire to work for the USSR was dictated by his intransigence to the basic ideals of fascism. The good-natured and friendly person that Lehman was was called “Uncle Willy” by many at work (in the IV department of the Gestapo RSHA). No one, including his wife, could even imagine that this bald, good-natured fellow, suffering from renal colic and diabetes, was a Soviet agent. Before the war, he conveyed information about the timing and volume of production of self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, the development of new nerve agents and synthetic gasoline, the beginning of testing liquid fuel missiles, the structure and personnel of the German intelligence services, counterintelligence operations of the Gestapo and much more. Lehman sewed documents confirming the fact of the impending attack on the Soviet Union into the lining of his hat, which he then quietly replaced with the same headdress when meeting with a Soviet representative in a cafe.

In 1942, the Germans managed to declassify the brave intelligence officer. Himmler was simply shocked by this fact. The employee, who worked in the Gestapo for thirteen years, constantly supplied information to the USSR and was never even suspected of espionage. The very fact of his activities was so shameful for the SS that Lehmann’s file was completely and completely destroyed before it could reach the Fuhrer, and the intelligence officer himself was hastily shot shortly after his arrest. Even the agent’s wife did not know for a long time about the true reasons for her husband’s death. His name was included in the list of those killed for the Third Reich. Of all the Soviet intelligence officers, it was Lehmann who occupied a position similar to Stirlitz, a high-ranking SS officer, surrounded by the arbiters of Germany’s destinies and entering the very heart of the Reich.

Stirlitz hid his real marital status; according to Gestapo documents, he was single, but his wife was awaiting his return to the USSR. In fact, the Germans hired mostly married officers to work in the SS, and those who were single, as a rule, aroused unnecessary suspicion. In addition, the charter of this organization required each member to have a family and children by the age of thirty.

At the end of the nineties, a version was born that the real name of the literary character Stirlitz - Isaev - appeared thanks to the real intelligence officer Isaiah Isaevich Borovoy. Having slightly changed his name, Yulian Semenov created Maxim Maksimovich. But very little is known about Isaiah Borovoy himself, since the resident’s personal file still remains classified. The agent's relatives say that he, like Stirlitz, led Soviet military intelligence in Europe and was introduced into the upper echelons of the Third Reich command. However, Borovoy worked there even before the war, and by order of the command, he surrendered to the Americans, who transported him to the Soviet Union. Despite his enormous services to his homeland, upon his return home, instead of rewards, Borovoy was expected to be exiled to Siberia. The reason for the agent's arrest remained a secret behind seven seals. The measures to cleanse the intelligence officer from the filth of the rotten West were so cruel that before his death, Borovoy’s arms and legs were broken and his spine was damaged. His family never found out where his body was buried.

Some researchers are also inclined to believe that the prototype of Stirlitz could well have been Mikhail Mikhalkov, the brother of the famous Soviet writer, who was an illegal agent during the Great Patriotic War, supplying domestic intelligence agencies with important operational data. Being a relative of Mikhalkov, Yulian Semenov knew his life history very well, and therefore could well have partially used it in his works. In 1945, Mikhail crossed the front line during a battle and fell into the hands of his “native” military counterintelligence. He was accused of collaborating with the Germans and was imprisoned first in Lefortovo prison, and then in one of the concentration camps in the Far East. The scout was rehabilitated only in 1956.

Today, it’s even difficult for fans of Stirlitz to imagine that the legendary character could have looked completely different, for example, if Oleg Strizhenov or Archil Gomiashvili had won the casting for the movie. Nevertheless, Tikhonov perfectly coped with one of the most difficult acting tasks - to play the role of a thoughtful, silent hero. When he simply remains silent in the film, the viewer firmly believes that Stirlitz is thinking about something extremely important for the country, although, according to the actor himself, at that moment he was repeating the multiplication table in his mind. In one role, Tikhonov managed to combine the best qualities of Soviet intelligence officers: high intelligence, a subtle ability to understand human psychology, the art of controlling oneself and one’s emotions, the ability to transform, quickly analyze the situation and make decisions with lightning speed.

The prototype of the young Stirlitz may be an employee of the Cheka, Yakov Blyumkin. It is interesting that among his pseudonyms there are the names Vladimirov and Isaev. He and Stirlitz also have the same date of birth – October 8, 1900. Blumkin's biography is extremely entertaining. He was highly valued by Dzerzhinsky and Trotsky, he participated in the murder of the German ambassador Mirbach, was noted in the assassination attempt on Hetman Skoropadsky and German Field Marshal Eichhorn, “expropriated” the assets of the State Bank together with Mishka Yaponchik, was involved in the overthrow of the Persian head Kuchek Khan and created the Iranian Communist Party. One episode from Blumkin’s life almost entirely became the basis for the plot of Semenov’s book “Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.” In the mid-twenties, Yakov graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army and worked on the eastern question, traveled to China, Palestine, Mongolia, and lived in Shanghai. In the summer of 1929, Blumkin returned to the capital to report on his work, but was soon arrested for his old connections with Leon Trotsky. At the end of the same year, Blumkin was shot.

Another interesting historical fact. It is known that the Third Reich did not particularly favor smokers. Himmler personally forbade SS officers from indulging in this vice at work. However, both in the book and in the film, Stirlitz often smokes.

Anatoly Gurevich is considered another prototype of Stirlitz. He volunteered to go to war in Spain, and after returning home he received an offer to become a scout. His specialization after training at the GRU became ciphers and radio stations. Under the name Vincent Sierra, Anatoly began his work in Brussels; later he was a member of the Red Chapel and had the pseudonym Kent. In Belgium, he married the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, who transferred part of his enterprises to Gurevich. It was he who, in the fall of 1941, informed Moscow about the attack the Germans were preparing at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. Largely thanks to this information, the Red Army gained the upper hand in these operations, and thousands of our compatriots survived. In 1941, Anatoly’s transmitter was found. The scout and his wife had to flee to France, to the city of Marseille, where they were soon arrested. Only after this did Margaret’s wife learn that her husband was a Soviet spy. A big shock for the Soviet agent was the information that his codes had been broken, and German counterintelligence had joined the radio game. Nevertheless, Gurevich managed to survive. After the war, the intelligence officer who separated from his wife returned to Russia. The Soviet command did not hesitate to sentence Anatoly - he gave him twenty years in prison under the article “treason.” In fact, he spent about twenty-five years in prison. Charges of treason were dropped only in 1991. Anatoly Gurevich died in January 2009 at the age of ninety-six.

Many historians include one of the most outstanding intelligence officers of the century, Richard Sorge, in the long list of prototypes of the popular hero. However, a detailed study of their biographies refutes this. The similarity can only be found in the fact that Sorge is recognized as the real intelligence officer No. 1 of our country, and Stirlitz is recognized as a literary and cinematic one. It can also be noted that both lived for some time in Shanghai. Sorge also warned about the beginning of the war, and Stirlitz tried to find out this date.

Regarding the character of Stirlitz, Yulian Semenov himself claimed that he chose Norman Borodin. The writer learned the adventures of the famous intelligence officer not from secret archives, but from the agent himself, that is, first-hand. His life could be a separate exciting novel; Norman had to go through a huge number of trials and dramas. The father of the future agent, Mikhail Borodin, was an ally of Lenin, a diplomat, and a Soviet intelligence officer. Since 1923, under the pseudonym “Comrade Kirill,” he worked as an adviser to the Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen. When Sun Yat-sen died after a serious illness, the power in the country instantly changed. Remaining as a favorite of the former leader of this country was extremely dangerous. Mikhail Borodin was arrested and expelled from the USSR. And his son, Norman, was secretly transported by Soviet diplomats as part of Isadora Duncan’s touring ballet troupe. A handsome black-haired sixteen-year-old boy was disguised as a woman, one of the participants in the performance.

At first, Norman felt like a foreigner in the Soviet Union. In all his sixteen years, he had been here only once, and he was born and raised in the United States. Accordingly, Borodin Jr.’s native language was English. Fulfilling his father's behests, Norman prepared to become a scout from a young age. By the age of nineteen, he was already an employee of the INO NKVD, and received his first assignment at the age of twenty-five. He was ordered to enter the United States as an illegal resident. The position of illegal intelligence officers, who in a narrow circle were called “foreign intelligence marathoners,” was extremely difficult, since they could not count on protection from the embassy in the event of any problems, even arrest. During his work in the United States, Borodin was given the operational pseudonym Granit, which best characterized his character. According to the recollections of contemporaries, the real agent, like Stirlitz, made a very pleasant impression, was tactful and had a great sense of humor, knew how to remain calm and self-possessed in any situation, nothing could force him to reveal his true feelings. However, the scout’s entire subsequent fate was like an obstacle course. Life seemed to be specially testing Borodin’s strength. After the betrayal of one of the Soviet spies, Borodin, along with a number of other agents, was recalled from the United States. And soon, according to the conclusion of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, he was expelled from foreign intelligence. During his resignation, Borodin worked in the foreign department of Glavlit, but with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he was again returned to intelligence. He was sent to Germany, to the very lair of the enemy - to Berlin, where Norman created a reliable, extensive network of agents. Simultaneously with his espionage activities, under the guise of an American volunteer, he worked for the Swiss Red Cross.

Popular writer Georgy Weiner said in an interview: “Norman and his family are amazing material for a novel about the birth, formation and victory of ideas and views, their further transformation, the collapse and final destruction of all ideals.”

In 1947, Norman returned to Moscow and got a job as a correspondent. Soon he, like many of his fellow front-line soldiers, became completely disillusioned with the Soviet system. In 1949, Norman wrote a letter to Stalin in which he asked the General Secretary only one question: does he know what is happening in his environment, where and why the best agents sincerely devoted to communist ideas disappear without a trace? The scout did not receive an answer, but a few days later his father was arrested. Mikhail Borodin spent two years in Lefortovo, where, under torture, he signed a confession that he was an American spy. On May 29, 1951, Borodin Sr., unable to withstand the beatings, died in prison. After his father died, Norman was arrested. In prison, Borodin, who suddenly turned from a valuable intelligence officer into an enemy of the country, was also subject to torture. He was kept naked in a punishment cell at a temperature just above zero degrees. After conducting an investigative process, the authorities decided to exile the intelligence officer to Karaganda.

During the Karaganda exile, the KGB leadership allowed Norman Borodin to do the work that he liked. He became a journalist for a local newspaper. Here the scout met the still unknown brothers Vayner and Yulian Semenov. The life story of Norman Borodin that Semyonov heard made a huge impression on the writer; he asked the intelligence officer for permission to use certain moments of his biography in his new novel about Stirlitz. But the most important thing was that Semenov tried to endow his hero with the same character. Two years later, the Stalinist Thaw came, the cult of the Leader was debunked, charges against Borodin were dropped, and he was finally able to return to Moscow. The intelligence officer was reinstated in the party, and he returned to work in the KGB. Subsequently, Borodin took part in the creation of the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” under the fictitious name S.K. Mishin, which the viewer can see in the closing credits. Andropov forbade the real names of current intelligence officers to be indicated. The artist of the painting “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” according to the stories of Borodin’s daughter, was a frequent guest in their house and consulted with his father in order to achieve the closest possible approximation of the artistic image of Stirlitz to the real intelligence officer. Norman Borodin died in 1974.

There is a legend that already in his old age, Leonid Brezhnev, who really loved the film about the famous intelligence officer, having watched it again, suddenly asked those present: “Did we reward Stirlitz?” Everyone remained silent in embarrassment. Then Brezhnev ordered to give the intelligence officer the title of Hero. As a way out of the situation, it was decided to award Tikhonov the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labor. Whether this happened in reality is unknown.

Sadly, despite the presence of a large number of experienced residents who for years supplied valuable information from the enemy camp, as well as saboteurs who carried out a number of successful operations, in real life there were no intelligence officers with such a rich biography as Stirlitz’s. Yes, it couldn’t exist. Maneuvering between possible failures, infiltrating into the very top of the Reich, saving from the most difficult situations simply cannot fall to the lot of one person. In addition, we have to admit that the presence of such a person as Stirlitz in the highest echelons of the German command in real life would be impossible. If only for the simple reason that the pedigree of all Gestapo officers, by order of the Fuhrer, was checked until the mid-eighteenth century. However, Semyonov did not write his books from scratch. He studied a huge amount of historical materials. Perhaps that is why his work looks so authentic and convincing. Without a doubt, the image of Stirlitz was collected from various Soviet intelligence officers, and many of his actions described on the pages of novels were borrowed from real life. And even if not one of them was Stirlitz on his own, they were all of them together. And with recognition of services to the Motherland, the literary hero was much more fortunate than the real prototypes. Many of them were undeservedly persecuted, accused of espionage and forgotten. Brave people were recognized as heroes after they had passed away.

Information sources:
http://www.kpravda.ru/article/society/006425/
http://operkor.wordpress.com/
http://reallystory.com/post/144
http://www.centrasia.ru/newsA.php?st=1256677560

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Norman Borodin takes part in the creation of the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” under a fictitious name - S. K. Mishin, which the viewer can see in the closing credits. They say that Andropov forbade the real names of current intelligence officers to be indicated.
Meanwhile, the life of Borodin himself could become a separate exciting novel: Norman had to go through a huge number of trials and dramas. The father of the future agent, Mikhail Borodin, was an ally of Lenin, a diplomat, and a Soviet intelligence officer. Since 1923, under the pseudonym Comrade Kirill, he worked as an adviser to the Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen. When Sun Yat-sen died after a serious illness, the power in the country instantly changed. Remaining as a favorite of the former leader of this country was extremely dangerous. Mikhail Borodin was arrested and deported. And Soviet diplomats managed to secretly transport his son Norman as part of Isadora Duncan’s touring ballet troupe. A handsome, black-haired 16-year-old boy was disguised as a woman, one of the participants in the performance.

Illegal resident at 25
At first, Norman felt like a foreigner in the Soviet Union. In all his 16 years, he was here only once, and was born and raised in the United States. Accordingly, Borodin Jr.’s native language was English. Fulfilling his father's behests, Norman prepared to become a scout from a young age. By the age of 19, he was already an employee of the INO NKVD, and received his first assignment at the age of 25. He was ordered to enter the United States as an illegal resident. The position of illegal intelligence officers, who in a narrow circle were called “foreign intelligence marathoners,” was extremely difficult, since they could not count on protection from the embassy in the event of any problems, even arrest. During his work in the United States, Borodin was given the operational pseudonym Granit, which best characterized his character. According to the recollections of contemporaries, the real agent, like Stirlitz, made a very pleasant impression, was tactful and had a great sense of humor, knew how to remain calm and self-possessed in any situation, nothing could force him to reveal his true feelings. However, the scout’s entire subsequent fate was like an obstacle course. Life seemed to be specially testing Borodin’s strength. After the betrayal of one of the Soviet spies, Borodin, along with a number of other agents, was recalled from the United States. He was sent to Germany, to the very lair of the enemy - to Berlin, where Norman created a reliable, extensive network of agents. Simultaneously with his espionage activities, under the guise of an American volunteer, he worked for the Swiss Red Cross.
In 1947, Norman returned to Moscow and got a job as a correspondent. Soon he, like many of his fellow front-line soldiers, became completely disillusioned with the Soviet system. In 1949, Norman wrote a letter to Stalin in which he asked the General Secretary only one question: does he know what is happening in his environment, where and why the best agents sincerely devoted to communist ideas disappear without a trace. The scout did not receive an answer, but a few days later his father was arrested. Mikhail Borodin spent two years in Lefortovo, where, under torture, he signed a confession that he was an American spy. In May 1951, Borodin Sr., unable to withstand the beatings, died in prison. In 1949, Norman Borodin was also arrested, he spent two years in prison, and in 1951 he was exiled to Karaganda.

Working in exile
Participants in the project “Karlag: Memory for the Future” at Karaganda University “Bolashak” claim that there is no information about Norman Borodin’s stay in Karaganda. Today it is known that during the Karaganda exile, the KGB leadership allowed Norman Borodin to do the work that he liked. He became a journalist for a local newspaper. Borodin was hired by the editorial office of the newspaper “Socialist Karaganda” (current “Industrial Karaganda”. There is only order No. 78 dated May 31, 1952: “From this date, temporarily enlist comrade Norman Mikhailovich Borodin as a senior literary employee of the editorial office. Salary according to estimate."
Norman Mikhailovich's first articles and notes talk about the party life of the city and region, and the international situation. Borodin critically comprehends the activities of the circle for studying the history of the CPSU at the Karagandaugol plant, where attendance is less than 50%. Published articles “Child Murderers” about child crime in the United States and “American Cannibals at Home and Abroad.” Over time, Norman Borodin began to cover events in the cultural life of the city. His reviews appeared on the performances of the Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Abai, the miners' song and dance ensemble, and the Karaganda Regional United Theater of Kazakh and Russian Drama. Publications are illustrated with photographs of the author.
Following in the footsteps of ancient livestock breeders, Norman Mikhailovich studies the Karaganda region and visits a number of areas. 23
June 1953, the newspaper publishes a photograph of shepherd Kurman Otarbaev (collective farm named after Stalin, Karkaraly district), taken by Borodin. Then Norman Borodin goes to the collective farms named after the 19th Congress of the CPSU and “Testament of Ilyich” in the Osakarovsky district. His photographs of leaders of public education, Stakhanovites of the ore repair plant, artists of mine No. 3 named after. Kirov, artists - today are priceless evidence of the history of Saryarka.
Norman Borodin's exile in Karaganda lasted more than two years. Here he was on a settlement.
Two years later, a thaw came, the cult of the leader was debunked, charges against Borodin were dropped, and he was able to return to Moscow. Norman Mikhailovich Borodin disappeared from Karaganda unnoticed. There was not even an order left for his dismissal from the position of acting head of the “Socialist Karaganda” department.
In all likelihood, his personal file was also sent to Moscow from the archives of the local KGB. The intelligence officer was reinstated in the party, and he returned to work in the KGB. He was the editor-in-chief of the Novosti press agency. He is an Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR, an Honored Worker of the State Security Bodies of the USSR.
The artist of the painting “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” according to the stories of Borodin’s daughter, was a frequent guest in their house and consulted with his father in order to achieve the closest possible approximation of the artistic image of Stirlitz to the real intelligence officer.
Unfortunately, according to researchers of the project “Karlag: Memory for the Future,” there are no people left in Karaganda who remember the talented and resilient correspondent Borodin. It is clear that no one knew about his true profession.
Norman Borodin died in 1974.
There is a legend that already in his old age, Leonid Brezhnev, who really loved the film about the famous intelligence officer, having watched it again, suddenly asked those present: “Did we reward Stirlitz?” Everyone remained silent in embarrassment. Then Brezhnev ordered to give the intelligence officer the title of Hero. As a way out of the situation, it was decided to award Tikhonov the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labor. Whether this happened in reality is unknown.

The search began immediately with the editorial archive. And on the table lies a yellowed piece of order No. 78 dated May 31, 1952: “From this date, temporarily enlist comrade Norman Mikhailovich Borodin as a senior literary worker in the editorial office. Salary according to the estimate. Editor of the newspaper “Socialist Karaganda” Y. Mulyar.” .

We immediately informed our readers about the unexpected find and introduced them to Yuri Popov’s material. But much remains unknown. How did Borodin end up in Karaganda? What is his future fate? Finally, why exactly did he become the prototype of the famous Stirlitz? And we continued our search, which allowed us to answer most of the questions.

Son of a Bolshevik

Our inquiries received negative responses from all regional archives. “Moscow immediately took his documents after leaving Karaganda,” department officials stated the fact. But it’s good that we live today in the age of the Internet - a great assistant in any search. He provided an invaluable service to us as well.

Talking about the fate of Norman Borodin, one cannot help but recall his no less famous father - Mikhail Markovich Gruzenberg, Lenin's comrade-in-arms, diplomat, and famous Comintern figure. I will try to tell you at least point by point about the life of this talented and versatile person, full of dramatic situations.

He was born in 1884 in Belarus, in the town of Yanovichi, Vitebsk region. In 1903, he joined the ranks of the RSDLP, and a year later Mikhail emigrated to Switzerland, then moved to Riga for underground work, where he was elected one of the secretaries of the city committee of the RSDLP.

In 1907, Gruzenberg, who took the pseudonym Borodin, left for the USA. Here he organized a school for political emigrants and became a prominent figure in the Russian political emigration in America. He is still called one of the founders of the US Communist Party.

In 1911, a second son was born into the Borodin family - Norman, a future Soviet intelligence officer. It seemed that Mikhail Markovich had settled in the USA for a long time, but immediately after the October Revolution he returned to Russia, where he became an employee of the Comintern, and in 1919 Lenin signed a decision on his appointment as the first Consul General of the RSFSR to the Mexican government. Borodin also had a secret mission - to create a local Communist Party. In 1922, he was already at the center of a scandal in Great Britain. In Glasgow, under the name of George Brown, he is engaged in the reorganization of the local Communist Party. He is arrested and expelled from the country six months later.

In 1923, Mikhail Borodin received an even more serious task for the party. Under the pseudonym "Comrade Kirill" he becomes Sun Yat-sen's political adviser in China. His wife Fanya Semyonovna, who recently returned from the USA, and their sons Fred and Norman are also moving to Canton. These years are filled with hard work. After the death of Sun Yat-sen, Mikhail Markovich was arrested and deported to the USSR.

For a short time he worked as Deputy People's Commissar of Labor, then as editor-in-chief of the newly organized newspaper for American engineers and workers building the Moscow metro, Moscow News. He worked in this post until January 1949. At this time, a struggle against “rootless cosmopolitanism and anti-patriotic forces” unfolded in the country. Shepilov reports to Zhdanov that “in the Moscow News newspaper there are one Russian person, one Armenian person, 23 Jewish person, and three other person.” The newspaper is closed. Mikhail Borodin also fell under Stalin's moloch of repression. For two years he was in Lefortovo, where he was tortured into signing everything that the investigator demanded. On May 29, 1951, unable to withstand the beatings, he dies in prison. This is how the party “appreciated” the merits of the devoted communist, who did a lot for its formation.

The fate of the resident

When his father died, Norman was arrested. The authorities decided to exile him to Karaganda. But let's not rush things - first the story is about how our hero became an illegal intelligence officer.

Norman Borodin and his family are amazing material for a grandiose novel about the emergence, strengthening, victory of ideas and beliefs, their transformation, collapse and subsequent destruction of all ideals, said the famous writer Georgy Weiner in an interview. “Fulfilling his father’s behests, he became an overseas intelligence officer from a young age, knew all the main European languages ​​and spoke them as if he were Russian.

Indeed, at the age of 19, Norman was already an employee of the NKVD INO. In 1930, he graduated from the nautical school in Leningrad, and a few months later, under the guise of a student, he studied at the university in Oslo. Then the illegal intelligence officer continues his studies at the University of Berlin and College at the Sorbonne.

In 1934, Borodin became a student at the Military Chemical Academy of the Red Army, and three years later a student at the Radio Engineering Institute in the USA - in fact, the deputy of an illegal resident in America, Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov.

Here is what Vitaly Pavlov, a famous intelligence officer and former head of the USSR Foreign Intelligence Institute, writes about this time in Borodin’s life in the book “Operation Snow”: “In 1937, Borodin became Akhmerov’s deputy. Proactive operative Norman Mikhailovich led three valuable agents. When, by order of Beria, he was recalled from abroad, he was still a young man: he was not yet thirty. But Borodin had already acquired significant experience in illegal work... I met Norman Mikhailovich after his recall from the USA. He made a very pleasant impression: an invariably self-possessed, tactful person with a great sense of humor and an easy-to-communicate person. Unfortunately, by decision of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Borodin was expelled from foreign intelligence, where he returned only after the start of the Great Patriotic War."

It should be added to the memoirs of Vitaly Pavlov that the recall of Borodin and Akhmerov was also associated with extraordinary circumstances - the betrayal of one of the former intelligence officers. Therefore, they were forced to urgently curtail the activities of both legal and powerful illegal stations, mothballing the intelligence apparatus with which the US administration was tightly surrounded.

Norman Borodin spent his temporary retirement in the foreign department of Glavlit. In 1941, he reappears in Berlin - under the guise of an American, he works in the mission of the Swiss Red Cross. In the very lair of the enemy, a resident of Soviet intelligence works until complete Victory.

In 1947, Borodin returned to Moscow, got a job as a correspondent for Moscow News, but was soon arrested...

Forced "business trip"

Norman Borodin's exile in Karaganda lasted more than two years. Here he was on a settlement. Apparently, the KGB leadership, knowing about the intelligence officer’s merits, gave him the opportunity to do something he liked. So he first became a literary worker, and then acting. Head of the department of "Socialist Karaganda". Norman signed his materials “N. Borodin” and “N. Borisov”. By the way, the first was published on June 1, 1952, the last on August 28, 1953.

What did journalist Borodin write about in Karaganda? In most cases - about current events. About the party life of the city and region, the activities of political circles. Then he began to think more and more often about the cultural aura of the region. Reviews of theater performances and performances of the miners' song and dance ensemble appear in the newspaper. Norman also traveled to rural areas and told readers about the life of shepherds and farmers. He illustrated the materials with photographs - one can assume that the former intelligence officer used the camera professionally.

Unfortunately, there are no people left in Karaganda who remember the talented and resilient correspondent Borodin. It is clear that no one knew about his true profession, although journalism later became Norman Mikhailovich’s main business. After returning to Moscow, he was soon rehabilitated and reinstated in his service in the KGB of the USSR. He worked as the head of the department for working with foreign correspondents, then headed the department of the active reserve of party and government institutions. In 1961, Borodin became editor-in-chief of the political publications of the Novosti Press Agency, then a political observer.

At that time, he met the then unknown Weiner brothers. He encouraged his friends to write detective stories.

He once told us: “Fools, instead of sitting in groups and drunkenly telling endless stories, you better tell them to each other, write down and print detective novels,” Georgy Weiner later recalled. - Borodin advised us to start with a six-page story. Moreover, Norman promised that he would help publish the story. Arkasha and I decided to take on a specific criminal case that he was investigating at that time. According to our school ideas about literature, the first thing we did was draw up a plan: introduction, main part, conclusion. In order not to miss something important, the plan was made very detailed: it took thirty typewritten pages, which, of course, came into organic conflict with the canons of writing a short story. In two months we completed our plan: the result was a modest manuscript of six hundred pages. This is how the novel “A Watch for Mr. Kelly” appeared. We brought the manuscript to our “customer” Norman. Having said that this thing is stronger than Goethe’s Faust, Borodin took our masterpiece to his friend in the magazine “Soviet Police”. At the same time, Yulian Semenov read the manuscript and gave it to the magazine “Our Contemporary”. To our surprise, both magazines said that they liked the manuscript... By the way, it was Borodin who was the prototype of Stirlitz: my brother and I introduced Norman to Yulian Semyonov, and this acquaintance prompted Yulian to write the novel “Seventeen Moments of Spring”...

I hope that through the mouth of Georgy Weiner I have answered a question that is of particular interest to our readers: was Stirlitz in Karaganda?

Unfortunately, Norman Mikhailovich Borodin will never come to our city again. He died in 1974. Dozens of people buried a generous and talented man, an outstanding intelligence officer. Only few of them knew about the true merits of the hero.