Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Philby (Harold Adrian Russell Philby 01/01/1912 - 05/11/1988), one of the leaders of British intelligence and at the same time an agent of Soviet intelligence (since 1933). On the centenary of the birth of this mysterious man, a well-known international journalist Nikolai Dolgopolov prepared a book "Kim Philby", which was published in the ZHZL series by the Young Guard publishing house.

With the kind permission of the Molodaya Gvardiya publishing house, we publish two fragments of this book. The first tells about how the young Philby was recruited by Soviet intelligence and about the interesting details of his origin. The second (which will be published tomorrow) will talk about how he was transported to the USSR. So here is the first excerpt from the book Nikolai Dolgopolov "Kim Philby".

Let's start with the date of the creation of the illegal residency of Soviet intelligence in the UK - the year 1933. There is a solid brilliance of the names of Soviet illegal immigrants. Orlov, even though he later fled to the United States, Deutsch, Mally, the lesser-known Rafe ... It was they who managed to look out, figure out, evaluate prospects, prepare for recruitment, and become liaisons for the "five". Of all those mentioned, the SVR especially singles out Arnold Deutsch.

A portrait of Arnold Genrikhovich Deutsch, born in 1904 in Vienna, adorns one of the stands of the Foreign Intelligence History Cabinet in Yasenevo. Biography for that time is typical. At the age of 20 - membership in the Austrian Communist Party, since 1928 - in the underground organization of the Comintern. Trips as a messenger to a variety of countries - from Romania with Greece and to Syria with Palestine. And in 1932 - the expected step. Deutsch moved to Moscow, transferred to the Bolshevik Party and, at the suggestion of the Comintern, worked in the Foreign Department of the NKVD of the USSR. During this time, in a not entirely clear way - how was the time enough? – manages to graduate from the University in Vienna, defend his diploma and become a PhD, freely masters, in addition to his native German, English, French, Italian, Dutch and Russian.

From Moscow, the quickly prepared illegal immigrant Deitch left with his wife in 1932 for France, from where he often visited Austria, and in 1933 he settled in England, where he studied psychology at the University of London.

Together with Deutsch, who was assigned the pseudonym "Stephan Lang", a group of his assistants also moved to the British capital. Attention, among them is "Edith" - Tudor Hart!

Who is this lady who was destined to play a huge role in the fate of Kim Philby? An Austrian who married an Englishman. The wife of a famous doctor, she managed to penetrate high society with his help. Deutsche's task for Tudor Hart was obvious, but difficult. She had to meet people who could be useful to Soviet intelligence now or in the future. Such a specialty in intelligence is called a "gunner". Her areas of interest began with Oxford, Cambridge and the University of London, forging future personnel for the civil service of the British Empire. Of course, they affected the Foreign Office, various government agencies, not to mention intelligence with its decryption service, which in England has always been of the highest class. "Edith" looked for and found people who already occupy certain positions, and young people - for the future.

“Edith” also considered Kim Philby to be such a promising one. There are references in the memoir literature about the acquaintance of Philby's first wife, Litzi, with the recruiter "Edith". Well, the two Austrian communists could well have known each other. But it is doubtful that Litzi would lead "Edith" to Kim. Rather, the cautious "Edith" could consult her, ask questions about Kim's past. After a certain period of study, she informed Philby that he was very interested in a person who could play a serious role in his life. Without hesitation, Kim said that he was ready "for a rendezvous" and "Edith" introduced him to Arnold Deutsch. It seems that the answer to the question “who recruited Philby and how?” Was received. At least, there is such an option - and the rest can not be considered, they are less interesting and convincing ...

Here is a description of Philby's introduction to Deutsch. One day in June 1934, Tudor Hart, along with Kim, circled London for several hours, reaching Regent's Park. Did Philby understand that the cab-to-subway transfers and street walks were nothing more than "Edith" trying to see if they were being followed?

In Regent's Park, a companion led Philby to a bench, introduced him to the man who was sitting there, calling himself "Otto", and disappeared from his life forever - unlike the stranger who spoke German to him for a long time, and then suggested that he abandon the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bjoining to the communist party. As conceived by Arnold Deutsch, this bright representative of the establishment in appearance and origin, had to play a completely different role. Philby immediately understood what it was: to become a deep penetration agent. Without asking whether "Otto" represented the Comintern or Soviet intelligence, Kim agreed to his proposal.

Deutsch quickly recognized Philby as a capable student. He was given the pseudonym "Senchen". Having talked with him many times, gradually introducing him into the circle of duties, "Otto" made him pay special attention to the problem of ensuring his own security, spending a lot of time on this - his own and his student's. Philby didn't like the extravagance at first, but Deutsch stood his ground. And he convinced Kim of the need to always and everywhere observe the strictest precautions. Subsequently, Kim Philby admitted that he was so imbued with the ideas of the curator that “he was literally obsessed with the ideas of security and secrecy. To a large extent, that is why I managed to survive.”

But Deitch's fate was tragic. In 1937, he and his wife returned to the USSR, received Soviet citizenship and passports in the name of the Langs. Miraculously, he manages to avoid Stalin's prisons and camps - probably helped by the fact that Deutsch-Lang, while remaining in intelligence, was transferred to one of the institutes of the Academy of Sciences, where he worked as a senior researcher before the start of the war.

In June 1941, he returned to the active work of the intelligence officer. Due to extraordinary circumstances, one invented legend was replaced by another, and in 1942 Deutsch went on a steamer from Arkhangelsk to the USA. But he failed to reach his destination - the transport ship "Donbass" was attacked in the Norwegian Sea by German bombers and quickly sank. Part of the passengers and crew managed to escape, but Deutsch, wounded in the legs, could not leave the sinking ship. He was only 38 years old. How much has been done! And how much more could he...

The father was, it turned out, nothing to do with

Here is what the not-too-lucky intelligence officer David Cornwell, who is also a super-successful writer and author of detective novels, John Le Carre, wrote about Kim Philby in his essay:

Philby "became a product of the post-war depression, the hasty destruction of the socialist spark that was ignited and the thousand-year hibernation of Eden and Macmillan (British prime ministers - Auth.). Duplicity has become something of a family tradition for Kim Philby.

Before Philby was the example of his father - an eminent scientist and a sickeningly obnoxious person. Did he want to destroy this paternal image, outdo him, or just follow in his footsteps? But, living far away (from England - Auth.), like his father, he would hardly have achieved these goals. But he inherited his father's traits.

Little king, abandoned in the wilderness, Harry St. John Philby did not hide from Kim contempt for his London bosses. He devoted his whole life to creating an impenetrable mixture in Kim, which led to the further betrayal of the boy. And no one could do it better than my father managed to do it.

The writer Le Carré is wrong in many ways, as he, David Cornwell, was wrong, and serving in MI5, and then working for intelligence under the cover of the British consulates in Bonn and Hamburg. I'll start with life. Philby's father did little for his development as a person. He lived away from the firstborn - the son of Harold Adrian Russell, who was born on January 1, 1912 in Ambala (modern India). The Philby family, not distinguished by wealth, is one of the oldest English surnames. Philby's grandmother came from a family that gave Great Britain many glorious army officers, among them Field Marshal Montgomery, a World War II hero, the most famous English military man after Admiral Nelson. By the way, when in 1910 the Deputy British Commissioner in the Punjab, Harry St. John Philby, married, the best man at his wedding was his distant relative - at that time Lieutenant Bernard Law Montgomery.

John Le Carre in many of his works unwittingly displays Philby as the main character - moreover, a purely negative one. This "hero" is smart, cynical, ready to betray not only the country, but also any of his neighbors. It seems that the good writer Le Carré here again turns into a mediocre Cornish scout. Yes, he knows the psychology of intelligence, its dark sides and ruthlessness. However, he does not know the thoughts of people who are selflessly fighting for an idea. Although, thanks to the books of the same Le Caret, Kim Philby was “fictionalized” during his lifetime, confidently entering not only documentary, but also fiction English and American literature, becoming a symbol of betrayal in the eyes of Cornwell - Le Carre. Meanwhile, even the fanatical "stubborn" Philby's tribesmen, who do not accuse him of anything, admit that money and bribery have nothing to do with it in this case. Then - why the "betrayal"? “Freedom of choice”, about which there is so much talk in the West, is one of the inalienable human rights…

Yes, you can say that "genes jumped". Many serious British publications, describing the unusual life of Harry St. John, write about his connections with intelligence. Indeed, in 1932, its leadership sent Philby Sr. to Mesopotamia, instructing them to turn the subjects of the Saudi King Ibn Saud against the Turks. He confidently coped with the task, becoming an adviser, and then a friend of the king of the Saudi monarch. He, in what Le Caret is right, really worked for the service of the British intelligence service MI6, being ranked among it, as a "noble correspondent." So in those years they called people from the establishment who worked for the SIS.

(For more on Father Kim Philby's adventures in the Middle East, see text on Octopus. — Admin )

And then such changes followed, after which the frantic Arabist, who was distinguished by undisguised - or ostentatious, a little to the public - eccentricity, was not at all up to his son. St. John Philby, unexpectedly for his colleagues, turned into a scientist. In addition, a Cambridge graduate, the son of a plantation owner, he converted to Islam, taking the name "Abdullah", divorced his English wife Dora, and shocked everyone by marrying a slave from Saudi Arabia. However, later his son Kim got along well with his two half-brothers, Farid and Khalid.

It is known that the name Kim was given to a six-year-old boy by his father visiting a family that had left Punjab for the UK. He loved his son, and saw in his dexterous and savvy little son a clear resemblance to the character of the novel "Kim", written in 1901 by Rudyard Kipling.

So the family broke up. My father remained on the outskirts, preferring the society of a Saudi king and a slave to communication with a family settled in Great Britain. So there was no influence, although family attachments remained.

Kim sincerely loved and revered his mother Dora. As soon as she entered the room, he instantly jumped up. But Kim also loved his father. The centuries-old noble tradition that shaped personalities and characters is a great thing, and here Le Carré is not mistaken: Kim inherited some of his traits. Among them are decisiveness, the desire for independence and the right to one's own opinion, which often differs from the generally accepted one. A certain stubbornness, the ability to make a choice and achieve the goal. A photograph of Harry St. John in white Arab clothes, which remained with him throughout the years of wanderings and forced departures, adorned and still adorns his son's apartment in the center of Moscow.

But St. John Philby to the end of his days adhered to the views of the extreme right. There are also references to the fact that he, as a potential danger to his country, was interned during the Second War. Some researchers even label him a fascist. But it was the fight - to the death - against fascism that forged the Kim Philby we know.

Yes, the son independently chose a completely different path. I do not want to politicize for a long time, describing the world crisis that erupted in the 1930s, which swept over good old England as well. Let me get to the point, which is that sane people have tried to find the answer to the eternal question "why?". The only alternative to world collapse was Soviet Russia, which chose its own socialist path, which at that time seemed more successful to many. Marxism, the rapid industrialization of a once agrarian country, single-handed survival, and breathtaking talk of building a new society aroused sympathy for the USSR and part of the rising English establishment. The ideas of communism, formulated by the Englishman Thomas More, and then by Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, were seen as deliverance from capitalism, once again caught in an economic impasse.

The elite of British society, to which Kim Philby belonged, was also in a painful search. He, a graduate of a school in Westminster, entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1929. The student of history saw a way out of the political and economic impasse in following the ideas of Marxism, and he became a regular at the meetings of young socialists. Kim naturally knew how to gain confidence, so that after the first year he was elected treasurer of the Socialist Society.

His gaze went left and right. He became friends with Guy Burgess, who did not hide his communist convictions, looks into the left circle of the Apostles. Switches from studying history to studying economics. Isn't it possible to apply Marx's theory faster and more successfully?

At the same time, Kim did not like rallies, long speeches, and overly drawn-out discussions. Everything verbal, non-concrete was not for him - he preferred real deeds to pathetic slogans. This craving for the concrete later manifested itself in work for intelligence - both British and Soviet.

Rounding off the story about the reasons for Kim's life choice, I would like to draw attention to his teacher, Professor of Economics Maurice Dobb, a member of the British Communist Party. He instructed the careful listener of his lectures in the appropriate spirit. So, fascination with leftist ideas; world economic crisis; the Great Depression and the rise of fascism were what influenced, as Philby later wrote, his decision to "work in some form for the communist movement." Fortunately, he did not join the Communist Party, otherwise it would have been even more difficult for Kim in the future.

Kim Philby was born on January 1, 1912 in the family of a colonial official in India, a well-known Arabist (subsequently, Philby's father converted to Islam and remarried a Saudi slave). He lived with his mother in England, but was very close to his father, who gave him the nickname Kim, after the title character of R. Kipling's novel. Later, the nickname replaced the real name.

Philby graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1933 with a degree in economics. While still in college, he was imbued with left-wing ideas thanks to the teacher of economics M. Dobbs, who brought Philby to W. Münzenberg, head of the International Committee for Relief for the Victims of German Fascism. Münzenberg, who voluntarily collaborated with the NKVD (1930-1935), attracted Philby to this work in 1934. In the same year, 1934, Philby married A. Friedman (Kolman), who was an agent of the Comintern in Vienna. One of Philby's first assignments on his return from Vienna was to recruit agents to set up a primary cell: the first were Cambridge graduates Guy Burgess, who later brought in Donald MacLane, and Anthony Blunt, who in turn brought in John Cairncross. Thus was formed the Cambridge Five, whose members never considered themselves spies; they were sure that they were fighting fascism and that only the Soviet Union could really defeat it.

In 1937, as a correspondent for The Times, he went to Spain, where the civil war was raging. There Philby obtained valuable information about the amount of Italian and German aid to the Franco regime. At the same time, his correspondence was pro-Frankist in nature, which attracted the attention of right-wing circles. During World War II, Philby, on the recommendation of Burgess, entered Mi-6 in the fall of 1941, where he trained specialists in propaganda, sabotage and sabotage. Later he became the head of the European department of MI6, dealing with Spain. Philby seriously undermined the German spy network in Spanish territory. He took the initiative to eliminate F. Canaris, who was supposed to visit Spain, but his proposal was categorically rejected. In 1942-1943, the circle of his activities expanded (North Africa and Italy), at the end of 1944, at the insistence of Moscow, Philby tried to take the post of head of the department for the study of Soviet and communist activities and managed to achieve this appointment. Thanks to Philby, the Kremlin became aware of all the measures to combat communism.

At the end of the war, Philby officially divorced his first wife, although they separated much earlier, and married Eileen Fierce, from whom he had four children.

In 1947-1949 he worked in Turkey, recruited former Soviet citizens to send them to the USSR; all information on the recruited persons was immediately transferred to Moscow. In 1949, he was appointed British secret service representative to the CIA in Washington. Mainly thanks to Philby's information, the Western intelligence services failed to overthrow the E. Hoxha regime in Albania, although such attempts were made by them repeatedly in the early 1950s.

In the early 1950s, the CIA stepped up work under the code name "Venona" to decipher the reports of Soviet agents during the war. Philby tried to stop this process, but as deciphering progressed in May 1951, a serious suspicion fell on the employee of the British embassy McLane. Philby managed to warn him with the help of Burgess about the impending interrogation. As a result, McLane and Burgess, who accompanied him, had an escape to the USSR.

After their flight, Philby's situation deteriorated sharply, he was immediately recalled to England at the urgent request of CIA Director W. Smith. Upon his return from Washington, Philby retired. The leadership was generally convinced of his betrayal, but there was no hard evidence.

For three years (1951-1954) Philby had no contact with Moscow. But when the passions subsided, he resumed contact. In 1956, he was helped to get a job as a correspondent for the magazines The Economist and The Observer in Beirut. But new evidence continued to appear about Philby's connection with the USSR. Constantly experiencing stress, he tried to drown it out with alcohol. This aggravated family problems, he broke up with his second wife, and there were also problems with his third. Unexpectedly, at the beginning of 1963, he confessed to his former colleague that he had connections with Moscow, and on January 23, by decision of the Center, he was transferred to the Soviet Union. Nine months later, his wife came to him, who could not adapt to the conditions of Moscow life and left after a while.

Philby began work on a book of his memoirs, My Silent War (published in 1968). Formally, Philby was listed in the KGB apparatus as a consultant. In 1965 he was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1971, Philby married a Soviet citizen for the fourth time, but this marriage did not bring him peace either. He took the ideas of perestroika negatively, sharply criticized M. S. Gorbachev.

In the spring of 1988, Philby had his first heart attack, followed by a second, and on May 11 he died. An outstanding intelligence officer was buried with honors at the Kuntsevo cemetery in Moscow.

He could become the head of British intelligence and go down in history as the greatest spy of all time.

Winner of two awards

Harold Adrian Russell Philby was awarded the MBE in 1945 for services to intelligence during World War II. The award was presented personally by King George VI of Great Britain at Buckingham Palace. In 1947, Stalin signed a decree awarding Harold Adrian Russell Philby the Order of the Red Banner.

The most famous member of the "Cambridge Five" - ​​the exposed "patriots" of Great Britain who worked in favor of the USSR - Kim Philby, almost took the post of head of British intelligence. A brave and courageous man, for 30 years he provided Lubyanka with information of the highest quality - 9999 - standard. And he could and should have headed British intelligence. If it were not for the betrayal of the Soviet Chekists.

On the brink of failure

For the first time, a real threat of exposure hung over Philby in August 1945, when Konstantin Volkov, an employee of the Istanbul NKVD station, who worked under the guise of the vice-consul of the USSR, was about to flee to the West. He contacted the British consulate in Turkey and expressed his readiness to pass on information about Soviet agents embedded in British government structures. He said that two of them work in the Foreign Office, and one - in the central office of the SIS in London.

The information received from Volkov was sent to London by diplomatic mail. A week later they ended up in SIS and lay down on the table... Philby. He immediately realized that he was one of those whom Volkov intended to name.

“I stared at the papers a little longer than it took to collect my thoughts,” Philby would later write in his memoirs My Silent War (My Silent War, 1968).

Philby reported the traitor to the Moscow Center. And then luck smiled at him: it was he who was sent to Istanbul to meet with Volkov. But by the time Philby got to Turkey, Volkov had disappeared without a trace and was never heard from again.

While in Washington, Philby began a fleeting affair with American cipher Meredith Gardner. She showed Philby several transcribed Soviet documents and commented on their content, noting that the Soviet mole was most likely entrenched in the British Foreign Office. Philby realized that the threat of exposure loomed over Donald McLain (Donald Donaldovich McLain, aka Mark Petrovich Fraser, born Donald Duart McLain, British diplomat, Soviet intelligence agent, working pseudonym "Homer". Member of the Communist Party of Great Britain since 1932. Member of the CPSU since 1956. Doctor of Historical Sciences - Ed.), and immediately warned the Moscow Center. They decided that the mission of "Homer" as a Soviet secret agent was completed, and it would be better if he completely disappeared from the field of view of both the FBI and MI5. McLain soon ended up in the Soviet Union and was hidden from possible encroachments on his life by the Anglo-American intelligence services in Kuibyshev, a city closed to foreigners.

Writer and publicist Philip Knightley in his book "The Second Oldest Profession", London, 1987 (in Russian translation - "Spies of the XX century") categorically states: "If the State Security Committee had not rushed to save their man in the Foreign Office of Donald MacLaine , Philby could become the leader of the SIS and thus go down in history as the greatest spy of all time. For the head of the SIS, Stuart Menzies, and his deputy, Hugh Sinclair, made it clear to the Prime Minister that they wanted to see Philby as head of the British intelligence service after Menzies' resignation. But in any case, in the "McLain case" Philby played his part with inspiration, with full dedication, in the language of the musicians - "spyonissimo"! ..»

Indeed, following the disappearance of McLain, Philby also fell under the suspicion of British and American counterintelligence agents. Without delay, he destroyed all the equipment received from the Moscow messenger and, as he writes in his memoirs: “Feeling clean as glass, I calmed down, knowing that neither the British nor the Americans would dare to openly accuse me of anything without permission senior leadership, and for the sanction, irrefutable evidence was required, which was no longer there!

However, the suspicions of the head of the counterintelligence department of the CIA, James D. Angleton, turned out to be so strong that he persuaded the then director of the Office, Walter Bedell-Smith, to apply to the SIS with a request to recall Philby from the United States.

In London, MI5 seized Philby's passport. Several times they subjected him to sophisticated interrogations. Despite the fact that Philby managed to dismiss all suspicions against him, he was nevertheless fired from the SIS with a severance pay of 2,000 pounds (today it is equal to $ 200,000) and a monthly pension of 2,000 pounds, which was to be paid to him for three years!

New betrayal and new justification

Meanwhile, clouds began to gather over Philby again: on April 2, 1954, Vladimir Petrov, a cipher clerk of the Soviet embassy in Australia, went to the enemy. Talking about the escape of members of the "Cambridge Five" - ​​McLain and Guy Burgess, the traitor called Philby "the third person" in the spy group. In November 1955, a group of members of the lower house of parliament, trying to find out if Philby was really a "third man", sent an inquiry to the newly elected Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. And on November 7, 1955, at parliamentary hearings, he publicly removed all suspicions from Philby: “No evidence has been found that Philby warned McLean or Burgess. While in government service, he performed his duties skillfully and conscientiously. I have no reason to believe that Mr. Philby ever betrayed the interests of the country, or that he is the so-called "third man", if there was such a thing.

Philby got his passport back. He gave a press conference and conducted it so brilliantly that colleagues from SIS brought him their congratulations.

CIA chief Smith and counterintelligence chief Angleton were furious. And FBI Director Hoover, reluctantly, was forced to lift the sanctions against Philby and officially acquit him.

On December 29, the FBI closed its file on him, which resulted in the following conclusion: “Subject - Donald Stewart McLain and others. During a recent review, all references in the FBI file to Harold A.R. The Philbys were transferred as summaries to 3x5 inch cards. Philby is suspected of alerting the subject to the latest investigation. Viewing the documents does not provide grounds for launching an investigation into Philby's activities."

According to Western analysts, the main damage that Philby did to the CIA and the SIS fell not so much on the operational sphere, but on the relationship between the CIA and the FBI, and between the American and British intelligence services in general. Since Philby, their relationship has never been so close - "his activities sowed the seeds of mistrust and poisoned the minds of some CIA officers so that they could no longer fully trust even their closest British colleagues."

Under the patronage of Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair, Philby took a job as a Middle East correspondent for The Observer and The Economist and soon went as a journalist to Beirut. The management of the SIS considered it unnecessary to inform his employers that the position of a correspondent would only be a cover for him. The thing is, Philby is incredible! - was again accepted for service in the SIS ...

Tipsy Khrushchev and a gift from the leader of all peoples

Stalin, having signed a decree in 1947 awarding Philby with the Order of the Red Banner, ordered to thank the intelligence officer with a valuable gift. Especially for Philby, the best craftsmen of the Union - artists, jewelers and sculptors - made a bas-relief of Mount Ararat.

The leader's gift to Kim Philby was presented by a messenger at the next meeting.

The 40x25 cm bas-relief, made of valuable species of relic trees, inlaid with gold, platinum and the smallest diamonds embedded in the snow-capped peaks of Ararat, was a unique work of art.

Philby was touched and fascinated. Changing homes when moving from one country to another, he invariably installed a precious little thing in the most prominent place. For sixteen (!) years, the guests did not cease to admire the refined taste of the host, and Philby memorized, answering questions, that the bas-relief was more than a hundred years old and was purchased on occasion from a junk dealer from Istanbul.

Philby parted with the gift of the leader only in 1963, when, under the threat of exposure, he was hastily taken to the Union. After some time, Philby's stay in our country became public. Help for the British came from an unexpected quarter. At a diplomatic reception at the GDR embassy in Moscow, a tipsy Khrushchev suddenly announced his decision to grant Philby political asylum and a Moscow residence permit.

However, the leadership of the SIS was wary of the statement of the Soviet prime minister: Khrushchev’s drunken rantings about equipping the Soviet army with “combat underground boats”, which, according to their tactical and technical data, allegedly surpass any tanks in the world, were still fresh in their memory. Given the inadequacy of Khrushchev, the SIS decided that it was necessary to obtain factual confirmation of Philby's presence in Moscow and his work in favor of the USSR.

Without waiting for these "factual confirmations" to be obtained, FBI Director Hoover announced that he had "exhausted his credibility with SIS." Indeed, until his death in 1972, he did not trust the British intelligence services. In turn, Walter Bedell-Smith, by his conduct, made it clear that the CIA's special relationship with the SIS would not be restored until the British put their house in order.

A large MI5 commission that came from London to Beirut, which included not only counterintelligence officers, but also experts, carefully examined Philby's home and all his personal belongings in search of material confirmation of his espionage activities in favor of the USSR. No evidence was found. Only at the last moment, before leaving the apartment, did the art expert pay attention to the bas-relief that shimmered forlornly in the living room of the villa. He was immediately subjected to examination. With the help of special equipment, it was possible to establish that the little thing is an antique fake, and its age does not exceed twenty years. Moreover, having examined the "antique" work of art more closely, the expert finally found confirmation of the connection of Harold Adrian Russell Philby with the Soviet Union.

The sensation of the discovery was that the two-headed peak of the mountain, in the sequence with which it was presented on the bas-relief, can only be viewed from the territory of the Soviet Union, but not Turkey. This means that the master performers, when making a sketch, were ... And if you take into account the life of the little thing ... In a word, the leader's gift was the only "actual confirmation" that Philby worked in favor of the USSR ...

Probably, this is why the book of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta journalist Nikolai Dolgopolov "Kim Philby" is published in the Young Guard series "ZhZL", in which the author made an attempt to tell about 25 "Moscow" years lived by the leader of the so-called "Cambridge Five" Philby in our country after disappearance from Beirut in 1963.

Among Dolgopolov's interlocutors are the leaders of our intelligence, associates and students of Philby, however, until now, almost all of their names are classified as "Secret." However, there are many materials declassified by the Foreign Intelligence Service specifically for this book. One chapter each is devoted to four of Kim's comrades-in-arms in the "five" - ​​Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean, who fled to Moscow from arrest, and Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross, who remained in England.

Today we present to the reader a small part of the conversation between Nikolai Dolgopolov and the intelligence officer's wife, Rufina Ivanovna Pukhova-Philby. They were together for 18 years.

The scout's house is his fortress

And yet there are coincidences. It turned out I had been Philby's roommate for many years. Haven't we met in our two cozy lanes in the very center of Moscow in all these years? How could they miss each other, not collide in a bakery, in a pharmacy, on the same Telegraph, where I always drove first for my father's, and then for my own mail? Yes, just while walking around the city, aggressively bristling on the central streets clogged with people, but so quiet, patriarchal in its old back streets, where older passers-by who still remain from a past life sometimes, as if in a village, politely greet each other.

Sometimes it even seems to me that this well-dressed couple caught my eye - Kim Philby and Rufina Ivanovna. Yes, yes, here they are walking together, I overtake them, and I hear an English speech, in which a family joke-saying of the Philby family suddenly slips: "It's not all that simple."

But no. There was nothing like that. This is already playing the imagination, writing out scenes from another, not my genre. And so I quietly wander down past the hospital with the theater, getting in a couple of minutes into an alley not far from the ponds, where Philby lived.

Now Rufina Ivanovna is left alone in this apartment. And already on the threshold, without unnecessary words and explanations, it is clear: everything is here, as with him.

Books are everywhere, starting in the hallway. And here is the receiver of my youth "Festival", which has become a true friend of Philby.

Kim loved the radio, - Rufina Ivanovna tells me. - Since seven in the morning, I sat on this chair like this and listened to the BBC. A glass of tea and, of course, cigarettes, cigarettes, cigarettes. I always got up early, no matter how I spent the night.

- Suffered from insomnia?

Certainly. All the time - sleeping pills, but useless. And read, read until midnight. He could not read half-sitting, reclining. He sat down and swung his legs out of bed. Nearby on a small table are books and, of course, an ashtray.

Did you even smoke at night?

Kuriles. Especially when he has an attack: either a cough or a heart attack. In general, with any ailment, the first thing I did was grab a cigarette.

- It seemed the opposite. Frayed nerves?

Nerves from that old life. Accumulated. And then ... in what position did he find himself here in the first years.

- And these are your photos of those times with Kim.

Last times. Looks bad, health has deteriorated. And next to it hangs what Anthony Blunt sent him. Remember this story?

- Honestly, no.

Someone brought a package to the Soviet embassy in London. Didn't leave any letter, note. He asked me to give it to Kim Philby. And they brought it to us. Kim revealed - picture. Long thought, from whom? The author is Pironese, a column of Antoninus, and then by the name of Anthony he understood. Column - in honor of the Victory. It is like a symbol of the common Victory. In addition, Blunt is a specialist in Italian art. Kim wanted to thank him then. But then he changed his mind - he was afraid of doing harm. Blunt died pretty soon. Kim was worried and regretted that he had not written to him. Blunt, of course, was finished off by Thatcher. He got immunity, and she broke it. This is unprecedented for the British - they keep their word.

Husband did not take his wife in reconnaissance

- Rufina Ivanovna, thank you for the tour. And, if I may, I'll try to ask you about the professional work of Kim Philby. Surely during these 18 years he talked about his life there.

How to tell you. It was felt that he did not want to talk about the details of the work. He told how he escaped from Beirut in 1963: on the Dolmatov steamer. And he told an interesting detail, which is not mentioned anywhere. They had a conventional sign with the Soviet curator who worked there. When he passed by his house, Kim saw the curator from the balcony, which means that a meeting was scheduled. If there was to be an escape, the sign of danger was to be the newspaper in the hands of the curator. And this man walked past the house at the right moment, only he forgot the newspaper. Kim met with the curator, but he did not know what to run right now. He told me: "I left, as I was in this suit with one handkerchief - and that's it."

- Have you met this curator?

I had an unexpected meeting with him. His surname P.V. I did not know the names then, but I met him on the street. Kim loved walking. At that time they were on Red Square. We were returning, and here I must explain to you: I was in fear all the time. Constantly had nightmares. I was always frightened that he might be kidnapped, killed, although Kim believed that this was complete nonsense and took it calmly. But, being an exceptionally disciplined person, he always acted as he was told. Never violated anything. He cared about people - from all points of view. He repeated: "Well, what if something happens to me? So, the one who was entrusted with all this will answer."

And here we go, deep winter, frosty day. Kim loved this kind of weather. We pass by that old Hotel National, and I see a man approaching us. And before my eyes, his face changes dramatically - it becomes ferocious, terrible. And this stranger rushes at Kim. I freeze like a pillar of salt, but suddenly I see them both smiling and hugging. It turned out that this was the same P-v who had been his contact in Beirut and whom he had never seen here. Purely random meeting. Then P-v came to visit us with his wife. They also invited us. This man died a few years later.

- I'll touch on a serious topic. There is an opinion that Kim Philby was allowed to escape from Beirut. His old friend Nicholas Elliott, who had come from London, interrogated him, and flew back to England almost immediately after a difficult conversation. And local resident Lan communicated with Philby only by phone. Negligence for such aces is unforgivably strange. How did Philby himself evaluate this moment?

A man came and interrogated me. And, instead of picking him up right away, he gave him time - Saturday and Sunday. Kim told how he had to leave empty-handed. In such a case, he had prepared a sum of money, which he left to his wife. Nevertheless, Kim was always ready for an unexpected disappearance.

I'll tell you about something else. Kim was an unusually warm, benevolent person. Here he is sitting in his office, working, typing on a typewriter. I open the door, I want to say something, but I understand that it's not the right time, and I leave. But he immediately turns around with a smile, no matter how busy he is, and asks: "What did you want?"

- Is it love for you, intelligence or endurance?

It cannot be brought up. Nature is nature. Stuff happens even to polite people. One of our curators was a man quite worthy. But there was an episode that infuriated Kim. We traveled along the Volga and discussed every day what route we had. We gathered in our cabin - Kim and I, son John and his wife, our curator. I ask the curator a question, I try to discuss some proposal, and he sits and, without looking at me, flips through the magazine. What happened to Kim! He jumped up from his chair in a rage: "Whoever is not polite to my wife insults me." He said it in Russian.

- Rufina Ivanovna, your husband set the bar high. Maybe it's too high for most?

Yes it is. For example, it was impossible to ride the subway with Kim. The stream splashes out, rushes somewhere. And he always misses everyone. I walk, habitually maneuvering in the crowd, and I lose him. I see him far away, but he still misses, misses ... And so every time. He told me that, having arrived in Moscow, he decided to go to our famous "Eliseevsky". Approaches the store, opens the door. He sees a woman and passes her. And after this woman, one man rushed, another, everything in a row. Kim laughed, "I stood like a doorman holding that door." On the opposite side is his chair. And whenever I entered the room, he stood up.

- Rufina Ivanovna, let's get back to your husband's work. Was there something done for our country that he was especially proud of?

Yes. Often he repeated: "Prokhorovka, Prokhorovka."

- Is it about the materials that he and his friends in the "five" transmitted on the eve of the Battle of Kursk?

Yes. I heard little about Prokhorovka, more and more about the Kursk Bulge. And he repeated: "Prokhorovka - it's me." He never stuck out his role, but in this case he was proud.

- Did the question arise about the atomic bomb?

This is another matter. He told how he managed to get out of a dangerous situation when suspicion first fell on him. He wrote two articles, the meaning of which boiled down to one thing: in no case be recognized.

Five, six, ace...

- And he did not remember about his friends in the "five"? Who was closest to him?

I will not take the courage to arrange according to the degree of proximity. But about Burgess, Kim said that he was extraordinary, insanely talented. Perhaps the most brilliant. However, he failed to realize himself. He flaunted extravagance. Kim told a funny story about him. Often they met at receptions, and if it was hot, then right during the celebration, Burgess could take a shower without undressing - in a suit, in a tie, in shoes. And then he explained: "It's okay - it's all synthetics."

- Did Kim suffer because of him?

This is when, instead of just helping McLean, Burgess escaped with him. Of course, if not for Burgess, Kim could work and work.

- Offended by him great?

Yes, I was offended, I didn’t even want to meet him. But Kim had a non-healing wound. One of the intelligence officials wrote that Philby refused to meet with Burgess when he was in a Moscow hospital and wanted to see him. But I know very well that this is not true. Kim didn't talk much about work, but here he spoke often. He repeated: "Burgess wanted to see me before he died, he wanted to tell me something important. And he was told that I was not in Moscow. Why are they so cruel?" Kim didn't say anything. And the fact that he could not then see Gaius remained a pain.

- Let's move on to the next of the "five".

I would add more about Burgess. It is known what his antics led to. And the fact that he spent the night at Kim's in Washington was against all the rules. A lot is known about Donald McLean. Kim didn't know him so well. McLean worked at the Foreign Ministry, they did not often intersect. And with Burgess, Kim was connected. Guy came to counterintelligence earlier, it was he who recommended Kim there. And when Kim, along with McLean, worked on one common cause, according to all the rules, they could not meet. But always Kim had a high opinion of him.

- Let's move on to Blunt. You have already told about the picture sent to him from London.

About Blunt... Kim treated him very well.

- Did you know about him even before Thatcher's speech?

Yes. About Cairncross, no. Kim never said that name.

- How?

It was a secret. He just laughed, because no one was appointed "fifth". Not even one of his superiors.

- Hollis. Head of British counterintelligence.

Kim was very amused about this.

- Did you know it wasn't?

Of course he did. But to many questions, Kim answered: "I can't talk about that." Kim was worried about Blunt. Especially after Thatcher's speech. Kim generally treated her badly. Said she was a bourgeois, not a lady.

- And about Cairncross, I want to ask you: did they know each other?

I don't know and I don't want to guess. It so happened that everyone focused on the so-called "Cambridge Five".

How did Philby feel about some of the mistakes they made? The same residence of Burgess with him in Washington ... Did you try to help him at that time? Hold back? Stop drinking?

Kim knew it was a mistake. Still, he wanted to help Burgess. He had an ambivalent feeling. I wanted to keep him from something: a talented person was completely uncontrollable. On the other hand, this is a gross violation of the rules. When they began to dig, every detail was against them.

- Burgess never explained why he suddenly rushed to Moscow with McLean?

Never. McLean is another matter, he had no other choice. And Kim arranged for him to escape and as a result he himself suffered. But Burgess ... His escape was unjustified and led to failure. And that infuriated Kim.

- Rufina Ivanovna, did it happen that in moments of frankness your husband told you that he was mistaken, that he did not find here what he was looking for?

He did not consider his work in vain ... But he was very worried when he saw poor old people. Almost tears in my eyes. He translated almost every grandmother across the road, carried her bag. He repeated: "They won the war. Why are they so poor?" He received 500 rubles.

- At that time, just a general's salary.

He felt remorse, constantly comparing himself with these old people. He knew what kind of pension my mother had, he was guided in our life and believed that he received such money undeservedly. And Kim and I didn't have any passbook. All the money we lived.

"After Kim"

- How did you survive the 1990s with the crisis and inflation?

After Kim left, I was given a pension as the widow of a general - 200 rubles. But inflation hit and she just disappeared. Received five dollars translated into foreign currency. Something had to be done. I realized that in my specialty I was unlikely to get anywhere. Well, I'll go wash the stairs.

- Demolition of the whole country.

Now I found myself in a completely different position ... But some time passed after the beginning of the difficult 1990s. The Foreign Intelligence Service perked up. It helps me too. Life goes on. But the feeling of loss doesn't go away. You have to live with this.

Where can I buy?

The book by Nikolai Dolgopolov "Kim Philby" from the Young Guard series ZhZL can be purchased: in the store of the publishing house "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Sushchevskaya st., 21, entrance 1), in the Trading House "Moscow" (Tverskaya st., 8, building . 1), in the Biblio-Globus Trading House (6/3 Myasnitskaya St., building 1), in the Moscow House of Books chain of bookstores).

(real name Philby Harold Adrian Russell) was born on January 1, 1912 in India, in the family of a British official. He studied at the privileged Westminster School, and in 1929 entered Trinity College, Cambridge University. Here he became close to the left circles and, under their influence, joined the Socialist Society of the University.

According to Philby, the real turning point in his worldview was 1931, which brought a crushing defeat to the Labor Party in the parliamentary elections, showing their helplessness in the face of the growing forces of fascism and reaction. The future intelligence officer became close to the Communist Party, sincerely believing that only communism was able to block the fascist threat.

The progressive views of Philby drew the attention of the Soviet illegal spy Arnold Deutsch, and in 1933 the Soviet intelligence attracted him to cooperation.

After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Philby worked for some time in the editorial office of The Times newspaper, and then during the Spanish Civil War was sent as a special correspondent for this newspaper with the Francoist army. There he performed important tasks of Soviet intelligence.

Philby in 1940, on the recommendation of the residency, joined the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Thanks to his outstanding abilities, as well as his noble birth, a year later he was appointed deputy head of counterintelligence of this service (Department B).

The intelligence officer in 1944 received a promotion and was appointed to the post of head of the 9th department of the SIS, which was engaged in the study of "Soviet and communist activities" in Britain. As a SIS resident, Philby worked in Turkey and later led the SIS liaison mission in Washington. Established contacts with the leadership of the CIA and the FBI, including Allen Dulles and Edgar Hoover. He coordinated the activities of the American and British intelligence services in the fight against the "communist threat".

Philby retired in 1955. In August 1956, he was sent to Beirut under the guise of a correspondent for the British publications The Observer and The Economist.

In 1962, Flora Solomon, who knew Philby from working together in the Communist Party, told the British representative in Israel that in 1937 Philby tried to recruit her in favor of Soviet intelligence. Due to the threat of failure in early 1963, Philby, with the help of Soviet intelligence, illegally left Beirut and arrived in Moscow.

From 1963 to 1988, he worked as a foreign intelligence consultant for the special services of the West, participated in the training of intelligence officers. Awarded with Soviet government awards.

According to Western estimates, Kim Philby is the most famous Soviet intelligence officer. His candidacy was considered for appointment to the post of head of SIS. When Philby's true role was made public in 1967, former CIA officer Miles Copeland, who knew him personally, stated: The years 1944 to 1951 were fruitless. It would have been better if we had done nothing at all."