Stalin's Agent : The Life and Death of Alexander Orlov

This Is The History Of An Unprecedented Deception Operation - The Biggest Kgb Deception Of All Time. It Has Never Been Told In Full Until Now. There Are Almost Certainly People Who Would Like It Never To Be Told. It Is The Story Of General Alexander Orlov. Stalin's Most Loyal And Trusted Henchman During The Spanish Civil War, Orlov Was Also The Soviet Handler Controlling Kim Philby, The British Spy, Defector, And Member Of The Notorious 'cambridge Five'. Escaping Stalin's Purges, Orlov Fled To America In The Late 1930s And Lived Underground. He Only Dared Reveal His Identity To The World After Stalin's Death, In His 1953 Best-seller The Secret History Of Stalin's Crimes, After Which He Became Perhaps The Best Known Of All Soviet Defectors, Much Written About, Highly Praised, And Commemorated By The Us Congress On His Death In 1973. But There Is A Twist In The Orlov Story Beyond The Dreams Of Even The Most Ingenious Spy Novelist: 'general Alexander Orlov' Never Actually Existed. The Man Known As 'orlov' Was In Fact Born Leiba Feldbin. And While He Was A Loyal Servant Of Stalin And The Controller Of Philby, He Was Never A General In The Kgb, Never Truly Defected To The West After His 'flight' From The Ussr, And Remained A Loyal Soviet Agent Until His Death. The 'orlov' Story As It Has Been Accepted Until Now Was Largely The Invention Of The Kgb - And One Perpetuated Long After The End Of The Cold War. In This Meticulous New Biography, Boris Volodarsky, Himself A Former Soviet Intelligence Officer, Now Tells The True Story Behind 'orlov' For The First Time. An Intriguing Tale Of Russian Espionage And Deception, Stretching From The Time Of Lenin To The Putin Era, It Is A Story That Many People In The World's Intelligence Agencies Would Almost Definitely Prefer You Not To Know About. Pt. I Feldbin, Aka Nikolsky, Aka Nikolaev, Aka Goldin, Aka Orlov -- 1. Bobruisk And Moscow -- 2. Paris: August 1926-december 1927 -- 3. Berlin: January 1928-april 1931 -- Interlude 1 First American Adventure: September-november 1932 -- 4. Vienna: April-july 1933 -- 5. Geneva And Paris: Operation Express, July 1933-may 1934 -- 6. Enterprise 'o' -- 7. Vienna, Copenhagen, And London: 19 June-25 July 1934 -- Interlude 2 London: September-december 1934 -- 8. London: January-march 1935 -- 9. Copenhagen: Early 1935 -- 10. Comrade Resident: June-september 1935 -- 11. Home, Sweet Home: October 1935-september 1936 -- Pt. Ii In Spain -- 12. The Backdrop: Spilling The Spanish Beans -- 13. Moscow, Madrid, And Valencia: August 1936-january 1937 -- 14. The Internationals -- 15. Juzik Will Be Called Artur -- 16. Nkvd And Their 'neighbours', 1937 -- 17. The Secret History Of Orlov's Crimes: January 1937-july 1938 -- 18. The Poum Affair: Operation Nikolai -- 19. Murder In Lausanne -- 20.1938 And Beyond -- Pt. Iii The Orlov Legacy -- Interlude 3 The Letter -- 21. From Trotsky To Tito -- 22. True Lies -- 23. The Affair Called 'agent Mark' -- 24. M15: Secrets Of Personal File 605.075 -- 25. Kgb In The Law Quad -- 26. In And Out Of The Direction De La Surveillance Du Territoire -- 27. Comrade Walter -- 28. Conclusion: Behind Closed Curtains -- Appendices -- I. Dr Arnold Deutsch -- Ii. Soviet Agents, Suspected Agents, Collaborators, And Sympathizers -- Iii. Documents. Boris Volodarsky. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Stalin's Agent : The Life and Death of Alexander Orlov 4 Copyright 5 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 12 List of Plates 14 Abbreviations and Acronyms 15 Chronology: The Evolution of the KGB, 1917–2012 22 Foreword by Tennent H. Bagley 25 Foreword by Paul Preston 27 Introduction 44 PART I: Feldbin, aka Nikolsky, aka Nikolaev, aka Goldin, aka Orlov 48 1: Bobruisk and Moscow 50 2: Paris: August 1926–December 1927 56 3: Berlin: January 1928–April 1931 66 Interlude 1: First American Adventure: September–November 1932 78 4: Vienna: April–July 1933 82 5: Geneva and Paris: Operation EXPRESS, July 1933–May 1934 93 6: Enterprise ‘O’ 103 7: Vienna, Copenhagen, and London: 19 June–25 July 1934 121 Interlude 2: London: September–December 1934 130 8: London: January–March 1935 134 9: Copenhagen: Early 1935 138 10: Comrade Resident: June–September 1935 142 11: Home, Sweet Home: October 1935–September 1936 154 PART II: In Spain 176 12: The Backdrop: Spilling the Spanish Beans 178 13: Moscow, Madrid, and Valencia: August 1936–January 1937 194 14: The Internationals 223 15: JUZIK will be called ARTUR 233 16: NKVD and their ‘Neighbours’, 1937 257 17: The Secret History of Orlov’s Crimes: January 1937–July 1938 282 18: The POUM Affair: Operation NIKOLAI 323 19: Murder in Lausanne 335 20: 1938 and Beyond 341 PART III: The Orlov Legacy 396 Interlude 3: The Letter 398 21: From Trotsky to Tito 402 22: True Lies 428 23: The Affair called ‘Agent Mark’ 452 24: MI5: Secrets of Personal File 605.075 461 25: KGB in the Law Quad 481 26: In and Out of the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire 486 27: Comrade Walter 499 28: Conclusion: Behind Closed Curtains 505 APPENDIX I: Dr Arnold Deutsch 520 APPENDIX II: Soviet Agents, Suspected Agents, Collaborators, and Sympathizers 535 APPENDIX III 540 Archives 546 Russia 546 Austria 546 Belarus 547 Costa Rica 547 France 547 Germany 547 Great Britain 547 Hungary 548 Italy 548 The Netherlands 548 Spain 548 Switzerland 548 USA 548 Endnotes 550 Chronology 550 Foreword 550 Introduction 550 Chapter 1 551 Chapter 2 553 Chapter 3 558 Interlude 1 565 Chapter 4 567 Chapter 5 573 Chapter 6 578 Chapter 7 586 Interlude 2 591 Chapter 8 592 Chapter 9 594 Chapter 10 596 Chapter 11 599 Chapter 12 608 Chapter 13 613 Chapter 14 626 Chapter 15 635 Chapter 16 647 Chapter 17 660 Chapter 18 674 Chapter 19 678 Chapter 20 679 Interlude 3 699 Chapter 21 700 Chapter 22 709 Chapter 23 716 Chapter 24 718 Chapter 25 725 Chapter 26 726 Chapter 27 729 Chapter 28 731 Appendix 733 Bibliography 742 Private Document Collections 742 Unpublished Typescripts 742 Author’s Interviews 743 Documentaries and Broadcasts 743 Published Documents 743 Secondary Sources: Books and Articles 747 Index 800 This is the history of an unprecedented deception operation - the biggest KGB deception of all time. It has never been told in full until now. General Alexander Orlov, Stalin's most loyal and trusted henchman during the Spanish Civil War, was also the Soviet handler controlling Kim Philby, the British spy, defector, and member of the notorious 'Cambridge Five'. Escaping Stalin's purges, Orlov fled to America in the late 1930s and lived underground. He only dared reveal his identity to the world after Stalin's death, in his 1953 best-seller The Secret History of Stalin's Crimes , after which he became perhaps the best known of all Soviet defectors, much written about, highly praised, and commemorated by the US Congress on his death in 1973. But there is a twist in the Orlov story beyond the dreams of even the most ingenious spy novelist: General Alexander Orlov never actually existed. The man known as Orlov was in fact born Leiba Feldbin. And while he was a loyal servant of Stalin and the controller of Philby, he was never a General in the KGB, never truly defected to the West after his flight from the USSR, and remained a loyal Soviet agent until his death. The Orlov story as it has been accepted until now was largely the invention of the KGB - and one perpetuated long after the end of the Cold War. In this meticulous new biography, Boris Volodarsky, himself a former Soviet intelligence officer, now tells the true story behind Orlov for the first time. An intriguing tale of Russian espionage and deception, stretching from the time of Lenin to the Putin era, this is a story that will send shockwaves through the world's intelligence agencies.