five messages a day. Among his most important sources of intelli-
gence on German order of battle and strategy was Hans Oster, for
many years deputy chief of the Abwehr.
In 1944 the Swiss police cracked down on Rado and his crew.
Rado went into hiding first in Switzerland and then in France. He
tried very hard to avoid being repatriated to Moscow, fearing that he
would be blamed for the organization’s collapse. He served a short
sentence in Moscow and then returned to Budapest, where he began
a new career as a cartographer. He published several books and be-
came a noted expert in his new career.RAPAVA, AVKSENTIY NARIKIEVICH (1899–1955). Like Joseph
Stalin, Rapava received his education in a Russian Orthodox Church
seminary. He joined first the Communist Partyand then in 1925 the
OGPU, becoming part of Lavrenty Beria’s team. His career took off
when Beria went to Moscow to head the NKVDin 1938. Beria used
Rapava to murder witnesses neither he nor Stalin wanted. He purged
the Abkhazian area of Georgia in the late 1930s, arranging the death
of Beria’s old enemies in the region. In 1939 he arranged the murder
of a Soviet diplomat and his wife at Stalin and Beria’s command. Pro-
moted in 1945 to lieutenant general, he served as NKVDand MVD
boss in Georgia until 1948, when his fall began.
In 1948 it was discovered that Rapava’s brother, an army colonel,
had not perished in World War IIbut had been captured and was liv-
ing in the West. Rapava was removed from state security and made
Georgia’s minister of justice. Only his friendship with Beria saved
him from execution. In 1951 he was arrested as Stalin purged Geor-
gia of Beria supporters. In April 1953 he was released from prison
and given a senior party post in Georgia. His life took another turn
four months later, when he was arrested as one of Beria’s men. He
was held in prison for two years, then was tried and shot in 1955.
Rapava was one of a number of Georgians who rose and then fell
with Beria. Rapava served as Beria’s eyes and ears in the Caucasus for
15 years. This made him vulnerable when Stalin turned against Beria
in the early 1950s and again when Beria fell in the summer of 1953.RAZVEDCHIK. The Russian word razvedchikis generally translated
as “spy” or “agent.” The word can also be translated as “reconnais-
sance agent” or “scout.”RAZVEDCHIK • 21506-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 215