Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

The Dictionary

1

– A –

ABEL, RUDOLPH (1903–1971). Rudolph Abel was a Soviet illegal

agent who organized spy networks and acquired atomic secrets in the

United States from 1946 until 1957. Born as William Fischer to radical

parents, Abel began working for Soviet security in 1927 and served pri-

marily as a radio operator in Norway and Britain in the 1930s. During

World War II, Fischer lived in Moscow with his friend, the real

Rudolph Abel, also a Soviet agent who died in 1955. On 12 October

1946, the Soviet GRUsent Fischer to the United States, under the code

name ARACH, to reorganize the system of illegals, set up communi-

cations with Moscow, and create sabotage networks.

In 1948–1949, Fischer approached several American nuclear sci-

entists, such as Theodore Alvin Hall, for atomic secrets. During the

Korean War, Fischer also served as a possible saboteur, calling all

Soviet explosive experts in Latin America to the United States for

possible action. However, his primary mission continued to be the

acquisition of information on American nuclear weapons. One of Fis-

cher’s subordinates in the United States finally betrayed him to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the FBI arrested Fischer

on 21 July 1957. Fischer spent five years in prison and was ex-

changed on 10 February 1962 for Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of

the U-2spy plane that was shot down over the USSRon 1 May 1960.

ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARD.Unit within the Central In-

telligence Agency (CIA), composed of selected senior managers, that

reviews the agency’s activities and performance, assigns blame for

misdeeds and failures, and recommends disciplinary actions and cor-

rective measures. The board works closely with the CIA’s independent

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