"Stirlitz, and I'll ask you to stay!" Who does not know the catch phrase from the legendary TV movie "Seventeen Moments of Spring"! Or another remark from the same tape: “In our time, you cannot trust anyone, not even yourself. I can". These words were uttered by none other than the chief of the Gestapo, Gruppenführer Müller, performed by the charming Leonid Bronevoy. But then - in the movies. And what was Heinrich Müller, head of the 4th department of the RSHA (AMT 4 - secret political police) like in life? Could the Nazis, "comrades in the struggle" fully trust him, or was he secretly acting in the interests of completely different people? There are many mysteries in the fate of this man. Let's try to figure out some of them.
Schellenberg's memoirs
In 1956, a noteworthy book was published by the Harper New York publishing house. These were the memoirs of SS Brigadefuehrer Walter Schellenberg, head of the political intelligence of the Reich security service (VI Directorate of the RSHA). Now these memoirs have been published in our country. A significant role is assigned to Heinrich Müller.
At the first mention, Schellenberg characterizes this person very impartially. Rude, harsh in communication, in no way disposing to himself, in other words - the complete opposite of the image created by Bronev. However, we are not interested in Schellenberg's personal impressions, but in how he expounds the events associated with the chief of the Gestapo. The former brigadeführer recalls, in particular, his meeting with Müller in the spring of 1943. According to Schellenberg, the chief of the Gestapo then spoke of the inevitability of Germany's defeat and spoke of Stalin in superlatives. “I am more and more inclined to believe that Stalin is on the right path.
He is immeasurably superior to Western statesmen and we should compromise with him as soon as possible.” These are the words of Müller. Here is how the author of the book, Schellenberg, reacted to them.
“I pretended not to take what I said seriously and tried to turn this dangerous conversation into a joke, saying:“Well, comrade Mueller, from now on we will say “Heil Stalin!”. And daddy Mueller will become the head of the NKVD department. " Muller looked at me angrily and said: "You are infected with the West." Perhaps he could not have expressed himself more clearly. I interrupted the conversation and said goodbye, but this strange monologue of Mueller did not leave my head. Now it became clear to me that he completely changed his views and no longer thinks about the victory of Germany."
In the future, Schellenberg does not quote the statements of the head of the Gestapo, but as if in passing says the following: “At the end of 1943, Müller established contact with the Russian secret service. In 1945 he joined the communists, and in 1950 a German officer who returned from Russian captivity told me that in 1948 he saw Mueller in Moscow. Mueller died shortly after that meeting."
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That, in fact, is all. As you can see, Schellenberg does not at all seek to give his information about the "rebirth" and the fate of Mueller some sensational shade. On the contrary, it is extremely dry and laconic, as if we are talking about a fact long ago and indisputably established, almost boring due to its obviousness and does not need additional justification.
The question of the authenticity of Schellenberg's memoirs did not arise among historians, this has been proven. Another thing is how true the author himself is. Let's continue with a little investigation.
Oscar Lind's slip
On March 9, 1945, Müller had to go on service to one of the local branches of the criminal police, located on the outskirts of Berlin. However, business detained him in the capital, and he instructed Sturmbannführer Otto Frischke to replace himself on the trip, providing him with his car and driver. Twelve minutes after leaving Frischke, the car exploded. The power of the bomb was such that little was left of the car, driver and passenger. Terrorist attack! Now Mueller's office looked like an anthill, into which boiling water had been poured. It was clear to everyone that they had attempted to assassinate the chief himself.
The investigation established that the bomb was hidden under the hood of the car. This could only be done by a person who had access to Mueller's machine. Soon the suspects were identified, among whom was one Oscar Lind, who worked in the Gestapo garage. Most of the evidence pointed to him. It was decided to arrest Lind, but he … disappeared. It turns out that someone warned him. There is no information about this. But has he disappeared without a trace?
The Old Scout's Revelations
The name Linda has surfaced again today in a conversation with Ivan Antonovich Pavlov (let's call him that). A retired KGB colonel asked not to disclose his real name: the elderly security officer did not want to become an object of general attention.
So, in 1960, Captain Pavlov, working in the archives, dealt with the affairs of German citizens who came to the attention of Soviet counterintelligence in post-war Berlin, but were released due to the lack of compromising evidence on them. Nevertheless, police officers continued to "lead" those who once ended up on their hook, regardless of whether these people were guilty or not. Consultations were held with German comrades, during which it was unobtrusively found out where this or that gentleman was and what he was doing now.
The work that went to Ivan Pavlov was very important, becoming the first stage of the widely conceived Operation Solo. The essence of this operation was as follows. Not every German citizen released by Soviet counterintelligence turned out to be loyal to the government. There were many who fully deserved several years of Siberian camps. If it were necessary, the NKVD specialists would "let down the deadline" even an angel. What can we say about the Germans! Some of them had to buy their freedom at the cost of providing our authorities with the necessary information. In other words, by agreeing to cooperate with the Soviets, they blurted out important secrets.
Some of these agents lived in the West, occupying a prominent position in society. Many of the secrets they gave out concerned the commercial interests of the largest German concerns that survived the war. If the administration of, say, the Ygrek concern learned that the politician X, supported and financed by it, secretly collaborating with the NKVD, inflicted enormous damage on the concern, such a “figure” would have had a very bad time. This was the essence of blackmail.
As part of Operation Solo, Captain Pavlov had to familiarize himself with the interrogation protocols of the American intelligence agent James West, who was detained in Moscow in 1956, and worked under a journalistic cover.
Solo by Mr. West
Who is James West? During the war years, he was an employee of the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA. Answering questions about his activities during the war period, he spoke about the attempt on Muller's life. According to West, the assassination attempt was planned by the Americans, and the same Oscar Lind, who worked for American intelligence, was chosen as the executor. Motives? At that time, active negotiations were underway between representatives of the German command and the Western allies. Müller was out of this operation. But since the OSS was suspected, and according to West, they knew that Mueller was a Soviet agent, it was decided to remove him. Being too close to the center of events, he could transmit unwanted information to the Soviets. After Lind's unsuccessful attempt, several more attempts were planned, but all of them for various reasons were not carried out.
How did Ivan Antonovich Pavlov comment on West's testimony? He did not say anything definite, since he did not have access to information regarding Mueller's shadow activities. We will speculate a little with you.
Julian Semyonov and negotiations
In the afterword to his novel “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, Yulian Semyonov says: “Of course, Stirlitz is a fiction, or rather a generalization. There was not one Stirlitz. However, there were many scouts like Stirlitz. But there was a fact of negotiations between the Western allies and the Germans. As you can see, the fact is confirmed. Only these negotiations were not secret in any way. Even before the start, their allies officially notified Stalin of this. However, the most important details of the negotiations, their nuances were omitted. Which scout can be charged with finding out the details? Of course, to someone close to the top of the Reich. And if Müller really worked for the Soviet Union, then the attempt on his life, and the revelations of West and Schellenberg, and the disappearance of Müller after the war become understandable. Of course, we can assume that Schellenberg, West, and Colonel Pavlov simply invented all this. But then the question arises: why? And where did they get the identical information?
So Julian Semyonov's erroneous idea of Muller in his novel is not at all excluded. It is likely that Soviet intelligence owes a lot not to the mythical Stirlitz, but to the real Mueller …
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №28. Author: Andrey Bystrov