Exactly 55 years ago, on February 10, 1962, on the bridge separating the FRG and the GDR, the exchange of the Soviet illegal intelligence officer Rudolf Abel (real name William Genrikhovich Fisher) took place for the American pilot Francis Powers shot down over the USSR. Abel behaved courageously in prison: he did not disclose to the enemy even the smallest episode of his work, and he is still remembered and respected not only in our country, but also in the United States.
Shield and sword of the legendary scout
Released in 2015, Steven Spielberg's film "Bridge of Spies", which told about the fate of the Soviet intelligence officer and his exchange, was recognized by film critics as one of the best in the work of the famous American director. The tape was made in the spirit of deep respect for the Soviet intelligence officer. Abel, played by British actor Mark Rylance, is strong-willed in the film, while Powers is a coward.
In Russia, the intelligence colonel was also immortalized on film. He was played by Yuri Belyaev in the 2010 film "Fights: the US government against Rudolf Abel", partly about his fate tells the cult picture of the 60s "Dead Season" by Savva Kulish, at the beginning of which the legendary intelligence officer himself addressed the audience from the screen with a little comment .
He also worked as a consultant on another famous Soviet spy film - "Shield and Sword" by Vladimir Basov, where the main character, played by Stanislav Lyubshin, was called Alexander Belov (A. Belov - in honor of Abel). Who is he, a man who is known and respected on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean?
Artist, engineer or scientist
William Genrikhovich Fisher was a very talented and versatile person with a phenomenal memory and a very developed instinct, which helped him find the right solution in the most unexpected situations.
Since childhood, he, who was born in the small English town of Newcastle upon Tyne, spoke several languages, played various musical instruments, perfectly drew, drew, understood technology and was interested in the natural sciences. An excellent musician, engineer, scientist or artist could have come out of him, but fate itself predetermined his future path even before birth.
More precisely, the father, Heinrich Matthaus Fischer, a German citizen who was born on April 9, 1871 on the estate of Prince Kurakin in the Yaroslavl province, where his parent worked as a manager. In his youth, after meeting the revolutionary Gleb Krzhizhanovsky, Heinrich became seriously interested in Marxism and became an active participant in the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" created by Vladimir Ulyanov.
Named after Shakespeare
The Okhrana soon drew the attention of Fisher, after which he was arrested and exiled for many years - first to the north of the Arkhangelsk province, then transfer to the Saratov province. Under these conditions, the young revolutionary proved to be an outstanding conspirator. Constantly changing names and addresses, he continued to wage illegal struggle.
In Saratov, Heinrich met a young like-minded woman, a native of this province, Lyubov Vasilievna Korneeva, who received three years for her revolutionary activities. They soon married and left Russia together in August 1901, when Fischer was presented with a choice: immediate arrest and deportation in shackles to Germany, or voluntary departure from the country.
The young couple settled in Great Britain, where on July 11, 1903 their youngest son was born, who received his name in honor of Shakespeare. Young William passed the exams at the University of London, but he did not have to study there - his father decided to return to Russia, where the revolution had taken place. In 1920, the family moved to the RSFSR, obtaining Soviet citizenship and retaining British citizenship.
The best of the best radio operators
William Fisher entered the VKhUTEMAS (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops), one of the then leading art universities in the country, but in 1925 he was drafted into the army and became one of the best radio operators in the Moscow Military District. His superiority was also recognized by his colleagues, among whom were the future member of the first Soviet drifting station "North Pole-1", the famous polar explorer-radio operator Ernst Krenkel and the future People's Artist of the USSR, artistic director of the Maly Theater Mikhail Tsarev.
© AP Photo
After demobilization, Fisher seems to have found his calling - he worked as a radio engineer at the Research Institute of the Red Army Air Force (now the Valery Chkalov State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation). In 1927 he married Elena Lebedeva, a harpist, and two years later they had a daughter, Evelina.
It was at this time that political intelligence, the OGPU, drew attention to a promising young man with an excellent knowledge of several foreign languages. Since 1927, William has been an employee of the Foreign Department of Foreign Intelligence, where he worked first as an interpreter and then as a radio operator.
Dismissal due to suspicion
In the early 1930s, he asked the British authorities to issue him a passport, since he had quarreled with his revolutionary father and wanted to return to England with his family. The British willingly gave Fisher documents, after which the intelligence officer worked illegally for several years in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and France, where he created a secret radio network, transmitting messages from local residencies to Moscow.
In 1938, fleeing large-scale repressions in the Soviet intelligence apparatus, Alexander Orlov, a resident of the NKVD in Republican Spain, fled to the West.
After this incident, William Fisher was recalled to the USSR and at the end of the same year he was dismissed from the bodies with the rank of lieutenant of state security (corresponding to the rank of army captain).
Such a change in attitude towards a completely successful intelligence officer was dictated only by the fact that the new head of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Lavrenty Beria, frankly did not trust the employees who worked with the previously repressed "enemies of the people" in the NKVD. Fischer was still very lucky: many of his colleagues were shot or imprisoned.
Friendship with Rudolf Abel
Fischer was returned to service by the war with Germany. Since September 1941, he worked in the central intelligence apparatus in the Lubyanka. As head of the communications department, he took part in ensuring the security of the parade, which took place on November 7, 1941 on Red Square. He was engaged in the preparation and transfer of Soviet agents to the Nazi rear, led the work of partisan detachments and participated in several successful radio games against German intelligence.
It was during this period that he became friends with Rudolf Ivanovich (Johannovich) Abel. Unlike Fischer, this active and cheerful Latvian came to reconnaissance from the fleet, in which he fought back in the civil war. During the war, they lived with their families in the same apartment in the center of Moscow.
They were brought together not only by a common service, but also by common features of their biography. For example, like Fischer, in 1938 Abel was dismissed from the service. His older brother Voldemar was accused of participating in a Latvian nationalist organization and shot. Rudolf, like William, was in demand with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, performing responsible tasks for organizing sabotage in the rear of the German troops.
And in 1955, Abel died suddenly, never knowing that his best friend was sent to work illegally in the United States. The Cold War was in full swing.
The enemy's nuclear secrets were required. Under these conditions, William Fisher, who under the guise of a Lithuanian refugee managed to organize two large intelligence networks in the United States, turned out to be an invaluable person for Soviet scientists. For which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Failure and paint
The amount of interesting information was so great that over time, Fisher needed another radio operator. Moscow sent him Major Nikolai Ivanov as an assistant. It was a personnel error. Ivanov, who worked under the undercover name of Reino Heihanen, turned out to be a drunkard and a lover of women. When in 1957 they decided to recall him back, he turned to the US intelligence services.
Fisher was warned about the betrayal and began to prepare to flee the country through Mexico, but he himself recklessly decided to return to the apartment and destroy all evidence of his work. The FBI agents arrested him. But even at such a stressful moment, William Genrikhovich was able to maintain amazing composure.
He, who continued to paint in the United States, asked the American counterintelligence officers to wipe the paint off the palette. Then he quietly threw a crumpled piece of paper with a cipher telegram into the toilet and flushed it. During the arrest, he called himself Rudolf Abel, thereby making it clear to the Center that he was not a traitor.
Under a false name
During the investigation, Fisher resolutely denied his involvement in Soviet intelligence, refused to testify at the trial, and stopped all attempts by American intelligence officers to work for them. They got nothing out of him, not even his real name.
But Ivanov's testimony and letters from his beloved wife and daughter became the basis for a harsh sentence - more than 30 years in prison. In conclusion, Fischer-Abel painted oil paintings and worked on solving mathematical problems. A few years later, the traitor suffered punishment - a huge truck crashed into a car on a night highway, driven by Ivanov.
The fate of the intelligence officer began to change on May 1, 1960, when the pilot of the U-2 spy plane Francis Powers was shot down in the USSR. In addition, newly elected President John F. Kennedy sought to ease tensions between the US and the USSR.
As a result, it was decided to exchange the mysterious Soviet intelligence officer for three people at once. On February 10, 1962, at the Glienik Bridge, Fischer was handed over to the Soviet secret services in exchange for Powers. Also released were two American students previously arrested on charges of espionage, Frederick Pryor and Marvin Makinen.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(real name William Genrikhovich Fisher; July 11, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - November 15, Moscow, USSR) - illegal Soviet intelligence officer, colonel. From 1948 he worked in the USA, in 1957 he was arrested. On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for an American reconnaissance aircraft pilot F. G. Powers shot down over the USSR and an American economics student Frederick Pryor ( English) .
Biography
In 1920, the Fisher family returned to Russia and took Soviet citizenship without renouncing English, and together with the families of other prominent revolutionaries at one time lived on the territory of the Kremlin.
In 1921, William Harry's older brother dies in an accident.
Abel, upon arrival in the USSR, first worked as a translator in the Executive Committee of the Communist International (Comintern). Then he entered VKHUTEMAS. In 1925 he was drafted into the army in the 1st Radiotelegraph Regiment of the Moscow Military District, where he received the specialty of a radio operator. He served together with E. T. Krenkel and the future artist M. I. Tsarev. Having an innate penchant for technology, he became a very good radio operator, whose superiority was recognized by everyone.
After demobilization, he worked as a radio engineer at the Research Institute of the Air Force of the Red Army. On April 7, 1927, he marries a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, harpist Elena Lebedeva. She was appreciated by the teacher - the famous harpist Vera Dulova. Subsequently, Elena became a professional musician. In 1929 their daughter was born.
On December 31, 1938, he was dismissed from the NKVD (because of Beria's distrust of personnel working with "enemies of the people") with the rank of lieutenant of the State Security Service (captain) and worked for some time at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, and then at an aircraft factory. Repeatedly applied with reports about his reinstatement in intelligence. He also addressed his father's friend, the then secretary of the Central Committee of the party Andreev.
Since 1941, again in the NKVD, in a unit organizing a partisan war in the rear of the Germans. Fischer trained radio operators for partisan detachments and reconnaissance groups sent to the countries occupied by Germany. During this period, he met and worked with Rudolf Abel, whose name and biography he later used.
After the end of the war, it was decided to send him to illegal work in the United States, in particular, to obtain information from sources working at nuclear facilities. He moved to the US in November 1948 on a passport in the name of US citizen of Lithuanian origin Andrew Kayotis (who died in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948). He then settled in New York under the name of the artist Emil Robert Goldfuss, where he ran the Soviet spy network and owned a photo studio in Brooklyn for cover. Spouses Coen were singled out as liaison agents for "Mark" (V. Fisher's pseudonym).
By the end of May 1949, Mark had resolved all organizational issues and was actively involved in the work. She was so successful that already in August 1949 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for specific results.
In 1955 he returned to Moscow for several months of summer and autumn.
Failure
To unload "Mark" from current affairs, in 1952, an illegal intelligence radio operator Häyhänen (fin. Reino Häyhänen, pseudonym "Vik") was sent to help him. "Vik" turned out to be morally and psychologically unstable, and four years later it was decided to return to Moscow. However, "Vic", having suspected something was wrong, surrendered to the American authorities, told them about his work in illegal intelligence and betrayed "Mark".
In 1957, "Mark" was arrested at New York's Latham Hotel by FBI agents. In those days, the leadership of the USSR stated that it was not engaged in espionage. In order to let Moscow know about his arrest and that he was not a traitor, William Fischer, during his arrest, named himself after his late friend Rudolf Abel. During the investigation, he categorically denied belonging to intelligence, refused to testify in court and rejected attempts by US intelligence officials to persuade him to cooperate.
In the same year he was sentenced to 32 years in prison. After the announcement of the verdict, "Mark" was in solitary confinement at a remand prison in New York, then was transferred to a federal correctional facility in Atlanta. In conclusion, he was engaged in solving mathematical problems, art theory, and painting. He painted oil paintings. Vladimir Semichastny claimed that the portrait of Kennedy painted by Abel in custody was presented to him at the request of the latter and after a long time hung in the Oval Office.
Liberation
After rest and treatment, Fisher returned to work in the central intelligence apparatus. He took part in the training of young illegal immigrants, painted landscapes at his leisure. Fisher also participated in the creation of the feature film Dead Season (1968), the plot of which is connected with some facts from the biography of the scout.
William Genrikhovich Fisher died of lung cancer at the age of 69 on November 15, 1971. He was buried at the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow next to his father.
Awards
For outstanding services in ensuring the state security of the USSR, Colonel V. Fischer was awarded:
- three orders of the Red Banner
- Order of Lenin - for activities during the Great Patriotic War
- Order of the Red Banner of Labor
- Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
- Order of the Red Star
- many medals.
Memory
- His fate inspired Vadim Kozhevnikov to write the famous adventure novel The Shield and the Sword. Although the name of the protagonist is Alexander Belov and is associated with the name of Abel, the plot of the book differs significantly from the real fate of William Genrikhovich Fisher.
- In 2008, a documentary film "Unknown Abel" was filmed (directed by Yuri Linkevich).
- In 2009, Channel One created a feature two-part biographical film "The US Government against Rudolf Abel" (starring Yuri Belyaev).
- For the first time, Abel showed himself to the general public in 1968, when he addressed his compatriots with an introductory speech to the film " Dead Season" (as an official consultant for the picture).
- In the American film Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015), his role was played by the British theater and film actor Mark Rylance, for this role Mark received many awards and prizes, including the Academy Award Oscar.
- On December 18, 2015, on the eve of the Day of employees of state security bodies, a solemn ceremony of opening a memorial plaque to William Genrikhovich Fisher took place in Samara. The plate, the author of which was the Samara architect Dmitry Khramov, appeared on the house number 8 on the street. Molodogvardeiskaya. It is assumed that the intelligence officer's family lived here during the Great Patriotic War. William Genrikhovich himself at that time taught radio at a secret intelligence school, and later from Kuibyshev he conducted radio games with German intelligence.
Write a review on the article "Rudolf Abel"
Notes
Literature
- Nikolai Dolgopolov. Abel Fisher. ZhZL, Issue 1513, Moscow, Young Guard, 2011 ISBN 978-5-235-03448-8
- Vladimir Karpov(compiler). Declassified by foreign intelligence//B. I. Nalivaiko. OPERATION "ALTGLINNIKE-BRUKKE". M.: OLMA-PRESS Education, 2003. ISBN 5-94849-084-X.
Links
- in the library of Maxim Moshkov
- . Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation(2000). Retrieved May 3, 2010. .
An excerpt characterizing Rudolf Abel
The princess's face was covered with red spots at the sight of the letter. She took it hastily and leaned close to him.From Eloise? asked the prince, showing his still strong and yellowish teeth with a cold smile.
“Yes, from Julie,” said the princess, looking timidly and smiling timidly.
“I’ll skip two more letters, and read the third one,” the prince said sternly, “I’m afraid you write a lot of nonsense. Read the third.
- Read at least this, mon pere, [father,] - answered the princess, blushing even more and handing him a letter.
“Third, I said, third,” the prince shouted shortly, pushing away the letter, and, leaning on the table, pushed the notebook with geometry drawings.
“Well, madam,” the old man began, bending close to his daughter over the notebook and placing one hand on the back of the chair on which the princess was sitting, so that the princess felt herself surrounded on all sides by that tobacco and senilely pungent smell of her father, which she had known for so long . “Well, madame, these triangles are similar; if you please, the angle abc...
The princess looked in fright at her father's shining eyes close to her; red spots shimmered over her face, and it was evident that she did not understand anything and was so afraid that fear would prevent her from understanding all further interpretations of her father, no matter how clear they were. Whether the teacher was to blame or the student was to blame, but every day the same thing was repeated: the princess's eyes were cloudy, she did not see, did not hear anything, she only felt the dry face of her strict father near her, felt his breath and smell, and only thought about how she could leave the office as soon as possible and understand the task in her own space.
The old man lost his temper: with a roar he pushed back and forth the chair on which he himself was sitting, made efforts to control himself so as not to get excited, and almost every time he got excited, scolded, and sometimes threw the notebook.
The princess made a mistake.
- Well, what a fool! the prince shouted, pushing the notebook away and quickly turning away, but he immediately got up, walked around, touched the princess's hair with his hands and sat down again.
He moved closer and continued to interpret.
“It’s impossible, princess, it’s impossible,” he said, when the princess, having taken and closed the notebook with the assigned lessons, was already preparing to leave, “mathematics is a great thing, my madam.” And I don't want you to look like our stupid ladies. Endure to fall in love. He patted her cheek with his hand. - The fool will pop out of my head.
She wanted to leave, he stopped her with a gesture and took a new uncut book from the high table.
- Here is some other Key of the sacrament your Eloise sends you. Religious. And I don’t interfere with anyone’s faith ... I looked it over. Take it. Well, go, go!
He patted her on the shoulder and locked the door behind her.
Princess Mary returned to her room with a sad, frightened expression, which rarely left her and made her ugly, sickly face even more ugly, sat down at her desk, lined with miniature portraits and littered with notebooks and books. The princess was as disorderly as her father was decent. She put down her geometry notebook and eagerly opened the letter. The letter was from the closest childhood friend of the princess; this friend was the same Julie Karagina, who was at the name day of the Rostovs:
Julie wrote:
"Chere et excellente amie, quelle chose terrible et effrayante que l "absence! J" ai beau me dire que la moitie de mon existence et de mon bonheur est en vous, que malgre la distance qui nous separe, nos coeurs sont unis par des liens indissolubles; le mien se revolte contre la destinee, et je ne puis, malgre les plaisirs et les distractions qui m "entourent, vaincre une certaine tristesse cachee que je ressens au fond du coeur depuis notre separation. Pourquoi ne sommes nous pas reunies, comme cet ete dans votre grand cabinet sur le canape bleu, le canape a confidences? je crois voir devant moi, quand je vous ecris.”
[Dear and priceless friend, what a terrible and terrible thing separation is! No matter how hard I keep telling myself that half of my existence and my happiness is in you, that despite the distance that separates us, our hearts are united by inseparable bonds, my heart revolts against fate, and despite the pleasures and distractions that surround me, I I cannot suppress some hidden sadness that I have felt in the depths of my heart since our separation. Why are we not together, as we were last summer, in your big office, on the blue sofa, on the "confessions" sofa? Why can’t I, like three months ago, draw new moral strength from your meek, calm, and penetrating look, which I loved so much and which I see before me at the moment I am writing to you?]
Having read up to this point, Princess Marya sighed and looked around at the dressing table, which stood to her right. The mirror reflected an ugly, weak body and a thin face. His eyes, always sad, now looked at themselves in the mirror with particular hopelessness. “She flatters me,” thought the princess, turned away and continued to read. Julie, however, did not flatter her friend: indeed, the princess's eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves), were so good that very often, despite the ugliness of her whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty. But the princess never saw the good expression in her eyes, the expression they assumed in those moments when she was not thinking about herself. Like all people, her face assumed a strained, unnatural, evil expression as soon as she looked in the mirror. She continued to read: 211
“Tout Moscou ne parle que guerre. L "un de mes deux freres est deja a l" etranger, l "autre est avec la garde, qui se met en Marieche vers la frontiere. Notre cher empereur a quitte Petersbourg et, a ce qu" on pretend, compte lui meme exposer sa precieuse existence aux chances de la guerre. Du veuille que le monstre corsicain, qui detruit le repos de l "Europe, soit terrasse par l"ange que le Tout Ruissant, dans Sa misericorde, nous a donnee pour souverain. Sans parler de mes freres, cette guerre m "a privee d" une relation des plus cheres a mon coeur. Je parle du jeune Nicolas Rostoff, qui avec son enthousiasme n "a pu supporter l" inaction et a quitte l "universite pour aller s" enroler dans l "armee. Eh bien, chere Marieie, je vous avouerai, que, malgre son extreme jeunesse, son depart pour l "armee a ete un grand chagrin pour moi. Le jeune homme, dont je vous parlais cet ete, a tant de noblesse, de veritable jeunesse qu "on rencontre si rarement dans le siecle ou nous vivons parmi nos villards de vingt ans. Il a surtout tant de franchise et de coeur. Il est tellement pur et poetique, que mes relations avec lui, quelque passageres qu "elles fussent, ont ete l" une des plus douees jouissances de mon pauvre coeur, qui a deja tant souffert. Je vous raconterai un jour nos adieux et tout ce qui s "est dit en partant. Tout cela est encore trop frais. Ah! chere amie, vous etes heureuse de ne pas connaitre ces jouissances et ces peines si poignantes. Vous etes heureuse, puisque les derienieres sont ordinairement les plus fortes! Je sais fort bien, que le comte Nicolas est trop jeune pour pouvoir jamais devenir pour moi quelque chose de plus qu "un ami, mais cette douee amitie, ces relations si poetiques et si pures ont ete un besoin pour mon coeur. Mais n" en parlon plus. La grande nouvelle du jour qui occupe tout Moscou est la mort du vieux comte Bezukhoy et son heritage. Figurez vous que les trois princesses n "ont recu que tres peu de chose, le prince Basile rien, est que c" est M. Pierre qui a tout herite, et qui par dessus le Marieche a ete reconnu pour fils legitime, par consequent comte Earless est possesseur de la plus belle fortune de la Russie. On pretend que le prince Basile a joue un tres vilain role dans toute cette histoire et qu "il est reparti tout penaud pour Petersbourg.
“Je vous avoue, que je comprends tres peu toutes ces affaires de legs et de testament; ce que je sais, c "est que depuis que le jeune homme que nous connaissions tous sous le nom de M. Pierre les tout court est devenu comte Bezukhoy et possesseur de l" une des plus grandes fortunes de la Russie, je m "amuse fort a observer les changements de ton et des manieres des mamans accablees de filles a Marieier et des demoiselles elles memes a l "egard de cet individu, qui, par parenthese, m" a paru toujours etre un pauvre, sire. Comme on s "amuse depuis deux ans a me donner des promis que je ne connais pas le plus souvent, la chronique matrimoniale de Moscou me fait comtesse Mais vous sentez bien que je ne me souc nullement de le devenir. A propos de Marieiage, savez vous que tout derienierement la tante en general Anna Mikhailovna, m "a confie sous le sceau du plus grand secret un projet de Marieiage pour vous. Ce n" est ni plus, ni moins, que le fils du prince Basile, Anatole, qu "on voudrait ranger en le Marieiant a une personne riche et distinguee, et c" est sur vous qu "est tombe le choix des parents. Je ne sais comment vous envisagerez la chose, mais j" ai cru de mon devoir de vous en avertir. On le dit tres beau et tres mauvais sujet; c "est tout ce que j" ai pu savoir sur son compte.
Mais assez de bavardage comme cela. Je finis mon second feuillet, et maman me fait chercher pour aller diner chez les Apraksines. Lisez le livre mystique que je vous envoie et qui fait fureur chez nous. Quoiqu "il y ait des choses dans ce livre difficiles a atteindre avec la faible conception humaine, c" est un livre admirable dont la lecture calme et eleve l "ame. Adieu. Mes respects a monsieur votre pere et mes compliments a m elle Bourienne. Je vous embrasse comme je vous aime Julie."
P.S. Donnez moi des nouvelles de votre frere et de sa charmante petite femme.
[The whole of Moscow only talks about the war. One of my two brothers is already abroad, the other is with the guards, who are marching to the border. Our dear sovereign is leaving Petersburg and, as is supposed, he intends to expose his precious existence to the accidents of war. May God grant that the Corsican monster that disturbs the tranquility of Europe will be cast down by an angel whom the Almighty in His goodness has placed as ruler over us. Not to mention my brothers, this war has robbed me of one of the relationships closest to my heart. I'm talking about the young Nikolai Rostov; who, with his enthusiasm, could not bear inactivity and left the university to join the army. I confess to you, dear Marie, that in spite of his extraordinary youth, his departure for the army was a great sorrow for me. In the young man of whom I spoke to you last summer, there is so much nobility, true youth, which is so rare in our age between twenty-year-olds! He especially has so much frankness and heart. He is so pure and full of poetry that my relationship with him, for all its fleetingness, was one of the sweetest joys of my poor heart, which had already suffered so much. Someday I will tell you our parting and everything that was said at parting. All this is still too fresh ... Ah! dear friend, you are happy that you do not know these burning pleasures, these burning sorrows. You are happy because the latter are usually stronger than the former. I know very well that Count Nicholas is too young to be anything but a friend to me. But this sweet friendship, this relationship so poetic and so pure was the need of my heart. But enough about that.
“The main news that occupies all of Moscow is the death of the old Count Bezukhy and his inheritance. Imagine, the three princesses received some little, Prince Vasily nothing, and Pierre is the heir to everything and, moreover, is recognized as a legitimate son and therefore Count Bezukhy and the owner of the largest fortune in Russia. They say that Prince Vasily played a very nasty role in this whole story, and that he left for Petersburg very embarrassed. I confess to you that I understand very little all these matters of spiritual wills; I only know that since the young man, whom we all knew simply as Pierre, became Count Bezukhy and the owner of one of the best fortunes in Russia, I am amused by observations of the change in tone of mothers who have daughters of the bride, and the young ladies themselves in relation to this gentleman, who (in parentheses) always seemed to me very insignificant. Since for two years now everyone has been amused by looking for suitors for me, whom I mostly do not know, the marriage chronicle of Moscow makes me Countess Bezukhova. But you understand that I do not want this at all. Speaking of marriages. Do you know that recently the universal aunt Anna Mikhailovna entrusted me, under the greatest secrecy, with the plan to arrange your marriage. This is nothing more or less than the son of Prince Vasily, Anatole, whom they want to attach by marrying him to a rich and noble girl, and the choice of your parents fell on you. I don't know how you look at this case, but I felt it my duty to warn you. He is said to be very good and a big rake. That's all I could find out about him.
But will talk. I am finishing my second sheet, and my mother sent for me to go to dinner with the Apraksins.
Read the mystical book which I am sending you; it has been a huge success for us. Although there are things in it that are difficult for the weak mind of man to understand, it is an excellent book; reading it calms and uplifts the soul. Farewell. My respects to your father and my greetings m lle Bourienne. I embrace you with all my heart. Julia.
PS. Let me know about your brother and his lovely wife.]
The specifics of the activity of scouts is such that their true names, as a rule, become known only years after they complete their careers or, which is also not uncommon, death. Over the years, they change many pseudonyms, and replace the true stories of lives with fictional legends. Their fate was shared by Rudolf Abel, whose biography was the reason for writing this article.
Revolutionary family heir
The legendary Soviet intelligence officer Abel Rudolf Ivanovich, whose real name was William Genrikhovich Fischer, was born on July 11, 1903 in Great Britain, where his parents, Russian social Marxists of German origin, were exiled for revolutionary activities. The family got the opportunity to return to their homeland only after the Bolsheviks came to power, which they took advantage of in 1920.
Rudolf Abel, who received his primary education in England and was fluent in English, arrived in Moscow and worked as a translator for the executive committee of the Comintern for several years, after which he entered the Higher Art and Technical Workshops, better known by their abbreviation VKHUTEMAS. This step was prompted by his long-standing passion for fine art, which began in England.
Beginning of service in the OGPU
After serving the army and having received the specialty of a radio operator there, Rudolf Ivanovich worked for some time as a radio engineer in one of the research institutes of the Ministry of Defense. During this period, an event occurred that largely predetermined his future life. In April 1927 he married Elena Lebedeva, a young harpist who had recently graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Her own sister Serafima worked in the apparatus of the OGPU and helped her new relative get a job in this structure closed to outsiders.
Due to the fact that Rudolf Abel was fluent in English, he was enrolled in the foreign department, where he worked first as a translator, and then, in his army specialty, as a radio operator. Soon, or rather in January 1930, a mission was assigned to him, with which his path as a scout began.
Departure for England
As part of the assignment, Abel applied to the British embassy for permission to return to England and, after receiving citizenship, moved to London, where he led intelligence activities and at the same time carried out communication between the center and the residency stationed in Norway.
By the way, one important detail should be noted - at this stage of his career and until being thrown into the USA in 1948, he acted under his real name and only at a critical moment resorted to a pseudonym, under which he then became widely known.
Unexpected dismissal from service
His highly successful activities were interrupted in 1938, after another Soviet intelligence officer, Alexander Orlov, chose not to return to his homeland and fled to the United States. To avoid failure, Rudolf Abel was urgently recalled to Moscow. With a defector agent, he had only a few short single contacts, but this was enough for Beria, who was suspicious of everyone who had ever had to communicate with "enemies of the people", ordered him to be fired.
In fact, at that time it could be considered a very favorable outcome, since many in such situations ended up behind bars. Their fate could well have been shared by Abel. Rudolph, meanwhile, did not lose hope of returning to the service, which he managed to fall in love with.
Service during the war
Over the next three years, being an employee of various Soviet institutions, he repeatedly submitted reports on reinstatement in his previous job. His request was granted only in 1941, when, with the outbreak of war, there was an urgent need for qualified personnel with intelligence experience.
Having again become an employee of the NKVD, Abel led the department, which was in charge of organizing the guerrilla war in the temporarily occupied territories. On this, one of the most important sectors of the fight against the enemy in those years, he prepared sabotage and reconnaissance groups for their subsequent transfer to the German rear. It is known that it was then that fate brought him together with a man who actually bore the name Rudolf Abel, who many years later became his pseudonym.
New task
Unfortunately, very soon after the joint victory over fascism, the former allies turned into irreconcilable enemies separated by the Iron Curtain, and their yesterday's military fraternity turned into a cold war.
In the current situation, it was vital for the Soviet leadership to have comprehensive information regarding American developments in the field of nuclear weapons, the colossal destructive power of which was demonstrated during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was with this task that intelligence officer Rudolf Abel was sent to the United States in 1948, where he lived and carried out his illegal activities, using the passport of an American citizen Andrew Kayotis, who died shortly before in Lithuania.
Soon Rudolf Abel was forced to change his pseudonym and, according to documents issued in the name of a certain artist Emil Goldfuss, opened a photography studio in Brooklyn. She, of course, was only a cover behind which was hidden the center of the Soviet residency, which was engaged in collecting data at various nuclear facilities in the country. A year later, he changed this name, again becoming William Fisher. For everyone who was part of his extensive network, Abel was known by the nickname Mark, and that is how his reports sent to Moscow were signed.
The closest agents who acted as Abel's liaison were the Cohens, Soviet intelligence officers of American origin. Thanks to them, the data of interest to the intelligence center could be obtained not only from scientific centers in America, but also from secret laboratories in Great Britain. The effectiveness of the intelligence network created by Abel was so high that a year later he received a message about awarding him the Order of the Red Banner.
Agent turned traitor
In 1952, another Soviet illegal spy was sent to help Mark, this time of Finnish origin - Reino Hyayhyanen, who had the pseudonym Vic. However, as practice has shown, he turned out to be unsuitable for such a complex and demanding work. Many of the operations entrusted to him were on the verge of failure solely because of his irresponsibility.
As a result, four years later, the command decided to recall him to Moscow, but Vic, who by that time had managed to wean himself from the gray and miserable Soviet life, did not want to return to his homeland. Instead, he voluntarily surrendered to the authorities and, having entered into cooperation with the FBI, gave all the names and addresses of Soviet agents known to him.
Failure and arrest
The head of the center was under round-the-clock surveillance, and in April 1957 he was arrested at the Latham Hotel in New York. Here, for the first time, he named himself after Rudolf Abel, his old acquaintance, with whom he prepared sabotage groups during the war years. So he was then listed in the official protocols.
To all the accusations that the United States brought against Rudolf Abel, the defendant invariably answered with categorical objections. He denied participation in intelligence activities, in any connection with Moscow, and when he was offered cooperation in exchange for freedom, he portrayed a complete misunderstanding of the essence of the matter.
Years spent in prison
At the end of that year, by decision of the Federal Court, "Mark" was sentenced to thirty-two years in prison, which he began serving in the Atlanta Correctional Prison. It should be noted that, according to his recollections, the conditions of detention were not particularly strict, and during the years spent behind bars, he had the opportunity to fill the time with his favorite activities - mathematics, art history and even painting.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the former chairman of the KGB of the USSR, V.E.
Again in the ranks of the State Security
Despite such a harsh sentence, freedom came to a highly gifted prisoner much earlier. In 1962, Rudolf Abel, after exchanging him for the American pilot Francis Powers, who was shot down during a reconnaissance flight over the territory of the Soviet Union, returned to Moscow. Making this deal, the US authorities, together with Powers, bargained for Abel one more of their students, who had been arrested shortly before on suspicion of espionage.
After going through a period of rehabilitation, Abel continued to work in the Soviet foreign intelligence apparatus. He was no longer sent abroad, but was used to train young scouts who had yet to embark on this difficult and dangerous path. In his spare time, he, as before, was engaged in painting.
The last years of the life of a scout
In Soviet times, experienced professional consultants were often involved in the creation of historical and sometimes detective films. One of them was Rudolf Abel. The film Dead Season, filmed in 1968 at the Lenfilm studio by director Savva Kulish, largely reproduces episodes of his own life. Having entered the screens of the country, he was a huge success.
The famous Soviet intelligence officer William Genrikhovich Fisher, known to all of us under the pseudonym Rudolf Abel, died on November 15, 1971 in one of the capital's clinics. The cause of death was lung cancer. The body of the hero was interred at the New Donskoy Cemetery, where it rested next to the grave of his father, Heinrich Matveyevich Fisher.
The word "criminology" (lat. crimen - crime, Greek logos - doctrine) means "the science of crime." Crime is also the subject of study of other sciences - criminal law, criminology.
But these sciences create a theoretical basis for law enforcement activities to solve crimes and punish the guilty, which is a reaction to an already committed crime.
Criminology, on the other hand, develops the theoretical foundations of crime prevention activities. Currently, criminology is considered as the science of crime in general.
The first scientific work called "Criminology" was published in 1884 by R. Garofalo. Prior to this, other terms were used to refer to the science of crime - criminal anthropology, criminal sociology.
Object and subject of criminology
To understand the essence and features of a particular science, science of science distinguishes between the object and subject of science. The object of science is those phenomena and processes that this science studies and that exist regardless of whether people know them or not (mountains, plants). The subject of science is a part, a separate side of the object (structure of rocks, medicinal properties of plants).
One object can be studied by several sciences, several objects can be distinguished in one object (the subject, therefore, cannot be wider than the object). Applying biological methods to study, for example, a person, we can isolate the subject of biology - cells, organs, the organism as a whole; applying psychological methods - the subject of psychology: intellect, memory, emotions, etc. In a person as an object of knowledge, even the subject of mechanics can be distinguished: considering a person as a material body and subjecting him to a measurement procedure, we get dimensions, mass, speed. But for mechanics, there are no qualitative differences between a person and, for example, a stone.
The subject of science is not just some part, a side of the object (some properties and relations), but such a side of it that is revealed in the process of cognition by means of a method and fixed in a certain sign form (in some representations, concepts, hypotheses, etc.) . Consequently, the subject of science is, to a certain extent, an already known object. The fundamental difference between subject and object lies in the fact that the subject of science is historically changeable. New research methods appear, instruments are improved (for example, a microscope was replaced by a magnifying glass). New properties of the object are revealed, already known ones are studied more fully, the process of cognition goes from the phenomenon to the essence. As a result, the subject of science develops both intensively (in depth) and extensively (in breadth). So, the concept of "crime" did not appear immediately, but was developed in the process of cognition. And, like any scientific concept, its content changed: crime as a property of the individual - crime as the sum of crimes - crime as a social phenomenon. The object of knowledge remains unchanged. Of course, the object, like everything in nature and society, changes, but it does not change as a result of cognition, but independently of it.
In the broad sense of the word, the object of criminology is a person and social communities. Different sciences can differ in objects (for physics - inanimate nature, for sociology - society).
But several sciences can have one common object, while at the same time differing in objects. The specificity of criminology as a science is its complex nature: the objects of cognition of criminology refer to different levels of social reality - a person, a social group, society. Criminology uses the methods and approaches of different sciences, and criminological research is most often intersectoral and interdisciplinary in nature.
Thus, the object of criminology coincides with the object of knowledge of other social sciences (psychology, sociology), but their subjects are different. Consequently, the specifics and features of a particular science are characterized not by an object, but by an object.
In a broad sense, the subject of criminology is the nature and reasons for the existence of socially dangerous manifestations and the objective possibilities of society for their prevention (eradication).
In the subject of criminology, four main elements are usually distinguished: 1) crime; 2) causes and conditions of crime (crimes); 3) the identity of the offender; 4) crime prevention.
Recently, another element has been singled out - the victim of a crime, which illustrates the historical variability (evolution) of the subject of criminology. The branch of criminology that studies the victim of a crime is called victimology.
The problem of the existence of the personality of a criminal in criminology belongs to the category of debatable, polar points of view are expressed on it. Thus, the personality of a criminal is understood as a certain set of properties of the subject of a crime, which, together with other (external) circumstances, determine the commission of a crime. In the set of all properties that characterize a personality, criminology is only interested in criminologically significant properties.
The identity of the offender should not be identified with the concept of "criminal personality", i.e. consider that there are some special people who are always ready to commit a crime.
The study of all elements of the subject of criminology ultimately aims to create a scientific basis for social activity in the prevention of crime. Criminology develops a general theory of crime prevention, which includes: the main directions, forms and methods of preventive activities; socio-economic and organizational-legal foundations for its implementation; system of subjects of preventive activity.
The scientific validity of the theory of prevention and the practical feasibility of the recommended preventive measures are indicators of the social effectiveness of criminology as a science.
Having defined the subject, i.e. having indicated the questions studied by a given science, we actually give a definition of this science. But a more complete picture of science is given not by the subject, but by its content. So, the content of criminology, along with the study of the subject, includes the methodology and research methods, the study of the history of criminology, the development of practical measures to prevent crime.
Methods of criminology
Along with the object and subject, another essential characteristic of science is the methods it uses. A method is a research procedure by which an object of knowledge is studied in order to obtain information about its properties. In general terms, all scientific methods are distinguished by the scope and breadth of application.
According to the scope, two classes of methods are distinguished: theoretical, used to study the properties and relationships of abstract objects (numbers, functions), and empirical, used to study real-life objects (atoms, people). According to the objects and methods used, sciences are classified into abstract, theoretical (logic, mathematics) and empirical, experimental, experimental (chemistry, biology, criminology).
The essential difference between these types of sciences is also that the truth of the propositions and conclusions of the abstract sciences is not established empirically, but follows from the meaning of theoretical terms and the meaning of logical relations. The truth of the statements of the empirical sciences is established by correlating these statements with reality. Of course, the empirical sciences also use concepts that have no direct analogues in the objective world, and some theoretical methods can be used, for example, methods of symbolization, formalization.
According to the breadth of application, methods are divided into general scientific methods, which are used, if not in all, then in many sciences; private scientific applied in the group of related sciences; special, developed for a particular specific science (there are no special methods in criminology).
In addition, there are methods for obtaining information about the properties of an object (observation, polling) and methods for processing the information received (secondary grouping, factor analysis).
The product of scientific knowledge should be objective knowledge, i.e. knowledge about the properties of the object - as they are, outside and independently of the cognizing subject. The main requirement for the scientific method is its neutrality in relation to the object of knowledge, the fundamental inability to change the properties of the object in the process of research.
This instrument of knowledge (instrument) differs from the instrument of labor.
So, you can hammer nails with a microscope (and then it will be a tool), or you can study a ciliate shoe (then it will be a tool of knowledge).
The methodological requirement of the neutrality of the method was developed in the science of modern times and seems quite obvious.
As the further development of science has shown, this requirement is not always feasible. Involvement in the sphere of scientific knowledge of micro-objects, the emergence of quantum mechanics showed that it is impossible to completely exclude the influence of the subject of knowledge, that there is a so-called effect of the perturbing influence of the device.
The problem of method neutrality is relevant not only for quantum mechanics. This problem, whether the researcher is aware of it or not, confronts both sociology and psychology. And since criminology uses the methods of these sciences, it is also relevant for it.
When conducting an experiment, survey or testing, the researcher must take into account that the very use of these methods can significantly affect the object of knowledge (human). In this case, the application of the method gives us knowledge about the properties of the object of cognition not in natural conditions, but the interaction with the subject of cognition, under the conditions of the intervention of the researcher. In psychology and sociology, this problem is formulated as the problem of the validity (validity) of the methods used.
Method neutrality in relation to the object should not be interpreted as complete independence of the method from the object. The requirement that a method be neutral with respect to an object is just one side of the problem. The other is that the method must be adequate to the object: qualitatively different objects require the use of different methods. Thus, intelligence quotient cannot be measured by weighing the brain.
In criminology, an example of ignoring the specifics of an object was an attempt by C. Lombroso to apply anthropometric methods to study the characteristics of a criminal's personality. The requirement that a method be adequate to an object implies the impossibility of the existence of a single universal method applicable to objects of any nature.
In criminology as an empirical science, such general scientific methods as observation and experiment are used. D. Mill noted that observation sets the task of finding a case suitable for our purposes, and experiment is to create it with the help of an artificial combination of circumstances. The use of methods of observation and experiment in criminology has its own specifics and limits.
Observation is a sensual purposeful perception of the properties of an object that are significant from the point of view of the objectives of the study, and their fixation (description). Observation is historically the earliest and initial form of empirical research; it is structurally included in both experimental and measurement procedures.
Observation can be both direct (immediate) and indirect (indirect). With indirect observation, it is not the object itself or its actions that is observed, but the effect of its interaction with other objects or the results of its actions. Thus, the specificity of indirect observation lies in the fact that the properties of a currently unobserved object are judged by its observed manifestations (there is no smoke without fire). In criminology, direct observation is difficult: after all, the criminologist directly observes not the event of the crime, but its consequences.
An experiment is the study of the properties of an object under artificially created, controlled and managed conditions. Conducting experiments in criminology is also very difficult. And not only because of the complexity of the object of study, but primarily for ethical reasons. Society cannot allow the criminologist to artificially create conditions conducive to the commission of crimes. But experiments to stimulate law-abiding behavior, to test the effectiveness of preventive measures are not only possible, but also regularly carried out.
In addition, it is permissible to use the so-called retrospective experiment (quasi-experiment), i.e. when some real event is interpreted as an experimental situation. The main thing in this case is the ability to fix the initial and final states of the object and to single out the experimental (influencing) and derivative (dependent) factors. In addition, the researcher must make sure that the quasi-experiment meets the requirements of internal (it is the experimental factor that causes the observed changes) and external (the revealed dependence is regular, it can be extended to a non-experimental situation) validity. So, the well-known anti-alcohol campaign in the mid-80s. of the last century can be considered as an experimental situation, which showed how the reduction of state production and sale of alcohol (experimental factor) affected its consumption, crime rate, mortality rate, the growth of home brewing, etc. (dependent factors). As another example, the well-known New York City power failure allows the criminologist to draw certain conclusions about the importance of street lighting in preventing street crime.
Such a rapidly developing method as modeling can also be classified as general scientific. When a real full-scale experiment is impossible or too expensive, they experiment with models, real or abstract (for example, testing aircraft models in a wind tunnel, mathematical modeling of an atomic explosion, etc.). In criminology, the use of the modeling method is a very promising direction, since direct experimentation faces significant difficulties. The most commonly used mathematical models, especially in predicting crime.
In the criminological literature, one can often find the assertion that, along with observation and experiment, general scientific empirical methods used in criminology include deduction and induction. In general, deduction and induction are not empirical methods of cognition, but methods of logical reasoning and proof (different forms of connection between premises and conclusions). The mechanism of deduction consists in extending the general proposition to a particular case, subsuming the particular case under the general rule. The mechanism of induction consists in extending a particular case to a general one, in the transition from knowledge of a part of objects of a certain class to knowledge about the entire class of objects.
Empirical methods provide new information about the properties of an object, and deduction and induction as methods provide new conclusions from knowledge already obtained using empirical methods. This also applies to the so-called methods of scientific induction: the method of single similarity, the method of single difference, the method of concomitant changes, etc.
Since the object of criminology partially coincides with the object of other social sciences, the methods of these sciences, which belong to the category of private scientific ones, can be applied in criminology:
- sociological - analysis of primary documentation (study of criminal cases), interviews (convicts, victims, law enforcement officers), expert assessments, sociometric method (analysis of intra-group relations);
- psychological - biographical, testing;
- statistical - statistical observation, statistical analysis (grouping, factorial and regression analysis).
In criminology as an empirical science, one of the main ways of proving (refuting) theoretical propositions is the hypothetical-deductive method. From any statement or assumption (hypothesis) that is not amenable to direct verification, empirically verifiable (verifiable) consequences are derived in a logical (deductive) way. If the consequences arising from the hypothesis are confirmed in practice, then the hypothesis receives the status of a true statement.
Naturally, general methods of scientific knowledge are also used in criminology - systemic, historical, comparative, etc.
The place of criminology in the system of sciences
Having understood the specifics of the object, subject and methods of criminology, one can determine its place in the system of social sciences and its relationship with them. There are three points of view on this issue: 1) criminology is part of criminal law; 2) criminology is part of sociology; 3) criminology is an independent science.
The first point of view was held by Russian criminologists of the pre-revolutionary period, as well as such well-known Soviet lawyers as A.A. Gertsenzon and A.A. Piontkovsky. This position is not substantiated due to the fact that criminology is not a legal science, criminology and criminal law have different objects of study (and if some sciences have different objects, then these are obviously different sciences).
The object of the science of criminal law is criminal law (a branch of law) as a regulator of social relations, legal norms and institutions; the object of criminology is the social activity of people and social groups. Therefore, the methods used in these sciences are fundamentally different in nature, and, accordingly, their subjects differ. But in general, such a position is quite understandable both historically (criminology “left” criminal law, most criminologists are lawyers by education) and logically ( It is criminal law that defines the concept of criminal). By tradition, until now, in many textbooks, the course of criminology is structured similarly to the course of criminal law - into the General and Special parts.
The second point of view dominates American criminology.
In sociology and criminology, indeed, both the object and some methods partially coincide. But their subjects are still different. Criminology is a complex science, the subject of its study are both the socio-psychological aspects of crime and the individual psychological characteristics of the offender's personality.
Therefore, the subject of criminology cannot be included in the subject of sociology.
Currently, the third point of view has the greatest recognition, the supporters of which believe that criminology is an independent science. But the independence of the science of criminology does not mean that it has no links with other sciences.
Although criminology is not a legal science, it is closely related to criminal law, penitentiary law, criminalistics, etc. This connection is due primarily to the fact that, with all the differences in the methods and nature of the tasks being solved, they have a common goal - to scientifically ensure the fight against crime.
The special connection of criminology with criminal law is also explained by the fact that it is criminal law that determines what acts are criminal, and thereby delineates the boundaries of crime as a phenomenon. And crime is the main element of the subject of criminology. At the same time, it is criminological studies that provide the necessary material for the development of criminal policy, the scientific justification for the criminalization (decriminalization) of acts.
Criminology is connected with penitentiary law by the fact that punishment is one of the factors in the prevention of crimes.
Criminology, studying the causes of penitentiary and recidivist crime, the effectiveness of various types of punishments, provides the penitentiary law with the information necessary to improve the process of executing punishment and correcting convicts.
The connection of criminology with sociology, psychology, social psychology is due to the similarity of the object and the methods used.
As criminology can use the materials of these sciences, so criminological data can serve to a deeper study of the problems of the respective sciences. Sociology studies the patterns of deviant behavior (drunkenness, vagrancy, etc.). Criminology is also interested in these phenomena, but not in themselves, but in their connection with crime. In many cases, this behavior is a condition for committing crimes. Sociological and criminological studies mutually enrich each other.
Criminology is also connected with other sciences. The connection with statistics is due to the fact that crime as a mass phenomenon can be represented as a statistical aggregate. The connection with pedagogy is that criminology studies the process of forming the personality of a criminal, and the formation of personality is a pedagogical problem.
Such connections can be traced with almost all social (and not only) sciences.
A special type of social activity with a minus sign is the criminal activity of people, the commission of crimes. Legal sciences, such as criminal law, criminal procedure, penitentiary, gave people the tools to understand the crime, formulated the types of crimes and reduced them to criminal codes, determined the forms and methods, the procedural order for combating crimes at its various stages, established rules for the treatment of criminals. Increasingly deeper penetration into the problem has shown the need to use the achievements of other sciences and independent methods of exposing criminals in the fight against crime. This task was performed by forensic science, synthesizing legal and technical, natural-science and other methods of combating crime. An important place in the process of cognition of crime was taken by medicine (psychiatry), and recently forensic science has been supplemented by a rapidly developing forensic (criminal) psychology.
But with all this, none of the named sciences covered (and could not cover due to its specificity) the problem of crime in general. However, their development led to the emergence of a special science that studies crime as a phenomenon that exists in society, associated (and conditioned) with other social phenomena, having its own patterns of occurrence, existence and development, requiring specific and diverse forms of combating it. Criminology has become such a science.
Criminology, its conclusions allow a deeper understanding of the institutions of criminal, corrective labor (penal-executive), procedural law, criminalistics, in general, the practice of combating crime and do not at all belittle them and do not disunite science.
Criminology really “came out” of criminal law and got the opportunity of its own development. Having become independent, it remained closely connected with criminal law, and with other legal sciences, as well as with sociology, philosophy and medicine, especially psychiatry, because it is necessary to distinguish the antisocial behavior of patients from crime, as such, and with a number of other sciences.
The logical development of criminological thought and criminological science allows us to talk about criminology as a general theoretical science, about crime, its causes and conditions accompanying it, the personality of those who commit crimes, as well as methods for controlling and combating crime.
Far from all the elements that are now the subject of criminology, immediately took their place in it. This is especially characteristic of the problem of "the identity of the offender", which only at a relatively recent stage in the development of science has taken its place as an integral subject of criminology. Prior to this, the “personality of the criminal” was studied by sociologists, psychologists, doctors (especially psychiatrists) and representatives of other sciences. Only as the study of crime as a social phenomenon deepened, it became obvious that a person cannot be separated from an act and that, except for criminology, no other science can consider the entire problem of crime as “its own”. Criminology studies crime as a phenomenon, its causes and conditions, the personality of those who commit crimes, the forms and methods of prevention and control over it, while not forgetting that crime is not just a social phenomenon, but a social phenomenon “included” in legal borders. Being objectively existing, these phenomena of social life become classified as criminal in a significant part of cases due to the subjective will of the legislator; for the most part, they branched off from the totality of negative phenomena that existed and exist objectively in human society, because they posed a danger to the normal functioning of social relations in in general. Thus, a stable core of crime was formed: murders, thefts, violence, crimes against morality, against the state, against justice and a number of others. To one degree or another, they are inherent in any socio-political system. Naturally, there are differences, but they appeared at the later stages of human development and depend on the political, economic, and national characteristics of certain states.
The subject of the science of criminology is the very phenomenon (crime) in the unity and diversity of its essence and those factors that are directly related to it.
There are countless definitions of crime. They bear the imprint of the philosophical views of the authors, sociological schools and trends, legal views and even religious ones.
First of all, crime is a form of social behavior of people that disrupts the normal functioning of the social organism. In addition, crime is a social and legal phenomenon that has its own laws of existence, internally contradictory, associated with other social phenomena, often determined by them.
The ratio of crime and specific crimes is the ratio of the whole and the part, the general and the individual. Crime is a collection of crimes. There will be no such totality, there will be no crime as a specifically socio-legal phenomenon. There will be no equally specific forms and methods of combating it, criminal (and not only criminal) legislation, courts and other attributes born of the presence of crime as a socially dangerous phenomenon will have to “disappear”.
Crime in its essence is a negative phenomenon that harms both society as a whole and its specific members. At the same time, there were scientists who said that crime is as natural a phenomenon as a person's birth, death and conception (Lombroso), that crime is a phenomenon inherent in any healthy society (Durkheim). Thus, the understanding of crime as a negative phenomenon was called into question. However, the troubles that crime brings to people hardly allow us to talk about it otherwise than as a negative phenomenon in general.
Crime in its manifestations is diverse, many-sided, which creates enormous difficulties both for its theoretical understanding and for the practice of combating it. It differs in the severity of its individual components, in territories, types, characteristics of the perpetrators of crimes, and in many other parameters. From a criminological point of view, this is a very important constant, because it removes a light idea about crime, about the forms and methods of combating it, about all kinds of unrealistic programs and plans for its eradication, elimination, destruction, and even in a short time. And, on the contrary, it aims society at a difficult (and not always successful) fight against crime, at the inadmissibility of dashing cavalry attacks on it, obliges to deeply analyze its causes, the conditions that contribute to it, to study those who commit crimes, to develop reasonable means of controlling crime. , crime prevention, determine those measures that are related to the solution of economic, socio-cultural, educational tasks carried out by society, the state, and their various cells. On the other hand, to create legislation that contributes to the fight against crime on the basis and within the framework of the law, as well as to organize the activities of the law enforcement system at the required level, without the successful functioning of which an effective fight against crime is impossible.
Crime is a negative socio-legal phenomenon that exists in human society, having its own patterns, quantitative and qualitative characteristics, entailing negative consequences for society and people, and requiring specific state and public measures to control it.
The second component of the science of criminology is the causes of crime and the conditions that accompany it. The problem of causality is one of the key and difficult problems in the social sciences and, of course, in criminology. At the same time, the problem of causality is not only theoretical, but also practical, because without studying the causes of such a phenomenon as crime and the conditions that contribute to it, it is impossible to fight crime on a scientific basis, with knowledge of the matter, and not by the forces of one law enforcement system. and with the help of the law, but setting in motion the economic, social and other levers that society and the state have at their disposal.
The development of criminology and the implementation of its recommendations into practice have shown with sufficient persuasiveness the reality of establishing and causal relationships in the problem of crime and the conditions conducive to the commission of crimes. Practical law enforcement agencies have learned to identify these conditions and causes of crime, and science has armed them with a methodology for this work. The legislator fixed the obligation of law enforcement agencies to identify the causes and conditions for the commission of crimes and take (within their capabilities and competence) measures to prevent them.
In criminological science, the question of classifying the causes of crime is debatable. First of all, because of the complexity of the phenomenon itself, its interrelations and interdependencies both “inside” the phenomenon itself, and outside - with other phenomena. At the same time, it is far from always possible to explain purely specific manifestations of crime through the use of patterns common to the phenomenon and causal relationships. This difficulty, among other things, gave rise, as already mentioned, to the refusal of some scientists even to search for the causes of crime. Given this complexity, it became necessary to establish the causes and conditions of crime in criminal cases, thereby putting the simplest classification into the hands of practice.
Domestic criminologists also classified the causes of crime into: a) the causes of crime as a social phenomenon in general, where they found a place for the influence of general social and other patterns on it; b) causes of certain types of crime; c) the causes of a specific crime, which makes it possible to determine just as specific and realistic preventive measures; d) conditions conducive to the commission of crimes that do not themselves cause the intention to commit a crime, but without the presence of these conditions it would be difficult and even impossible to commit a crime.
The subject of criminology as its component includes the identity of the offender.
However, the theory of the innateness of criminals or a person's predisposition to crime formed the basis of racist and related theories, gave rise to arbitrariness and lawlessness in practice.
The diversity of human personalities and their destinies, determined by the diversity of the complexities of human social existence, necessitates the study of the personality of those who commit crimes, and the causes and conditions that put a person in the state of “personality of a criminal”.
Therefore, a criminologist cannot and should not be alien to sociology, other sciences that study a person, including medicine, especially its part - psychiatry, because a mixture of morbidity and crime is unacceptable.
The subject of criminology is crime prevention. The problem of crime prevention is inseparable from other components of the subject of criminology. It, as it were, completes everything that is connected with the presence of crime in human society and the fight against it. Understanding crime as a phenomenon that has all its roots in the pores of society, its causes, reflecting the inconsistency of its functioning, the personality of those whom society itself turns into criminals, is the basis on which the theory of crime prevention is born. That is why the problem of crime prevention is considered at three levels: general social, special criminological and individual.
Criminology, having an integral part of its subject, crime prevention and based on the complexity of crime as a phenomenon, has developed recommendations related to both different levels of social and state structures, and types of crime. Criminologists have developed approximate plans for the prevention of crimes at enterprises and organizations, in the district, city, region, republic, recidivism of juvenile delinquency, etc.
The fight against crime, its planning, coordination between the regions, within them and the bodies waging this fight, is necessary, because crime does not recognize borders (especially serious forms). Therefore, crime prevention is an activity that requires coordinated work, first of all, by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Disunity is unacceptable and can bring nothing but harm. Organizational structures specially created for this purpose can serve the purposes of coordination. Thus, an integral part of the subject of criminology - the prevention of crimes - is in itself a complex theoretical problem, implemented in a variety of practical measures, both of a general social plan, up to specific technical measures, and special criminological and legal ones, including proposals for improving legislation.
The subject of criminology also includes the problem of the victim of a crime. In science, this has been expressed in the emergence of a branch of criminology called victimology. Obviously, if there is crime as a phenomenon, there is crime as part of the whole, the offender as the person who actually committed the crime, that is, the victim of the crime, is the victim of crime. Humanity and science have been interested in victims of crimes since ancient times.
If we take as a basis the approaches implemented by scientists to criminology as a science, which were reflected in previously published courses, monographs, textbooks, special articles, then the generalized system of criminology is as follows.
First, the concepts, subject, tasks of science are considered, then the methods used in criminology. Following this, many consider it necessary to outline the history and state of criminology as a science; then its key problems are analyzed (crime, causes and conditions of crime, the problem of perpetrators of crimes, crime prevention, including forecasting and planning to combat crime); further, the problems of juvenile delinquency and youth, recidivism are considered as a separate block; following this, the types of crime are analyzed - violent, mercenary, mercenary-violent, in turn subdivided into subspecies (theft, robbery, etc.); the problem of careless crimes is considered separately.
The methodological basis of criminology, like any science, is the laws and categories of materialistic dialectics. On this basis, ways are determined to understand the origin of crime, its nature and social essence, causes and conditions, personality traits of the offender, and prevention opportunities. First of all, these are such categories of dialectics as essence and phenomenon; united, special and general; necessary and accidental, etc. The law of the unity and struggle of opposites serves, in particular, as a methodological prerequisite for studying the causes of crime and the personality of a criminal, his positive and negative properties, and the disclosure of factors that determine a specific criminal act. The law of transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones explains the change in the structure of crime, trends in the qualitative characteristics of its types.
Thus, on the basis of the laws and categories of dialectics, taking into account specific historical conditions, not only an in-depth understanding and study of criminological objects is possible, but also a targeted, consistent anti-criminogenic impact on social phenomena and processes.
In criminology (as in law in general) there are generic and specific concepts. So, crime is a generic concept, from which specific concepts grow, showing the diversity of crime. This is both recidivism, and women's, and, say, thieves', official, etc. Criminology explores the connections and interdependencies between generic and specific concepts, “descending” below, to the analysis of specific crimes and based on the fact that crime is a mass phenomenon that has its own patterns, one way or another manifesting itself at its highest level, then concretizing at the middle level. (specific), finally, acquiring quite clearly defined outlines at the level of a single crime, which is very important, because crime, as we have already seen, is not only a single phenomenon, but also the sum of crimes committed. The problem of crime prevention is, in particular, the problem of the gradual concretization of preventive measures from the general, global level to quite specific, affordable implementations of preventive measures.
Criminology is a humanistic science, because its goals are knowledge of crime, those who commit a crime, understanding the causes of this negative phenomenon, developing preventive measures, treating those whom society itself has made criminals.
Criminology is a very practical science. It gives both an understanding of the problem of crime in general, and an understanding of what society can do to combat it, what means and methods it must use, how to engage in lawmaking, taking into account the state, nature, structure of crime, what measures are primary in the fight against crime, what secondary, what is the place of law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime, who are the criminals, what is primary in the fight against crime - law and punishment or economic, social, educational measures, etc.
Criminology teaches people to “read” criminal statistics correctly, and after reading them, to draw practical conclusions: where to take economic measures, where to strengthen educational work, and where and in relation to what types of crime to activate the law enforcement system and use criminal penalties more forcefully. Anyone who has mastered at least the basics of criminology, is used to what can be called criminological thinking, will never see the problem of crime in a simplified form, will understand that the activities of law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime are many, but not all. The problem of combating crime is a complex of economic, social, political, educational and legal measures. In addition, the fight against crime is not a one-time campaign to “eliminate” crime as such in general, or its individual types, but the painstaking daily work of the entire system of the state and society. It is obvious that in a society torn apart by contradictions, with a destroyed economy and moral values, a struggle of political antipodes that do not hear each other, success in the fight against crime (a consequence of these processes) cannot be achieved with the help of spells and the most severe laws. That is why the conclusions of criminologists about crime and its causes, no matter how unpleasant and inconvenient, for sober politicians - help in organizing the fight against crime. For crime is a phenomenon inherent in any socio-political system. And it focuses law enforcement agencies on the best organization of work, taking into account the state, dynamics, structure, nature of crime, its territorial differences, the characteristics of the types of crime and the perpetrators of crimes.
