Aleksandr Korotkov | |
|---|---|
 Korotkov on a 2025 stamp of Russia | |
| Acting Head of the2nd Chief Directorate of the MVD | |
| In office 28 May 1953 – 17 July 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Vasili Ryasnoy |
| Succeeded by | Aleksandr Panyushkin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1909-11-22)22 November 1909 |
| Died | 27 June 1961(1961-06-27) (aged 51) |
| Spouse | Maria Borisovna Vilkovskaya |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Branch/service | OGPU NKVD MGB KGB |
| Years of service | 1928–1961 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Battles/wars | World War II Hungarian Revolution of 1956 |
Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Korotkov (Russian:Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Коротко́в; 22 November 1909 – 27 June 1961) was aSoviet intelligence officer and operative[1] with the rank ofmajor general. He became chief of foreign reconnaissance in theSoviet occupation zone in Germany in 1947 and chief of theKGB while he was stationed inEast Germany in 1957.[2][3] Korotkov was most notable as the intelligence officer who recruitedArvid Harnack in September 1940 andHarro Schulze-Boysen later inBerlin during theNazi regime, effectively changing a resistance organisation who fought against Hitler into the espionage organisation known as theRed Orchestra.[4] Korotkov was an associate ofIvan Serov.
Korotkov's father, Mikhail Korotkov was a banker who worked before the revolution at theRusso-Asiatic Bank in the Chinese city ofKuldzha.[5] He had left his family even before Korotkov was born. His pregnant wife Anna, returned to Moscow where she brought up Aleksandr and her daughter Nina alone.[5] Aleksandr's elder brotherPavel Korotkov, later a well known football player, was brought up by his father's sister in Moscow.[5] Although they were brought up in different families, the two brothers remained close.[5] When theOctober Revolution occurred, the family found itself in dire financial straits and the family became hungry. To ensure Aleksandr survived, his mother Anna sent him to an orphanage.[5] After gaining employment as a secretary, he was returned and the family was made whole.[5]
Korotkov completed nine years of secondary school in 1927. Korotkov, planning to attendMoscow State University abandoned his plans to support his family by beginning employment as an electrician's assistant.[1] During his free time, he played tennis at theDynamo Stadium.[1] It was while playing tennis, that Korotkov attracted the attention ofVeniamin Leonardovich Gerson [ru], aChekist, who at one time was the assistant toFelix Dzerzhinsky and laterVyacheslav Menzhinsky. Gerson drew attention to Korotkov's outstanding physical features during a football match. In October 1928, on the personal recommendation of Gerson, Korotkov was hired by the Commandant's Office of Administration and Economy of theJoint State Political Directorate as alift fitter and lift operator inLubyanka.[1] In December 1928 he was transferred to theFirst Chief Directorate (INO OGPU)/(Foreign Department), where he worked as a clerk distributing newspapers and classified letters, and then as a senior clerk.[1]
From January 1930, he worked as an assistant operations(ops) officer, then an ops officer of the 2nd, 7th and then again the 2nd branch of the OGPU IP. To test his analytic capabilities, Korotkov was tested with analysing the work of the German Society for the Promotion of Industrial Enterprises, whose offices were located in Moscow.[5] Korotkov concluded that the organisation was a front for establishing German agents into the Soviet Union.[5] This was confirmed by work done byArtur Artuzov in 1927, who came to the same conclusion.[5] From that point forward Korotkov began training to be become an agent, taking foreign language classes.[5] In 1933, he was first sent to Vienna[6] travelling under the cover of an Austrian with a Czech identity using the name ofRajenetsky.[7] and then sent to Paris[2] through Austria and Switzerland in the operative group "Express" headed byAlexander Orlov,[7] who later escaped to the West. The task of the group was to develop the Second Bureau (Intelligence) of the French General Staff and conduct recruitment in its most important units. In Paris, he was ordered to enroll in an anthropology course at the Sorbonne as cover and enroll as a student to learnwireless telegraphy.[7] While in Paris, Korotkov learned to speak German from a member of the HamburgCommunist International (Comintern) branch.[5] His French language teacher was Maria Borisovna Vilkovskaya, who eventually became his wife. They had a daughter Sophia. At university, Orlov attempted to recruit a student who worked as a photographer for theDeuxième Bureau but the contact fell under the radar of the French counter-intelligence service (Direction générale des services spéciaux).[5] To avoid failure, Korotkov was temporarily transferred to Germany and from there to the USSR. From 1935 he was an authorised reserve officer of the Personnel Department, then an operative of the 7th Section of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Main Directorate of theNKVD.
From April 1936 to December 1937, under the name ofVladimir Petrovich Korotkikh and under the guise of a representative of the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry at the USSR Trade Representation in Germany, he operated in Berlin.[6] There he received a number of valuable agents, as part ofOperation Krona.[6] In particular, he was engaged in obtaining new samples of German military equipment as well as synthetic rubber and oil.[6]
In December 1937, Korotkov was instructed to go to France for illegal work. He was to lead a group established specifically to assassinate a number of traitors. In August 1937, the group headed by Korotkov killedGeorges Agabekov,[8] and in July of the next year – the secretary of theinternational association of Trotskyists,Rudolf Klement.[9] According toPavel Sudoplatov, the execution of Georges Agabekov was organised in Paris in August 1937 by Korotkov.[8]Boris Bazhanov detailed in his version that the NKVD provoked Agabekov to participate in the resale of jewellery stolen in Spain. When he turned up to view the stolen jewellery in a location near the Spanish–French border, he was executed by the NKVD. Agabekov's body was never found.
In 1938, Korotkov was recalled to Moscow and transferred to the reserve assignment. In 1939 he was dismissed from the NKVD, due to his ties with Gerson, amongst others.[10] However, after sending a letter toLavrentiy Beria, (an astonishing act) Korotkov was reinstated in the intelligence service.[11] From April 1939 he became the Senior Commissioner, and from May 1939, the Deputy Chief of the 1st (German) Division of the 5th Department of the NKVD Main Directorate of State Security. In the same year he was admitted as a member of theAll-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
At the end of 1939, he went on overseas missions to Denmark and Norway[5] under the guise of being a diplomatic courier for theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.
In July 1940, on the initiative of intelligence chiefPavel Fitin, Korotkov was sent for a month to Germany under the guise of a stand-in for Soviet exhibitions inKönigsberg andLeipzig to re-establish communication with especially valuable sources whose operation had been discontinued in 1936–1938.[12] At the end of August 1940, he returned to Berlin as deputy chief of staff under the cover of 3rd secretary of the Soviet embassy in Germany. There he intensified his re-established connections, in particular withWilli Lehmann ("Breitenbach"),[13] and established personal contacts with the leaders of the anti-fascist underground,Arvid Harnack ("Corsican") andHarro Schulze-Boysen ("Starshina") where he was known as Alexander Erdberg.[14] From these anti-fascists, the Residency received the most valuable information on the preparation of Germany for an attack on the Soviet Union.[15] During a year of work, Korotkov managed to increase the residence in Germany from one employee to 13 people. For his work he earned the nickname "King of the Illegals".[11]
During the first days ofGreat Patriotic War in June 1941, theSoviet embassy building in Berlin was blockaded by the Gestapo. Risking his life, Korotkov managed to travel into the city several times to hold meetings with agents,[2] to conduct operations and deliver a radio along with a large sum of money to Harnack and Schulze-Boysen, to enable them to continue espionage operations.[16] Korotkov was eventually interned as a staff member of the Soviet Union's diplomatic mission in Germany. He eventually returned to Moscow via Turkey as part of the Soviet–German exchange of diplomats. From August 1941 onwards, he was deputy chief and from October 1941 – head of the 1st department (intelligence in Germany and the occupied territories), of the NKVD of the USSR.[5] He coordinated operations on organisation of communication with agents, directed the preparation of agents-illegals and their withdrawal to the territory of the enemy.
In 1943–1944, he left forTehran and twice forAfghanistan for performance of special tasks on execution of German agents in these countries, acting under the name of colonel Mikhaylov. From 20 October 1945 to 19 January 1946, he was located in Berlin as Chief of Soviet foreign reconnaissance in theSoviet occupation zone in Germany in Germany and acted as the deputy political adviser toSoviet Military Administration in Germany.[3]
From May 1946, he was head of the 1-B Directorate (illegal intelligence) and deputy head of the PSU of theMinistry of State Security. From 20 July 1947, Korotkov was head of the 4th Directorate (illegal intelligence) of the Information Committee under theCouncil of Ministers of the Soviet Union.[3] From 19 May 1949, Korotkov was simultaneously a member of theInformation Committee.
From 9 September 1950, Korotkov was Deputy Head of Bureau No.1 of theMinistry of State Security (Soviet Union). From November 1952, he was deputy head ofFirst Chief Directorate (PGU) of theMinistry of State Security of the Soviet Union and head of Directorate 'C' (illegal intelligence). From March 1953, he became the deputy chief.[17] From 28 May 1953, he was promoted to Head of theVoronezh State University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.[2] From 17 July 1953, he became Head of the Illegal Intelligence Department of the Voronezh State University. From March 1954, Korotkov became acting Head of the Special Administration (HP), Acting Deputy Head of the PSU. From 6 September 1955, he was head of the Special Directorate and deputy head of the PGU under theCouncil of Ministers of the Soviet Union. On 4 January 1956 Korotkov was awarded the rank of Major General.[5]
Korotkov was awarded the following badges:
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