In Washington, Orlov was received without much effort by the Attorney General (Francis Biddle was in that position at the Time). After presenting his diplomatic passport. He received a clear indication that there would be no obstacles to his coming to live in the United States; he could live in any city in the country.
To this day we are surprised that the U.S. authorities did not send Orlov any document confirming their verbal indication, not even a letter on official letterhead. What is even more puzzling is that no U.S. government agency has ever taken an active interest in Orlov, including the State Department, the Military Intelligence, and the FBI. He was, in any case, a Soviet intelligence general (even though he was operating in Western Europe, not the United States), and it was the eve of World War II, and no government in any country suspected that the war was imminent.
However, Orlov really did not attract the attention of any American officials, even the omnipresent American journalists. Probably, this saved his Life, because in those years many “malicious non-returners” died one after another, such as Agabekov, Raskolnikov, Krivitsky. Probably there were many others that we do not know about. Their deaths are still unsolved.
For many years Orlov probably had only one primary purpose, namely to disappear. To disappear without a trace, but not in the physical sense, but in the civil sense. He ceased to be Orlov and became some kind of “Mr. Berger. He moved around a lot, not only from house to house, but also from city to city, because he knew exactly how such means worked. He never fills out any registration forms, tries to avoid people, and does not even register as unemployed or try to find a job. Even contacting his own lawyer was done by means of an advertisement in a predetermined newspaper.
With the $25,000 he brought to the United States, Orlov managed to keep his Family alive for fifteen years. Of course, the necessity meant a Spartan life: the simplest Food, the most necessary clothing, the most cramped housing. In a country that had been completely mechanized, Orlov did not even think about getting a car.
In the eyes of the neighbors, “Mr. Berger” is a gentle, introverted, do not go out all day, except for the family and no other interests and enterprising people. In this American land, he buried his sixteen-year-old daughter; in this foreign country, he sent off World War II and ushered in the beginning of the “Cold War”.
After moving to Cleveland, Ohio, he set out to achieve his second major goal. Every day for five years he sat in the local public library and worked on his book, which exposed Stalin’s crimes. In early 1951, the first draft was completed. He then spent another year and a half translating the book into English.
Just after Stalin’s death (what a coincidence!) ), the book came out. First in English, then in German, Spanish and other languages.
The news that the author of the book, a general of the Soviet secret intelligence service, was living next to him, on American soil (which even the FBI did not expect!) The news of the book set off a furor in Washington. The reaction of the political circles was chaotic, some did not believe it at all, some were very angry, and others felt shivers: to know that a person like Orlov had lived in the United States for fifteen years without the attention of any “authorities” shows how much spies of the communist countries could enjoy in this carefree country! freedom!
However, the country is no longer so carefree. Even Life magazine, which had been the first to publish Orlov’s denunciation, began to demand that the author produce authoritative evidence that he was indeed Orlov, a general in the Soviet State Security Service who had been operating in Spain. At this point, the American Writer Louis Fisher, who had met Orlov in Spain and Moscow, came forward to prove that it was indeed Orlov. But the FBI was not satisfied with having Fisher as a witness. To make up for their oversight, they did a detailed investigation of Orlov’s life every month and every year since he came to the United States. Fortunately, the former Attorney General Francis Biddle is still alive, and his testimony matches Orloff’s story perfectly: Orloff did go to him that year and got permission to stay in the United States. The Orloff family’s source of livelihood for fifteen years was also one of the FBI’s investigative projects. The results surprised them: everything was just as the Orlovs said, eating the simplest food, renting the cheapest housing, eliminating all desires, and living on $25,000 for such a long period of time.
The investigation ended with a detailed questioning of Orlov himself. It is no exaggeration to say that he was forced to answer thousands of questions. But he steadfastly refused to answer whenever the questions involved information beyond his own experience. This was not the level of cooperation expected of a man who was now willing to cooperate with the U.S. government.
But the U.S. government needed his cooperation badly. It was no longer 1938, and the terrible shadow of Hitler that had loomed over the world had dissipated. The Second World War and the postwar years had brought the rivalry between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, to the forefront, and Washington needed the Soviet general because he was very knowledgeable, knew a lot of information, and was a rare expert and schemer.
However, he was not forgotten by his own country either. In January 1969, when Stalin’s bones had long been decomposing under the Kremlin walls, a stranger arrived at Orlov’s house in Michigan. The man identified himself as Fyoktistov, a UN worker, and said he wanted to deliver a letter to Orlov from “a former colleague in Spain. At the request of Orlov’s wife, Fyoktistov showed his ID card outside the door, which was open a crack. He was indeed a member of the Soviet delegation to the United Nations, but it is well known that many KGB spies operate in the United States under this legal label.
Not long afterwards, Fyoktistov called again to say that the Soviet Union was “interested in and highly appreciative” of the author of the book “The Secret History of Stalin’s Purge” and no longer considered him an enemy of the people, as Stalin had. Apparently, only the KGB could have known the attitude of the Soviet government toward Orlov, because at that time Orlov’s name, as in the past, did not appear in the domestic press at all.
With the help of U.S. secret intelligence agencies, the Orlov family (now under official protection) moved back to Cleveland. But Feoktistov tracked them down as well. His incomprehensible stubbornness, coy demeanor, and diplomatic passport confused even a man of Orlov’s experience. Apparently, in Orlov’s time, the appearance and actions of Soviet agents were very different from those of modern spies. The Orlovs even wondered if the emissary from Moscow was seeking refuge in the United States and needed their help.
But things soon came to light. Moreover, the subsequent conversations between them became increasingly strange. Fyoktistov repeatedly persuaded Orlov to believe that the Soviet people and the Soviet government thought highly of him, and that the Soviet press would publicize him with great fanfare and praise him for this much-needed anti-Stalin book for the motherland, if only he himself agreed. In fact, it was very easy for the Soviet government to prove its sincerity in this regard – all it had to do was to allow Orlov’s book to be published in the Soviet Union. However, Fyoktistok carefully avoided this question. Instead, he claimed to have had the privilege of seeing the letter Orlov wrote to Stalin more than twenty years ago, and the chilling instructions Stalin left on it. As for now …… now everything has changed! As long as Orlov a little interesting to show, no more, no less, just right to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Just for the moment …… should not he first go to the neighborhood to meet the family of Fyokhtistov waiting in the car, why, should not it?
This is a clear attempt to lure Orlov out of the house – no doubt there are people outside waiting to settle scores with him!
On April 7, 1973, a year and a half after the death of his wife, Orlov also passed away in Cleveland. This last year and a half he spent in complete solitude and loneliness.
Now it is possible to call him by his real name: Lev Feldbein.
Joseph Kosinski
(End of the whole book)
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