The Man Behind the Rosenbergs [Hardcover]

Alexander Feklisov (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

The memoirs of Alexander Feklisov provide the missing links to the mystery of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were to die on the electric chair in 1953. Sixty years later, the KGB officer who handled Julius Rosenberg tells his story and clears the record once and for all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this important memoir, a former handler of spies for the Soviet Union including Julius Rosenberg, who, with his wife, Ethel, was the first American civilian to be executed for spying offers details about his work in the U.S. and a window into the world of Cold War intrigue. Feklisov provides a picture of Rosenberg familiar to those who know Soviet hagiography: Rosenberg "enjoyed excellent health," "was completely indifferent toward material things" and was generally unwilling to accept compensation from the Soviet government because he believed wholeheartedly in the cause for which he spied. But his descriptions of clandestine meetings in New York restaurants give a rare personal flavor to Cold War espionage. Feklisov criticizes the American government for executing Julius and Ethel while the British government only jailed Klaus Fuchs. (Feklisov briefly handled Fuchs, too, the German-born physicist who helped the Soviets produce the nuclear bomb by sharing secrets he learned at Los Alamos.) But insights into his work with Rosenberg and Fuchs are just part of Feklisov's story. He also guides readers on a journey through his own life, in which he ascends from an impoverished childhood in the USSR to a career in which, he claims, he played a leading role in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. Feklisov even follows the post-spy career of those Americans who worked for him and communism. This work humanizes a subject that is all too often abstract or sensationalized. Photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-It is always fascinating to get a new, first-person account of a well-known slice of history. Feklisov provides that and much more in this gripping story of his long and distinguished career as a Russian spy. He was the case officer handling the Julius Rosenberg spy ring operating in New York from 1943 to 1946, and the case officer for Klaus Fuchs in London after the war. Nuclear scientist Fuchs was the most important source of secrets concerning atomic and hydrogen bombs, and as such a major player in the delicate global balancing act known as the Cold War. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Feklisov was instrumental as a go-between for Kennedy and Khrushchev. The details of his role, and his perspective on how close the world was to unimaginable disaster, are, in a word, chilling. Teens will be familiar with some of this history, but it is unlikely that they will have heard much, if anything, from the viewpoint of a Russian. Feklisov considers the Rosenbergs and Fuchs heroes of the highest order. His reasons for this provide a history lesson that none of us, of any generation, dares to ignore. The original French title, Confession d'un agent sovietique, is more indicative of the content, and here and there the rewrite or translation is a bit clunky, but otherwise Feklisov's memoir is a compelling read.
Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Enigma Books (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929631081
• ISBN-13: 978-1929631087
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Kindly Portrait of Julius and Ethel, January 7, 2002

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man Behind the Rosenbergs (Hardcover)

There is much more to this book than the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, but it is for the Russian viewpoint of this story that I bought the book. Having read the recently published book The Brother I wanted to read this book to compare the two. Alexander Feklisov paints a kindly picture of Julius Rosenberg as being an individual who sympathized with the plight of the Jews in Germany during World War II. Julius felt the Russians bore the brunt of the fighting against Nazi Germany and he wanted to do whatever he could to help them. Since Russia was an ally of America during World War II he wanted to do what he could to be of assistance since he wasn't in the front lines fighting the Nazis. Julius comes across as a rather kindly and meek individual and a genuine friendship between him and Feklisov developed. Rosenberg's biggest contribution to Russian intelligence was in providing them with the proximity fuse in which an explosive shattered when it neared an airplane causing damage instead of having to score a direct hit on the plane. Julius's wife Ethel was aware and sympathetic of her husband's activities, but was otherwise not involved. Whether she actually did any typing of her brother's, David Greenglass', notes is still questionable. It may very well have been David's wife, Ruth. David worked at Los Alamos in a machine shop and provided what information he could on America's efforts to develop an atomic bomb, but his childish sketches of a lens was of no value according to Feklisov. David Greenglass agreed to turn against his sister and brother-in-law in exchange for immunity for his wife Ruth and a prison sentence for himself. The Rosenbergs could have fled to Russia when things got "hot", but they wanted to remain close to Ruth because she was in a hospital recovering from burns suffered in an accident. From reading this book and The Brother I conclude that the Rosenbergs' hatred was against Nazism and their treatment of the Jews and not against America. As he saw it, Julius was helping an American ally (Russia) to fight an American enemy (Germany). The book is also interesting in showing the precautions spies take in their meetings. At a time when Communism was a hot topic in the early 1950's it is questionable whether the Rosenbergs received the fairness they deserved. The book covers much more including Feklisov's role along with John Scali during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I'll limit my review to the case of the Rosenbergs since that is the part of the book I was most interested in.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially recommended for students of "Cold War" era, January 9, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Behind the Rosenbergs (Hardcover)

The Man Behind The Rosenbergs is the personal and candid memoir of Alexander Feklisov, a KGB spymaster. This fascinating, compelling account in Feklisov's own words relates his claims of a close friendship to Julius Rosenberg (whom Feklisov felt was wrongly executed) and his duty as a secret messenger who helped bring to an end the terrifying tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Especially recommended for students of "Cold War" era, The Man Behind The Rosenbergs is a revealing, gripping narrative, impossible to put down from first page to last!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Written by an unapologetic secret policeman, July 22, 2010

By 

James D. Crabtree "Doc Crabtree" (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man Behind the Rosenbergs (Paperback)

Feklisov, an NKVD agent involved in spying on America and Britain during WWII and the years immediately afterwards, has put together a book detailing his first-hand knowledge regarding Klaus Fuchs, Julius Rosenberg and other spies who helped the Soviets copy the atomic bomb. Feklisov portrays the spies in a sympathetic manner and makes the case that Rosenberg was not instrumental in the construction of a Soviet bomb and should therefore not have been executed. He paints a portrait of the spies who helped the communists as being "progressive," "interested in humanity above nationalism," "seeking solidarity with the Soviet Army which was taking the brunt of the fighting."

Yes, I suppose to people who are not students of WWII this sounds very plausible but in fact when Hitler invaded Poland he had a secret ally in Stalin, who invaded Poland from the east. NKVD agents like Feklisov murdered the majority of the Polish army officer corps in the woods of Katyn by shooting them one by one in the back of the head. And before Hitler attacked the USSR the USSR was practicing its own brand of imperialism by invading Finland (with disastrous results), Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and forcing Romania to give up Besserabia. Indeed, Stalin is rarely mentioned by Feklisov and the purges only in passing.

Communist agents who betrayed their countries on behalf of the USSR are certainly treated with kid gloves in this book. I would be interested to hear Feklisov's opinion of General Vlasov, whose Russian Liberation Army fought the Reds on the Eastern Front, or the nationalists from Estonia, Latvia, the Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia and Tartaria who opposed Soviet domination. And Feklisov seems to be genuinely surprised that the attitude in the US and Britain towards the USSR changed following the war, despite the fact that the Soviets were busy installing puppet states in eastern Europe and causing trouble in occupied Germany. This is nothing, however, to his amazement at the "spy mania" in the two countries, even as he busily handled several agents who were doing what they could to help a foreign power hostile to democracy and freedom.

Feklisov's excuses for Rosenberg fall rather flat. Julius Rosenberg saw fit to provide the Soviets with a working proximity fuze, something they had failed to develop for themselves and probably would not have had for years if not for cockroaches like him. He assisted the Soviets in radar and more importantly recruited several agents involved in the Manhatten Project. Rosenberg was asked to swear an oath to the U.S.... if he wanted to help the USSR instead he should have refused, get denied a clearance and hop on a ship to Leningrad where he would have been used as cannon fodder and earn his wish to die for communism. Instead he betrayed America and not only is it right that he be executed for treason but I'm sure there are dozens of others who should have been as well.

Despite its point of view and its warped view of the world there are some interesting bits and pieces about communist subversion which are worth wading through. Illustrated with some photos.