Cohen, Leontina Teresa

Born January 11, 1913 in a Jewish family. Her parents were emigrants from Poland .

In her youth she was a trade union activist, a member of the US Communist Party . She met her future husband Morris Cohen in New York at an anti-fascist rally in 1939 after his return from Spain. In the early 1940s, she was recruited by Soviet intelligence, following her husband.

During World War II, she was used as a liaison agent for a foreign intelligence office in New York. In accordance with instructions from Moscow, she extracted uranium samples in Canada in three months. In August 1945 he moved to the city of Albuquerque , located near the U.S. secret nuclear laboratory in Los Alamos , in which he met with a Soviet foreign intelligence informant in Los Alamos and transferred a number of valuable materials on the Manhattan project to Moscow. In 1949, together with her husband, she worked as a liaison for the Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel . In 1950, they were forced to flee to the USSR .

In 1954, the family couple was sent as radio contact agents for the illegal residence of Konon Molodoy to the UK , where during his work he transferred to the “center” a large number of important classified materials, including on missile weapons, which were highly appreciated by specialists.

As a result of the betrayal of the head of the department of operational technology of the Polish intelligence Goleniowski , recruited by the CIA , the British counterintelligence MI-5, it became known that Soviet agents were working in the country. On January 7, 1961, Konon Molody was arrested at the time of receiving information in the area of Waterloo Station. After a while, MI-5 “calculated” and arrested the Cohen spouses, who maintained contact with the intelligence officer. At the trial, Conon took all the charges on himself, denying the couple's involvement in intelligence activities, but despite the fact that the court failed to prove the involvement of the Kroger couple in work on Soviet intelligence, the British justice , to whom the American side informed the facts known to it about it , sentenced Peter to 25 years, and Helen to 20 years in prison.

In August 1969, the British authorities agreed to exchange the Cohen spouses for MI-5 agent Gerald Brook, who was arrested in the USSR, and in October the exchange took place. The couple settled in Moscow , received Soviet citizenship. Leontina Teresa Cohen continued to work in the illegal intelligence department until the last days of her life. She performed special tasks. I traveled to various European countries to organize meetings with illegal intelligence agents.

December 23, 1992 Leontina Cohen passed away. She was buried at the Novo-Kuntsevsky cemetery in Moscow.

• On June 15, 1996, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation for the successful fulfillment of special tasks to ensure state security in life-threatening conditions, the heroism and courage shown to Leontina Cohen ( posthumously ) was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation .
• For great merits in ensuring state security, the USSR was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and Friendship of Peoples .

• Antonov V.S., Karpov V.N. Secret informants of the Kremlin. Women in intelligence. - M .: Gaia Iterum, 2002 .-- 320 p. - (Declassified Lives). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-85589-011-2 .

• Cohen, Leontina Teresa (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Leontin Teresa Cohen on the SVR website
• Grave at Kuntsevo cemetery, site 10