Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov ( ) (1901–1976) was a highly decorated OGPU/NKVD (KGB) Soviet security officer, best known to historians for his role in KGB operations in the United States 1942–1945. His name appears in the Venona decryptions over fifty times, often as signatory, and on his return to the Soviet Union in 1945/46, he rose to deputy chief of the KGB's 'illegal' intelligence section.
Career
Background
Akhmerov was born in Troitsk, and came from a Tatar background.
He joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1919, and attended the Communist University of the Toilers of the East and the First State University, where he graduated from the School of International Relations in 1930. The Akhmerov led ring targeted United States Communist Party members for the Kremlin's needs.
Scholars John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr report that the FBI considered Elizabeth Bentley's "Bill" to be Akhmerov.
Personal and death
Akhmerov spoke Turkish, English and French. By the artist Rim Akchurin that features the Brooklyn Bridge, symbolizing his espionage work in New York, as well as the kremlins of Moscow and Kazan.
Venona
As chief of KGB in the US during WWII, Akhmerov's name appears on many decrypted Venona documents, as does his wife. During WWII, he served as one of three major contacts for comrade Vasily Zarubin. He also ran the Perlo group of Victor Perlo, which had reported previously to Jacob Golos and Elizabeth Bentley. Cables also mention the Silvermaster group under Nathan Gregory Silvermaster.