The Mystery of Olga Chekhova

by Antony Beevor

In his latest work, Antony Beevor—bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Battle of Arnhem and one of our most respected historians of World War II—brings us the true, little-known story of a family torn apart by revolution and war. Olga Chekhova, a stunning Russian beauty, was the niece of playwright Anton Chekhov and a famous Nazi-era film actress who was closely associated with Hitler. After fleeing Bolshevik Moscow for Berlin in 1920, she was recruited by her composer brother Lev to become a Soviet spy—a career she spent her entire postwar life denying. The riveting story of how Olga and her family survived the Russian Revolution, the rise of Hitler, the Stalinist Terror, and the Second World War becomes, in Beevor’s hands, a breathtaking tale of survival in a merciless age.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, World War II, War, Espionage, Russia

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Sir Antony James Beevor is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War.
Educated at Abberley Hall School, Winchester College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Beevor commanded a troop of tanks in the 11th Hussars in Germany before deciding in 1970 to leave the army and become a writer. He was a visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Kent. His best-selling books, Stalingrad (1998) and Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (2002), have been acclaimed for their detailed coverage of the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany, and their focus on the experiences of ordinary people. Berlin proved very controversial in Russia because of the information it contained from former Soviet archives about the mass rapes carried out by the Red Army in 1945.
Beevor's works have been translated into many languages and have sold millions of copies. He has lectured at numerous military headquarters, staff colleges and establishments in Britain, the US, Europe, and Australia. He has also written for many major newspapers.

Reviews

[Nastja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Удивителен, конечно, этот внешний взгляд на Россию даже самого дотошного не-русского исследователя, который, хоть и понимает разницу между всеми этими уменьшительными именами, и не путается в отчествах, однако же все равно видит русское в обыденном, и вот уже Baba Книппер, переезжая в Берлин, тащит с собой иконы и русский хаос, преследуемая метафорой про медведицу.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Mucho misterio, sí, y alguno por encima del correspondiente a Olga.-

Género. Historia (pero diferente a lo que Beevor suele ofrecer, quedan avisados).

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro El misterio de Olga Chejova (publicación original: The Mistery of Olga Chekhova, 2004) es un acercamiento al ocaso de la Rusia imperial, al crecimiento de la URSS, a la Segunda Guerra Mundial y a algunos de sus protagonistas principales de la mano de la familia Knipper y la familia Chejov, con Olga Chejova como eje conductor (y sólo a ratos).

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mystery of Olga Chekhova turned out not to be particularly mysterious and for this I definitely subtract points. Olga Chekhova, a White Russian actress, doubly related by marriage to Anton Chekhov, ended up as a star of the German film industry in the 1920s and 1930s (she even made a German version of a Hitchcock film) and as a minor favorite of Nazi Party leaders like Hitler and Goebbels. After the war, she continued to live in East Germany, so the "mystery" is whether she was a Soviet spy, and the "answer" is that of course she was, or with her background, she would have been dead or in a Gulag post-1945. (And her brother, Lev Knipper, was definitely a Soviet agent, so there's no mystery on that score either.)

The book itself was best when discussing the privations of post-Revolution Russia in the early 1920s; otherwise, the material on Nazi Germany was nothing new, and given that the central premise of the book (that there was a mystery surrounding Olga Chekhova's activities) was so thin, this seemed as if it would have worked better as a long essay in a historical journal rather than as a book-length piece of nonfiction.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointingly light study of a possible soviet spy in Nazi Germany. Though written in Anthony Bee it’s usual accessible style, this book is light on detail and specifics. The lack of referencing that so often comes from popular history is all the more frustrating here. This reads more like a potted biography than a detailed study.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antony Beevor is a master historian - his book on the fall of Berlin in 1945 is absolutely riveting. Compared to such previous works, this book is a minor achievement, but it is an enjoyable one nevertheless, mostly because the tale that unfolds is totally improbable - and yet completely true. Olga Chekhova, niece of the great Chekhov, survived the Russian revolution, emigrated to Berlin, became an actress, found celebrity and wealth as a famous movie star, and ended up as one of the goddesses of the Nazi era cinema - a dubious achievement that is counterbalanced by a stunning fact: she also was a spy for the Soviet Union. Her story is fascinating, and Beevor tells it in a fast-paced way, mixing it with the story of the Chekhov clan in the USSR (which is, on its own, as bizarre and convoluted as Olga's story). One wishes that Beevor had spent more time on all those characters, though - obviously he knows what he's talking about, but he seems to rush from one episode to another, and leaves the reader a bit frustrated: more details, more facts, more in-depth analysis (on Olga's career, on her secret activities - we never really know what kind of work she truly did as a spy- or on the condition of an artist under the Nazis, for example) would have been more than welcome. In a way, it feels often as if this book is a summary of the book it could have been. Yet, if only because of its wonderful cast of characters, and of the numerous intertwined stories that unfold in ways that a novelist would not dare invent, it is a very pleasant read.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason I read as much of this book as I did was because it was Anthony Beevor and although that means the book is well written it doesn't mean it is worth reading. I was going to award this book three stars out of respect for Mr. Beevor but have decieded to go with gut instincts and award one star and will explain why.

The first problem with this book is that the amount of real information on Olga Chekhova while certainly more than what would fill a postcard is nowhere near enough to fill a book. The information we have on her 'spying' activities would barely fill the acreage of a postage stamp. Basically there is no real evidence and if anything ever comes from the archives it won't reveal her as another Mata Hari (but then even Mata Hari was no Mata Hari). The book is packaged to present her as one of those femme fatal agents influence gathering tit bits, or maybe pillow talk?, from her association with Hitler.

Of course Olga Chekhova had no relations with Hitler of any substance. Hitler had no relations with women like Chekhova, she was way too sophisticated, something Hitler was not and didn't like in anyone, particularly women. You don't choose mistresses like Geli Raubal and Eva Brown as well as a woman Chekhova.

That doesn't mean the Soviet security didn't make use of her, she had family living in the Soviet Union including a brother who definitely was a Soviet agent, but that was true of any emigre Russian. If there was a book worth writing it might have been about the complexities of the relationship between emigre Russians and the Soviet State which were far more complex, and interesting, than our cliched view of exiled white generals as taxi drivers in Paris and aristrocats bemoaning the loss of their estates in seedy bistros. The example of the great scholar Prince D. S. Mirsky who returned to Russia in 1932 and died in 1939 in a labour camp is reading up on. He had a perfectly adequate life as an emigre academic but he couldn't live away from the land of his birth. If Mr. Beevor had used Olga Chekhova and the broader Chekov family to look at the issue of survival in the Soviet Union, emigration, the use that the Soviet intelligence service made of these people, etc. then you might have had a book worth reading. The parts of the book that deal with Chekov's widow and his siblings is by far the most interesting part of the book.

Unfortunately it gets lost by the great 'Hitler's favorite actress was a Russian spy' non story. I cannot help thinking that this was an idea for a book that didn't pan out. There was only enough information for an article so it was padded out.

Not a good book and, what is worse, an opportunity missed.

[Stephen Hackney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am having difficulty progressing in my reading because, quite frankly, the protagonist of the story, Ms. Olga Chekhova, is simply not a person that I find any empathy for, nor real interest in her life. The cast of characters around her, including Der Fuhrer, help keep my interest alive, but I have been dividing my reading time with other more fascinating topics and characters. I will finish this book (because that's the way I am), but not today or tomorrow.

November 18, 2015
I finished this book. I'm not really recommending this book . . . unless you are interested, peripherally, in the 'peripheral' manner in which the author mixes the protagonist with such names as Anton Chekhov, Lavrenti Beria, Stalin, Adolph Hitler, and a host of Olga's lovers. There was really very little character development. The reader is never really provided in-depth background to several of the other principal figures in Olga's life. The author continuously 'hints' that Olga works for the NKVD, suggests by circumstance, but never really verifies this role. There are moments, and tidbits of historical interest, e.g.: with Olga coming to Hollywood in the mid-1930s to star in a couple of movies . . . but with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich preceding her, Hollywood had little need for another European actress with a heavy accent; or, Olga's brother, Lev, who was an NKVD operative, sort of, who associated with such actual NKVD heavyweights as Pavel Sudoplatov (responsible for Trotsky's assasination, and so much more). But in the end, I just wasn't interested in Olga's biography, her exploits, or her life, in general.

[Ming Wei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of suspence, a typcial spy novel based in war time, the author creates a story that is very interesting, Well written, no editorial errors, despite the concept of spys in wartime being used many times over the years, this book as a fresh feel to it, the story keeps you interested right to the end. Worth reading!!!

[Mari Pacheco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um bom livro de espionagem, cheio de reviravoltas, que eu simplesmente devorei em dois dias. Não sei porque Hollywood ainda não fez um filme baseado nessa história, mas eles deveriam: daria uma excelente adaptação para o cinema.
O livro aborda um lado mais voltado para relação entre a Rússia e a Alemanha, principalmente, o que é sempre bem vindo, e o autor não poupa especulações sobre uma rede de espionagem que durou quase uma década e envolveu vários membros da mesma família.
Acredito que tenha faltado mais detalhes, e histórias mais precisas, o que me deixou um pouquinho decepcionada e me impediu de considerar a leitura como cinco estrelas; mas no geral, recomendo o livro, especialmente se você tiver uma afinidade por histórias sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial.

[Josh Bennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Amazing family drama story set against a back drop of incredible history.

A bit of a 180 from the typical battle reports written by Beevor, but I loved it.

[Rayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book. I loved reading about the Moscow Theater and all of the people that worked there and their adventures and trips abroad. The description of the book led me to believe that Olga was a spy, but there wasn't much about it. What exactly did she do? It tells more about what Lev did than anything else. But I read the book because I was interested in the theater, not the spying, and this has so much information on it. It was especially thrilling to read about where they lived and worked in Moscow and then to actually walk the streets and see it all. I love the history of this book, I love the theater in this book, and I love the women in this book---they were fierce!!! The writing was fluid and easy to follow. It was fast paced and a delight to read. It took me two days to read this, I just couldn't put it down. Thank you for writing about other members of the Chekov family---they were a unique bunch!

[David Lowther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antony Beevor is best known as the writer of brilliant military histories like Stalingrad, Berlin The Downfall, Ardennes and the Second World War. The Mystery of Olga Checkova shows he is equally adept at biography as he unravels the amazingly complex life of Chekov's niece whom we first meet in pre Revolutionary Russia and then during the early years of Communism. She will best be remembered as a major star of the Nazi cinema and the West post-German film industry. But above all she was an NKVD spy, or was she?

Beevor writes superbly but, more than anything, he paints a picture of the wider Chekov family in which each is so easily recognisable despite the usual difficulties of keeping track with complex Russian names which he cleverly avoids.

You couldn't make it up!

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen and Two Families at War, all published by Sacristy Press.

[Mauro Martone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Beevor, but confess that I found this a little hard to get into. It starts as a detailed history of the Chekov clan etc and doesn't really get into Olga and her spying until years later. White Russia before the revolution and red Russia thereafter, wasn't really what I was expecting here, but it does get into the WWII spying later and becomes somewhat more palatable. In the end though, I thought there wasn't enough on Olga's spying or what she was really up to. Imagine picking up a book on James Bond and finding a well written history of the Bond family running back into the Edwardian era, but very little on ejector seats, dagger shoes, or underwater cars.

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review published in the NZ Herald, 17 July 2004
"Giddy saga of family ties"

Popular at last year's Auckland Writers' Festival, Antony Beevor is well-known for his best-selling war histories (including Stalingrad and Berlin), and he puts his intimate knowledge of wartime Russia and Germany to further use in this biography.
The title is somewhat misleading as this book is not just about Olga Chekhova, although she certainly provides much interest and speculation: was this charming film star with a string of younger lovers also a Russian spy? Rather, Beevor follows the fates and fortunes of two intermarried families during the two world wars: the Russian Civil War and Stalin's purges.
Anton Chekhov, the playwright, married Olga Knipper (known to the family as Aunt Olya), an actress at the Moscow Art Theatre. The Chekhov and Knipper families became doubly linked when Aunt Olya's niece, also called Olga, married Chekhov's nephew Misha. This precocious and spontaneous elopement dissolved fairly quickly, but Olga inherited the Chekhov name, further cementing her connection with Russia's revered playwright.
Although born and bred in Russia, Olga Chekhova returned to her Knipper family's German roots by moving to Berlin in 1920. She passed herself off as an actress (benefiting from having the same name as her aunt), and became famous in Europe as a film star. Her charm and elegance ensured her a place in Berlin high society, and she was invited to receptions hosted by Nazi leaders, including Goebbels and Hitler.
Chekhova had to walk a tightrope of diplomacy, as she was suspected of spying by both the Germans and the Russians. Beevor tries to solve the mystery of her connections with Russian intelligence. Throughout the book, he refers to Olga Chekhova's own memoir, I Conceal Nothing, as frequently fanciful and sometimes factually incorrect.
The Chekhovs and Knippers were educated and wrote frequently, even between warring countries. Excerpts from their correspondence reveal the deep and enduring feelings of family members for each other.
The letters are surprisingly frank, given the censorship of the Stalinist regime and the ever-present possibility of being arrested and shot or sent to the gulag for anti-revolutionary sentiment. Beevor also describes the changing fortunes of the Moscow Art Theatre and the repression of writers and artists during the Stalinist period. It is remarkable that, by and large, the Knipper-Chekhov family escaped the brutality of the time, although they were reduced to burning books and furniture for warmth, and suffered from lack of food.
The book is sprinkled with names from the period: Stanislavsky, for instance, who was director at the Moscow Art Theatre, and probably best remembered as the inventor of "method acting", which was taken to Hollywood by Olga Chekhova's erstwhile husband Misha. There's even a surprise cameo appearance by a young Elvis Presley.
Full of events and characters, this well-researched saga left me giddy, wishing I had more background knowledge so my head wasn't reeling with names and dates. But the story really comes alive when Beevor zooms in on the simple details of daily life, when he recounts anecdotes that show the humanity and the bond of these families and how they survived war, repression and loss.

[Cerisaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An enjoyable and informative account of the life of Russian-German actress Olga Chekhova, described by admirer Goebbels in his Diaries as "a charming lady". She was the niece of Anton Chekhov's wife Olga, also an actress- this caused some difficulty for the younger Olga after the war when her aunt was given recognition for lifetime achievement by Stalin.

The 'mystery', however, isn't exactly mysterious so the title raises unfulfilled expectations, which soured my reaction to the book. Olga left Russia in the wake of the Revolution, for Germany, where she made a name as an actress on stage and then, with great success, in films during the Weimar years and Hitler's Reich. That she was able to leave Russia easily, maintain close ties with family & friends left behind, and travel back & forth, implies some level of cooperation with Soviet authorities, ie. that she was a spy. Her contacts with Goebbels and other prominent Nazis, including Hitler himself, were, of course, useful to Stalin and his secret police. Olga was neither Communist nor Nazi, however. She was a survivor, a pragmatist, willing to do anything to safeguard herself and those dear to her. So, yes, she was a spy.

How important is more open to question. Some documentary evidence has never been released and maybe never will, but Beevor reckons there's little doubt. No mystery! Still, if you're interested in the period as I am you will probably enjoy Olga's story. Her early life and then experience of Revolutionary upheaval as one of the Bourgeois elite, relocation to Berlin in the heady Weimar days of Cabaret, courting Nazis including Propaganda minister Goebbels to report back to her Soviet handlers. That she survived both Totalitarian regimes says everything in her favour.

A remarkable and colourful life that would make a great film.

[John Mahony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mystery of Olga Chekhova — Antony Beevor 2004
 
Olga Chekhova was the niece of Anton Chekhov’s wife Olga Knipper-Chekhova.  At the age of eighteen she married the actor and theatrical theorist Michael Chekhov only to find that he was a hopeless drunkard.
 
When the Revolution occurred, Olga headed for Germany posing as a mute peasant but with a valuable diamond ring hidden under her tongue.  She had undoubted acting ability and became a popular film star in Germany.  She had a mature beauty which appealed to the Nazis, including Hitler and Goebbels.  Himmler had his doubts about her but she still became a much loved Actress of State.
 
During the Second WorldWar, Olga’s brother Lev became a Soviet agent and recruited Olga.  It is not made clear how much useful spying she actually did, but after the War she was feted by the Communists and Stalin allowed her more-or-less free passage between east and west whenever she liked.  She wrote a book, I Conceal Nothing, which purported to tell the truth about her exploits and she became a businesswoman running a successful cosmetics company.
 
There are many interesting events surrounding the main story.  These include: the mistrust of the Tsarina and the members of Court with Germanic surnames; the Moscow theatrical clique trying to ignore the incipient Revolution; the bourgeoisie having to sell their belongings to survive the Revolution; and the demobilised soldiers and deserters roaming the Moscow streets.  

Beevor writes with outstanding vividness.

[Susan The Book Dragon Campton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Mystery Monday’s Gem is a bit different. There is no single murder, suspect or detective.

This is the true story of an extremely brave and cunning woman. A woman who managed to: survive the Russian Revolution, it’s civil war, the rise of Hitler ( who was one of her biggest fans), the Stalinist Terror, the Nazi Invasion of Russia and went on to lead a fairly normal life for the time and place she lived, Soviet Russia. Who is this Mystery Woman? Olga Chekhova, the niece of the great Playwright, Anton Chekhov.

Her life itself, reads like a WWII Hollywood movie. Running away from her home in Russia, in her teens, to escape starvation, she plays up the Chekhov name and association to land a small part in a Silent Film. She is destined for greatness.

Then her brother is put to work for the NKVD, Soviet Intelligence. After the start of WWII Olga begins begins spying for them, too. She is beautiful and a brilliant actress, and uses these talents to say the Nazis. It is a dangerous game, betrayal, a slight mistake can only buy her time and death in a Nazi Concentration Camp or frostbite and death in a Gulag. There can be no mistakes.

She is fascinating, often later downplaying her role in the defeat of the Nazis.

If you have never met Olga Chekhova, get this book and meet her today, unravel the mystery that is she.

I purchased this book for my personal library.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd accident of history--Chekhov's niece (after a brief marriage to one of his nephews by marriage) wound up having a film career in Germany. Hitler apparently loved movies and seems at least at one point to have appreciated her. Her closer association was with the womanizing Goebbels.

Anthony Beevor does not spend a lot of time on the film career, which could have been interesting. However pedestrian most of the films might have been, they might have been related to German propaganda machine.

Probably the most riveting part is the disintegration of Russia during and after World War I. I espected more detail about Olga Chekhova's travails as the Red Army closed in, but, as Beevor notes, her memories and memoirs are as self-serving as most, embellishing or diminishing her role as the moment requires. One humorous note is a couple of efforts by one of the Soviet intelligence agencies (Stalin, ever the paranoid, divided them up) to involve her in espionage and assassination plots with her cousin Lev, a one-time White officer who cozied up to the system. It really reads like comic opera, or perhaps Graham Greene's "The Comedians." Perhaps that comically inept paranoia of the Soviets explains their inability to figure out that Hitler was after them after all.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, firstly, the title is a bit misleading. In terms of mystery there is about as much as what would shroud anyone’s life story. This account of the life of Olga Chekhov’s and her family is mildly interesting. I will admit that the book does shed some light and background into the operations of the NKVD and the Nazi elite circle but the supposed links lack tenability and the arguments are more hearsay than factual. The composition of the story (albeit always difficult in recounts of history) jumps to various relations of Olga to give context but the family tree is difficult to keep track of and causes this book to lack continuity. To conclude, I have enjoyed multiple recounts of history from Anthony Beevor and to justice to his other books I need to lower my rating of this one. Perhaps a difficult story to bring to life and unfortunately Anthony hasn’t been able to revive this one as much as he has been able to do with previous topics.

[Margarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book - a fascinating set of historical figures at a fascinating time. I got the book at the Hay Festival this past year. Of course Beevor best excels at descriptions of societal backgrounds during wars and revolutions. You get a feeling that he may not have had all the documents needed to uncover the guises of the spy-actress Olga Chekhova, but his attempt to still try and do so is commendable, given the importance of the Chekhov family and Malyi theatre in Russian culture, no matter what side of history one is in. It is a fascinating story of cultural connections bigger than enemy regimes, enmeshed with politics, money and sheer grit to survive.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read Beevor at his best — Stalingrad and Berlin remain two of the finest wartime histories I’ve come across, where his military background and disciplined prose truly shine.

But that strength becomes a weakness here. In The Mystery of Olga Chekhova, his language turns oddly hectic and point-driven, stripping the biography of the depth and nuance a cultural figure like Chekhova deserves.

The idea itself is intriguing, but the execution never quite lives up to it.
And as for the ‘mystery’ promised in the title — that’s an entirely different matter, and one the author can hardly be blamed for.

[Ana Libros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha encantado este libro no tenía ni idea de quién era Olga chejova una superviviente, creo que si hay un misterio y eso lo plantea el libro, que hizo la chejova para que se la protegiera tanto en medio de purgas, ejecuciones de unos y otros, en la era Stalin? murio stalin, echaron a Beria y ella como una rosa pasando del berlin occidental al oriental sin problema ella y su familia, eso es lo que me intriga, que hizo que nada la tocara en ese mundo? de traiciones y paranoia.?

[Jose Alves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito interessante !!! Relato da vida e atribulações de Olga, sobrinha de Anton Checkov, estrela de cinema do III Reich e agente da URSS. Retrato dos tempos da sociedade russa desde a Revolução até ao fim fa era de Stalin.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

well research history,get an copy of the book if you can.

[Diego Crespo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nada que ver con lo que suele ofrecer Beevor, pero un libro entretenido, y menos "académico" que el resto de su obra

[Strider · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a lengthy article and that's it.
And too many persons called Olga Chekhov.

[Sarah Ingram · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty impressive to take a really interesting story and turn it into something dull. Shame.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic Beevor story

[Joaquim Alvarado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llibre interessant a estones, potser excessivament dispers i mancat de ritme, que dóna a conèixer al gran públic la figura d'Olga Chejova, actriu russa emigrada a Alemanya el 1920 que arribà a ser l'actriu preferida del Reich, mentre paral·lelament feia tasques d'espionatge pels soviètics. Aquesta figura és l'eix central, però Beevor també analitza, amb major o menor intensitat, els altres membres de la família Knipper-Chejov, i esmenta molt de passada al final el que potser era el principal objectiu del seu treball: l'anàlisi de les relacions socials i humanes entre Alemanya i Rússia, dos països amb veleitats imperialistes, unes relacions d'amor i odi que van afectar el destí d'Europa Central i Oriental.

[Emma Richler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery indeed. The esteemed Antony Beevor is extremely fine at military history, but perhaps not so successful at biography if this comparatively slight book is anything to go by? The story largely concerns what is fabled of the German/Russian actress Olga Chekhova. It tells us what is untrue, half-true and vaguely possible in the doings and sayings of the maybe NKVD agent. I learn little about her in the end, though I can attest I do not much like her. She strikes me as vain and opportunistic and self-serving and dimly talented. Not the most compelling work from the mighty Beevor.