The correspondent of "Buinsk-inform" in Novye Tinchali met with the relatives of the scout Bibiyaran Alimova and found out what connects the famous family with the village of Staroe Shaimurziino.

      On the website of the newspaper "Znamya," we talked about Bibiiaran Alimova. She is a native of Turkmenistan, who played her only role in the film "Umbar" produced by the "Uzbekfilm" studio, and from 1954 to 1966, she conducted illegal intelligence operations in Japan under the call sign "Bir."

       In the photo: Bibiiaran Alimova. Photo from the museum of the village of St. Shaimurzi. The most valuable: her father Karim Alimov is from the Buinsky district. But back then, we did not know which village he was from. The first to respond with the words "I know about Karim Alimov, he is our fellow villager" was Zauziya apa Tukhfatullova from Novye Tinchali. The family home is still "alive." Zauziya apa, a former teacher, along with her late husband, historian Rinat abiy, once created a "collective farm museum." Collecting and preserving interesting information has been a long-standing passion of the educator. In her time, she preserved an article about Bibiiaran Alimova, published in the magazine "Söyembikä." She later passed it on to Mushfika apa, the daughter of Karim's biological brother. According to Zauziya, Bibiiaran remarkably resembled Mushfika. Unfortunately, the fellow villager passed away, and the connection with the famous relatives was never restored. However, descendants of the Alimov family still live in the village – already the third generation.

       In the photo: F. Alimov. Photo by the author.

       In the photo: F. Shaidullina. Photo by the author.

       - Karim Alimov's family home in Novye Tinchali still stands. His brother Salehiddin lived there. Then his son Niyazi built another house on this territory. The old one was not demolished. Today, in Novye Tinchali, the grandchildren of grandfather Salehiddin live: teacher Fargat Alimov and Flera Shaidullina, – shared Zauziya khanym. She introduced me to both of them. Fargat is also a teacher. We caught him at school. “In our family, when older relatives gathered, the children were always sent out to play. I don’t know what secrets they had from us. Perhaps even about Bibiiaran apa. That’s why I have no information about their family," he said. Flera apa agreed to take us to the house where her grandfather Salehiddin and Karim Alimov were born.

       On this section of the street in Novye Tinchali, it seems there are only abandoned houses. There are no traces of cars or paths. Struggling through the spring wet snow, we finally approached the ancestral nest of the Alimovs.

       - Over there, behind the closed gates, stands another house. Karim abiy and my grandfather were born there. There were seven brothers in total. The house is still strong, even the windows have survived. Salehiddin babay died, and grandmother left here and passed away elsewhere. Uncle Niyazi, son of Salehiddin, lived here. But as far back as I can remember, Karim abiy did not come here, – Flera apa recounted.

       “Branch” in Starye Shaimurzi

       The Alimov family turned out to be known in the Drozhzhanov district as well. Karim Alimov's mother and Bibiiaran's grandmother were from this village. It turned out that the local museum holds rich information about this outstanding family. Among the exhibits is a newspaper article mentioning Karim Alimov's life in Turkmenistan. As the author Faniya Akhmetzyanova writes in the newspaper "Vatanım Tatarstan," he had his own shop in Ashgabat. Perhaps this was the reason for his wanderings during the Civil War: at first, he fought on the side of the "whites," and then, gathering a group, he switched to the "reds." Karim was a skilled watchmaker, having learned the craft in Krakow.

       In 2002 and 2003, Karim's daughter Bibiiaran, already elderly, came to Starye Shaimurzi. She handed over 91 documents to the museum, including photographs and books about the lives of intelligence officers. Bibiiaran also shared her story: with the onset of the Great Patriotic War, she worked as the secretary of the Komsomol organization at "Uzbekfilm." By the direction of the district Komsomol committee, through the military enlistment office, she was assigned to the NKVD troops. Thanks to her excellent knowledge of the German language, Bibiiaran was sent to the Fourth Ukrainian Front as a military translator. Her combat path stretched from Voronezh to Vienna. Communicating with German prisoners of war honed her language skills. Her service in Austria lasted until the end of 1946. Upon returning to Ashgabat to her mother, Bibiiaran Alimova soon received an invitation to Moscow. There, she underwent intensive training, mastering Chinese and Japanese languages, as well as the profession of a radio operator. Only then did she realize that she was being prepared for work in intelligence.

       In Japan, Bibiiaran operated under the call sign "Bir," while her future husband Shamil Hamzin operated under the call sign "Khalef." They continued the work of the legendary spy Richard Sorge, for which Shamil Hamzin was nicknamed the "Tatar Sorge." We will tell more about this separately. (In the photo: Zauziya Tukhfatullova, a resident of the village of Novye Tinchali, who provided immense help to the author in preparing the material)

       Ilseyar Mukhametzyanova.

      

       author

      

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       Bibiiaran Alimova, in one of her interviews, mentioned that the scene of the birth of the spy Katya in the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" was based on a story told by her husband Shamil Hamzin.

      "Before marrying me, 20:17 10.04.2026 Newspaper Znamya - Buinsk

      

       The correspondent of "Buinsk-inform" in Novye Tinchali met with the relatives of the spy Bibiiaran Alimova and found out what connects the famous family with the village of Starye Shaimurzi.

       On the website of the newspaper "Znamya," we talked about Bibiiaran Alimova. She is a native of Turkmenistan, who played her only role in the film "Umbar" produced by the "Uzbekfilm" studio, 17:54 10.04.2026 Newspaper Znamya - Buinsk