SOVIET UNION: The Life of Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge was a Soviet military intelligence officer who operated undercover as a German journalist. His reputation preceded him as a charming and suave ladies' man capable of effectively manipulating people and gathering information with intelligence.
He is primarily remembered for his exceptional service in Japan during the 1940s and for his pivotal role in halting Hitler's advance. Sorge provided crucial intelligence about the Nazi plan to attack the Soviet Union in 1941. Additionally, he informed the Soviet Union that Japan had no immediate intentions to attack. Sadly, Sorge's espionage activities were discovered, leading to his arrest in Japan. Subsequently, he endured torture, confessed under duress, stood trial, and was executed by hanging. Despite his status as one of the Soviet Union's top spies, Stalin declined to intervene in his arrest.
So, who was Richard Sorge, and what about his life inspired Ian Fleming's creation of James Bond?
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| Richard Sorge |
Richard Sorge was born on October 4, 1895, in Baku, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time and is now located in Azerbaijan. He was the youngest of eight siblings born into a wealthy family. His father, Gustav Sorge, was a German oil engineer, while his mother, Nina Semionovna Kobieleva, hailed from Russia, though she didn't speak Russian at home.
In 1898, the family relocated to Berlin after Gustav's contract with a mining company ended. However, this transition was difficult for Richard, who struggled to fit into German culture after being raised in the Caucasus region. In Berlin, Gustav pursued a career in banking.
Growing up, Richard was exposed to strong political ideologies within his family. His father held staunch imperialistic and nationalistic views, while Richard's great-uncle, Friedrich Adolf Sorge, was associated with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. For some reason, Richard mistakenly believed him to be his grandfather.
At the age of 19, Richard enlisted in the Imperial German Army in October 1914 and was initially deployed to the Western Front. He sustained injuries during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, leading to his transfer to the Eastern Front after recovery. Promoted to corporal, Richard was severely wounded again in April 1917. He suffered shrapnel injuries resulting in the loss of three fingers and a lifelong limp. He was subsequently discharged from the army due to his injuries, receiving the Iron Cross, Second Class for his bravery.
The horrors of war profoundly influenced Richard's political beliefs. This led him to shift from right-wing nationalism to embracing communism. During his recovery, he extensively studied the works of Marx, Engels, and Rudolf Hilferding, eventually becoming a devoted communist.
In August 1919, Richard obtained a doctorate in political science from the University of Hamburg. He had already joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and was actively involved in party activities in Hamburg and later in Aachen. His political affiliations cost him his teaching position and coal mining job, the latter of which he held to incite miners to protest.
Throughout his academic journey, Richard also engaged in activism and witnessed significant events like the sailors' mutiny in Kiel, which contributed to the German Revolution. Despite missing the Spartacist uprising in Berlin, he remained dedicated to leftist causes.
WORKING AS A SOVIET SPY
Sorge was recruited to work as a Soviet intelligence agent, operating under his real name and posing as a journalist while traveling to various countries to assess the potential for fomenting communist revolutions.
In the 1920s, Sorge resided in Soligen, Germany, for two years, living with Christine Gerlach. She was the former wife of Kurt Albert Gerlach, whom Sorge had previously assisted. Mr Gerlach was a wealthy and influential communist professor in Kiel. Sorge made a strong impression on Christine from their first encounter, describing it as a moment of awakening: "It was as if a stroke of lightning ran through me. In this one second something awoke in me that had slumbered until now, something dangerous, dark, inescapable..."
The couple married a year later and relocated to Frankfurt, where Sorge was tasked with gathering intelligence on the city's business community. Alongside his journalistic activities, Sorge was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Social Research, a new Marxist think tank.
In 1924, Sorge was entrusted with overseeing the security of the Soviet delegation attending the KPD's congress in Frankfurt, where he caught the attention of Osip Piatnitsky, a senior official with the Communist International, who recruited him for intelligence work. This opportunity led Sorge and his wife to move to Moscow, where he joined the International Liaison Department of the Comintern, which also served as an OGPU intelligence-gathering unit. However, Sorge's dedication to his new role strained his marriage, resulting in a swift divorce. A year later, he became a member of the Soviet Communist Party and obtained Soviet citizenship, initially working as an assistant in the information department before becoming the political and scientific secretary of the organizational department of the Marx–Engels–Lenin Institute in Moscow.
Sorge became embroiled in the power struggle following Lenin's death and Stalin's rise to power, facing accusations of supporting Stalin's opposition, Nikolai Bukharin, alongside three other German comrades. However, his career took a new turn in 1929 when he was recruited by Yan Karlovic Berzin, head of the Red Army's Fourth Department, which would later evolve into the GRU (military intelligence). This marked the beginning of Sorge's lifelong employment with the department.
In 1929, Sorge was dispatched to the United Kingdom to gather intelligence on the labor movement and the status of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Despite being instructed to avoid political involvement and maintain a low profile, he also collected information on the country's political and economic landscape. Later that year, he was sent to Germany and instructed to join the Nazi Party, explicitly prohibited from associating with communist or participating in left-wing activities. In Germany, he secured a job as a journalist with an agricultural newspaper called Deutsche Getreide-Zeitung as part of his cover.
SENT TO THE FAR EAST
In the 1930s, Sorge commenced his international espionage career in Shanghai, China. His handlers decided that he would operate under his real name, maintaining his cover as a journalist. He secured employment with the Frankfurter Zeitung and also served as an editor for a German news service. During this period, he collaborated with another agent, Max Christiansen-Clausen.
Shanghai was a pivotal city at the time, serving as a major commercial hub for trade in the region. Notably, it housed four distinct police forces that operated independently, facilitating covert activities. The British MI6 managed security in the international area, effectively detecting Communist spies. The French authorities were comparatively more lenient in terms of security measures. Additionally, there was a small Japanese sector and the local Chinese police overseeing mainland affairs. The diverse interests in Shanghai made it a breeding ground for various forms of international espionage.
During his time in Shanghai, Sorge encountered the well-known American left-wing journalist Agnes Smedley, who also worked at the Frankfurter Zeitung. Through Smedley, he met Ursula Kuczynski, also known as Agent Sonya, with whom Sorge had a romantic relationship. Some considered Sorge to be Kuczynski's true love, and their partnership marked the beginning of her illustrious espionage career. Smedley also introduced Sorge to Hotsumi Ozaki, a future recruit, and Hanako Ishii, with whom Sorge also became romantically involved.
In China, Sorge gathered intelligence regarding a new offensive launched by Chiang Kai-shek's government against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Civil War. This information was obtained from German military advisors supporting the Nationalist Kai-shek faction.
Sorge's guise as a journalist specializing in Chinese agriculture provided him with excellent cover. It allowed him to travel extensively throughout the country and establish contacts within the CCP. His assignment in China lasted two years. In December 1932, he was recalled to Moscow, having successfully expanded the Soviet intelligence network in the region while evading detection through his two established spy rings.
During his tenure in Shanghai, Sorge proved to be a highly effective agent, leveraging his charm and affability to extract valuable information from both men and women without resorting to theft. Renowned as a philanderer, his talents in espionage, particularly with women, contributed to his success.
Upon his return to Moscow, Sorge entered into his second marriage with Ekaterina (also known as Katya) Maximova and authored a book on Chinese agriculture.
SENT TO JAPAN
In May 1933, the GRU made the decision to establish Soviet roots in Japan, with the aim of creating a spy network in Tokyo. Richard Sorge was chosen for this mission and was assigned the code name "Ramsey".
The first step of the mission was for Sorge to go to Berlin and secure a job that would facilitate his relocation to Tokyo. In Berlin, Sorge wasted no time in joining the local Nazi faction. He frequented beer halls, signed up for the Nazi party, and fervently supported their ideologies. He immersed himself in propaganda, reading books like the notorious "Mein Kampf".
Sorge succeeded in convincingly portraying himself as an ardent Nazi journalist, securing positions at two newspapers: the Berliner Börsen Zeitung and the Tägliche Rundschau. These roles allowed Sorge to report from Japan, and he also contributed to the Nazi theoretical journal, Geopolitik. Even Joseph Goebbels attended his farewell dinner when Sorge departed Germany, traveling through the United States and arriving in Yokohama in August 1933.
Upon landing in Japan the following month, Sorge assumed the role of correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung, the same newspaper he had worked for in Shanghai, China. This prestigious position elevated his status as the most senior German reporter in Japan. With a reputation as a pro-Nazi journalist critical of the Soviet Union, Sorge's cover was crucial for his complex mission in Japan.
Sorge's primary objective was to establish a network of agents loyal to the Soviet Union in Japan. A challenging task given the country's lack of intelligence infrastructure, and limited support for Sorge from the Soviet Union. His mission was to carefully assess whether Japan was planning an attack on the USSR.
The biggest difference about this assignment versus the one in Shanghai was that Japan was a complete police state. There were five different authority sections that very much intermingled closely. On top of this, the expat community in the country was extremely small and obvious. It would be a hard feat for any spy to hide in plain sight!
In Japan, Sorge relied on a small group of contacts, including Max Clausen, his former colleague from China, and his wife Anna, who occasionally served as a courier. Other contacts included Hotsumi Ozaki, Branko Vukelić, a journalist for the French magazine Vu, and Miyagi Yotoku, employed by the English-language newspaper, the Japan Advertiser. Each had their own motivations for participating in the operation.
Clausen's successful business, M Clausen Shokai, which supplied blueprint machinery and reproduction services, was set up with Soviet funds and provided a valuable cover for their activities. Ozaki, with Japanese roots and a family influential in Taiwan, was disillusioned by Japanese imperialism and believed in reconstructing Japan as a socialist state. Sorge was cautioned by his superiors to avoid interactions with the underground Japanese Communist Party or the Soviet embassy in Tokyo.
Over the period of 1933 and 1934, Sorge built a network of informants, successfully establishing contact with senior politicians and obtaining valuable information on Japanese foreign policy. Ozaki became a government advisor, and even managed to develop a relationship with Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. He could provide Sorge with access to secret documentation about Japanese political affairs.
Sorge's cover as a journalist for the Frankfurter Zeitung allowed him to gain access to the German embassy and become a trusted source of intelligence on Japanese politics. He developed fluency in Japanese and a keen interest in Asian history and culture.
In Japan, Sorge cultivated a friendship with General Eugen Ott, the German attaché, and embarked on a romantic relationship with Ott's wife, Helma. Helma covertly provided Sorge with copies of her husband's reports on the Imperial Japanese Army, believing him to be working for the Nazi party. This enabled Sorge to send accurate and timely reports to Moscow. Ott's connections within the Japanese military, trained by the German military mission, further enriched Sorge's intelligence-gathering capabilities.
GATHERING MORE INFLUENCE IN TOKYO
In October 1934, Ott and Sorge embarked on a trip to visit the Japanese colony of Manchukuo. At that time, Sorge, being the Far East expert, authored a report on Manchukuo, which Ott submitted to Berlin under his own name. This report garnered considerable success in Berlin, particularly at the Bendlerstrasse and the Wilhelmstrasse, leading Ott to increasingly rely on Sorge. This collaboration forged a strong friendship between the two men.
In 1935, Sorge obtained a document from Ozaki strongly suggesting that Japan had no plans to attack the Soviet Union in 1936. Sorge correctly deduced that Japan would invade China a year later, thereby ruling out any imminent threat of a Japanese invasion of Siberia.
On February 26, 1936, a failed military coup occurred in Tokyo, resulting in the assassination of several high-level officials. Confounded by the events, the German ambassador Dirksen, Ott, and the German staff turned to Sorge for insight. Sorge authored a report attributing the coup attempt to the Imperial Way Faction in the Japanese Army, composed of young officers from rural backgrounds frustrated by the countryside's poor conditions. This report, explaining the coup, was instrumental in Dirksen's briefing to the Wilhelmstrasse, earning praise for its brilliance.
In his personal life, Sorge grappled with his own demons. He resided in a respectable part of Tokyo, but was known for heavy drinking and reckless motorcycle riding. In 1936, Hanako Ishii, a Japanese woman working as a waitress, became his common-law partner. She attempted to curb his self-destructive behaviors. An American reporter who knew Sorge described him as a playboy, seemingly contradictory to his role as a suave spy.
During his time in Japan, Stalin initiated the "Great Purge," resulting in the execution of Sorge's early GRU handlers, Berzin and Artuzov. In 1937, Sorge received orders to return to Moscow, which he ignored, citing that he was too busy and gave a credible list of reasons why he couldn't leave. This likely saved his life, as he had German citizenship and would have been a hot target for Stalin's wrath.
Meanwhile, Ott became aware of Sorge's affair with his wife but tolerated it. He recognized Sorge's value as a source of information on Japanese politics. Ott viewed Sorge's charisma and charm as natural attributes that attracted women.
In April 1938, Ott assumed the role of ambassador to Japan. He was in the habit of having daily breakfast meetings with Sorge to discuss German-Japanese relations in detail. Sorge occasionally drafted cables for Ott to send to Berlin under his own name. Ott's trust in Sorge extended to entrusting him with carrying secret messages to other German consulates.
A month later, Sorge, inebriated, had a serious motorcycle accident in Tokyo while carrying notes from Ozaki. A timely intervention by a fellow spy prevented the exposure of his cover. In 1938, Sorge reported to his superiors that Tokyo did not have plans for a general war against the Soviet Union.
During this period, the two primary sources of German intelligence were Sorge and Rudolf Von Scheliha, the First Secretary at the German embassy in Warsaw. Scheliha provided documents to the NKVD indicating Germany's intent to turn Poland into a satellite state in 1938, which ultimately led to plans for the invasion of Poland in 1939. Sorge's reports from the Eastern front suggested that Japan did not intend to escalate the border war further. However, his Soviet superiors doubted his information, criticizing him for inadequate reporting and perceived slacking in his duties.
STALIN IGNORED SORGE'S INFORMATION ON OPERATION BARBAROSSA
Rumors circulated that Sorge provided Stalin with the exact date of "Operation Barbarossa," but the Soviet leader ignored it. Historians have debunked the notion that Sorge possessed the precise date of the operation, although he did possess accurate information about it. This information was provided to him by Lieutenant-Colonel Erwin Scholl, the deputy military attaché to the German embassy. In a dispatch sent to the GRU on June 1, Sorge mentioned that the "expected start of the German-Soviet war was around June 15, based on information Lt. Colonel Scholl brought with him from Berlin... for Ambassador Ott." Stalin's response to Sorge's dispatch was indifferent: "....There's this bastard who's set up factories and brothels in Japan and even deigned to report the date of the German attack as 22 June. Are you suggesting I should believe him too?"
Despite knowing that the Germans would invade the Soviet Union, Sorge was still shocked when Operation Barbarossa commenced on June 22, 1941. He firmly believed that Stalin would demonstrate strength and push back the invaders.
In late June 1941, Sorge informed his handlers in Moscow that Ozaki had intelligence revealing that the Japanese cabinet had decided to occupy the southern half of Indochina, now Vietnam. While the invasion of the Soviet Union remained an option, Japanese Prime Minister Konoe opted for neutrality for the time being. On July 2, 1941, an Imperial Conference attended by the Japanese emperor approved all plans, including reinforcing the Kwantung army for a possible invasion of the Soviet Union.
A month later, in July 1941, Sorge reported to Moscow that German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop had instructed German Ambassador Ott to pressure the Japanese into attacking the Soviet Union. However, the Japanese remained steadfast and ultimately decided against the plan. Instead, they directed efforts toward preparing for a potential war with the United States and England in September 1941, as relayed to Sorge by Ozaki. On September 14, 1941, Sorge sent a message to Moscow firmly stating that the possibility of Japan attacking the Soviet Union had dissipated. This assessment was reinforced by Ott's admission that his efforts to persuade the Japanese had failed.
ENSNARED IN A JAPANESE TRAP
As World War II raged on, Sorge's cover grew increasingly precarious, yet he remained fiercely loyal in his service. His radio messages were encrypted using typical Soviet spy encryption methods, utilizing one-time pads that appeared as gibberish to anyone lacking the cipher key. However, the mounting number of cryptic messages raised suspicions among Japanese intelligence, suggesting the presence of a spy ring. Sorge also attracted attention in Berlin.
By 1941, the Nazis devised a trap involving SS Standartenführer Josef Albert Meisinger, infamously known as the "Butcher of Warsaw," who served as the Gestapo resident at the German embassy in Tokyo. Meisinger was tasked with getting close to Sorge to ascertain his loyalties. Displaying his characteristic charm and intelligence, Sorge befriended Meisinger through their shared weakness for alcohol. Their frequent bouts of drunkenness left a favorable impression on the Gestapo officer, who reported to Germany that Sorge was firmly devoted to the Nazis. Additionally, Meisinger informed Berlin of the close relationship between Sorge and Ott.
Meanwhile, the Japanese secret police, the Kempeitai, intercepted numerous messages. Sorge's main informant in Japanese politics, Ozaki, was captured on October 14, 1941, and promptly interrogated. As the Kempeitai shadowed Sorge, they observed Ott's wife making frequent visits to Sorge's home, with Sorge spending his final night of freedom with her.
Just four days after Ozaki's arrest, the Kempeitai apprehended Sorge on October 18, 1941. Ott received notification of Sorge's arrest in a Japanese memorandum the following day. Max Clausen was also captured simultaneously. Ott reacted with both outrage and disbelief, initially dismissing the incident as Japanese espionage paranoia. He speculated that Sorge might have been caught passing secret information on Japanese-American negotiations to the Germans. Regardless, Ott pledged to thoroughly investigate the matter. After several months, the Japanese announced that Sorge had been arrested as a Soviet Union spy.
Sorge was detained in Sugamo prison, initially believed to be an Abwehr agent by the Japanese. The Abwehr was the German military intelligence service for the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht from 1920 to 1945, yet they denied any association with Sorge. Under torture, Sorge confessed to working for the Soviet Union, although the Soviets denied his affiliation. The Japanese authorities tried three times to exchange him for a Japanese Spy, however the Soviet Union unfalteringly denied the requests all three times.
In September 1942, Sorge's wife, Katya Maximova, who remained in Russia, was arrested and sent to the gulags. The NKVD labeled her as a "German spy" due to her marriage to a German national. This was despite Sorge's status as a GRU officer. She succumbed to the harsh conditions of her captivity and died in 1943.
During his imprisonment, Hanako Ishii, Sorge's common-law wife, was his sole visitor. She feared he would implicate her in his spy ring under torture. Sorge assured her he would never betray her to the Kempeitai. Remarkably, Sorge struck a deal with the Japanese secret police, offering full disclosure in exchange for immunity for the wives of his fellow spy ring members. Ishii was never arrested.
- The Economist: A rollicking biography of Richard Sorge, a master Soviet spy
- Jacobin: The Secret Life of Communist Richard Sorge, Hitler’s Nemesis and the World’s Greatest Spy
- The New York Times: Again the Sorge Case
- Nippon.com: Tokyo Espionage: Legendary Soviet Spy Richard Sorge
- Talks at Google: An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin's Master Agent | Owen Matthews
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