Gerhart Eisler
Encyclopedia
Gerhart Eisler was a German
politician. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer
, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party (KPDÖ) and then a prominent member of the Communist Party of Germany
during the Weimar Republic
. His father was the philosopher Rudolf Eisler, his brother was the leftist composer Hanns Eisler
. Gerhart Eisler was married in 1919 to Hede Massing
(1900–1981). He left her in 1923 for her sister Elli Tune. Elli left him with their daughter Anna (b. 1931) in 1933, when she could no longer cope with the demands the Comintern
made on him. In 1937 he met Hilde Rothstein and they married in Queens, New York City in 1942. His first wife Hede and her third husband Paul Massing
both spied for the Soviet Union in the USA and they all kept in touch. Hede Massing later turned towards the FBI and testified against Alger Hiss
in his second trial.
From 1929 to 1931 he was a liaison between the Communist International
and the Communist Parties in China and then from 1933 to 1936 to the United States
. Time
reported in 1947 that he had made a trip to China in the late 1920s during which he earned the name "the executioner" for "purging the party of spies and dissidents".
Gerhart Eissler was charged in two trials in 1947 first with refusing to answer the HUAC, then of violating U.S. laws by misrepresenting his Communist Party affiliation on his immigration application. He was sentenced to one and three years in prison, but was soon released on caution. Newsweek
described him in its February 23, 1948, issue as the "number one Red agent". When his last legal appeal had failed he jumped bail and secretly boarded the Polish liner MS Batory
bound for London in May 1949. He was discovered by the crew only after the ship was at sea. Once in England, authorities allowed him to leave for the German Democratic Republic, where Eisler became chief of East German radio
and a leading propaganda voice for the Communist government. His wife was arrested after his escape and deported, she joined him in East Germany. After his death during an official visit in Yerevan
, Armenia
, several schools and streets in the German Democratic Republic were named in his honor. His cremation
urn was placed at the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
in Berlin.
Files from the UK National Archives released on 4 March 2008 included information about Gerhart Eisler. The MI5
summary states:
An allegation from former Communist Louis F. Budenz
that Lillian Hellman
hosted a dinner party for Eisler the night before he stowed away on the Batory was instrumental in labeling her an active Communist and in the subsequent dismissal of John F. Melby
from the U.S. State Department in 1953.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer
Ruth Fischer
Ruth Fischer was a German Communist, a co-founder of the Austrian Communist Party in 1918. According to secret information declassified in 2010, she was a key agent of the American intelligence service known as "The Pond."-Life and work:Born in Leipzig, Ruth Fischer was the daughter of the...
, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party (KPDÖ) and then a prominent member of the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
during the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. His father was the philosopher Rudolf Eisler, his brother was the leftist composer Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
. Gerhart Eisler was married in 1919 to Hede Massing
Hede Massing
Hede Massing, née "Hedwig Tune" was an Austrian actress in Vienna and Berlin, communist, and Soviet intelligence operative in Europe and the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. After the World War II, she defected from the Soviet underground...
(1900–1981). He left her in 1923 for her sister Elli Tune. Elli left him with their daughter Anna (b. 1931) in 1933, when she could no longer cope with the demands the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
made on him. In 1937 he met Hilde Rothstein and they married in Queens, New York City in 1942. His first wife Hede and her third husband Paul Massing
Paul Massing
Paul Wilhelm Massing was a German sociologist.-Biography:Born in Grumbach in the Rhine Province, he attended school in Cologne, and later studied economics and social sciences at Frankfurt University, when Franz Neumann was there and at Cologne Handelshochschule . He graduated in 1926 as a...
both spied for the Soviet Union in the USA and they all kept in touch. Hede Massing later turned towards the FBI and testified against Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
in his second trial.
From 1929 to 1931 he was a liaison between the Communist International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
and the Communist Parties in China and then from 1933 to 1936 to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
reported in 1947 that he had made a trip to China in the late 1920s during which he earned the name "the executioner" for "purging the party of spies and dissidents".
Gerhart Eissler was charged in two trials in 1947 first with refusing to answer the HUAC, then of violating U.S. laws by misrepresenting his Communist Party affiliation on his immigration application. He was sentenced to one and three years in prison, but was soon released on caution. Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
described him in its February 23, 1948, issue as the "number one Red agent". When his last legal appeal had failed he jumped bail and secretly boarded the Polish liner MS Batory
MS Batory
The M/S Batory was a large ocean liner of the Polish merchant fleet, named after Stefan Batory, the famous sixteenth-Century king of Poland....
bound for London in May 1949. He was discovered by the crew only after the ship was at sea. Once in England, authorities allowed him to leave for the German Democratic Republic, where Eisler became chief of East German radio
Broadcasting in East Germany
Rundfunk der DDR was the radio broadcasting organisation for the German Democratic Republic from 1952 until German reunification...
and a leading propaganda voice for the Communist government. His wife was arrested after his escape and deported, she joined him in East Germany. After his death during an official visit in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, several schools and streets in the German Democratic Republic were named in his honor. His cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
urn was placed at the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery , also known as the Memorial to the Socialists , is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. When the cemetery was founded in 1881 it was called the Freidrichsfelde Municipal Cemetery Berlin...
in Berlin.
Files from the UK National Archives released on 4 March 2008 included information about Gerhart Eisler. The MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
summary states:
Eisler, who was supposed by many to be the covert leader and director of the Communist Party in America during and after the Second World War, became the centre of a diplomatic incident in 1949 when, having stowed away on a Polish ship out of New York, he was forcibly removed and arrested in Southampton. This file documents the Security Service's involvement in the case. The earliest traces of Eisler in the file (KV 2/2773, 1936–1949) date from 1936, when Comintern efforts to secure a false American passport in the name of Edwards were reported. In 1947 information obtained from Eisler's former wife, Hedwiga Messing, suggested that Eisler had used this cover name in New York in 1934.
An allegation from former Communist Louis F. Budenz
Louis F. Budenz
Louis Francis Budenz was an American activist and writer, as well as a Soviet espionage agent and head of the Buben group of spies. He began as a labor activist and became a member of the Communist Party USA...
that Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
hosted a dinner party for Eisler the night before he stowed away on the Batory was instrumental in labeling her an active Communist and in the subsequent dismissal of John F. Melby
John F. Melby
John Fremont Melby was a United States diplomat, who served in Russia from 1943 to 1945 and in China from 1945 to 1948. He held other State Department positions until 1953, when he was dismissed as a security risk because of his long and intimate association with the playwright Lillian Hellman,...
from the U.S. State Department in 1953.
Sources
- Jürgen Schebera, Eisler, Eine Biographie in Texten, Bildern und Dokumenten, Schott, Mainz, 1998 [Eisler is Hanns EislerHanns EislerHanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
].