Hede Massing
Encyclopedia
Hede Massing, née "Hedwig Tune" (AKA "Hede Eisler," "Hede Gumperz," and "Redhead") (6 January 1900 – 8 March 1981) was an Austria
n 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. She came to prominence by testifying in the second case of Alger Hiss
in 1949; later, she published accounts about the underground.
father and Austrian mother in Vienna
. Her parents' unhappy marriage (caused in large part by her father's constant philandering) alienated her from her family. She had a brother, Walter, seven years younger and sister, Elli, nine years younger. After finishing high school, she apprenticed unhappily and unsuccessfully in a millinery shop. Attendance of summer public lectures by Karl Kraus
rekindled her interest in literature. She applied for and received a scholarship for dramatic literature at the Burgtheater
that eventually led to her external career as an actress. Entering the cafe, literary scene (her Stammtisch was at Cafe Herrenhof
), she met Peter Altenberg
, Elizabeth Bergner, Franz Werfel
, Albert Ehrenstein
—and her first husband, Gerhart Eisler
. Eisler invited her to join his Communist-committed life by leaving her family and coming to live with him at his parents' home in a party marriage. In 1920, when Eisler received an invitation to work in Berlin
, the two got a civil marriage
in December 1920.
Berlin: Massing and Eisler left Vienna for Berlin early in January 1921 so Eisler could accept a position as editor
of Rote Fahne. He rose rapidly in the ranks of the German Communist Party ("KPD" in German), where his sister Ruth Fischer
was a communist member of the German Reichstag
. Massing pursued her acting career while living a domestic life amidst the top leadership of the KPD. Their different careers often led them to live apart; they drifted apart when Massing moved into the Berlin suburbs during a prolonged illness. There she met Julian Gumperz
and began living with him in 1924 in the Lichterfelde West
district. Gumperz ran Malik
Verlag, an early publisher of paperback
books in Europe. Massing brought her younger sister to live with them and finish her schooling. When Eisler came to live with the Massing and Gumperz after the economic collapse in Weimar Germany, he and Elli became lovers and then married. Meantime, by 1925, Gumperz became head of "all the German Communist party publishing" but quit in 1926 out of dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union
, to which he had been traveling frequently on business (This Deception, p. 55).
New York: Massing and Gumperz traveled to the United States
in August 1926. Arriving in New York City
, they socialized with their American communist counterparts. They met Kenneth Durant, Mike Gold
, and Helen Black (representative of the Soviet Photo Agency and in 1931 contributing editor to the New Masses when Whittaker Chambers began submitting short stories). They traveled to Mill Valley, CA
, then traveled to Los Angeles
and Pasadena
(where Gumperz met Upton Sinclair
) before returning to New York. Money began running out. Mike Gold got Massing a job in Pleasantville
, NY, at an orphanage
; there, Massing first became interested in Freud
and human behavior. Meantime, Gumperz decided to return to Germany
to write his doctorate at the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt am Main. Before doing so, the two married in December 1927—US citizenship would save her life in Moscow in 1938.
Frankfurt: They returned to Germany (Frankfurt am Main), where Gumperz became an economist with the Frankfurt School
, and separated soon after. Hede Massing went to live with Paul Massing
. Richard Sorge
recruited Hede Massing for the Soviet Intelligence
, where she worked under Ludwig (Ignatz Reiss).
Moscow: [forthcoming]
New York: Both Massings later were members of the NKVD
apparatus and in the USA worked under the direction of a Soviet officer, Fred (Boris Bazarov
), based in New York. Hede Massing was assigned several duties, including that of a courier
between the United States and Europe.
Washington: However, her most important duty was that of an agent recruiter, a work she carried out with great skill. She used appeals to ideology, especially to the strong anti-Nazi
sentiments of New Deal
liberals who dominated the Washington
scene of the Roosevelt
administration in the early 1930s. Laurence Duggan
was among her recruits. In 1935, Massing, at a Communist Party USA
cell meeting in a private home, argued with Alger Hiss
over whether Noel Field
, a State Department
spy, should work with her group or with the GRU. Massing testified to that episode at Alger Hiss
' second trial in November 1949. Noel Field always denied this, but it seems clear that he changed his testimony more than once, depending on time and circumstance (e.g., Hiss Case vs. Czechoslovak show trial venues vs. prison).
Whittaker Chambers
reported to Valentin Markin
separately from Massing. Alger Hiss
was reporting to Chambers when Hiss and Massing met over dinner to discuss the recruitment of Noel Field
.
Massing died of emphysema
in her home on Washington Square
in New York City on Sunday, March 8, 1981.
trials.
Her intelligence work only ended with the war and in 1947 she came clean and testified at the second trial of Alger Hiss.
Members of the Redhead group in the Gorsky Memo:
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n actress in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, communist, and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
intelligence operative in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 1930s and 1940s. After the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she defected from the Soviet underground. She came to prominence by testifying in the second case of 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 1949; later, she published accounts about the underground.
Life
Vienna: Massing was born in 1900 to a PolishPoles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
father and Austrian mother in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Her parents' unhappy marriage (caused in large part by her father's constant philandering) alienated her from her family. She had a brother, Walter, seven years younger and sister, Elli, nine years younger. After finishing high school, she apprenticed unhappily and unsuccessfully in a millinery shop. Attendance of summer public lectures by Karl Kraus
Karl Kraus
Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is regarded as one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian...
rekindled her interest in literature. She applied for and received a scholarship for dramatic literature at the Burgtheater
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...
that eventually led to her external career as an actress. Entering the cafe, literary scene (her Stammtisch was at Cafe Herrenhof
Café Hawelka
Café Hawelka is a coffeehouse in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna located at Dorotheergasse 6.The Café Hawelka was opened by Leopold Hawelka in 1939. Hawelka had previously operated the Kaffee Alt Wien on Bäckerstraße since 1936 and together with his wife Josefine took over the Café Ludwig in...
), she met Peter Altenberg
Peter Altenberg
Peter Altenberg was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He was key to the genesis of early modernism in the city.-Biography:...
, Elizabeth Bergner, Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
, Albert Ehrenstein
Albert Ehrenstein
Albert Ehrenstein was an Austrian-born German Expressionist poet. His poetry exemplifies rejection of bourgeois values and fascination with the Orient, particularly with China. He spent most of his life in Berlin, but also travelled widely across Europe, Africa, and the Far East...
—and her first husband, Gerhart Eisler
Gerhart Eisler
Gerhart Eisler was a German politician. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party and then a prominent member of the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar Republic...
. Eisler invited her to join his Communist-committed life by leaving her family and coming to live with him at his parents' home in a party marriage. In 1920, when Eisler received an invitation to work in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the two got a civil marriage
Civil marriage
Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
in December 1920.
Berlin: Massing and Eisler left Vienna for Berlin early in January 1921 so Eisler could accept a position as editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
of Rote Fahne. He rose rapidly in the ranks of the German Communist Party ("KPD" in German), where 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...
was a communist member of the German Reichstag
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
. Massing pursued her acting career while living a domestic life amidst the top leadership of the KPD. Their different careers often led them to live apart; they drifted apart when Massing moved into the Berlin suburbs during a prolonged illness. There she met Julian Gumperz
Julian Gumperz
Julian Gumperz was a United States-born German sociologist, communist activist, publicist, and translator.-Institute for Social Research:...
and began living with him in 1924 in the Lichterfelde West
Lichterfelde West
Lichterfelde West is part of Lichterfelde in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough of Berlin. It was developed from 1860 through 1900 by a wealthy businessman Carstenn from Hamburg and is a remarkable example of 19th-century Villenkolonie, a German concept of settlements completely made up of mansion...
district. Gumperz ran Malik
Malik
Malik is an Arabic word meaning "king, chieftain".It has been adopted in various other, mainly Islamized or Arabized, Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere. It is also sometimes used in derived meanings...
Verlag, an early publisher of paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
books in Europe. Massing brought her younger sister to live with them and finish her schooling. When Eisler came to live with the Massing and Gumperz after the economic collapse in Weimar Germany, he and Elli became lovers and then married. Meantime, by 1925, Gumperz became head of "all the German Communist party publishing" but quit in 1926 out of dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, to which he had been traveling frequently on business (This Deception, p. 55).
New York: Massing and Gumperz traveled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in August 1926. Arriving in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, they socialized with their American communist counterparts. They met Kenneth Durant, Mike Gold
Mike Gold
Michael "Mike" Gold is the pen-name of Jewish American writer Itzok Isaac Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist and literary critic, his semi-autobiographical novel Jews Without Money from 1930 was a bestseller.- Biography :Gold was born Itzok Isaac Granich on April 12, 1894 on the...
, and Helen Black (representative of the Soviet Photo Agency and in 1931 contributing editor to the New Masses when Whittaker Chambers began submitting short stories). They traveled to Mill Valley, CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, then traveled to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
(where Gumperz met Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
) before returning to New York. Money began running out. Mike Gold got Massing a job in Pleasantville
Pleasantville
Pleasantville may refer to:Canada*Pleasantville, Newfoundland and Labrador*Pleasantville, Nova ScotiaUSA*Pleasantville, Indiana*Pleasantville, Iowa*Pleasantville, New Jersey*Pleasantville, New York*Pleasantville, Ohio...
, NY, at an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
; there, Massing first became interested in Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
and human behavior. Meantime, Gumperz decided to return to Germany
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...
to write his doctorate at the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt am Main. Before doing so, the two married in December 1927—US citizenship would save her life in Moscow in 1938.
Frankfurt: They returned to Germany (Frankfurt am Main), where Gumperz became an economist with the Frankfurt School
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
, and separated soon after. Hede Massing went to live with 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...
. Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge was a German communist and spy who worked for the Soviet Union. He has gained great fame among espionage enthusiasts for his intelligence gathering during World War II. He worked as a journalist in both Germany and Japan, where he was imprisoned for spying and eventually hanged....
recruited Hede Massing for the Soviet Intelligence
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
, where she worked under Ludwig (Ignatz Reiss).
Moscow: [forthcoming]
New York: Both Massings later were members of the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
apparatus and in the USA worked under the direction of a Soviet officer, Fred (Boris Bazarov
Boris Bazarov
Boris Bazarov was a Soviet secret police officer who served as the chief illegal rezident in New York City from 1935 until 1937.-Early years:...
), based in New York. Hede Massing was assigned several duties, including that of a courier
Courier
A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...
between the United States and Europe.
Washington: However, her most important duty was that of an agent recruiter, a work she carried out with great skill. She used appeals to ideology, especially to the strong anti-Nazi
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
sentiments of New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
liberals who dominated the Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
scene of the Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
administration in the early 1930s. Laurence Duggan
Laurence Duggan
Laurence Duggan , was head of the South American desk at the United States Department of State during World War II. In 1948, Duggan fell to his death from the window of his office in New York, ten days after being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about whether he had had contacts...
was among her recruits. In 1935, Massing, at a Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
cell meeting in a private home, argued with 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...
over whether Noel Field
Noel Field
Noel Field , was an American citizen. While employed at the United States Department of State in the 1930s, he was a Soviet spy...
, a State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
spy, should work with her group or with the GRU. Massing testified to that episode at 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...
' second trial in November 1949. Noel Field always denied this, but it seems clear that he changed his testimony more than once, depending on time and circumstance (e.g., Hiss Case vs. Czechoslovak show trial venues vs. prison).
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
reported to Valentin Markin
Valentin Markin
Valentin Markin was the chief illegal rezident and director of the espionage operations of the Soviet Union in the United States from 1933 to 1934...
separately from Massing. 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...
was reporting to Chambers when Hiss and Massing met over dinner to discuss the recruitment of Noel Field
Noel Field
Noel Field , was an American citizen. While employed at the United States Department of State in the 1930s, he was a Soviet spy...
.
Massing died of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in her home on Washington Square
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
in New York City on Sunday, March 8, 1981.
Defection
Massing said in her memoir that she had left the Soviet intelligence apparatus in the late 1930s after a period of disillusionment with her Russian handlers and the StalinistMoscow Trials
The Moscow Trials were a series of show trials conducted in the Soviet Union and orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of the 1930s. The victims included most of the surviving Old Bolsheviks, as well as the leadership of the Soviet secret police...
trials.
Her intelligence work only ended with the war and in 1947 she came clean and testified at the second trial of Alger Hiss.
Redhead group
The cover name "Redhead" appears in Venona as an unidentified person in a context that suggests that it was Hede Massing, and she was identified as Massing in Robert L. Benson's The Venona Story (on page 36).Members of the Redhead group in the Gorsky Memo:
- Hede Massing, journalist
- Paul MassingPaul MassingPaul 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...
, Institute for Social ResearchInstitute for Social ResearchThe Institute for Social Research is a research organization for sociology and continental philosophy, best known as the institutional home of the Frankfurt School and critical theory....
Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the... - Laurence DugganLaurence DugganLaurence Duggan , was head of the South American desk at the United States Department of State during World War II. In 1948, Duggan fell to his death from the window of his office in New York, ten days after being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about whether he had had contacts...
, head of United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
Division of American Republics - Franz Leopold NeumannFranz Leopold NeumannFranz Leopold Neumann was a German-Jewish left-wing political activist, Marxist theorist and labor lawyer, who became a political scientist in exile and is best known for his theoretical analyses of National Socialism. He studied in Germany and the United Kingdom, and spent the last phase of...
, consultant at Board of Economic WarfareBoard of Economic WarfareThe Office of Administrator of Export Control was established in the United States by Presidential Proclamation 2413, July 2, 1940, to administer export licensing provisions of the act of July 2, 1940 . Brigadier General Russell Lamont Maxwell, United States Army, headed up this military entity...
; Deputy Chief of the Central European Section of Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
; First Chief of research of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal
Richard Sorge
Hede Massing had first met Richard Sorge at the Marxist Workweek in 1923 that led to the establishment of the Frankfurt School. Sorge later recruited her to the Soviet underground, introducing her to Ignace Reiss. In her autobiography This Deception, she wrote about Sorge and a meeting they had in New York in 1935. In an essay for the Neue Rundschau in 1953, "Richard Sorge: der fast vollkommene Spion" she called him a "near-perfect spy."Works
- This Deception (1951)
- "Richard Sorge: der fast vollkommene Spion" in Deutsche Rundschau, Vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 360–377 (1953)
- Die große Täuschung. Geschichte einer Sowjetagentin (1967)
See also
- German Communist Party
- Gerhart EislerGerhart EislerGerhart Eisler was a German politician. Along with his sister Ruth Fischer, he was a very early member of the Austrian German Communist Party and then a prominent member of the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar Republic...
- Rote Fahne
- Julian GumperzJulian GumperzJulian Gumperz was a United States-born German sociologist, communist activist, publicist, and translator.-Institute for Social Research:...
- MalikMalikMalik is an Arabic word meaning "king, chieftain".It has been adopted in various other, mainly Islamized or Arabized, Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere. It is also sometimes used in derived meanings...
publishers - Richard SorgeRichard SorgeRichard Sorge was a German communist and spy who worked for the Soviet Union. He has gained great fame among espionage enthusiasts for his intelligence gathering during World War II. He worked as a journalist in both Germany and Japan, where he was imprisoned for spying and eventually hanged....
- Ignace Reiss
- Paul MassingPaul MassingPaul 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...
- Franz Leopold NeumannFranz Leopold NeumannFranz Leopold Neumann was a German-Jewish left-wing political activist, Marxist theorist and labor lawyer, who became a political scientist in exile and is best known for his theoretical analyses of National Socialism. He studied in Germany and the United Kingdom, and spent the last phase of...
- Laurence DugganLaurence DugganLaurence Duggan , was head of the South American desk at the United States Department of State during World War II. In 1948, Duggan fell to his death from the window of his office in New York, ten days after being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about whether he had had contacts...
- Noel FieldNoel FieldNoel Field , was an American citizen. While employed at the United States Department of State in the 1930s, he was a Soviet spy...
- Alger HissAlger HissAlger 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...
- Whittaker ChambersWhittaker ChambersWhittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
External sources
- Ausgewählte Kurzbiographien, Massing, Hede. In: Bernd Rainer Barth and Werner Schweizer: Der Fall Noel Field, Basisdruck, 2006 (2 Vols.), Vol. 2, p. 426 f.. (In German)
- Woman With a Past, Time Magazine, Monday, Dec. 19, 1949
- Office of National Counter Intelligence Executive, Cold War Counterintelligence
- Office of National Counter Intelligence Executive, Copyright Notice
- Robert L. Benson, The Venona Story (Ft. Meade, MD: Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency, 2001).
- Alexander Vassiliev’s Notes on Anatoly Gorsky’s December 1948 Memo on Compromised American Sources and Networks
- Image from University of Iowa Libraries' "Traveling Culture"
- Image from Library of Congress "Traveling Culture"
- Image from The Wall Street Journal (2009)
