Duquesne spy ring
The Duquesne spy ring consisted of a network of 33 German spies, led by Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne ; it was the largest espionage case in United States history that resulted in convictions. After lengthy investigations, and with the help of the American double agent William G. Sebold , all spies were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on June 29, 1941 . Nineteen of them pleaded guilty, and the other 14 faced a Federal District Court in Brooklyn , New York City , on September 3, 1941 . On January 2, 1942, the members of the ring were sentenced to prison terms totaling over 300 years.
Employed in key positions in the USA, the 33 German agents of the ring were primarily supposed to gather information that could be useful in the event of war. But acts of sabotage should also be carried out. For example, a person opened a restaurant to get information about their customers; another worked for an airline to report on the Allied shipping traffic in the Atlantic Ocean and others in the ring worked as messengers so that they could deliver secret messages as well as normal.
A major role in solving the case played William G. Sebold, a German-recruited spy who worked as a double agent for the United States government. For almost two years he operated a transmission system in New York for the FBI in order to monitor and control the flow of information between Germany and its agents in North America. Sebold's success in counter-espionage was ultimately reflected in the conviction of the German agents.
A leading German intelligence agent later said that the breaking of this ring had "killed the German espionage efforts in the US". J. Edgar Hoover , FBI chief, described the draft as the greatest counter-espionage achievement in United States history.
The film " Das Haus in der 92. Straße ", made in 1945, took up the subject, but deviated from the historical facts. The screenwriter Charles G. Booth got a movie for the Oscar for best original story .
FBI agents
William Sebold (double agent)
William G. Sebold (1899–1970), born on March 10, 1899 in Mülheim an der Ruhr as Gottlieb Adolf Wilhelm Sebold, served as a native German in the German Army during the First World War . After leaving Germany in 1921, he worked as a mechanical engineer in industrial and aircraft factories in the United States and South America . He received American citizenship on February 10, 1936.
In February 1939, Sebold returned to Germany to visit his mother in Mülheim an der Ruhr . On his arrival in Hamburg he was made aware by a Gestapo employee that he would be contacted in the near future. Sebold then continued his journey to Mülheim, where he later found a job.
In September 1939 a Dr. Gassner in Mülheim, who asked him questions about military aircraft and equipment in the United States. He also asked Sebold if he would return to the United States to work as an agent for Germany. Repeated visits from Dr. Gassner and a certain Dr. Renken, who was later identified as Major Nickolaus Ritter, an employee of the German secret service, finally induced Sebold to cooperate with the German Reich , fearing reprisals against his family members living in Germany. Ritter was the counterintelligence officer responsible for espionage in the United States and the United Kingdom at the time .
Since Sebold's passport was stolen after Gassner's first visit, he had to apply for a new one at the American consulate in Cologne . While he was there, he told the staff about his future role as a German agent and his desire to cooperate with the FBI after his arrival in the US.
Sebold then reported in Hamburg, where he was instructed in various areas and techniques, such as preparing coded messages and dealing with microphotographs . After completing his training, he was given five photomicrographs containing instructions on how to prepare a code, as well as more detailed descriptions of the type of information he was supposed to send from Germany to the United States. He was instructed to keep two of the photographs and to hand over the other three to German agents in the United States: Fritz Duquesne , Herman Lang, and Lilly Stein . After receiving his final instructions, including his alias Harry Sawyer, he crossed from Genoa to New York City on February 8, 1940 .
At the same time, the FBI was informed of Sebold's arrival, mission and willingness to identify German agents in the United States. With the help of special agents, Sebold, aka Harry Sawyer, gained a foothold in New York society. For this purpose, an office was set up as a consulting Diesel engineer , which served as a cover for him to contact members of the spy ring. When the premises were selected, the FBI agents assured him that any meetings he held there would be monitored.
In May 1940 the shortwave radio station , which was operated by FBI agents on Long Island , managed to contact a shortwave radio station in Germany. For 16 months, this station served as the main communication channel between German spies in New York City and German spies in Germany. During that time, more than 300 messages were sent through the FBI station and about 200 messages were received.
After the Duquesne spy ring was smashed and the court hearings were over, Sebold was given a new identity by the FBI and from then on worked as a chicken farmer in California. Completely impoverished and diagnosed with manic-depressive illness, he was admitted to Napa State Hospital in 1965, where he died of heart failure in 1970.
Sebold's life story as a double agent was first told in 1943 in the book Passport to Treason: The Inside Story of Spies in America by Alan Hynd.
William Gustav Friedman
William Gustav Friedman was a key witness in the Duquesne case. He started working for the FBI in 1935 as a fingerprint analyst . He later became an agent after identifying a crucial fingerprint in a kidnapping case . After World War II, he was sent to Puerto Rico , where he identified the group behind the attempted attack on President Harry S. Truman . On August 23, 1989, he died in Stillwater , Oklahoma , a cancer .
Convicted members of the Duquesne spy ring
Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne
Fritz Joubert Duquesne was born on September 21, 1877 in Cape Colony , South Africa , where he served as captain in the Second Boer War . He later moved to the United States, receiving citizenship in 1913. He was also under the name " The man who killed Kitchener " ( " The man who killed Kitchener ") known since he claimed the HMS Hampshire sabotaged and have sunk to the Lord Kitchener after 1916 Russia was on the way. Duquesne was a German spy at the time and was awarded an Iron Cross for his actions . He has also been implicated in insurance fraud, including a case involving a fire aboard the British steamship Tennyson . When he was arrested on November 17, 1917, he was in possession of a large collection of newspaper clippings about bomb explosions on ships and a letter from the German Deputy Vice-Consul in Managua , Nicaragua . The letter contained, among other things, the following sentence: “ Captain Duquesne was one who rendered considerable service to the German cause. “Duquesne was also instructed to eliminate the American Chief of Scouts for the British Army, Frederick Russell Burnham , but he failed. From February 1940, Duquesne ran a business that was located in New York City under the name Air Terminals Company .
Sebold contacted the head of the German spy ring by letter, whereupon they met in Duquesne's office. During their first meeting, Duquesne was very concerned about possible bugging devices and he gave Sebold a note stating that he was meeting elsewhere. When the two met again in a vending machine restaurant, they exchanged information about members of the German spy network with whom they were in contact.
During further meetings (those in Sebold's office were all recorded by FBI agents) Duquesne provided Sebold with information to send to Germany. Duquesne, who had a downright hatred of Britain, brought information about technologies used in America's national defense and about shipping in British ports. He received regular payments from Germany for his services.
On one occasion, he gave Sebold photographs and specifications of a new type of bomb that was being produced in the United States. He claimed the material was obtained from a break-in at the DuPont facility in Wilmington , Delaware . Duquesne also described how to start fires in industrial plants. He collected much of this information from correspondence with industrial groups.
In a letter to the Chemical Warfare Service in Washington, DC , Duquesne requested information about a new gas mask , in which he posed as a "well-known, responsible and reputable writer and lecturer ." At the end of the letter, he wrote, "If this information is confidential, do not worry as it will be in the hands of a good, patriotic citizen." The requested information arrived in the mail a short time later and was a week later it was read by intelligence officers in Berlin .
Ultimately, Duquesne was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison for spying, plus an additional two-year prison term and payment of US $ 2,000 for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Duquesne was serving his sentence in Leavenworth Federal Prison , Kansas , where he was mistreated and beaten by fellow inmates. He was discharged in 1954 after serving 14 years for poor health, and died penniless on May 24, 1956 in the City Hospital on Welfare Island (now Roosevelt Island ) at the age of 78.
Paul Fehse
Paul Fehse left Germany in 1934 for the USA, where he received citizenship in 1938. After arriving in the United States, he worked as a cook on ships that left New York Harbor .
Fehse was one of the driving forces behind the spy ring. He arranged meetings, regulated membership activities, gathered information and organized its transmission to Germany, mainly through Sebold. Fehse, who was doing his espionage training in Hamburg, claimed during his interrogation that he was in charge of the naval division of the German espionage system in the United States.
As he became very worried and nervous over time, Fehse planned to leave the country. He got a job on the combined ship Siboney of American Export Lines , which was supposed to translate on March 29, 1941 from Hoboken , New Jersey , to Lisbon , Portugal . Then he wanted to return to Germany.
However, shortly before his departure, Fehse was arrested by FBI agents. After his arrest, he confessed to sending letters to Germany via Italy and tracking and reporting on the movement of British ships. On April 1, 1941, he was sentenced to one year and one day imprisonment for violations of FARA. With regard to the espionage allegations, he pleaded guilty and received a prison sentence of 15 years.
Paul Bante
As a native German, Paul Bante served in the German army during the First World War. In 1930 he came to the United States, where he was naturalized in 1938.
Bante, a former member of the American-German Confederation , claimed that he was brought into contact with agent Paul Fehse because of his connections with Dr. Ignatz T. Griebl. Before fleeing the USA to Germany, Griebl was accused of belonging to a Nazi spy ring together with Günther Gustav Rumrich.
Bante helped Fehse gather information about ships leaving for Great Britain loaded with war and supplies materials. As a member of the Gestapo, he was supposed to continue to create dissatisfaction among the trade unionists .
Sebold met Bante at the Little Casino Restaurant , which was often used by members of the ring. During one of these meetings, Bante talked about making a bomb detonator, whereupon he repeatedly gave Sebold dynamite and detonators on later occasions .
Bante was sentenced to 18 months in prison and $ 1,000 fine for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He pleaded guilty.
Max Blank
Max Blank came to the United States from Germany in 1928. Even though he never became an American citizen, he worked in a German bookstore in New York City.
Paul Fehse informed his contacts in Germany that Blank, who in turn already had contacts with several members of the ring, could obtain valuable information, but he did not have the means to do so. Fehse and Blank later met in Sebold's office. There they told him that Blank could obtain information about rubberized, self-sealing aircraft fuel tanks and new types of braking systems for aircraft from a friend of his dockworkers. However, he needed money for this information. Blank boasted to Sebold that he had been in the "espionage business" since 1936, but had lost interest in recent years due to a lack of payments from Germany.
Blank was also sentenced to 18 months in prison and a US $ 1,000 fine for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act and admission of guilt.
Alfred E. Brokhoff
Born in Germany, Alfred E. Brokhoff came to the United States in 1923, where he received citizenship in 1929. Before his arrest, he worked as a mechanic for United States Lines in New York City for 17 years . Because of his work in the docks , he knew almost all the other agents in the group who worked as seafarers on various ships.
Brokhoff helped Fehse to collect various information and drop-off dates from cargo ships bound for England. He also helped him to transmit these to Germany. Another agent, Leo Waalen , reported that he had received information from Brokhoff for transmission to Germany.
Brokhoff was sentenced to five years in prison after his arrest for his espionage activities. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for violations of FARA.
Heinrich Clausing
Heinrich Clausing went to the United States in September 1934, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1938. After being employed on several ships departing from New York Harbor, he was working as a cook on the Argentine at the time of his arrest .
With close contact to Franz Stigler , one of the main contacts of the ring, Clausing acted as courier. He transported microphotographs and other materials to South American ports, from where they came to Germany via Italian airlines.
After his arrest, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for spying and two years in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Conradin Otto Dold
Upon arriving in the United States in 1926, he was granted citizenship under the Seamen's Act , 1934. Before his arrest, he worked on board the Siboney as the first steward for American Export-Sbrandtsen Lines .
Dold had good relationships with high positions in Germany and close contact with other spies who worked on ships departing from New York Harbor. As a courier, he brought information from Nazi agents to neutral ports, from where they came to Germany.
Dold was sentenced to ten years in prison for his espionage activities, as well as US $ 1,000 and two years in prison for violations of FARA.
Rudolf Ebeling
Upon arriving in the United States in 1925, Rudolf Ebeling worked as a foreman in the shipping division of Harper and Brothers in New York City until his arrest .
Ebeling collected information about the traffic of sailing and cargo ships, which he passed on to Paul Fehse. He also passed such information on to Leo Waalen , who in turn passed it on to Sebold.
Ebeling was sentenced to five years in prison. He was fined US $ 1,000 for violations of FARA and spent two additional years in prison.
Richard Oak Leaves
Richard Eichenlaub, who came to the United States in 1930 and received citizenship in 1936, ran the Little Casino Restaurant in Yorkville , Manhattan . This restaurant was a popular meeting place for members of the spy ring, and Oak Leaves introduced several new members to the group there.
Reporting to the Gestapo, he gathered information from his clients, who were often employed in national defense. It was through him that Sebold got hold of Paul Bante's dynamite.
He was sentenced to US $ 1,000 and 18 months in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Heinrich Carl Eilers
Heinrich Carl Eilers became a citizen of the United States in 1932, nine years after he left Germany (1923). From 1933 until his arrest, he worked as a steward on ships that left New York Harbor.
Among other things, Eilers made a trip to Washington, DC, where he wanted to collect information about the civil aviation program, but this failed.
At the time of his arrest by New York City Customs (1940), he had 20 letters with him addressed to various people in Europe. He was also in possession of books on magnesium and aluminum mixtures that were given to him by Edmund Carl Heine .
Because of his espionage activities, he received a five-year prison sentence in addition to two years in prison and a US $ 1,000 fine for violating FARA.
Edmund Carl Heine
As a native German, Edmund Carl Heine came to the United States in 1914, where he received citizenship in 1920. Until 1938 he was employed in various positions in foreign trade at Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Motor Corporation. His work gave him the opportunity to visit the Caribbean , South America , Spain and Berlin . He was in close contact with Dr. Hans Luther , the former German ambassador in Washington, DC and Prince Louis Ferdinand .
From Detroit , Michigan , Heine mainly sent letters to Lily Stein , a German agent who was supposed to contact Sebold. These letters contained detailed technical data related to the military, aircraft construction and other industries. He also wrote inquiries to aviation companies regarding the production, number of employees and production time of military aircraft. It was later found out that Heine was the mysterious "Heinrich" who provided the ring with aerial photographs.
After getting technical books on magnesium and aluminum compositions, he sent the material to Heinrich Eilers . To make sure that the books would arrive in Germany, he gave Lilly Stein's address as the return address.
He was fined US $ 5,000 and sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Felix Jahnke
In 1924 Felix Jahnke left Germany for the United States, where he received citizenship in 1930. In Germany, Jahnke had completed military training and served as a radio operator in the German army.
Jahnke and Axel Wheeler-Hill worked in Jahnke's apartment in the Bronx with a portable radio that they received from Josef Klein , a radio technician. Jahnke used the radio to send messages to Germany that had been intercepted by the FBI. He also visited the docks to gather information on ships leaving for England.
Because of the violation of FARA, Jahnke was sentenced to a prison term of 20 months and to the payment of US $ 1,000.
Gustav Wilhelm Kärcher
When Gustav Wilhelm Kärcher arrived in the United States in 1923, he received citizenship there in 1931. During the First World War he had served in the German Army. At the time of his arrest, he was building power plants for the American Gas and Electric Company in New York City .
Kärcher was arrested together with Paul Scholz , who was just handing Kärcher a table with radio numbers and frequencies for transmitting information to Germany.
He was found guilty of FARA violations and sentenced to a fine of US $ 2,000 and 22 months in prison.
Josef Klein
As a native German, Josef Klein came to the United States in 1925, but was not granted citizenship there. Klein, a photo and lithographer , was very interested in building and operating shortwave radio transmitters.
Together with Paul Scholz , Klein built a portable shortwave transmitter for Felix Jahnke and Axel Wheeler-Hill , which he also knew would send messages to Germany.
After Klein was arrested, he was sentenced to five years in prison for spying. In addition to this, he was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act.
Hartwig Richard Kleiss
Born in Germany, Hartwig Richard Kleiss immigrated to the United States in 1925, where he received citizenship in 1931. Shortly after his arrival, he worked as a cook on various ships.
Kleiss' job was to collect information. Among other things, he procured blueprints from the SS America showing the position of newly installed turrets. He also added information that gave information about the aiming positions of the guns. He also obtained information on the design and performance of new motor boats developed by the United States Navy and passed it on to Sebold for transmission to Germany.
Kleiss had initially pleaded innocent. However, after cross-examining him, he changed his mind and was sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage activities on the basis of his admission of guilt.
Herman W. Lang
Herman W. Lang came to the United States in 1927, where he was naturalized in 1939. He was one of the three spies Sebold was supposed to contact.
Until his arrest he was with the Carl L. Norden Corp. hired, which, in addition to the top-secret Norden bomb sighting device, also manufactured other highly confidential materials that were essential for the national defense of the United States. The Norden bomb sighting device was regarded by the United States Army Air Forces as one of the most important instruments of World War II, and American bomber pilots had to swear an oath that they would protect its secrecy with their lives if necessary. During a visit to Germany in 1938, Lang met with German military officers to reconstruct plans for secret materials from his memory. It is presumably thanks to Lang that the Luftwaffe's bomb sights were constructed similarly to those of the Americans. The 1924 Lotfernrohr 3 and BZG 2 used a similar set of gyroscopes , which provided the bombardier with a stabilized platform for observation, even if the more complex interaction between the aiming device and the autopilot was not built in. Later the Luftwaffe bombers were equipped with the Lotfernrohr 7 from Carl Zeiss AG , which had a mechanical system similar to that of the Norden bomb sighting device, but was much easier to operate and maintain.
After his arrest, Lang received an 18-year prison sentence for spying, in addition to a two-year prison sentence for violating FARA.
Evelyn Clayton Lewis
Evelyn Clayton Lewis was born in Arkansas and later lived with Fritz Joubert Duquesne in New York City. During their mutual relationship, she often expressed her anti-British and anti-Semitic views. She knew and tolerated Duquesne's espionage activities. Even though she was never actively involved in gathering information, she helped Duquesne to prepare the material for sending to Germany.
Lewis pleaded guilty to violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and was sentenced to one year and one day imprisonment.
Rene Emanuel Mezenen
Rene Emanuel Mezenen was born in France and applied for American citizenship based on his father's naturalization. He was employed by Pan American until his arrest.
The German intelligence service in Lisbon , Portugal asked Mezenen if it could courier information between the United States and Portugal during regular air traffic. Not least because of the financial aspect, he accepted the task. During the flights across the Atlantic , he observed convoys heading for England. He was also involved in the smuggling of platinum from the United States into Portugal. He told Sebold that he could hide the letters so well that the aircraft in question would have had to be repaired for the next three weeks after the information was found.
Because of his espionage activities and violations of the FARA, he was sentenced to a total of ten years in prison.
Carl Reuper
Carl Reuper came to the United States in 1929 and was naturalized in 1936. Before his arrest, he worked as an overseer for the Westinghouse Electric Company in Newark , New Jersey .
During his work, Reuper photographed materials and constructions relevant to the national defense of the United States. He established contact with Germany through Felix Jahnke . During a meeting he spoke to Sebold in order to contact the German authorities via his radio station.
After his arrest, Reuper was sentenced to 16 years in prison for spying, plus a two-year prison term for violations of FARA.
Everett Minster Roeder
Born in the Bronx , New York City , Everett Minster Röder was a draftsman and draftsman designing confidential material for the US Army and US Navy . In 1939, during a visit to Germany, the German authorities asked him if he would work for them as an agent. Mostly because of the payment he accepted.
As ordered by the German authorities, Sebold delivered photomicrographs to Röder. Both met in public places, from where they went to places where they could talk undisturbed.
When he was arrested, 16 firearms were found in his home in Long Island, New York.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his espionage activities.
Paul Alfred W. Scholz
As a native German, Paul Scholz came to the United States in 1926, but was not granted citizenship there. He worked in several German bookstores, from where he sold Nazi propaganda .
Scholz built the radio with Josef Klein, which was then used by Felix Jahnke and Axel Wheeler-Hill. Shortly before his arrest, he had given Gustav Kärcher a list of radio numbers and frequencies. He also encouraged other members of the ring to obtain information and established contacts between several German agents.
Scholz was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for his espionage activities plus two years for violations of the FARA.
George Gottlob shoe
After Georg Schuh came to the United States in 1923, where he was naturalized in 1939, he worked there as a carpenter .
As a German agent, he reported to the Gestapo in Hamburg. Schuh provided Alfred Brokhoff with the information that Winston Churchill would arrive in the USA on the HMS King George V. He also gathered information about cargo shipping to England.
He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment and a US $ 1,000 fine for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Erwin Wilhelm Siegler
Erwin Wilhelm Siegler left Germany for the USA in 1929, where he became a citizen in 1936. He was employed as a butcher on the America before it was taken over by the US Navy.
On one occasion he gave Sebold microphotographs intended for the German authorities. In the group he worked as an organizer and contact person, but he also collected information about shipping and military defense preparations in the Panama Canal . From one of his trips he brought with him payment for Lilly Stein , Duquesne and Röder , as well as US $ 2,900 for the purchase of a bomb sighting device.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison for spying and violating FARA.
Oscar Richard Stabler
Oscar Richard Stabler went to the United States in 1923, where he was naturalized in 1933. He was mainly employed as a hairdresser on transoceanic ships.
In 1940 British authorities in Bermuda found a map of Gibraltar in his belongings , after which he was briefly detained. As a close confidante of Conradin Otto Dold , Stabler worked as a courier, conveying information between German agents in the United States and their contacts outside the country.
He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Heinrich Stade
Heinrich Stade went to the United States in 1922, where he received citizenship in 1929. He was a musician and worked in the advertising industry. He told Sebold that he had worked for the Gestapo since 1936 and bragged that he knew everything about the espionage business.
Stade arranged Paul Bante's contact with Sebold and forwarded information to Germany about convoys with supplies that were heading for England.
During his arrest, Stade played in an orchestra in a pub.
He was sentenced to US $ 1,000 and 15 months in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Lilly Barbara Carola Stein
Lilly Stein was born in Vienna , Austria , and completed her espionage training with Hugo Sebold in Hamburg. Hugo Sebold also trained William Sebold, but the two were not related to each other. In 1939 she was sent to the United States. In New York she then worked as an art model and moved in the social circles of the city.
Stein was one of the people who received a photomicrograph from Sebold. She met regularly with the FBI double agent to provide him with information to be sent to Germany. Your address was often used as the return address for letters to Germany.
Stein was sentenced to twelve years in prison for her espionage activities and FARA violations.
Franz Joseph Stigler
Franz Stiegler came to the United States in 1931, where he received citizenship in 1939. He was employed as a baker on several US ships , including America , until it was taken over by the US Navy and renamed Westpoint .
A close confidante of his was Erwin Siegler , with whom he worked as a courier for German agents and their contacts outside the country. Stigler also recruited radio amateurs to communicate with German radio stations. He also observed the defense preparations in the Panama Canal Zone and briefed other agents.
Stigler was sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison for violations of FARA and its espionage activities.
Erich Strunck
Eric Strunck came to the United States from Germany in 1927 and received American citizenship in 1935. As a seaman, he worked for United States Lines shortly after his arrival .
Strunck mainly worked as a courier between German agents in the USA and Europe. He also asked if he could take a British officer's briefcase on board his ship and throw it overboard himself, but Sebold replied that the action was too risky.
He was sentenced to twelve years in prison for espionage and violations of FARA.
Leo Waalen
Leo Waalen was born in Danzig when the city was still part of West Prussia . In 1935 he crossed over to the United States by ship. He then worked as a painter for a company that manufactured smaller ships for the US Navy.
Waalen collected information about ships going to England. He also obtained a confidential manual issued by the FBI that advises industrial facilities to take precautions against sabotage. Waalen also secured government contracts specifying specific military materials and equipment, as well as detailed nautical charts of the Atlantic coast of the United States.
On board the SS Robin Moor in May 1941 were nine officers, 29 crew members and eight or nine civilian passengers as well as commercial cargo. She was en route from New York to Mozambique , via South Africa , without a protective convoy. On May 21, the ship was stopped by U 69 , about 1,200 km west of the England-controlled port in Freetown , Sierra Leone . Even if the Robin Moor was flying the flag of a neutral country, her first officer was told that the ship would be sunk. After a short period of time, which should give the crew time to escape into the four lifeboats, the ship was shot at by torpedoes and the submarine's on- board gun . After the sinking of the Robin Moor , the U-69 drove to the lifeboat of Captain WE Myers to give him four cans of bread and two cans of butter and to explain to him that his ship was sunk because it was carrying supplies for Germany's enemy. In October 1941, federal prosecutors obtained a confession from Leo Waalen that he had communicated her deadline to Germany five days before the Robin Moor's departure . Leo Waalen was one of 14 defendants who pleaded not guilty.
Waalen was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison for his espionage activities and violations of FARA.
Adolf Henry August Walischewski
As a native German, Adolf Walischewski was a seaman all his life. He was naturalized to the United States in 1935.
Walischewski was brought into contact with the ring through Paul Fehse . He also worked as a courier between German agents in the USA and abroad.
He received a seven-year prison sentence for his espionage activities and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Else Weustenfeld
Else Weustenfeld came to the United States from Germany in 1927 and received citizenship ten years later, in 1937. From 1935 she was a secretary in a law firm that represented the German consulate in New York City.
Weustenfeld was well acquainted with the German spy system and her job was to pass funds on to Duquesne, which she received from her close friend Lilly Stein.
She lived with one of the leading figures in German espionage, Hans W. Ritter, in New York City. His brother, Nickolaus Ritter, was the “Dr. Renken ”who recruited Sebold as a German agent. In 1940 she visited Hans Ritter in Mexico , where he was the paymaster of the German secret service.
Following her admission of guilt, Else Weustenfeld was sentenced to five years in prison for her espionage activities and two years in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Axel Wheeler-Hill
Born in Russia , he came to the United States in 1923, where he received citizenship in 1929 and worked as a truck driver .
Wheeler-Hill's primary concern was information about ships going to England from New York Harbor. Together with Felix Jahnke , he used the portable radio station built by Josef Klein and Paul Scholz to send information to Germany.
After his arrest, he was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison for his espionage activities and FARA violations.
Bertram Wolfgang Zenzinger
Born in Germany, he went to the United States in 1940 as a citizen of the South African Union to study technical dentistry in Los Angeles , California .
In July 1940 Zenzinger received a pen with which he was supposed to prepare invisible messages from Siegler's post for transmission to Germany. He sent several letters to Germany through Sweden, containing various details of the national defense of the United States.
Zenzinger was arrested on April 16, 1941 by agents of the FBI and sentenced to eight years and 18 months imprisonment for his espionage activities and violations of the FARA.
See also
credentials
- Famous Cases - 33 Members of the Duquesne Spy Ring . Federal Bureau of Investigation . United States Government Public Domain Materials
- Frederick Duquesne Interesting Case Write-Up ( Memento October 16, 2004 on the Internet Archive ) Federal Bureau of Investigation , released March 12, 1985 under the United States' Freedom of Information Act . United States Government Public Domain Materials
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obituary. Fritz Joubert Duquesne. In: Time . June 4, 1956, ISSN 0040-781X .
- ↑ W. Friedmann; helped break spy ring for FBI. In: Associated Press . August 26, 1989. ISSN 0190-8286 .
- ↑ a b Deaths. In: Washington Post . August 26, 1989. ISSN 0190-8286 .
- ↑ Clement Wood: The man who killed Kitchener; the life of Fritz Jouber Duquesne . William Faro, New York 1932.
- ↑ Frederick Russell Burnham : Taking Chances. Hayes Corp, Los Angeles , California 1944, ISBN 1-879356-32-5 , p. 293.
- ^ William B. Breuer: The Spy Who Spent the War in Bed: And Other Bizarre Tales From World War II . Wiley, 2003, ISBN 0-471-26739-2 .
- ^ Ross: Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II. The Myths and Facts. McFarland & Co., 2003, ISBN 0-7864-1412-X .