Lucas Delattre - A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich

from his own country: Fritz loathed nationalism in all its forms. “The slogan ‘right or wrong, my country’ is a devil’s slogan apt to kill every individual conscience.” “The Story of George.”

“tomorrow the entire world”: In German: “ Denn heute gehört uns Deutschland / Und morgen die ganze Welt, ” from a song composed by Hans Baumann (1914–88) [ “Es zittern die morschen Knochen ”], the words of which had been slightly modified by the Nazis.

suicide after being tortured: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

“who never get caught”: Freely adapted from Ernst Jünger, Récits d’un passeur du siècle, conversations with F. de Towarnicki (Paris: Éditions du Rocher).

subject to severe penalties: The obligatory darkening of windows was known as Verdunkelung, and those who did not obey this order were considered criminals ( Verdunkelungsverbrecher ) subject to long prison terms.

from Antwerp to Berlin: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

considered “k. v.” (available): In German: “u. k.”: unabkömmlich; “k. v.”: kriegsverwendungsfähig.

to the Foreign Ministry: Wilhelmstrasse 76: this building of the old Prussian nobility, the “Pannewitz palace,” had once been Bismarck’s office.

dagger on his belt: Ribbentrop imposed a special dress code on diplomats on duty. The new uniforms, modeled on those of the SS, but also on those of the German navy, were designed by a stylist personally designated by the minister’s wife. Ribbentrop himself wore the black SS uniform with large leather boots that came up to his knees. This code did not apply to officials of the middle rank like Fritz Kolbe. Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

more dazzling than Fritz’s: Hans Schroeder (b. 1899) had obtained the rank of “legation adviser” in 1938. A few months later, he was given the post of assistant head of personnel, with the rank of director. Schroeder was a protégé of Rudolf Hess, the head of the NSDAP, who had met him in Egypt in the late 1920s, brought him into the party in 1933, and helped him after that to quickly climb the rungs of the diplomatic career ladder. German Foreign Ministry, Berlin, Hans Schroeder file, and interview with Hans-Jürgen Döscher (Osnabrück, May 14, 2002).

“What do you think?”: After the war, Hans Schroeder confirmed in writing, in 1954, that he had indeed offered the post of consul in Stavanger to Fritz Kolbe, which some people had doubted. Personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

never to become Pg: Pg: Partei-Genosse, literally “party comrade.”

not to accept the offer: Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945.

“do much for you”: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

“but not without honor”: Wehrlos aber nicht ehrlos: an expression used by the Social Democratic deputy Otto Wels on the occasion of the Reichstag vote granting plenary powers to Hitler on March 23, 1933. The 94 SPD deputies were the only ones to vote no.

“realized what that meant”: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

undying memory of the city: Two visits to Paris (March 1928 and June 1929) are recorded in the Fritz Kolbe file in the Foreign Ministry archives.

the legal affairs department: Fritz Kolbe spent only a few months in this post. “Course of Life.”

Germany for interrogation: The two agents of the Intelligence Service, Sigismund Payne Best and Richard Stevens, were to spend the rest of the war in detention in Germany. The Venlo episode led the British authorities to refuse all contact with representatives of the German resistance for the rest of the war.

settle some internal scores: Otto Strasser, an old rival of Hitler’s and brother of Gregor Strasser (one of the leading figures of the SA, who was assassinated in 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives), was accused of having conspired with the British in the Munich attempt, which made it possible to remove him definitively from the circles of power.

place of relative freedom: The meetings in the Café Kottler were described by Fritz to an American journalist who interviewed him after the war. Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

“association” created by fritz klobe:: “The Story of George.”

work for the Wehrmacht: The Walter Girgner company, established in 1932, still exists (Trumpf Blusen, Munich). It is now one of the largest shirtmakers in Europe.

of a confirmed bachelor: “In Berlin, I met up again with my friends from the youth movements. It was as though we had never been apart. All my friends, except for two, had the same political convictions that I did. Some of them were virulent anti-Nazis who wanted to take action…. One of them lost his post in the Berlin city administration, two others were sentenced to two- and three-year terms in concentration camps. Another, who was arrested while working on a clandestine printing press, hanged himself in prison.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945.

explained after the war: “The Story of George.” The phrase can also be found in the autobiographical document of May 15, 1945, and in the document written by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

“Hitler and the party”: Based on “Es geht alles vorüber / es geht alles vorbei, ” a famous song by Fred Raymond, a popular Viennese composer of the 1920s, who also wrote “I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg.” Memorandum of August 19, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives, College Park.

at certain late hours: The episode of the anonymous letters is narrated in detail in “The Story of George,” as well as in the biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

“Among craven humankind”: Excerpt from the song of the knights, Wallenstein’s Camp by Schiller, tr. Charles Passage (New York: Ungar, 1958), p. 40. Schiller’s songs in the Café Kottler are mentioned in the biographical document of Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

“devil take them!”: Ibid.

“general of all time”: In German: Grösster Feldherr aller Zeiten or Gröfaz.

superiors, in professional terms: Allen Dulles later wrote that Kolbe’s “employers have an excellent opinion of him.” Letter from Allen Dulles to OSS headquarters in Washington, October 30, 1943, National Archives.

“have been a Nazi!”: Fritz Kolbe said that he had “continually been asked to join the party.” “The Story of George.” “The Nazis would have liked George to join them—they desired energetic men in their ranks—but George refused…. Again and again the Nazis tried to get him into their organization.” Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

to by his superiors: “During the day he worked hard at his official post, even on Sundays. Only if his activity was considered outstanding could he keep exempt from military service.” “The Story of George.”