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

who was passing through: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

leave without further trouble: This episode appears in several documents, notably “The Story of George.” According to this document, the arrest by the Gestapo was provoked by Fritz’s visit to the Ottobeuren monastery, which was under surveillance. See also Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

long nighttime conversation: Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

the war was over: These men were in the espionage department of the Wehrmacht that specialized in Russia (Fremde Heere Ost), headed by Reinhard Gehlen. He managed to sell his knowledge to the Americans, who seem to have heard of him for the first time from Fritz Kolbe. Gehlen became one of the most important figures in the cold war. He created the foreign intelligence services of the new German Federal Republic and became the first head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). Debriefing of Fritz Kolbe by Ernst Kocherthaler, April 1945.

nor smallpox, nor scabies: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

on April 4, 1945: Kappa message, April 4, 1945.

his conversations with Fritz: Message from Allen Dulles to Whitney H. Shepardson, April 5, 1945, National Archives.

developments in Japanese aviation: This information on Japan was the subject of two Kappa messages on April 6, 1945. See also Boston document no. 609.

believed in this scenario: The Germans knew that the Americans were very interested in the possibility of the “Alpine Redoubt” and succeeded in fostering their illusion for many long weeks. This maneuver had a decisive effect on the course of military operations. On April 14, 1945 (two days before Roosevelt’s death), American troops halted on the Elbe and stopped advancing toward Berlin in order to secure southern Germany. At the same time, on the night of April 15, the Russians launched their final great offensive against Berlin. See Antony Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 1945 (New York: Viking, 2002) and Persico, Piercing the Reich.

protection of Allen Dulles: Fritz Kolbe had had the good fortune never to be suspected by the Gestapo. He was very grateful to the Americans for having done everything to protect him during the war. “I had the privilege to collaborate now during years with two of your most distinguished diplomates [ sic ]. I have found them so cautious and discreet that none of the secrets my life depended on has been divulged.” “The Story of George.” “I am very grateful to my ‘partners’ in Bern for having done everything to prevent my being discovered. It must not always have been easy.” Autobiographical document written by Fritz Kolbe on May 15, 1945.

Fritz—came out of prison: Walter Bauer’s name had been found in the private diaries of some of the July 20 conspirators, such as Carl Goerdeler. He was jailed in the prison on Lehrterstrasse (Berlin-Moabit) and tortured. “Will he talk?” Fritz wondered anxiously. Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

he could go home: Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Sankt Augustin. Walter Bauer Archives.

“emptied like toothpaste tubes”: Report by Vassili Grossman, quoted by Antony Beevor in The Fall of Berlin, 1945.

“be hit?” (April 24): Unpublished notebooks of Adolphe Jung.

the destruction of documents: Episode reported in various documents, notably a memorandum written by Fritz Kolbe for the Swiss police, July 12, 1945 (personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney) and the record of the hearing of Fritz Kolbe by the Swiss authorities, April 26, 1948 (Swiss Federal Archives, document kindly supplied by Peter Kamber). See also Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

secretly shipped to Bern: These secret shipments of gold to Bern are mentioned by Robert Kempner, American prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, in Das III. Reich im Kreuzverhör (p. 282): “700 kilos of gold were transferred to the German legation in Bern, with Ribbentrop’s approval, in the form of coins, in March 1945.” The building housing the German legation in Bern was placed under seal in May 1945. Swiss Federal Archives.

door in Fritz’s face: This series of visits to Otto Köcher is set out in detail in several documents from the personal archives of Fritz Kolbe: “The Background of the George Story”; letter from Fritz Kolbe to Walter Bauer, May 9, 1948; memorandum from Fritz Kolbe to Walter Bauer, August 4, 1950. Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

Ludwigsburg, north of Stuttgart: Ludwigsburg had been liberated by the French in April 1945, but had soon come into the American occupation zone, like the entire northern part of Würtemberg.

“His name: Fritz Kolbe”: “Köcher supposed that [the withdrawal of Swiss protection] was due to American influence provoked by George. This suspicion was told by him as a fact to the many German diplomats concentrated with him in the camp, and this was the reason for considering George responsible for the death of Köcher in the eyes of many of his colleagues.” “The Background of the George Story.”

confident about his future: “How full of confidence he was about the future after the war!” wrote Maria Fritsch many years later. Letter from Maria Fritsch to Peter Kolbe, May 31, 1978. Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

again at the ministry: Memorandum from “George Wood,” April 17, 1945, National Archives. Opinion of Fritz Kolbe on the members of the Foreign Ministry in late March 1945. Kolbe had filled several sheets of paper with the names of the principal diplomats in the ministry. A red star in front of a name meant “particularly dangerous” ( besonders gefährlich ). A blue star meant “not a member of the Nazi Party” ( nicht Pg ). A classification into four categories specified matters. The figure 1 meant “immediate expulsion desirable ( sofortige Entfernung erwünscht ), affecting 79 people. The figure 2 meant “expulsion in the near future desirable” (54 people). 3: “can be employed again on a trial basis after a warning” (84 people). 4: anti-Nazi (24 people mentioned, including Willy Pohle, Karl Dumont, Gertrud von Heimerdinger, and a few people in the ciphering office and the diplomatic courier service). Karl Ritter was in category 1 with a red star.

“The Story of George”: This undated document is sometimes in the first person, sometimes in the third. It recounts the principal events in Fritz Kolbe’s life as a spy. It contains the following noteworthy passage: “All these details of his adventures in fighting the Nazis we had to extract from his friends, because George himself dislikes publicity and surrounds himself by a wall of modesty.” The document is in Fritz Kolbe’s personal archives as well as in the National Archives.

banks of the Tegernsee: Eva Braun committed suicide on April 30, 1945 with Adolf Hitler, whom she had married the day before, in the underground bunker of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin.

headed toward Kreuth: Memorandum of prelate Schreiber about a trip to Bavaria from June 2 to 6 with Fritz Kolbe and an American officer. See also memorandum from Ernst Kocherthaler to Allen Dulles, June 8, 1945, National Archives. The Gauleiter of Munich was Paul Giesler, designated by Hitler as the successor to Heinrich Himmler in the final hours of the war.