A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich: The Extraordinary Story of Fritz Kolbe, America's Most Important Spy in World War II

by Delattre, Lucas

  officially considered “impure”: When Ernst Kocherthaler converted to Protestantism shortly before 1914, this was because he sincerely wanted to contribute to the assimilation of Jews and Germans, and because it was better not to be a Jew in the German army.

  distinguished war medal: Ernst Kocherthaler was awarded the Iron Cross after being wounded at the battle of the Somme in 1916. Nearly one hundred thousand Jews had served in the German Army during the First World War. Their patriotism had not protected them from many forms of discrimination during and after the war.

  Nazi accession to power: Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  “part of the resistance”: German Foreign Ministry, Berlin, Johannes von Welczeck file.

  no university education: Franz Neumann, Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism (London: Victor Gollancz, 1942).

  not joined the party: Fritz Kolbe, “Course of Life,” personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney. See also biographical document written by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe, undated (in German, 59 pages), same collection. “Beginning in 1938, you could no longer progress in the diplomatic career if you were not a member of the party” (Hans-Jürgen Döscher, interview in Osnabrück, May 14, 2002).

  German community of Madrid: “Under the authority of the commercial counselor, I worked on various economic matters: information about companies, assistance in setting up local offices, customs information, credit questions, requests for bids, etc.” Curriculum vitae of Fritz Kolbe prepared after the war (undated, in German), personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

  “cards and radio music”: Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf, tr. Basil Creighton (1929; New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962), p. 165.

  spark in his gaze: All reports agree on this paradox: With a rather banal external appearance, Fritz Kolbe had rather strong personal magnetism and a very penetrating gaze. “When he entered a room, you could not fail to notice him,” recalled Erika von Hornstein (interview of October 27, 2001 in Berlin). “There was something consecrated about him,” according to Gerald Mayer (Edward P. Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed”).

  to avoid suspicion: Most of the major names in the German resistance to Nazism were members of the NSDAP: not only the major personalities of the Foreign Ministry (Ulrich von Hassell, Adam von Trott zu Solz), but also, for example, Oskar Schindler and Stalin’s spy in Tokyo, Richard Sorge.

  agents of the state: Since the Nazi accession to power, the oath for officials (Beamteneid) had been made in the name of the führer, to whom they swore obedience and loyalty.

  “Brown House” in Munich: The Braunes Haus had been the national headquarters of the NSDAP since 1931. It was located at Briennerstrasse 45 in Munich (the building is no longer there).

  automatically suspicious of diplomats: Not belonging to the party was not necessarily a sign of resistance. Many officials wanted to join the party but were not accepted. Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  attractions of National Socialism: Fritz Albert Karl Kolbe was born on September 25, 1900 in Berlin. “My parents were in good health, not at all rich, but lived in relative material comfort. I grew up without experiencing poverty, in harmonious family circumstances.” Autobiographical document written by Fritz Kolbe on May 15, 1945 (in German, 10 pages), personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

  had not developed overnight: “He was always in the opposition. Before and after 1933, he attempted to persuade his colleagues not to join the party.” Biographical document written by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

  the love of freedom: Autobiographical document by Fritz Kolbe, May 15, 1945.

  “until the cold grave”: Fritz Kolbe often quoted this German popular song, the words for which are by Ludwig Hölty on a melody by Mozart from The Magic Flute (Papageno’s aria). In German: Üb immer Treu und Redlichkeit / Bis an dein kühles Grab.” Source: Peter Kolbe, Sydney.

  had never forgotten it: Many documents mention the quotation by Fritz Kolbe of this passage from the gospel of Matthew (16:26). Biographical document written by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe, and autobiographical document by Fritz Kolbe, May 15, 1945. See also Edward P. Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

  time there in 1931: A few years later, during the Second World War, Ernst Kocherthaler had become ferociously anticommunist. He considered the USSR as “a feudal, reactionary society, totally outside historical development” (letter of Ernst Kocherthaler to Allen Dulles, April 1950, Allen W. Dulles Papers, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton).

  or even a believer: “As my parents came from North Germany (Mecklenburg-Pomerania), they were Protestants, and I was baptized in the Protestant Church.” Fritz Kolbe, “Course of Life.”

  “the other one doesn’t”: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

  fellow-feeling for the socialists: “I had a social conscience, even though I was not a member of the Social Democratic Party.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945. “He was not a member of any party, but his sympathies were clearly with the left.” Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

  neighborhood of Luisenstadt: Now Kreuzberg.

  “submissive spirit,” he said: Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

  a mark on him: Conversation of the author with Martin and Gudrun Fritsch, Berlin, January 2002. This novella by Heinrich von Kleist, published in 1810, tells the story of a horse dealer, despoiled of his property by a nobleman, who decides to take justice into his own hands.

  display, Kocherthaler thought: See Willy Brandt, Berlin, My City. “Berliners are clever and skeptical…. The Nazis could not possibly like them.”

  palm with his right fist: Many witnesses remember this gesture, which seems to have been a tic of Fritz’s. See Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

  as a “go-getter”: In German: Draufgänger.

  Berlin military hospital: Anita Falkenhain’s family came from Silesia. Her parents, former peasants, had been part of the great migration to Berlin in the 1890s, like Fritz Kolbe’s parents. Anita and Fritz met at the end of the First World War. Fritz had an infected foot and had had to fight to prevent having his leg amputated. Anita, a nurse’s assistant in the Berlin military hospital where he was treated, had taken care of him. Conversation with Peter Kolbe, Sydney, November 2001.

  the point of obsession: “I can still run four hundred meters in less than one minute.” Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

  “successful life,” “inner truth”: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe. Fritz spoke frequently about his time in the Wandervogel. All the autobiographical documents written after the war refer in detail to this important episode of his upbringing.

  remained a bit skeptical: In a book published after the war, Allen Dulles established a parallel between the “adolescent romanticism” of the Wandervogel and the rise of Nazism. Germany’s Underground, new ed. (New York: Da Capo, 2000), p. 19. Rudolf Hess and Adolf Eichmann, who belonged to the generation of Fritz Kolbe, had also been members of the Wandervogel.

  great success in England: The book was Scouting for Boys, published in England in 1908 and subsequently widely translated. This book is still considered the “bible” of scouting.

  time in his life time: Anecdote recounted by Peter Kolbe, Sydney, November 2001.

  the National Socialist “Revolution”: Episode recounted in Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”

  “I was simpleminded”: “Always seem dumber than you are” was a method favored by Fritz to keep the Nazis off balance. The episode of the interrogation in Madrid appears in several autobiographical documents written after the war; for example, “The Story of George” written by Ernst Kocherthaler in the spring of 1945 (personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney).

  translated into German: Monetary Reform was published in England in 1923 and in German translation in 1924.
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br />   press agency of the time: Fritz Kolbe left school with a certificate of completion of primary education (einjähriges Zeugnis). “I was not a very good student but I learned quickly.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945.

  of the German railroads: In German: Zivil-supernumerar.

  “freight, and currency administrator”: In German Oberbahnhofs-Güter-und Kassenvorsteher. Fritz Kolbe was in charge of the freight department of the Silesia station (Schlesischer Bahnhof). Curriculum vitae of Fritz Kolbe prepared after the war (undated), personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.

  Ministry in March 1925: “He wanted to learn about the rest of the world and he joined the Foreign Ministry in order to be sent abroad.” “The Story of George.” Fritz Kolbe joined the Foreign Ministry on March 16, 1925 and was sent to Madrid in October. German Foreign Ministry, Berlin, Fritz Kolbe file.

  native of Moorish origin: The details about the professional development of Fritz Kolbe are found in the autobiographical document of May 15, 1945. Many details are also found in the “Fritz Kolbe” file in the archives of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. Fritz replaced the German consul in Seville from September to November 1930 and from October to November 1931.

  of the “original God”: The project led to the publication of a book entitled Das Reich der Antike in Baden-Baden in 1948, which was intended as the first volume of a great “universal history” based on a “spiritual vision of history,” as opposed to the materialist vision of the Marxists.

  Madrid early in 1936: Because of his wife’s illness, Fritz Kolbe spent only three months at his post in the Polish capital (January to March 1936) and asked for an early transfer to Berlin.

  Chapter 2

  Cape Town, Fritz Kolbe: “Officially, I was acting consul at the German consulate in Cape Town.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945. Fritz Kolbe had been transferred to Cape Town in February 1938. German Foreign Ministry, Fritz Kolbe file.

  never forget that look: Most of the details about Fritz Kolbe’s time in South Africa are based on statements from Peter Kolbe given in Sydney in November 2001.

  in Pretoria, Rudolf Leitner: Rudolf Leitner (1891–1947) was Austrian. Before joining the NSDAP in 1936, he had been consul in Chicago in the 1920s, and then a diplomatic counsellor in Washington for a part of the 1930s. He was appointed envoy of the Reich to Pretoria in October 1937. He died in captivity in a Soviet detention camp. German Foreign Ministry, Rudolf Leitner file.

  former ambassador to Spain: Rudolf Leitner was then vice-director of the political department of the ministry.

  years of mismanagement: Curriculum vitae of Fritz Kolbe prepared after the war (undated, in German).

  controlled all foreign appointments: The liaison office between the Foreign Ministry and the NSDAP was called the “Organization for Foreign Countries (Auslandsorganisation or AO). The head of this office, Ernst Bohle, was one of the most powerful figures in the ministry and held the rank of junior minister. Born in Cape Town in 1903, and having spent his youth in South Africa, he closely examined the files dealing with that country. Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  with an aching heart: “If I had stayed in South Africa, I would have caused a good deal of harm to Leitner, who had really stood up for me.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945. Same argument in “Course of Life.”

  with no legal accountability: Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS (Reichsführer SS), controlled all the police machinery of the regime through the many police tentacles of the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, or “Central Security Office of the Reich,” responsible notably for the Gestapo).

  record his license plate: Anecdote recounted by Peter Kolbe, Sydney, November 2001.

  brutality to his subordinates: In internal documents of the Foreign Ministry, Joachim Ribbentrop was known as the “RAM” (Reichsaussenminister, or Minister of Foreign Affairs). Ribbentrop had not joined the Nazi Party until 1932, which caused him serious problems of internal legitimacy. To compensate for this insufficiency, the minister was a member of the SS brotherhood, with the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, equivalent to general. The esprit de corps of the SS was comparable to that of the Knights of the Round Table. Source: German Foreign Ministry, and Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  in the key positions : Career diplomats continued to head the three principal departments of the ministry (political, economic, and legal affairs), but their real influence was in steep decline, The closest collaborators of the minister were new men who had come from the “Ribbentrop Office” (Dienststelle Ribbentrop), a kind of shadow cabinet set up when the head of diplomacy for the Reich was still Baron Constantin von Neurath, an opportunistic career diplomat who had been replaced by Ribbentrop in February 1938.

  belonged to the SS: Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  the Reich in Europe: There were veritable pro-Nazi mass movements in South Africa, like the Ossewa Brandwag and the Grey Shirts, that counted several hundred thousand members. These sects seized every occasion to give violent expression to their anti-Semitism, for example when the liner Stuttgart arrived at the port of Cape Town in October 1936 with six hundred German Jewish refugees on board. The Afrikaner nationalists denounced the “cosmopolitan network” of Jewish financiers of Cape Town, associated in their mind with the “Freemason international” and the despised big British banks.

  its clearly German origins: The port of Lüderitz was built by indigenous prisoners who had survived the terrible massacres carried out by the Germans during the war against the Nama and the Herero between 1904 and 1908.

  a vast colonial project: The “colonial office” of the NSDAP, directed by Franz Ritter von Epp, intended to split Africa into four zones that would have been divided among Spain, Italy, Germany, and England.

  of training overseas imitators: There were even a few “Winter Assistance” (Winter-hilfswerk) centers, a kind of soup kitchen invented by the Nazis, distributing clothing and providing meals.

  member of the SS: Walter Lierau was selected for the post in Windhoek after training in agitation and propaganda as consul in Reichenberg (Liberec, Czechoslovakia) in the early 1930s. Döscher, Das Auswärtige Amt im Dritten Reich.

  wood in the forest: Fritz explained after the war why he had not brought his son back with him to Germany: “I did not want him to be contaminated by Nazi ideology, nor did I want him to be plunged into the chaos of Europe, which I foresaw as inevitable at the end of the war.” Autobiographical document, May 15, 1945.

  refugees from Germany: Fritz says that he gave German émigrés in South Africa—political refugees and Jews—stateless person passports (or “Nansen passports,” delivered under the authority of the League of Nations), which allowed them to avoid deportation to Germany and internment as German citizens after the onset of World War II. Memorandum of August 19, 1943 (9 pages), OSS Bern, National Archives, College Park. See also the biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.

  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.<
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  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.