have a certain charm: “Fritz had a good deal of charm.” Gudrun Fritsch, interview in Berlin, January 5, 2002.
become, immediately, a Spanish citizen: Source: private documents of the Kocherthaler family in Geneva. This episode of Kocherthaler’s renunciation of German nationality is also reported in Edward P. Morgan’s article, “The Spy the Nazis Missed,” True, July 1950.
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 medaclass="underline" 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.