“tungsten to the Germans”: Memorandum of August 20, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives. Tungsten, a metal that serves to harden steel, is indispensable for the arms industry.
“for days on end”: Memorandum of August 19, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives.
minister of aeronautic production: Ibid.
in the Irish capitaclass="underline" Ireland had declared its neutrality in 1939. Berlin, which supported the Irish independence forces, wished to use the island as a base for observation and clandestine operations against England. The Reich had parachuted several secret agents in 1940, including Hermann Görtz. The United States vigorously protested to Eamon de Valera, head of the Irish government, against the presence of a clandestine German transmitter in Dublin, which was finally seized and neutralized during the winter of 1943–44. See Kappa message of April 12, 1944 and Boston documents nos. 12 and 124, National Archives. See also Enno Stephan, Spies in Ireland, tr. Arthur Davidson (Harrisburg: Stackpole, 1965).
ships in the southern oceans: On Lourenço Marques, see Kappa message of August 26, 1943, National Archives. A few months later, Fritz Kolbe provided information making it possible to trap Leopold Wertz, the German consul in Lourenço Marques: “Dr. Wertz has a weakness for women.” Kappa message of October 22, 1943.
“and original cipher results”: Memorandum of August 19, 1943 OSS Bern, National Archives.
to talk about himself: Portrait of Fritz Kolbe, August 19, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives.
serve as a guarantee: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
“reimbursement of modest expenses”: “George answered that he would refuse any money for his collaboration, as he was driven by the conviction that only by helping now the Americans, Germany would merit a backing by the U.S., which tomorrow would prove necessary against the Russian threat.” Kocherthaler, “The Background of the George Story.”
“joke?” they both said: Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
Fritz felt “deep satisfaction”: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
Fritsch (“nicknamed ‘little rabbit’”: Häschen in German.
“just sense of reality”: Fritz Kolbe’s mother was opposed to the Nazis. In the early 1930s, she had moved out of her Berlin apartment because its windows overlooked an SA barracks and she could not bear the sight of the paramilitary uniforms. Anecdote recounted by Peter Kolbe, Sydney, November 2001; also in Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
“still a good brother”: Hans was an electronic engineer employed by the Loewe firm in Berlin and was not a member of the Nazi Party. Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
“the last few years”: Manuscript will (dated August 19, 1943) and typewritten transcript, personal archives of Fritz Kolbe, Peter Kolbe collection, Sydney.
eight in the morning: Memorandum of August 28, 1943, Gerry Mayer and Allen Dulles, National Archives.
“also a lukewarm Nazi”: Memorandum of August 20, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives.
two hundred Swiss francs: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe. The sum of two hundred Swiss francs was rather large, considering that the monthly salary of a high school teacher was seven hundred Swiss francs during the war. Source: Antoine Bosshard, Lausanne.
feeling of great success: “He felt the same exhilarating sensation he remembered having when he made his first successful ski jump after long and careful practice.” Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
he asked himself anxiously: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
Chapter 8
“roasting in the sun”: Words from the anthem of the Germans of the “Südwest,” the “Südwesterlied.” Source: Peter Kolbe.
X-2 of the OSS: “The only element of OSS known to me to have had access to ULTRA on a continuing basis was the London office of X-2, the OSS counterespionage section in England. Although General Donovan was ‘indoctrinated’—the term for having been briefed and granted access to the ULTRA material—he was rarely in a position to follow it on a regular basis. To my knowledge James Murphy, chief of X-2, was the only OSS officer based in Washington who was indoctrinated and fully informed. It was his responsibility to keep General Donovan briefed on the most important ULTRA data.” Helms, A Look Over My Shoulder, p. 37.
name is a mystery: “Nobody remembered later just how the name George Wood was invented.” Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
being better than one: In the internal nomenclature of the OSS, Allen Dulles was number 110. He was also called “Burns.”
description of the man: Portrait of Fritz Kolbe, August 19, 1943, OSS Bern, National Archives.
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS): The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6 (for Military Intelligence 6), had been headed since 1939 by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Menzies. It was subdivided into ten sections, including section V, which specialized in counterespionage.
assessment of the file: The note from Dansey to David Bruce was dated August 25, 1943, only five days after Fritz’s return to Berlin. Everything had gone very quickly. Source: National Archives.
“a fierce proprietary obsession”: Kim Philby, My Silent War (New York: Grove Press, 1968), p. 103.
unknown figure, Kim Philby: Ibid., pp. 103–04. Kim Philby (1912–88) was, with Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, one of the most famous spies and “traitors” in British and European history.
“674” (Fritz Kolbe): Message from Russell G. D’Oench to Whitney Shepardson, September 1, 1943, National Archives.
on the wrong track: Srodes, Allen Dulles, Master of Spies, p. 286.
work for the Americans: If there had been a separate peace with the West, the Soviets would have been left alone in the face of the enemy. Kim Philby, therefore, had to do everything in his power to prevent these discussions from coming to fruition.
“cause,” explained Kim Philby: Philby, My Silent War, p. 50.
“hatred, passion, or revenge”: Peter Grose, Gentleman Spy, The Life of Allen Dulles (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994), p. 320.
Austria-Hungary had demonstrated: Colonel Alfred Redl, one of the principal intelligence officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, betrayed his country to Russia, but also to France and Serbia on the eve of the First World War. He was unmasked and committed suicide in 1913.