prime minister of Hungary: Unpublished memoir by Allen Dulles, Allen W. Dulles papers (box 114, file 11).
on March 22, 1944: Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, Der Schattenmann (1947; Berlin: Suhrkamp, 1984).
breakdown over the incident: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
good offices of Fritz: Boston document no. 1166.
maybe pulling our legs: Kappa message, December 29, 1943.
trap with terrible consequences: This is the analysis of Timothy Naftali, an American historian specializing in intelligence and the Second World War. Interview on Fritz Kolbe produced by Linda Martin for The History Channel in September 2003 with the title “The Too Perfect Spy.” Available in The History Channel Store: http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=43836.
to Berlin for interrogation: Bern, a summary of OSS Bern activities during the war, National Archives.
in the Hungarian capitaclass="underline" Questioned by the Americans after the war, Ritter claimed to have worked with Veesenmayer for only a few weeks. He claimed not to have been aware of the program for the extermination of the Jews of Hungary (he thought they were being sent to “work camps”) and said that Veesenmayer was overwhelmed by the actions of the SS. Interrogation of Karl Ritter, July 24, 1947 (US Chief Counsel for War Crimes document in the collection of Hans-Jürgen Döscher, Osnabrück).
spreading through neutral countries: In October 1942 and January 1943, warning messages on this subject were circulated in the Foreign Ministry. Source: German Foreign Ministry.
and goings in Switzerland: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
determined to take action: Walter Bauer came from Heilbronn in southern Germany. This industrialist was close to Christian intellectual circles in Freiburg who were thinking about the democratic future of Germany. As the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944 approached, he frequented Carl Goerdeler, who was supposed to become chancellor after the putsch. Bauer drafted the cultural segment of the policy speech that Goerdeler intended to deliver if he became chancellor.
by a Jewish family: The coal conglomerate of the brothers Ernst and Ignatz Petschek was at the time one of the most powerful companies in the sector in central Europe.
came to recognize them: After the failure of the July 20, 1944 plot, Fritz Kolbe volunteered to help Carl Goerdeler escape to Switzerland, but the plan was not carried out in time. Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
“too old” for his taste: Sauerbruch proposed to Fritz Kolbe not that he become a member of the Wednesday Club but that he address it. Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
of the Weimar Republic: Paul Löbe was born near Breslau in 1875. He was trained as a typesetter. A deputy beginning in 1920, he was president of the Reichstag between 1920 and 1932. In June 1933, he took the head of the Social Democrats who had decided to remain in Germany, as opposed to those who had taken refuge in Prague. After the SPD was banned by the Nazis on June 22, 1933, he lived in hiding and was sent to a concentration camp. Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Bonn.
a comrade in arms: There is no indication that Fritz crossed paths with other major figures of the underground Social Democrats of the time, such as Julius Leber and Wilhelm Leuschner.
after the fall of Nazism: Kappa message, June 13, 1944.
individualism of Western civilization: National Archives.
in Post-War Europe: The Jewish Question in Post-War Europe, dated March 6, 1944, National Archives.
terror of being arrested: “Fritz’s heart was beating so hard as he went through customs that he was afraid it would give him away.” Morgan, “The Spy the Nazis Missed.”
for a handsome tip: Biographical document by Gerald Mayer and Fritz Kolbe.
headquarters cabled back: Kappa message, April 11, 1944.
quality of the document: Apparently only the military attaché and his Air Force colleague sent their cables to the Foreign Ministry, which was not the case for the naval attaché, according to a remark in a notarized document written by Allen Dulles in January 1948 to facilitate Fritz Kolbe’s immigration to the United States. Allen W. Dulles Papers.
the Thai prime minister: In December 1938, Pibul Songgram became prime minister of Thailand and implemented a “pan-Thai” policy that was nationalist, expansionist, and racist (anti-Chinese). Siam at that time adopted the name Thailand. In 1941, Songgram drew his country, initially neutral, onto the side of Japan. In recompense, he received part of Laos and Cambodia, the northern part of Malaya, and part of Burma. But in Washington and London the Free Thai movement of Seni Pramoj and, in the country, the network of Pridi Phanomyong, then regent, organized the resistance. Thanks to the contacts the resistance made with the Allies starting in 1944, Thailand was not treated as an enemy by the United States after the Japanese capitulation in 1945.
transmitted to Washington: Bern, National Archives.
more than ten sections: Kappa messages, April 19 and 21, 1944.
espionage network in Sweden: Kappa message, April 17, 1944, list of the principal members of the Abwehr in Sweden.
same kind for Spain: Kappa message, April 18, 1944.
on the Russian front: Kappa message, April 12, 1944.
Antwerp, or maybe Norway: Ibid.
Reich’s envoy in Dublin: See, for example, Kappa message, April 12, 1944, and Boston document no. 154 (“there is a tank arsenal and a sizeable airfield for heavy bombers located at Hatfield…. Most of the tanks are reported to be of the Sherman type. Ninety per cent of the total number of pursuit planes are said to be built in this general neighborhood…. American forces are reaching Bristol constantly, night and day.”)
used by the Allies: Germany had been working since late 1943 on the development of the technology of miniaturized submarines, like the Biber (Beaver), which had a one-man crew. The use of these submarines beginning in the spring of 1944 produced mixed results because of many technical problems.
the invasion even starts: Kappa message, April 12, 1944.
their arms for liquor: Kappa message, April 13, 1944.
gathered around Marthe Bibesco: Marthe Bibesco (1889–1973) was a figure in literary and social life in Paris and Bucharest. The author of many books, she was surrounded by crowned heads and famous writers.
alone win him over: Kappa message, April 12, 1944, reprinted in Neal H. Petersen, ed., From Hitler’s Doorstep: The Wartime Intelligence Reports of Allen Dulles, 1942–1945 (University Park: Penn State University Press, 1996), pp. 267–68.