There are five relevant documents concerning the connections between Canada and the network with which I was concerned in Switzerland. They are a four-page document written in Russian by Motinov (cover name "Lamont"), the assistant military attaché; a typewritten letter addressed to Rabinowitch and signed "Gisel"; a report in Russian on an interview between Koudriavtzev, First Secretary of the embassy (cover name "Leon"), and Rabinowitch; two reports on meetings between Koudriavtzev and Rabinowitch, and a typewritten letter from the latter.
The first document shows that in December 1943 Her- mina phoned Tounkin, the counsellor of the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, and asked to be received on an urgent matter. She was ultimately received by him and outlined to him the gist of the matter which she wished to discuss and after that she wrote him a letter on March 9, 1944, saying that she had received through a reliable channel a letter from a friend in Geneva. The contents of this letter are as follows:
We live in the former apartment and are working as previously in the old firm. Some two weeks ago Sisi sent you a telegram. Tell us how did your journey to Gisel's parents turn out. My health is excellent. Albert is sick and will probably leave his profession for a long time, he is laid up in bed. Relations with Lucy are good, she is a very good woman. Gisel's family is for some reason no longer interested in her, although up to this time there was support. Lucy's situation has improved. Sisi's position is sad. Please inform Gisel's parents that they must remit 6,700 dollars. This sum must be handed over through you. There are no other possibilities. The Gisels must bear these expenses. Advise me about Aleksander where is he. Rachel.
It took the Royal Commission some time to unravel the meaning of this letter, and in some respects their deductions were incorrect. Small blame attachés to the Commission on this point as they were not in possession of the information regarding our network in Switzerland which is now available to the reader of this book. Before considering the actual meaning of this letter it is as well to remember the situation at the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944. At this period the network was in a state of disorganisation. Rado was in hiding; I was in prison, having been arrested in November 1943; contact with the Centre had been lost and Cissie was without funds but was still receiving Lucy's information, for which she had to pay. With that background in mind it is possible to analyse the message. "Working as previously in the old firm" of course means that Cissie was continuing her work for the Centre. Sisi is of course the same as Cissie, in other words Rachel Duebendorfer. The reference to Gisel is obscure. According to Gouzenko, Gisel was a cover name for the Red Army Intelligence Service. This may be correct. On the other hand Gisel may possibly be the cover name for some individual in the Centre who may have been known not only to Cissie but also to Her- mina. The sentence, "Tell us how did your journey to Gisel's parents turn out" may well mean "How did you get on with the Russians in Canada?" The next sentences, "My health is excellent. Albert is sick and will probably leave his profession for a long time, he is laid up in bed," will present no difficulty to the reader, accustomed as he is to the jargon of the Centre. It is implied of course that Cissie is at liberty while Albert, i.e., Rado, was compromised and would probably have to cease being an agent for some time and was in hiding.
The next portion of the message referred of course to Selzinger (cover name Lucy), our source who supplied information from Berlin. "Relations with Lucy are good, she is a very good woman," i.e., "We are still receiving information from Selzinger, who is working well." "Gisel's family is for some reason no longer interested in her, although up to this time there was support. Lucy's situation has improved." That is to say, the Centre is for some reason no longer interested in information supplied by Lucy, although they had shown interest up to that time. The last sentence about Lucy's situation is somewhat obscure, but may mean that Selzinger was in a position to get even more information.
The next portion of the message was the one which in the Centre's view caused all the trouble. "Sisi's position is sad. Please inform Gisel's parents that they must remit 6,700 dollars. This sum must be handed over through you. There are no other possibilities. The Gisels must bear these expenses." This message is perfectly clear. Cissie's financial position was precarious and Hermina was to inform the Centre that they were to send $6,700 through Hermina, as there were no other means of obtaining money.
The last sentence, "Advise me about Aleksander where is he," is a sentence where I think that the Commission went somewhat astray. They identify Aleksander with Alexander A . . . whom I take to be Isaac, one of Cissie's sources in the I.L.O. It is not surprising that the Commission was confused, because Alexander A...is mentioned later, as he was the cut-out for this transaction. In point of fact I am certain that that Aleksander referred to in this sentence is myself. Cissie was unaware of my cover name Jim, and knew me only by my real name, which she had learnt from the members of the Abwehr who had visited her that summer and asked about me. It will be remembered that at this time we were not in touch as Rado had refused to allow us to meet, so she would have to refer to me by my real Christian name. At that early stage she would have been unaware that I was under arrest and might have thought that I was still in hiding. The signature "Rachel" is of course Rachel Duebendorfer.
Later on Hermina wrote again to Tounkin with a request that he should take action over the matter referred to in her first letter, i.e., the transfer of the funds, and to show the genuineness of the request she attachéd to this letter a second letter from Cissie of which the following is the gist:
I have received your [Hermina's] telegram of 23.1.44. Please inform Gisel's family, that she should advise Znamensky 19, that Sisi is alive and works as of old with Lucy. Lucy wanted to change the personnel, but funds ran out. Albert is sick and is not interested in business. For the work of Sisi, Gisel's family must transfer 10,000 dollars. The transfer must be made by Hermina personally through N.Y. in connection with the wishes of Mr. Helmars.
R.D.
From this it appears that Hermina had replied to Cissie by telegram, presumably through the cut-out Isaac. Cissie then asked Hermina to inform "Gisel's family," i.e., the Russians in Canada, that they should inform Znamensky 19, which is the street address in Moscow of the Red Army Intelligence Headquarters, that Cissie was alive and continuing her work for the network. She was also working as before with Selzinger, who wanted to make a change of agents but funds had run out. Rado was in hiding and was not concerned with this operation. In this message Cissie increases her demand and asks now for $10,000 to be transferred by the Centre through New York. The initials R.D. which sign the letter are of course those of Rachel Duebendorfer.
As a result of this Pavlov informed Motinov and it was decided that she should be contacted by telephone and told she must not write or ring up, but that she would be visited in two weeks' time by a man from the Centre. This visit was in fact made by Koudriavtzev. It was considered by Motinov that the money should be transferred but that it must be transferred to Washington and then handed over to Hermina in New York as it was dangerous to cross the border with such a sum. Motinov added that Hermina's letters with copies of Cissie's letters had been sent by mail and in all probability had passed through the censorship. He was particularly concerned over the second letter quoted above and the mention of Znamensky 19, which he regarded as "particularly prejudicial."