Evening star., 1932-06-26

feel.
Others Of the refugees, formerly men
and women Of background, wealth and
education, now penniless in cold, In
hospitable cities, are the ''mercenaries"
of European espionage; they will join
any system which shows signs of being
able to pay. The doorman at the
French embassy in Berlin was a cul-
tured old Russian general. He disap-
peared one day-and with him a
| package that was left for the military
| ATTACHED 1t took the French system
some time to find out for which espion-
age service the charming old man was
working.
The Soviet system, with the help Of
the local Communist parties that have
been formed in other countries, has
been most successful in a type of es-
pionage which has come to prominence
since the war-economic espionage, Sc
curing industrial secrets. There have
been such attempts by all countries
since the beginning Of industry, but
with the rise of Soviet Russia, whose
government controls all Russian in
dustry, trade and manufacturing secrets
have become matter Of national i'm
portance.
Russia Plays "for Keeps"
Russia has brought another change
into European espionage. The Soviet
the war, captured spies we're usually
expelled from the country or iInpris-
oned. Only in wartime did espionage
mean death. But any spies caught in
| the Soviet Union today are summarily
shot. Their execution Is rarely men
toned in the newspapers. To this day
the Soviet government has had nothing
to say about the death Of Capt. Reilly,
believed by the British intelligence
service to have been shot in Moscow.
except that "a smuggler was caught on
the Soviet border. shot, and then found
to be carrying the papers Of Capt.
Reilly"
Other nations have more or less re-
taliated. Soviet spies caught in Po-
land are invariably executed, and
seven were hung one day last Decem-
Der. Other Soviet neighbors. Esthonia,
Lithuania and Rumania, also execute
Soviet spies. Latvia does not. I'VE
| ought. to-" one Latvian officer said to
me, but our government wants to i'm
press the League of Nations"
When a nation catches some OF its
own citizens giving information to for
eign agents, it frequently imposes the
death sentence. If the culprit be an
army oficer, court-martial and exc
cution are inevitable. Such was the
procedure last July when Maj. DEM
bowsky of the Polish Army was ar
rested as he opened the house gate OF
the Soviet embassy in Warsaw. He and
the suit case he clutched so nervouSly
were hustled into car and hurried to
the Polish war office. There the suit
case was opened and from It poured
a roll of documents-the entire mobili-
cation plans of the Polish Army, show
ing exactly what that army would do
in event Of war between Poland and
the Soviet Union. A few days later,
after court-martial, Maj. Dembowsky
was shot.
Trapped by Carelessness.
An incident somewhat similar to this
occurred in Prague several years ago.
An officer in the Czechoslovakian army
hurried to the Prague air field one
morning. rushing to catch the Berlin
plane He was noticeably excited. He
caught the plane but in his haste and
excitement left small attaches case
behind. Attendants at the field opened
the case to discover 1t overland when
the officer returned by the next plans
to get the case he walked into the arms
of the police, and a little later, to a
wall before firing squad. In Septem-
Der last year, likewise, the Poles exc
cuted corporal in their army for SELL
ing secrets to the Lithuanians.
Stories of Soviet espionage figure large
among the tales which go round Eu-
rope, but very little is said Of Euro
pean espionage in Soviet Russia. In
countries (barring, perhaps. JAPAN for
| fnr6icT1 EUSfar0c fn nlprata in EVprU
European city has its group of foreign
ers. retired gentlemen of wealth, busi-
ness representatives, students, workmen
and even some unemployed. And a spy
can settle down among them without
exciting undue attention. The central
figure of the German espionage system
In England before the war was little
German tailor. living in the poorest
part of London.
But Soviet Russia has virtually no
foreign colonies in its cities; it offers
no place for private business, for agen-
cies Of foreign firms, for retired gen.
tlemen, for any of the hundred subter-
fuges that espionage agents adopt IN
other lands. Agents who would reside
In Moscow must think Of new excuses.
Equally difficult Is the problem Of first
getting into the Soviet Union. Every
application by foreigner for visa
goes before the foreign ofice and before
the foreign department Of the G. p. u,
the secret police.
Face Tremendous Danger.
Sometimes they carry forged identifi-
cation cards showing them to be Soviet
citizens Naturally their Russian must
be nearly perfect. The danger is tre-
mendous. In one Baltic capital I was
told that so per cent of the spies sent
into Russia do not return. Often it is
some slight misstep which viii be the
first step to wall and Red army
firing squad.
1t was very tired agent from one
Baltic country who stopped In a barber
| shop In Leningrad. His work was done
and f,<a tl,a y,.rgrrrur ha sraa Unfr,z harxsn