Evening star., 1950-01-25
Hede Mossing Tells of Meeting Dr.. Sorqe
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time. Hede," he finally announced.
I'VE want you to meet a very i'm
portant party man."
had not the faintest notion
what the I'VE" stood for. Even
after I was in the network I was
never told explicitly that it was
the GPU. Spies on the lower
rungs know only their immediate
associates, and the fewer the bet
ter. Everything beyond is kept
misty and enigmatic.
Went to Meeting With Sorge.
But my romantic soul was
stirred by a premonition of ad-
venture. Every Communist is
aware that under the crust of the
legal party there is vast sub
terranean region where the real
and dangerous revolutionary work
goes on. I felt that was about
to be led into the forbidden
neither zones.
Sorge personally conducted me
to the meeting with the important
comrade. The procedure was sur
rounded with mystery. We took
a series Of taxicabs, for instance,
to shake off any possible "shad-
ows." and ended up in the back
room Of an obscure cafe. I stared
in disbelief and began to laugh.
After the long and dramatic
build-up, the man awaiting us
turned out to be one of my IA
vorite customers from the book
shop which I had managed for
years.
A small, stoutiSh man in his
middle 30s, with blue eyes and
an infectious smile, I had always
taken him for the mild middle
class person he seemed; a for
eigner. I judged from his slight,
accent, He had come frequently
to my shop and was especis lly
interested in first editions. He
would disappear for months at a
time, and I was always pleased
to see him again. I enjoyed chat
ting with him about poetry, the
theater. indeed everything but
politics.
Prepared Reports on Friends.
It had not occurred to me that
he was Communist, and certain
ly he seemed worlds removed from
my idea of a conspirator. But in
fact he was then and was to re-
main until 1887 the top GPU
agent in Europe.
Call me Ludwig" he suggested.
We were to become devoted
friends. but I would know him
only as Ludwig until his murder
nearly nine years later.
In the following months I saw
q great deal Of Ludwig. He had
asked me at the initial meeting |
to prepare for him reports on a |
long list of people in my circle.
The nearest he came to suggest
ing my future role was in occa-
sional remarks that "our work"
required not only courage but
poise, grace-and feminine charms.
Taught Tricks of Espionage.
I suppose it was a period of
indoctrination. Ludwig stressed
the wisdom of not knowing too
much whenever I ventured to ask
prying questions. He taught me
never to make appointments over
telephones except in cryptic code
language, tricks for escaping the
police if followed, a hundred other
things which in time became sec
ond nature for me.
Ludwig was aware that Julian
and had come to a parting of
our ways. But when I confided
my plan to join Paul Massing in
Moscow, he tried to dissuade me.
Later DR.. Sorge and Gerhart Els
Ter. too, argued against the trip.
Clearly these experienced men
thought it best for young en-
thusiast not to have too close a |
look at the Soviet reality. During
my Is months in Moscow, from
January, 1880, to the spring of
1881, began to understand their
misgivings. The experience proved
distressing and disillusioning.
Confided Fears to Eisler.
1t was the time of forcible COL
1ectivization and the first FIVE
year plan. of mass arrests and
deepening hunger. The piled-up
miseries were too palpable to be
missed even by wishful thinking
foreigners. For time I taught
German to adult classes. I was
upset by the embarrassed and
stony silence with which the STU