Richard Sorge - the legendary Soviet intelligence officer who was killed by a passion for women

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Richard Sorge - a man of amazing destiny. German by nationality, he fought in the First World War on the side of Germany, and later began working for Soviet intelligence and made a lot of efforts to defeat fascism. He was invulnerable, spent many years in Japan, wasting his life: expensive cars and women were his passion. One of the fleeting hobbies of a local dancer became fatal for the legendary scout. According to the girl's report, Richard was arrested and sentenced to death.

Little was known about Richard Sorge in the Union: once falling out of favor with Stalin, the military intelligence officer was no longer able to rehabilitate himself. His guilt before the leadership was unforgivable: he confessed to his Russian wife in secret activities. At that time, the woman was expecting a child from Richard, but soon she was arrested and poisoned.

In general, Sorge had many women. Officially, he had three marriages: with a German, a Russian and a Japanese. According to some reports, in the land of the rising sun, the scout-heartthrob had more than 30 mistresses.

One of them, the dancer Kiomi, became a femme fatale for Richard, she handed him over to the police. Almost a detective story is connected with Kiomi: this girl was recruited by the police, her lover was under arrest and the price of his release was any incriminating evidence on the eminent intelligence officer. One evening, Kiyomi watched Sorge, and when he received another message from the waiter (his informant), she agreed to leave with him and spend the night. On the way, Sorge wanted to burn the letter, but his lighter treacherously did not work. Then the scout tore a piece of paper, threw it out the car window, and left this place. Kiomi asked to stop at a telephone booth. Needless to say, a couple of hours later, the police raided the house of Richard Sorge and instead of an arrest warrant they handed him a glued report. Sorge was executed on charges of espionage.

The attitude towards Richard Sorge in the Soviet Union was ambiguous. At first, they did not remember him at all, in 1938 he received orders to return to the USSR, but he understood what awaited him there, and stayed to work in Japan. It is interesting that the Soviet leadership refused to finance his work, Sorge kept all the informants, in fact, out of his own pocket. And he persistently sent reports to Moscow. It was Sorge who warned of a possible attack by fascist troops on the USSR, it was he who confirmed that Japan did not plan to attack the Land of the Soviets. The first statement was taken with skepticism, the second was taken seriously and part of the Far Eastern troops was transferred to the defense of the capital. This largely helped not to "surrender" Moscow.

A wave of interest in the personality of Sorge rose in Russia in the 1960s, when a French film about the legendary intelligence officer was released. Nikita Khrushchev saw him as a hero and intended to assign him to the award posthumously, but he himself was removed from office. True, the initiative was supported, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union found its owner.

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