The FBI and the Nazi Spies
In 1938 a sensational spy trial exposed a Nazi plot to seduce and blackmail US officers. Despite America’s technological might, counterintelligence had been slow on the uptake.
In November 1938 a New York jury considered charges of espionage against four German citizens, Jenni Hofmann, Erich Glaser, Otto Voss, and Guenther Rumrich. It delivered a guilty verdict in every case. The preceding trial, front-page news across the world, was, according to the Daily Express, the ‘biggest show in town in twenty years’. The prosecution had detailed a Washington ‘brothel plot’, designed to compromise American service personnel.
The Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War had prohibited Germany from espionage, but in 1920 Berlin established an intelligence facility known as the Abwehr, meaning ‘defence’. The Abwehr soon began offensive foreign operations, with spies seeking to procure technology that could be used to revive the Fatherland’s military capability.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.