Soviet Agent: Who Was Richard Sorge?

Born to a German engineer and his Russian wife in 1895, Sorge lived his first years in Baku, a part of the Russian Empire. He grew up in Germany during a highly nationalistic time – not quite the childhood pictured for a future Communist spy. Sorge served in the German Army during the Great War. The war left him with a slight limp after being shot three times. It also shook his beliefs, and he admired the Bolshevik Revolution, so in 1919, he joined the German Communist Party. Always bright and determined, he earned his PhD in Political Science by 1925. Being a dedicated Communist, he joined the Soviet Comintern.

Sorge’s spying career began with Red Army intelligence in 1925, plus Soviet citizenship. None seemed concerned by his excess drinking or womanizing. He traveled to England to study the local Communist Party, and next came Shanghai and Nanking, spying on the Chinese Nationalists as a journalist.

Sorge met Japanese contacts in China, especially the Japanese journalist Ozaki Hotsumi, whose Imperial Government connections would prove valuable. He returned to Germany in 1933 with orders to become a Nazi. He was the consummate actor, charming higher-level Nazis enough to prevent a background check, keeping his Communist past hidden. Had Nazi officials known, he’d have been arrested and shot. Sorge even stopped drinking and womanizing during this act. Meanwhile, he married Katya, a woman he met in China. The Soviets sent Sorge to Japan, seen as their biggest threat, to establish a spy ring. This time, he’d been hired by two newspapers as their senior correspondent.

Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Ring

Sorge quickly inserted himself into Tokyo’s German expat society. His suaveness, fluent Japanese, and social familiarity only made the transition smoother. With his journalist credentials, he befriended the German ambassador, Japanese military, and diplomats. They saw him as a typical Nazi – cynical, hard-drinking but intelligent, despite many flaws such as womanizing. Besides Japan, the ring traveled around the Empire, watching and learning. Sorge’s network yielded results very quickly– the first in 1936 from smuggled documents.

The documents showed Japan’s focus on China, not the Soviet Union, and he reported this to the German ambassador, which enhanced his reputation. By 1938, German officials routinely asked his opinion on Japanese matters. He even traveled with German diplomatic bags, allowing him to smuggle information destined for Moscow.

Sorge’s spy ring efforts paid off again in 1938. Japan and the Soviets clashed many times in Manchuria. The Soviets worried now about a bigger war, given the Nazi’s harsh anti-Communist rhetoric. Sorge’s German sources said Japan wouldn’t attack Russia. His Japanese spies also provided evidence of Japanese troop movements, which was radioed to a station in Siberia.

In the late 1930s, the Soviet Union faced dual threats in Germany and Japan. Since defeating Imperial Russia in 1904, Japan steadily expanded deep into Asia. Now, both powers shared a long common border. Sorge’s biggest coup came in early 1941; Germany’s Operation Barbarossa lanced deep into the Soviet Union, and many thought game over. Desperate to know Japan’s intentions, Sorge and company sniffed, murmured, and eavesdropped for information.

Sorge’s access to the German records, plus his friend Ozaki’s closeness to Japan’s government, revealed no desire for war. Germany’s invasion faced hard going despite their wins, so Japan turned south. Sorge radioed this to Moscow. Their evidence possibly changed everything. With Siberia safe, Stalin transferred thousands of troops to stop the Nazis outside Moscow, saving the Soviet Union. 

Sorge’s activities came with a price. The dreaded Kempetai, suspicious of a surge in encrypted radio traffic, knew a spy ring operated in Tokyo. Sorge was arrested along with his ring, confessed his Soviet connections, and was executed in 1944. He was a master spy with few peers, remaining undetected for years, but Sorge did have decency and made a deal. In return for confessing, he asked that women involved in the ring be released; the Kempetai complied.