More fascinating World War Two spy stuff we know you love. We've already spoken about Popov, Enigma, and much more, but what makes Sorge particularly stand-out is the amount of praise he has consistently received. Both Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming have said they consider him one of the world's greatest spies, and other espionage workers, including ones who worked on the opposing side to him, have admitted their admiration for the man Hope you enjoy! Remember to keep to our rules of conduct when commenting: community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
Sorge's grand-uncle was Friedrich Sorge, an associate of Karl Marx. Sorge apparently thought Friedrich, who died in 1906, was his grandfather. It is interesting that this and other Communist connections were not picked up by the Abwehr or even the somewhat more efficient SS Sicherheitsdienst. Possibly his war veteran status and lack of any sort of Jewish background may have lulled suspicions.
Sorge's grand-uncle was Friedrich Sorge, an associate of Karl Marx... When Sorge was 3 years old. Marx was German. Lenin got Marks (German money) from the German government. Rozalia Luxenburg wouldnt achieve anything if she didnt study in Switzerland. And she achieved the most in Germany. Communism is connected to Germany more than it is connected to Jews. He was a German doctor of political science that was born near Baku. And as a wounded war veteran he had time to study Marx (just like German sailors in WWI were called communist, cause they had more free time in WWI to study communism, so they got more influenced by it). Not surprising he got captured in 1941 together with his informant Hotsumi Ozaki - obvious Japanese communist who wasnt Jewish, but knew German.
@Jesus Christ you...you know Jesus was a socialist in all but name, right? He certainly didn’t say the rich were the salt of the earth or beat beggars at temple. Sounds like you subscribe to ‘Murican Jesus, aka Supply Side Jesus.
Aided the service immensely, ignored, captured, never rescued, wife arrested and died in a gulag. Now if that ain't peak Soviet I don't know what it is.
movie about james bond: 1 minute of scheming, action, women. 89 minutes of movie: slowly dying in jail of old age with ever increasing health problems.
@Fred Flintstone you wish, sleepy joe will be as moderate and centrist as moderate can be. he will zzzzzz whole term and make the whole nation asleep, calm things down. no boogaloo igloos for you, friend.
@@Redmanticore John le Carré's novels present a more realistic view of the spy world - George Smiley for example is a master spy, but middle-aged or elderly, with glasses, and can't satisfy his vigorous and perhaps somewhat younger wife, who cheats on him.
He has several. First movie about him ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Are_You,_Mr._Sorge%3F ) actually caused USSR to recognize him - Kchrushev watched this movie and later was surprised to learn that Sorge is a real person. So he ordered USSR agencies to recognize him. He was posthumously giver a star of Hero of Soviet Union and his unofficial Japanese wife was given state pension as a wife of an officer. She even got the perks of such status, and visited sanatoriums on Black Sea several times.
Sorge's story brings some realism the the monologue in almost every Mission: Impossible episode, "should any of your IM force be killed or captured, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." Basically, Sorge understood he was on his own in Japan.
I don't think he understood that. if he understood that, why did he thought he was not going to be executed, but instead going to be exchanged for Japanese prisoners with the soviet union before his death? ( 13:29 ). I think it just happened, and he was told the opposite, as in "don´t worry comrade, we will always rescue you some way". or they simply did not even discuss the subject matter, ever, which is unlikely.
@@Redmanticore He should have definitely known the risk. He was working under a non official cover, so no chance of just being declared persona non grata and deported. He was in deep cover with enough deniability for the soviets to not give a shit.
Technically, it was correct. AN army had collapsed in a day. Then another, and another. Who knew, that there could be more of those armies, than those days.
Steve...Hitler was just as insane as Napoleon trying to invade Russia (for Napoleon) and the USSR (for Hitler), but the latter at least fed his soldiers while Napoleon to.d his army to find their grub on the way but they went in the winter, so most of them died (generalizing, a lot - just the result of that campaign).
@@marinazagrai1623 it wasn't technically insane tho. It was just that German intelligence on Soviet military capabilities were so bad that they misjudged the Soviet strength and the fact that every war is planned by the last one. The last war, World War 1, had Germany pitted against France and Russia, they beat the Russian armies back, then Russia collapsed into a bonanza of civil war, but they eventually lost to the French, British and American assault. And just a few months before Barbarossa, Hitler and his dudes had beaten France, the behemoth that the great imperial German army couldn't beat, inside 40 days. Meanwhile, Russia, now called USSR had suffered through WW1 just like everyone else, but on top of that, had to endure one of the most destructive civil wars, famines, political repression, purge and ethnic cleansing. On top of that, they had just chopped off their armed forces head in those purges too. It isn't too unreasonable to see USSR as unstable.
I wish mr Nydell had been my History Teacher when I was at school I have heard of the Sorge spy ring but didn't know that it took the USSR that long to recognise him Thank you once again for another interesting glimpse of the past
HOI4 logic: Richard Sorge: "has a trait to spy more easily in Germany" me: sends him to Germany Richard Sorge: *g e t s c a p t u r e d i n o n e m o n t h*
This probably would have happened in the real life. Even in Japan, Sorge refused to take on any official position with the German embassy (despite befriending it's staff). He knew that he wouldn't pass formal security checks given time spent in Moscow.
@@Brahmdagh That usually depends on the type of spy diplomatic spies are usually exchanged (if they are arrested) or deported but Sorge wasn't a soviet diplomat, that's why they were able to arrest him in the first place. Usually spies work as attaches to an embassy - whilst he worked as an attaché he worked as a German one not a soviet one, so he was what is referred to under non-official cover. NOC agents are deniable and countries will in most cases not give a shit about them if they are arrested. Though they know the risks. Diplomatic agents are usually just declared personae non grata and deported. Sorge was playing a dangerous game.
Wouldn't be surprised if there were layers to this. He was recruited so early that it's possible only an inner circle of ppl even knew he worked for them
One of the future specials should be dedicated to Colonel Duane Tyrell "Bill" Hudson who was the British Special Operations Executive officer in Yugoslavia and who upon the arrival into Yugoslavia by submarine spent time both with Tito Partisans and Mihailović Chetniks even being kicked out from their last last meeting that will happen on October 27th because he wanted to act as an mediator (ending up waiting them in front of the village tavern building). However he had very interesting biography as well and an important role in the 1941 resistance in Yugoslavia. Fun fact is that he arrived together with some ex Yugoslav aviation officers who then split between them and part goes into Chetniks while others go to Partisans and those people will have important rules in both headquarters regarding the logistics and communication lines.
Just a thought ... Maybe the boss was thinking, "As long as Richard is distracting my miserable shrew of a wife with sex, she won't become suspicious of me and my sexy young mistress who is FAR better than that bitch could ever hope to be." Sometimes there are ulterior motives to a man's actions.
@UCWtyIWrJmY9190cbBvh5lrQ It’s hard to say, who’s a traitor and who’s not. In my (German) eyes, there a two kinds of traitors. Sorge was one - why? Because he worked against his own country and it affected regular German soldiers BUT he worked against the Nazis. This is the other type of traitor, well not the real Nazis, they had their opinion and did everything for it but they were a minority - the bigger problem, the ones who betrayed Germany, were the opportunists who carried the Nazis and committed crimes out of personal profit or because of crude dreams. From our perspective, it’s a puzzle. You had real Nazis, the brainwashed guys, the opportunistic guys, regular guys and the opposition (which wasn’t united, because the Nazis interned the elite of them in the early 30s) and all these different groups of people compose our ancestors. I know, this is the case in every country but our country started this very dark episode of history and no, it’s not my intention to clarify Germany as victim, nonetheless the political opposition members, Jews etc were victims of the Nazis and their filthy assistants.
@@jupprheinland4805 So you would consider the German resistance were traitors bc they "worked against their own country"? Imo working for the good of your country is completely compatible with working against its government
@@niklasnoeske5850 Did I said that? No, I didn’t! It’s still a difference, if u fight against ur government or if u fight against ur country (as I wrote before, against government AND regular soldiers/people). Resistance actions weaken the power of the government, Sorges actions weakened the government and had impact on regular German soldiers and civilians.
@Neon Noir not saying if Japan invaded it wouldn't have been over. I'm just saying the divisions sent to the axis front were a drop in the bucket compared to what was on the front already
@Neon Noir well, there's plenty of analysis that even if Moscow had fallen, the Soviets would have still kept fighting, and it wouldn't have been much of a victory for the Germans. Much of the reason for the German land grab was to gain resources and working factories to support their war effort, but the Soviets weren't leaving much for the Germans as they rolled much of their industry east.
Currently making my way through Stephen Kotkin’s gigantic first volume of his Stalin trilogy....Russian history has got to be one of the hardest to keep straight for the simple fact everyone has like 7 different names.
Enjoyed this video and have gone on to read 'An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent'. A fascinating read. Sorge was a remarkable man although also very flawed as well.
Indi, literally 8 hours ago I was thinking whether you are planning to make an episode about this interesting character. Unbelievable that you just uploaded it.
Max Otto von Stierlitz. He’s the Soviet Equivalent to James Bond, but I’ve only heard of a 12 episode series, and he’s very different from typical Bond. Might be good to look into anyway.
I remember reading a book about him years ago and thinking that he was the living definition of a "super spy" and his story left any James Bond book in its dust.
I just finished reading the " Stalin 's Spy " life of Richard Sorge , what an amazing book . After all he did for the rotten soviet system they refused to have any thing to do with him once he was arrested .
For all the interested Italians on this channel: there is a very interesting lecture on Sorge by Alessandro Barbero, around one hour long. It is easily found on RUclips.
Kyösti Kallio and Carl Mannerheim deserve specials. Kallio is more practical to do sooner, rather than later in the timeline as he died on December 19th 1940(19.12.2019 our TL). Mannerheim was still very much active from 1941-1944 and 1944-1946
To add to your point on Mannerheim, the Asian version was Thailand's Field Marshal Pibul Songgram (the transliteration may vary) Thai-Japanese relations had a parallel with Finnish-German relations. Thailand had a French issue just as Finland had a Soviet issue. When the tide of war turned, Thailand, similar to Finland, managed to distance itself from the Axis and avoided post-WW2 punishment. The main difference was that while Mannerheim avoided direct politics, Pibul was Thai PM from 1938-1944 & again from 1946-1957. He died, of all countries, in Japan in 1964. By late 1950s, Japan had become a darling of the West.
This was one awesome biography! Even though it's beyond the scope of this channel, I really appreciate you guys telling the story from the beginning to the end!
Good episode. Sorge is a fascinating individual. He did quite a bit of heavy drinking as a spy as those he was spying on also drank heavily. I've read a couple books on Sorge.
@@stevekaczynski3793 The sources I've seem to indicate that it was a tool, loosen people up, get them to talk. Or you seek out and focus on the alcoholics. To that you need to drink - a lot.
So Sorge can not run because the limp he had, he could not outrun his captors. 14:11 So he finally got recognised for being a Soviet spy in 1964. About 21 years too late for his wife.
This episode really shows that even the Authoritarian governments of that time didn't seem to care for the lives of families of some of their most valuable men.
Of any time... and, to some extent, any governments, not just authoritarian. Stalin, though, was among the worst offenders, undermining, ignoring, and just plain executing some of the most capable people working for him.
Indy...good show as always... few twists of fate... Richard Sorge was grandnephew of Friedrich Adolf Sorge, a man who was a personal friend of Karl Marx, the first secretary of the First Communist Internationale and a man who introduced Communism to America and organized first Socialist party in USA, from which Bernie Sanders and AOC ideologically originated ;) ... Also in Sorge spy ring in Japan was Yugoslav communist Branko Vukelic who was foreign correspondent for several French newspapers but also for Serbian daily "Politika" (still exists) from Belgrade. Owner of the daily was a Communist and in his house Tito (head of Yugoslav communists and future leader of Yugoslavia) was hiding from Germans, before joining Serbian partisans on 17th of September 1941. Vukelic was photographer and radio operator in the Sorge spy ring and came to Japan from France before Sorge, in 1932. In 1933. Sorge came along and they started the "business". They were both arrested on 18th of October 1941 just when the Germans have started operation "Typhoon" - drive to Moscow, which was, funny enough, saved from the Germans army by the German spy. Vukelic died in Japanese prison in January 1945. His son Hitomi Yamasaki Vukelic received scholarship from Tito's government in 1961. became a professor of Japanese language at University in Belgrade, translated many literature works from Serbian to Japanese, made several dictionaries...etc...in the end... this is how modern Russians see Sorge and his group in their recent TV show subtitled in English. Keep up the good work Indy ;) ruclips.net/video/YJ1egMkpmtQ/видео.html
Richard Sorge was married twice and had no children. First wife - Christina Gerlach, the marriage was registered in 1920 in Solingen. After moving to Moscow in December 1924, she worked as a librarian at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, where she translated classical works from English. She could not adapt to life in the USSR and in 1926 left Richard, returning from the USSR to Germany. They officially divorced in 1932, after which she left for the United States (she lived in Massachusetts with her new family and taught French and German at a local school). According to one version, Kristina Gerlach was an agent of Soviet military intelligence and her departure from the USSR was due to the task of the red Army intelligence Department. Second wife-Ekaterina Maksimova, the marriage was registered in 1933. Arrested by the NKVD in September 1942 on suspicion of espionage, the reason for the arrest was the denunciation of her distant relative E. Haupt, who lived in Sverdlovsk (she was detained as a Soviet German for preventive purposes and began to be heavily interrogated). Maksimova, who was initially transferred to Sverdlovsk, "confessed to having links with the enemy" and after a nine-month sentence in solitary confinement in Lubyanka, was sentenced to five years in exile as having suspicious connections. In may 1943, she was sent to the Krasnoyarsk territory (Bolshaya Murta). Served exile with the first wife of the scout V. Vasilyeva - Anna. She died of typhus on June 29 (according to other sources-July 3, 1943. She was buried in the cemetery in Bolshaya Murta (the grave was lost). Rehabilitated on November 23, 1964 by The military Tribunal of the Moscow military district, personal file No. 3947.
Everyone is hating on Lazenby, but have you seen "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" recently? It's really not bad and he did a decent job. Especially thanks to the music and Kojak (Terry Tavalas) as Blofeld, it's a great Bond movie.
@@TheJimboslav The movie is a disgrace of the Bond film in lead actor, plot and acting. If you want underrated Bond films, Timothy Dalton's two bond movies is the choice
@@Skyfox94 I am not saying he wasn't an idiot in real life. He surely was from most accounts :D but his portrayal of Bond does not bother me too much. I must say, I prefer much more this movie than most of Pierce Brosnan movies (except GoldenEye). Don't get me wrong, Pierce made a good James Bond, but he was unlucky with the scripts.
Seeing a message about him in the weekly episodes is nice, so knowing he's been arrested this week and will be executed in a short while is really upsetting.
From what I have read, the Richard Sorge case was still going on in 1945 when a German UBoat U 234 on route to Japan surrendered in spring 1945 to the Americans. That is a very interesting story in itself ( as the Uboat had uranium on board in gold lined containers), however there were Nazi judicial officials on board who were going to Japan with regard to the ‘Sorge case’. It would be fascinating to hear further details of this.
Excellent video guys, Sorge was definitely an interesting guy to learn about after I heard you guys mention him for the first a while back. But off topic, wanted to ask if you guys will be covering the “Odessa Massacre” in either tomorrows episode or in the next War Against Humanity episode?
In case it hasn't been mentioned, there is a biopic series of Richard Sorge on the Star Entertainment channel entitled Richard Sorge Master Spy in Russian with English subtitles and Japanese film with English subtitles, Spy Sorge. If both films have mentioned, please forgive me.
Рихард Зорге был насоящем героем СССР (16 . Он точно сказал Сталину что Япония не будет атаковать СССР. Поэтому переправили войска с дальнего востока на зашиту Москвы в 1941-м. Настоящий человечище!
I gotta ask, what plane is that that is flying in the background... I dont believe Ive ever seen on like that and it is very cool imo. Thanks for any help
It's incredible that such a rotten state like Stalin's USSR had such incredible, brave and loyal peope at its disposal. Sorge actually knew that Stalin was going to execute him but he in fact saved Moscow and sacrificed his life for Russia, Rokossovskiy in 1937 was put in jail, heavily beaten and tortured by NKVD on accusations of spying for Japan but he was released from jail just before the WWII and became one of the greatest marshals of the USSR, Korolev was beaten, tortured in jail and then sent to one of the most terrible Gulag camps. He was taken from the camp and moved to the prison design bureau to dsign missiles for the USSR at the beginning of the war and eventually this man launched the first Sputnik and first man in the space.. There are many more examples...
How in the HELL is there not a....not movie but an ENTIRE MINISERIES....about this guy??? I’d watch an entire hour long episode just about the sentence “married his professor’s ex-wife”!!
More fascinating World War Two spy stuff we know you love. We've already spoken about Popov, Enigma, and much more, but what makes Sorge particularly stand-out is the amount of praise he has consistently received. Both Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming have said they consider him one of the world's greatest spies, and other espionage workers, including ones who worked on the opposing side to him, have admitted their admiration for the man
Hope you enjoy! Remember to keep to our rules of conduct when commenting: community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
A one time pad is not pretty much unbreakable. Properly used it is unbreakable.
Do you plan to do other famous soviet spy groups like Five of Cambrigge, Ware Group or Red Orchestra spy ring (Rote Kapelle) ?
will you be looking at "The Man who never was" part of Operation Mincemeat?
How about an episode on Garbo?
@@amcalabrese1 , I wish there would be an episode on Garbo. Ballsiest, most creative spy who ever lived, I think.
Sorge's grand-uncle was Friedrich Sorge, an associate of Karl Marx. Sorge apparently thought Friedrich, who died in 1906, was his grandfather. It is interesting that this and other Communist connections were not picked up by the Abwehr or even the somewhat more efficient SS Sicherheitsdienst. Possibly his war veteran status and lack of any sort of Jewish background may have lulled suspicions.
The Nazi party was full of former Communists so it wasn't out of the ordinary.
Sorge's grand-uncle was Friedrich Sorge, an associate of Karl Marx... When Sorge was 3 years old.
Marx was German. Lenin got Marks (German money) from the German government. Rozalia Luxenburg wouldnt achieve anything if she didnt study in Switzerland. And she achieved the most in Germany.
Communism is connected to Germany more than it is connected to Jews. He was a German doctor of political science that was born near Baku. And as a wounded war veteran he had time to study Marx (just like German sailors in WWI were called communist, cause they had more free time in WWI to study communism, so they got more influenced by it). Not surprising he got captured in 1941 together with his informant Hotsumi Ozaki - obvious Japanese communist who wasnt Jewish, but knew German.
@Jesus Christ most of the German people where anti semite at that time...
That has nothing to politic or ideology at thst time..
@Jesus Christ you...you know Jesus was a socialist in all but name, right? He certainly didn’t say the rich were the salt of the earth or beat beggars at temple. Sounds like you subscribe to ‘Murican Jesus, aka Supply Side Jesus.
@Jesus Christ Marx was Jewish.
Aided the service immensely, ignored, captured, never rescued, wife arrested and died in a gulag. Now if that ain't peak Soviet I don't know what it is.
Doing so much for your country only for the rotten leadership to ignore you is just deplorable
Life of a spy, sad,probably happens all of the time.
movie about james bond: 1 minute of scheming, action, women. 89 minutes of movie: slowly dying in jail of old age with ever increasing health problems.
@Fred Flintstone you wish, sleepy joe will be as moderate and centrist as moderate can be. he will zzzzzz whole term and make the whole nation asleep, calm things down. no boogaloo igloos for you, friend.
@@Redmanticore John le Carré's novels present a more realistic view of the spy world - George Smiley for example is a master spy, but middle-aged or elderly, with glasses, and can't satisfy his vigorous and perhaps somewhat younger wife, who cheats on him.
“He began to feel he too would become victim of the purges” sums up 1938
You would know, weren't you in Shanghai around 1938? Dr jones
@@montevallomustang he was in Shangai, not the USSR, lol
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 oh yeah my bad, thus video was about Asia I got confused.
@@montevallomustang
Yeah.
Confusing different parts of tiny ass Asia.
As you do.
this man deserve's a movie for real
He has several. First movie about him ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Are_You,_Mr._Sorge%3F ) actually caused USSR to recognize him - Kchrushev watched this movie and later was surprised to learn that Sorge is a real person. So he ordered USSR agencies to recognize him. He was posthumously giver a star of Hero of Soviet Union and his unofficial Japanese wife was given state pension as a wife of an officer. She even got the perks of such status, and visited sanatoriums on Black Sea several times.
There is also a Soviet TV series loosely based on Sorge and his adventures but based in Germany - "17 moments of Spring"
Agreed. He's probably the greatest spy in history.
@@user-ym1bs7om9e Agreed I also include the Israeli Eli Cohen and the East German Gunther Guillaume
@@davidkenkadze115 I ve seen that, also i have read the book from which the tv series is became from.
Dou you know what is funny? Sorge is the german word for concern - he had concerns about a German attack against the USSR. :D
The Germans are doing me a heckin concern
Really? Makes sense though, in dutch its "Zorgen"
@@firingallcylinders2949 LOL
@@Max-is4qu beat me to it😁👍🏻
Nomen omen !!
Thank you for the information 👍
Sorge's story brings some realism the the monologue in almost every Mission: Impossible episode, "should any of your IM force be killed or captured, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." Basically, Sorge understood he was on his own in Japan.
I don't think he understood that.
if he understood that, why did he thought he was not going to be executed, but instead going to be exchanged for Japanese prisoners with the soviet union before his death? ( 13:29 ).
I think it just happened, and he was told the opposite, as in "don´t worry comrade, we will always rescue you some way". or they simply did not even discuss the subject matter, ever, which is unlikely.
@@Redmanticore He should have definitely known the risk. He was working under a non official cover, so no chance of just being declared persona non grata and deported. He was in deep cover with enough deniability for the soviets to not give a shit.
“The Soviet army would collapse in a day”
Famous last words.
Technically, it was correct. AN army had collapsed in a day. Then another, and another. Who knew, that there could be more of those armies, than those days.
Laugh in Boris Yeltsin.
I don't think even the Germans thought that - they thought it would collapse in perhaps six weeks.
Steve...Hitler was just as insane as Napoleon trying to invade Russia (for Napoleon) and the USSR (for Hitler), but the latter at least fed his soldiers while Napoleon to.d his army to find their grub on the way but they went in the winter, so most of them died (generalizing, a lot - just the result of that campaign).
@@marinazagrai1623 it wasn't technically insane tho. It was just that German intelligence on Soviet military capabilities were so bad that they misjudged the Soviet strength and the fact that every war is planned by the last one.
The last war, World War 1, had Germany pitted against France and Russia, they beat the Russian armies back, then Russia collapsed into a bonanza of civil war, but they eventually lost to the French, British and American assault.
And just a few months before Barbarossa, Hitler and his dudes had beaten France, the behemoth that the great imperial German army couldn't beat, inside 40 days.
Meanwhile, Russia, now called USSR had suffered through WW1 just like everyone else, but on top of that, had to endure one of the most destructive civil wars, famines, political repression, purge and ethnic cleansing. On top of that, they had just chopped off their armed forces head in those purges too. It isn't too unreasonable to see USSR as unstable.
I wish mr Nydell had been my History Teacher when I was at school I have heard of the Sorge spy ring but didn't know that it took the USSR that long to recognise him Thank you once again for another interesting glimpse of the past
HOI4 logic:
Richard Sorge: "has a trait to spy more easily in Germany"
me: sends him to Germany
Richard Sorge: *g e t s c a p t u r e d i n o n e m o n t h*
Half the time he gets killed on his first mission.
@@robertalaverdov8147 are you sending him to mission that are dangerous for him?
@@місячнесвітло Just collaboration government.
This probably would have happened in the real life. Even in Japan, Sorge refused to take on any official position with the German embassy (despite befriending it's staff). He knew that he wouldn't pass formal security checks given time spent in Moscow.
Japan: Alright Soviets, we know that Sorge is a spy! Of course We're willing to trade him.
SU: *I've never met this man in my life*
Thats how spies work
@@Feffdc At least they trade them normalyl.
@@Brahmdagh That usually depends on the type of spy diplomatic spies are usually exchanged (if they are arrested) or deported but Sorge wasn't a soviet diplomat, that's why they were able to arrest him in the first place. Usually spies work as attaches to an embassy - whilst he worked as an attaché he worked as a German one not a soviet one, so he was what is referred to under non-official cover. NOC agents are deniable and countries will in most cases not give a shit about them if they are arrested. Though they know the risks. Diplomatic agents are usually just declared personae non grata and deported. Sorge was playing a dangerous game.
Wouldn't be surprised if there were layers to this. He was recruited so early that it's possible only an inner circle of ppl even knew he worked for them
One of the future specials should be dedicated to Colonel Duane Tyrell "Bill" Hudson who was the British Special Operations Executive officer in Yugoslavia and who upon the arrival into Yugoslavia by submarine spent time both with Tito Partisans and Mihailović Chetniks even being kicked out from their last last meeting that will happen on October 27th because he wanted to act as an mediator (ending up waiting them in front of the village tavern building). However he had very interesting biography as well and an important role in the 1941 resistance in Yugoslavia. Fun fact is that he arrived together with some ex Yugoslav aviation officers who then split between them and part goes into Chetniks while others go to Partisans and those people will have important rules in both headquarters regarding the logistics and communication lines.
“... not that mr. Miyagi!”
It is scary when someone just predicts my thoughts like that... 😅
Who is the other one?
If this were a movie you know they'd have a martial arts fight scene with spy Miyagi....
Nano92 He’s the sensei figure in the karate kid movies if I’m not mistaken
@@Dustz92 watch the original karate kid
@@tsaoh5572 Fucking duh...
Imagine being so cool you sleep with your boss' wife and he's okay with it.
Just a thought ... Maybe the boss was thinking, "As long as Richard is distracting my miserable shrew of a wife with sex, she won't become suspicious of me and my sexy young mistress who is FAR better than that bitch could ever hope to be." Sometimes there are ulterior motives to a man's actions.
@@tomjustis7237 You may well be onto something there. Ott may also have been in an open marriage.
Richard Sorge is a Legend.
@@ivanvoronov3871 Azerbaijan is not Russia for say however yes its part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union but you cant say Azerbaijan is Russia.
@UCWtyIWrJmY9190cbBvh5lrQ It’s hard to say, who’s a traitor and who’s not. In my (German) eyes, there a two kinds of traitors. Sorge was one - why? Because he worked against his own country and it affected regular German soldiers BUT he worked against the Nazis. This is the other type of traitor, well not the real Nazis, they had their opinion and did everything for it but they were a minority - the bigger problem, the ones who betrayed Germany, were the opportunists who carried the Nazis and committed crimes out of personal profit or because of crude dreams.
From our perspective, it’s a puzzle. You had real Nazis, the brainwashed guys, the opportunistic guys, regular guys and the opposition (which wasn’t united, because the Nazis interned the elite of them in the early 30s) and all these different groups of people compose our ancestors. I know, this is the case in every country but our country started this very dark episode of history and no, it’s not my intention to clarify Germany as victim, nonetheless the political opposition members, Jews etc were victims of the Nazis and their filthy assistants.
Take that Mr. "Bond, James Bond"!
@@jupprheinland4805 So you would consider the German resistance were traitors bc they "worked against their own country"?
Imo working for the good of your country is completely compatible with working against its government
@@niklasnoeske5850 Did I said that? No, I didn’t! It’s still a difference, if u fight against ur government or if u fight against ur country (as I wrote before, against government AND regular soldiers/people). Resistance actions weaken the power of the government, Sorges actions weakened the government and had impact on regular German soldiers and civilians.
Richard Sorge was a very complex figure during ww2 and this video made a great job talking about him.
From a retired Australian Army Officer, your series is consistent in it's detail and assessments, thank you sir.
Thanks!
He saved the Soviet by letting them bring troops from the Manchuria border. He derserved to be mentioned more in the history book.
Every day i`m riding through a metro station named after him, nice to hear about him here.
all 5 of them?
The soviets were losing roughly 50+ divisions so the 5 divisions from Siberia is not going to change the winds of war. Other factors were behind that
@Neon Noir not saying if Japan invaded it wouldn't have been over. I'm just saying the divisions sent to the axis front were a drop in the bucket compared to what was on the front already
@Neon Noir well, there's plenty of analysis that even if Moscow had fallen, the Soviets would have still kept fighting, and it wouldn't have been much of a victory for the Germans. Much of the reason for the German land grab was to gain resources and working factories to support their war effort, but the Soviets weren't leaving much for the Germans as they rolled much of their industry east.
This tie got splashed before the ink had time to dry. 2.5/5
Man are you here every time
@@notidentifieduser6533 I'm everywhere. Look behind you
well,at least, it's beautiful
This was detailed information, thanks, thumbs up.
Thanks!
That was really good! I thought I knew all about Richard Sorge but I learned a ton here. Proud to be a member of the Time Ghost Army. 😀
Otte is such a bro letting Sorge borrow his wife like that and being chill when he finds out. What a bro
in the soviet union, _everything_ is, after all, owned by The People.
Currently making my way through Stephen Kotkin’s gigantic first volume of his Stalin trilogy....Russian history has got to be one of the hardest to keep straight for the simple fact everyone has like 7 different names.
Oh man, I just finished vol 2. "waiting for Hitler"
Supposedly vol 3 is coming out next month! I'm giddy with excitement!
I just read both volumes last week and they are extremely interesting
One of the greatest historians of out time.
Enjoyed this video and have gone on to read 'An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent'. A fascinating read. Sorge was a remarkable man although also very flawed as well.
Re: The End...
The candid moments retained for character and humour are wonderful pieces of ‘real life’ that give this channel its humanity.
Indi, literally 8 hours ago I was thinking whether you are planning to make an episode about this interesting character. Unbelievable that you just uploaded it.
Oh man, this channel is pure gold!
This exemplfies why history is so important, its not events but the people that drive them. Excellent storytelling here.
Another great WW2 special. Appreciate all the hard work it takes making these
Thanks!
Now I want a James Bond film series where he is a KGB agent
I would like realistic spy movies. They are all over the top and just bad...
that's the next big movie idea
007: the Soviet edition
Max Otto von Stierlitz. He’s the Soviet Equivalent to James Bond, but I’ve only heard of a 12 episode series, and he’s very different from typical Bond. Might be good to look into anyway.
*GRU
It will be great if John le Carré write a historical novel about this.
I am a WWII buff and i simply love this channel.
Thanks!
I remember reading a book about him years ago and thinking that he was the living definition of a "super spy" and his story left any James Bond book in its dust.
Sorge: The Germans are going to attac-
Stalin: I'm sorry but this person's voicemail box is full.
You are good and like your concise history recollection
Thank you!
I just finished reading the " Stalin 's Spy " life of Richard Sorge , what an amazing book . After all he did for the rotten soviet system they refused to have any thing to do with him once he was arrested .
Спасибо тебе, Рихард! Помним!
For all the interested Italians on this channel: there is a very interesting lecture on Sorge by Alessandro Barbero, around one hour long. It is easily found on RUclips.
Along with this channel, barbero's lectures are the most interesting thing on RUclips
The portrrait in the background reminds me of hoi4's leader art.
5:32 looks like Hitler and Trotsky had a lovechild 🤣
Jewish background, which probably ruled out defecting to the Germans. Lyushkov disappeared in August 1945, his ultimate fate is unknown.
Now I can't unsee that
Leon Hitler or Adolf Trotsky
There was a Russian TV show on Sorge a while ago. I guess if it's translated somewhere you can watch it
I love how he interjected on the non-anglophone pronunciation of "Richard", made me laugh
Outstanding, Indie! I learned more about Richard Sorge today in this video than I have learned from many books over the years. Thank you!
Kyösti Kallio and Carl Mannerheim deserve specials. Kallio is more practical to do sooner, rather than later in the timeline as he died on December 19th 1940(19.12.2019 our TL). Mannerheim was still very much active from 1941-1944 and 1944-1946
To add to your point on Mannerheim, the Asian version was Thailand's Field Marshal Pibul Songgram (the transliteration may vary)
Thai-Japanese relations had a parallel with Finnish-German relations.
Thailand had a French issue just as Finland had a Soviet issue.
When the tide of war turned, Thailand, similar to Finland, managed to distance itself from the Axis and avoided post-WW2 punishment.
The main difference was that while Mannerheim avoided direct politics, Pibul was Thai PM from 1938-1944 & again from 1946-1957. He died, of all countries, in Japan in 1964. By late 1950s, Japan had become a darling of the West.
This was one awesome biography! Even though it's beyond the scope of this channel, I really appreciate you guys telling the story from the beginning to the end!
Kudos to whoever does the background music.
Awesome story, and perhaps the first where I was surprised at the final outcome :D Thanks for this great bio! You guys keep rocking!
"Target: Tokyo" is now officially on my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation and the great work you guys do!
Thank you for the content during this pandemic!! You guys and gals are the best, much love ❤
Please do a video on Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a Boer spy for the Germans. The man had a fascinating life as well.
Good episode. Sorge is a fascinating individual. He did quite a bit of heavy drinking as a spy as those he was spying on also drank heavily. I've read a couple books on Sorge.
A lot of them hit the sauce. Probably the strain.
@@stevekaczynski3793 The sources I've seem to indicate that it was a tool, loosen people up, get them to talk. Or you seek out and focus on the alcoholics. To that you need to drink - a lot.
His eyes… tell a very deep story. Where is the Hollywood movie about Sorge?
So Sorge can not run because the limp he had, he could not outrun his captors.
14:11 So he finally got recognised for being a Soviet spy in 1964. About 21 years too late for his wife.
There should be statues of Richard Sorge. The man was a huge hero.
❤❤❤❤❤
oooo I've been waiting for this one from the day since we first saw him in Japan
This episode really shows that even the Authoritarian governments of that time didn't seem to care for the lives of families of some of their most valuable men.
>Implying the personnel of authoritarian governments care about anything other than protecting their own hides.
Of any time... and, to some extent, any governments, not just authoritarian.
Stalin, though, was among the worst offenders, undermining, ignoring, and just plain executing some of the most capable people working for him.
Where did the picture of military genius Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf that was in the background go?
Can't wait till Saturday. Love the eastern front in real-time. Outstanding commentating indy
Who would mind longer episodes🤔. Great work as always!
Thank you thank you thank you so much, this is the one video I wanted to see above all else
Love the ending, love the Show, keep up the good work
Thanks!
Indy...good show as always... few twists of fate... Richard Sorge was grandnephew of Friedrich Adolf Sorge, a man who was a personal friend of Karl Marx, the first secretary of the First Communist Internationale and a man who introduced Communism to America and organized first Socialist party in USA, from which Bernie Sanders and AOC ideologically originated ;) ... Also in Sorge spy ring in Japan was Yugoslav communist Branko Vukelic who was foreign correspondent for several French newspapers but also for Serbian daily "Politika" (still exists) from Belgrade. Owner of the daily was a Communist and in his house Tito (head of Yugoslav communists and future leader of Yugoslavia) was hiding from Germans, before joining Serbian partisans on 17th of September 1941. Vukelic was photographer and radio operator in the Sorge spy ring and came to Japan from France before Sorge, in 1932. In 1933. Sorge came along and they started the "business". They were both arrested on 18th of October 1941 just when the Germans have started operation "Typhoon" - drive to Moscow, which was, funny enough, saved from the Germans army by the German spy. Vukelic died in Japanese prison in January 1945. His son Hitomi Yamasaki Vukelic received scholarship from Tito's government in 1961. became a professor of Japanese language at University in Belgrade, translated many literature works from Serbian to Japanese, made several dictionaries...etc...in the end... this is how modern Russians see Sorge and his group in their recent TV show subtitled in English. Keep up the good work Indy ;)
ruclips.net/video/YJ1egMkpmtQ/видео.html
Thanks Sir. Rare information comes from the comment box
So I always read most of them
"started an affair with Ott's wife"
"with Sorge's looks it's bound to happen"
*looks at photo - what???.... lol
What did you expect - a fucking k-pop boy?
I live on R. Zorge street now. it is cool to get the story. Thanks
12:30 So he got caught because mr Miyagi wasn’t able to kill himself
"...not that Miyagi." 😂😂😂😂 perfect!
Wax on, wax off! 😉
Great job, guys! 👍🏽
Could you please tell me whose artwork/map is in the background?
A nicely informative video. Richard Sorge one extraordinary person. I wonder what it would've been like had he not been caught when he was. Great job.
Richard Sorge was married twice and had no children.
First wife - Christina Gerlach, the marriage was registered in 1920 in Solingen. After moving to Moscow in December 1924, she worked as a librarian at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, where she translated classical works from English. She could not adapt to life in the USSR and in 1926 left Richard, returning from the USSR to Germany. They officially divorced in 1932, after which she left for the United States (she lived in Massachusetts with her new family and taught French and German at a local school). According to one version, Kristina Gerlach was an agent of Soviet military intelligence and her departure from the USSR was due to the task of the red Army intelligence Department.
Second wife-Ekaterina Maksimova, the marriage was registered in 1933. Arrested by the NKVD in September 1942 on suspicion of espionage, the reason for the arrest was the denunciation of her distant relative E. Haupt, who lived in Sverdlovsk (she was detained as a Soviet German for preventive purposes and began to be heavily interrogated). Maksimova, who was initially transferred to Sverdlovsk, "confessed to having links with the enemy" and after a nine-month sentence in solitary confinement in Lubyanka, was sentenced to five years in exile as having suspicious connections. In may 1943, she was sent to the Krasnoyarsk territory (Bolshaya Murta). Served exile with the first wife of the scout V. Vasilyeva - Anna. She died of typhus on June 29 (according to other sources-July 3, 1943. She was buried in the cemetery in Bolshaya Murta (the grave was lost). Rehabilitated on November 23, 1964 by The military Tribunal of the Moscow military district, personal file No. 3947.
"Overlong episode"? Are you kidding? More of those, please!
11:40 Daniel San raises an eyebrow.
No tie guy yet:
Nice tie. Red goes well white shirt 8/10
His comment appears right below yours in the list (as I write this, anyway). ;)
I am so grateful for you guys for making these videos. Keep up the great work! Love from chicago!:)
Love your guy's work and the banter behind the scenes as well (when we get it). XD
If Among Us is a game about gathering intelligence from the Nazi Party
Gestapo: "idk man, Richard seems kinda sus."
Much better than George Lazenby...
A dog in a hat was better than Lazenby...
Everyone is hating on Lazenby, but have you seen "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" recently?
It's really not bad and he did a decent job. Especially thanks to the music and Kojak (Terry Tavalas) as Blofeld, it's a great Bond movie.
@@TheJimboslav The movie is a disgrace of the Bond film in lead actor, plot and acting. If you want underrated Bond films, Timothy Dalton's two bond movies is the choice
@@TheJimboslav well the costumes were shit and Lazenby was definitely a prick (in real life - not in the movie)
@@Skyfox94 I am not saying he wasn't an idiot in real life. He surely was from most accounts :D but his portrayal of Bond does not bother me too much.
I must say, I prefer much more this movie than most of Pierce Brosnan movies (except GoldenEye). Don't get me wrong, Pierce made a good James Bond, but he was unlucky with the scripts.
Seeing a message about him in the weekly episodes is nice, so knowing he's been arrested this week and will be executed in a short while is really upsetting.
Been waiting for this!
From what I have read, the Richard Sorge case was still going on in 1945 when a German UBoat U 234 on route to Japan surrendered in spring 1945 to the Americans. That is a very interesting story in itself ( as the Uboat had uranium on board in gold lined containers), however there were Nazi judicial officials on board who were going to Japan with regard to the ‘Sorge case’. It would be fascinating to hear further details of this.
Great looking tie, Indy! :D
Excellent video guys, Sorge was definitely an interesting guy to learn about after I heard you guys mention him for the first a while back. But off topic, wanted to ask if you guys will be covering the “Odessa Massacre” in either tomorrows episode or in the next War Against Humanity episode?
Wow. This would make a great Amazon Prime mini-series?
For those who have watched Rickchard Sorge series from Star media.
In case it hasn't been mentioned, there is a biopic series of Richard Sorge on the Star Entertainment channel entitled Richard Sorge Master Spy in Russian with English subtitles and Japanese film with English subtitles, Spy Sorge. If both films have mentioned, please forgive me.
An episode on Juan Pujol Garcia, the spy worth 21 divisions, should happen but near you D-Day episode.
Impossible to find Target Tokyo by Prange. It is out of print. So sad.
Can't believe we haven't heard more of him. What an interesting character.
Yes thank you, Mr, Indy!!!!)))))
Рихард Зорге был насоящем героем СССР (16 . Он точно сказал Сталину что Япония не будет атаковать СССР. Поэтому переправили войска с дальнего востока на зашиту Москвы в 1941-м. Настоящий человечище!
Juan Pujol, Reino Hallamaa and Otto Skorzeny could use a bio special in 1944/1945 as well.
I would love to see your take on Nancy Wake.
I gotta ask, what plane is that that is flying in the background... I dont believe Ive ever seen on like that and it is very cool imo. Thanks for any help
He also received a pretty major shout-out so to speak from Tom Clancy in his novel The Bear and The Dragon
I'm reading An lmpeccable Spy by Owen Matthews, a really good book about a Remarkable Man.
Thanks for the suggestion Michael
It's incredible that such a rotten state like Stalin's USSR had such incredible, brave and loyal peope at its disposal. Sorge actually knew that Stalin was going to execute him but he in fact saved Moscow and sacrificed his life for Russia, Rokossovskiy in 1937 was put in jail, heavily beaten and tortured by NKVD on accusations of spying for Japan but he was released from jail just before the WWII and became one of the greatest marshals of the USSR, Korolev was beaten, tortured in jail and then sent to one of the most terrible Gulag camps. He was taken from the camp and moved to the prison design bureau to dsign missiles for the USSR at the beginning of the war and eventually this man launched the first Sputnik and first man in the space.. There are many more examples...
Thanks for making this vid... he got around more than James Bond! 😂🤣
Pls do a WW2 Biography Special about Subhash Chandra Bose
How in the HELL is there not a....not movie but an ENTIRE MINISERIES....about this guy??? I’d watch an entire hour long episode just about the sentence “married his professor’s ex-wife”!!
The inspiration for Boris Badinov?
I'm surprised they didn't offer him to the American or British, I mean the West getting a Soviet spy, that would be gold.
You mentioned him in the great war also