WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Undetected: Klaus Fuchs

Episode Date: March 2, 2024

This week, Megan and Alessia examine the twists and turns in the life of Klaus Fuchs, a brilliant scientist who placed ideology above loyalty.

on Radio Free Hillsdale. Go undercover with your host, Alessia Sandala, and Megan Lee, as they uncover the stories of spies from every country in time. The most thrilling, yet the most secretive lives in history. We, Soviet people, not sysvian, their own future with using atomic homes. Well, that was a dramatic entrance, if any. Welcome back to Undetected, everyone.

I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. What you just heard there was a snoburn. of a trailer from the broadcast documentary film, The Spy Who Stole the Adam Bomb, made by Oxford Digital Media in 2017. The film focuses on Ursula Kuzinski, codename Sonia, who is a Soviet spy and handler of the subject of today's episode, nuclear scientist Klaus Fuchs. Klaus Amio Julius Fuchs was born in Germany on December 29, 1911, to a deeply religious

family. Fuchs studied math and physics at the University of Leipzig. In 1932, Fuchs joined the German Communist Party, becoming the leader of many communist youth organizations. However, after the Nazis began their ascent to power, notorious for their hate of communists, Fuchs fled to England as a refugee. Fuchs eventually earned his Ph.D. in science and applied for British citizenship in 1939.

Fuchs's citizenship application was not processed by the time World War II. began, so he was sent to Quebec, Canada as a German refugee. By a stroke of luck, Professor Max Born, the scientist he had worked for in England, was able to get Fuchs released. Fuchs then went back to England and finally became a British citizen in 1942, where he worked on nuclear research. But Fuchs, a devout communist, was already providing small pieces of classified information to the Soviet main intelligence directorate, also known as the GRU, through Soviet agent Simon Kramer, co-name Alexander. Now this is where the story gets dramatic. In 1944, Fuchs had the opportunity of a spy's lifetime to travel to Columbia University in New York to help

work on the Manhattan Project. Later in 1944, Fuchs was transferred to Los Alamos, where the atomic bomb was developed. He was also at the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945. This is definitely a treasure box for a Soviet spy. For sure, Megan. The intelligence Fuchs provided the Soviet Union with likely led to the Soviet construction of its own atomic bomb. This tipped off British and American intelligence, leading them to believe there was a mole involved with the project.

After the end of World War II, Fuchs went back to England where he continued to work on the British nuclear project. It's crazy that he was never caught after all this time, especially as he was giving away all of this critical information. Yeah, he must have been very good. at his craft. Perhaps he was taking very small bits of information that were untraceable in order to avoid tracking. Yes, but that all went out the window when the Soviets finally developed their own bomb. Investigators were eventually able to narrow the suspects down to Fuchs and another

German scientist. Finally, in 1949, William Scarden, an MI5 agent, was chosen to confront Fuchs with the fact that MI5 knew he was a Soviet spy. Fuchs's confession, led to the eventual arrest of the Rosenbergs in the United States, who were both famously executed for treason. After a trial, Fuchs was charged under the Official Secrets Act and was given 14 years in prison. Well, for a spy handing over nuclear information to the Russians building their own bomb, Fuchs didn't go to prison for very long at all. You're right, Megan.

After he was released from prison, Fuchs moved to East Germany. While there, he was a member of the East German Academy of Sciences. and in 1979, he received the Karl Marx Medal of Honor. He died in 1988. He was 76 years old. Fuchs was a slightly different spy from the ones we have seen before, because his strength and key to success was not necessarily in his skills as a spy, but in his genius and his knowledge about physics and atomic science.

You're right. His scientific knowledge allowed him to access information that no other spy could have possibly reached. I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Undetected. Tune in next week to explore the story of the Israeli spy, Eli Cohen, and his espionage work in Syria on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.