WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Undetected: Richard Sorge

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

Megan and Alessia investigate the rise and fall of Stalin's "master spy," Richard Sorge.

A man stepped off of the boat. He was tall and looked as if he had the entire world at his fingertips. The people around him rushed to get off, running into him in the process. But the man stood there like a statue, just staring, thinking of the opportunities the land of the rising sun held for him. He pulled out a small notepad and scribbled something down before continuing down the gangway. Little did the people rushing around him know. They had just run into the man who would become known as Stalin's master. spy. His story was far from over. As he walked to his new home, he wondered how many people could be so

oblivious. He was good at what he did, but in his experience, people were too trusting. This fact sunk into his mind. Was being too trusting in innate human quality, he prided himself on always having his guard up, but to build a spy ring, you had to trust someone. His eyes glanced up at the sky as he thought. Who could he trust? Welcome to Undetected 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 secret of lives in history. Hey Alessia, are you ready for another episode of Undetected? I sure am, Megan.

Let's dive into the wild story of Richard Sorge that will take us all over the world and into the insane world of espionage he thought he knew. Sorge was born on October 4, 1895, in a small village near what was then Baku, Russia. He later moved to Germany, his father's homeland. where he attended school and lived a comfortable life even after his father's death in 1911. What he thought was a purposeless life quickly changed when the first World War began. But the war did not live up to expectations. He was sent to Belgium where he suffered in the muddy trenches.

Sorge was injured near Eapri in 1915 and two more times in 1916. It was during this time that he was radicalized by a socialist doctor who cared for him. He was not the same patriotic German that he was at the start of the war. When Sorge returned from the war, he continued his studies and became even more involved with German communists. In 1924, he became a bodyguard for Soviet delegates attending a communist convention. That was when Sorge met and impressed the man who would start him down the path toward espionage when they invited him to Moscow. He was trained to work as an agent, learned English and Russian, and cut himself off from everything and everyone, with the exception of a select few who knew of his espionage activities.

Sorge and his bosses agreed that China would be. the perfect beginning to his successful espionage career. Sorge's cover story had to be impeccable if his mission was going to go well. As a German citizen, he was able to go back to Germany and secure a job for a German magazine. With his cover secured, he headed to Shanghai to begin building his spy ring that would be completely loyal to Joseph Stalin. He built his ring for two years, mingling with German, Chinese, and even Japanese elites, including the person who would set Sources's espionage career on a new path.

This man was Hotsumi Ozaki. He was a Japanese journalist and willingly gave Sorge an understanding of Japan. The country Sorge believed to be the powerhouse of Asia. Sorge even recruited Ozaki after learning of his communist leanings. Ozaki helped Sorge recruit two other Japanese contacts who provided him with classified information about Japanese military movements and strategies that he then passed on to his GRU contact. Following his success in China, he was sent to Japan to build another intelligence network. Sorge re-established his cover as a journalist and a Nazi.

Through his cover, he was introduced to Colonel Jujin Ott, who would become the German military attaché to Japan. After years of building his network, the GRU recalled him to the Soviet Union before sending him back to Japan with the sole mission of gathering any and all information about Japanese military plans regarding the Soviet Union. Sorge discovered that the Japanese knew the Germans were planning to invade the Soviet Union. All of his attempts to alert the Soviets failed.

Apparently, Stalin and others in Moscow didn't think it was possible, though, because Sorge's reports were ignored. No one knows for sure why Sorge's messages were ignored. Some suspect it was his radio operator who had been altering messages and deleting pieces, but there's no way of knowing if he deleted that information in particular. Sorge's network began to collapse. They could no longer work well together, but Sorge was still able to send word to Moscow that the Japanese had no intention of attacking the Soviet Union. Instead, they were looking toward the Pacific.

This time, his information was taken seriously, since he was proven correct about Hitler's invasion. The information he shared with the Soviets led Stalin to move Siberian divisions to the western part of Russia. This would prove to be Sorge's downfall, though. The Japanese worked to track down known communists, eventually arresting one of Sorge's closest allies. After a failed suicide attempt, he gave up Sorge. Let's hear Owen Matthews' perspective on Sorge's situation. When he's picked up, when Sorge's picked up, I wonder if he had any realistic hope of either the Russians, or perhaps,

or perhaps even the Germans bailing him out if you could play his cards right. He was arrested, but tried to plead his innocence, until he saw the confessions of all of his fellow agents. On October 25th, he confessed. He was tried in 1943, and on November 4, 1944, Sorge was executed for espionage. In 1964, he would be named a hero of the Soviet Union. Sorge was said to be Stalin's master agent,

yet his ring collapsed due to infighting and each member hoping to save themselves. I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Undetected. Tune in next week for the story of the famous British spy Sir Francis Walsingham on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.