Konstantin Jeffremov
Konstantin Lukitsch Jeffremov | |
---|---|
GRU , Active espionage group leader | |
Years active | 1936–1944 |
Known for | Head of a Netherlands and later Belgian espionage group |
Konstantin Lukitsch Jeffremov (born 15 May 1910), also known as Konstantin Yeffremov
Life
After completing seven years of schooling including attending the
Belgium
In September, 1939 Jeffremov using the alias Eric Jernstroem, arrived in
Jeffremov network
With the outbreak of World War II, Jeffremov was retasked with organising variously disparate groups in the Low Countries, into an effective espionage network that could collect political, economic and military intelligence.[2][6] Jeffremov immediately made contact with Johann Wenzel, a German communist and radio specialist based in the Netherlands,[2] who would act in the role of technical advisor to Jeffremov.[8] Wenzel had recruited the Communist Party member Anton Winterink at the beginning of 1939 and later, also recruited Dan Goulooze, the director of the Dutch Communist party.[9][10] Both would become part of Jeffremov's network in Brussels.[11] In 1938, Winterink had established a network that was part of the Rote Hilfe, that would be used by Jeffremov, in the capacity as his supervisor.[12] Winterink was trained as a radio operator by Wenzel.[11]
At the same time he recruited the married couple, Belgian Germaine Schneider[13] and Swiss Franz Schneider.[14] The couple were Comintern agents who has been working for Soviet intelligence since late 1936. Prior to that, they had been running safe-houses for persecuted Comintern officials.[15] Germaine Schneider was the most important of the two, working as a courier that involved extensive travel across Europe and was Henry Robinson's contact to Soviet agents in Great Britain.[13] While she worked from Jeffremov, she couriered between Brussels and Paris.[13] Franz Schneider was also a courier, but only to Switzerland.[14]
Although Jeffremov initially used the Dutch Communist Party to transmit intelligence to Soviet intelligence, by December 1940, Wenzel had established a connection to Moscow.[11][16] Jeffremov ran his espionage network independently of other Soviet networks in the Netherlands[2] in the period of 1940 and 1941.[11]
Anatoly Gurevich network
In May 1942, during an arranged clandestine meeting, Jeffremov met with
Operations
Jeffremov was frequently admonished by Soviet intelligence for his lack of activity and slow production of quality intelligence.[24] However, Germaine Schneider was considered a proficient courier.[24]
Unmasking
In June 1942, Trepper ordered Jeffremov to begin transmitting as six months had passed since the raid on Rue des Atrébates on 12 December 1941.[25] This was a fatal mistake, however, as on 30 July 1942, the Funkabwehr identified a house at 12 Rue de Namur, Brussels as the location of a radio transmitter and arrested Wenzel.[26] Wenzel was subjected to enhanced interrogation and eventually confessed.[27] He agreed to collaborate and exposed several members of the Belgian network.[28]
Letters found on Wenzel implicated Germaine Schneider as his mistress. Schneider was arrested, but managed to convince the Gestapo that she was romantically evolved with Wenzel and knew nothing about his work. This convinced the Gestapo and she was released.[29]
Schneider immediately went to meet Trepper in Paris to warn him. Trepper in turn warned Jeffremov and instructed him to create a new identity.[29] Jeffremov turned to Abraham Rajchmann, the groups forger,[30] who unknown to Jeffremov, was in close contact with an Chief Inspector of the Belgian State Police Charles Mathieu.[31] Mathieu was a penetration agent, known in Germany as a V-Mann, short for Vertrauens-mann.[32] (German:V-Mann, plural V-Leute). They were generally prisoners who agreed to work as undercover agents on pain of death, should they have refused. Mathieu reported the request to Abwehr officer Harry Piepe.[33] Rajchmann informed Mathieu of Jeffremov's request for new identity papers and the time and the place of the meeting.
Arrest
Jeffremov was arrested on 22 July 1942 in Brussels, while attempting to obtain the forged
In November 1942, Franz Schneider was interrogated by Karl Giering of the Sonderkommando, but as he was not part of the network he wasn't arrested and managed to inform Trepper that Jeffremov had been arrested.[40]
Jeffremov (sources vary) also exposed Simexco to the Abwehr. Simexco was a cover company that was used by the Trepper network in Belgium to provide funding for operations and to disguise its activities. At the same time, Jeffremov exposed the name and the existence of the Trepper espionage network in France.[41]
Funkspiel
Eventually Jeffremov began to work for the Sonderkommando Rote Kapelle[37] in a Funkspiel operation that had the name of Buche-Pascal.[42] The operation did not achieve success, due to the warning delivered by Germaine Schneider to Trepper.[42]
Bibliography
When searching on Jeffremov, in the original Russian use, Ефремов, Константин Лукич
- Coppi Jr., Hans (July 1996). Dietrich Bracher, Karl; Schwarz, Hans-Peter; Möller, Horst (eds.). "Die Rote Kapelle" [The Red Orchestra in the field of conflict and intelligence activity, The Trepper Report June 1943] (PDF). Quarterly Books for Contemporary History (in German). 44 (3). Munich: Institute of Contemporary History. ISSN 0042-5702. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- Poltorak, S. N. (2003). Razvedchik "Kent" (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Neva. OCLC 644931461.
- Schafranek, Hans (2004). Tuchel, Johannes (ed.). Krieg im Äther : Widerstand und Spionage im Zweiten Weltkrieg (in German) (1st ed.). Vienna: Picus. ISBN 3-854-52470-6.
- Trepper, Leopold (1990). Bol'shai︠a︡ igra : gody uchenii︠a︡ "Krasnyĭ orkestr" vozvrashchenie, vospominanii︠a︡ sovetskogo razvedchika (in Russian). Moskva: Izd-vo politicheskoĭ lit-ry. p. 260. OCLC 938541726. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
Notes
- ^ In Perrault, Jeffremov is known by the spelling Yefremov
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-6421-4. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 978-5-7654-1499-6. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-6421-4. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 0-89093-203-4.
- ISBN 0-89093-203-4.
- ^ Harmsen, Ger. "GOULOOZE, Daniël". BWSA (in Dutch). Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d "The case of the Rote Kapelle. These three volumes are the Final Report of a joint..." National Archives. Kew. 17 October 1949. p. 9. KV 3/349. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ Bauer, Arthur O. "KV 2/2074 - SF 422/General/3". The National Archives, Kew. p. 14. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 0-89093-203-4.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ Stephen Tyas (25 June 2017). SS-Major Horst Kopkow: From the Gestapo to British Intelligence. Fonthill Media. pp. 91–92. GGKEY:JT39J4WQW30. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-86227-244-6. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 978-1-5107-0368-1. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ ISBN 0805209522.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ Bauer, Arthur O. "KV 2/2074 - SF 422/General/3". The National Archives, Kew. p. 14. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ISBN 0805209522.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.