Kurt Frederick Ludwig
Kurt Frederick Ludwig | |
---|---|
Born | 4 December 1903 |
Died | 1987 | (aged 83–84)
Nationality | German |
Espionage activity | |
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service years | 1938-1941 |
Codename | Fouzie |
Kurt Frederick Ludwig (December 4, 1903 – December 1987)
The ring was known as Joe K because it was the signature used in letters sent to Berlin addresses giving information on Allied shipping in New York Harbor. Ludwig also used the code name Fouzie—and at least 50 to 60 other aliases, both male and female.
Early life and career
Born in
Setting up the ring
Upon arrival Ludwig went to a boarding house located in
Ludwig made a practice of visiting docks in New York Harbor and along the
The information gathered by the ring was sent as
Search for the spy ring
Authorities in both the U.S. and the
Joe K had shown up as the signature on many letters sent to accommodation addresses. In March 1941 BSC chemists detected secret writing in a Joe K letter; the secret message referred to a duplicate letter sent to "Smith" in
Despite this break, they were still in the dark as to who were involved in the spy ring, until an unexpected event took place that led eventually to its unraveling and downfall.
Accident in Times Square
On the night of March 18, 1941, two men were reportedly arguing about the proper way to cross an intersection in a busy section of Times Square in New York when one of them, a middle-aged man wearing horn-rimmed spectacles and carrying a brown briefcase, foolishly made the attempt to cross the street against a traffic light.
Meanwhile, Sam Lichtman, a cabdriver from southern Brooklyn was driving up
The fatally injured man was identified as a courier for the Spanish Consulate, Don Julio Lopez Lido. His body was unclaimed for a time but the Spanish Consulate in New York finally buried him. His companion, who ran from the scene, called the Taft Hotel where the dead man was staying and asked for them to hold the man's room until further notice. In the meantime, the hotel management had informed the local authorities, and they began to investigate the mysterious circumstances behind the accident.
Investigation
The New York Police had taken note of the seemingly uncaring action of Señor Lido's companion as reported by witnesses, and took a deeper look into the dead courier's background. Although he was identified as a Spaniard, they were puzzled by the fact that the dead man's papers were in German, not Spanish; his notebook contained names and possible assignments of some U.S. soldiers; his clothes contained no labels. Moreover, a check made at the hotel room yielded maps, articles on military aviation and other curious items. All of these items were turned over to the FBI.
In the meantime, another Joe K message, also followed up by the FBI, contained a panicky message about a car in New York deliberately running down and killing a certain "Phil". The BSC had informed the FBI that "Phil" had been Captain Ulrich von der Osten of the German Abwehr who had entered the United States via Japan a month prior to his "removal from circulation": he was supposed to direct the activities of a group of spies in the U.S. Based on this, the FBI was able to determine that "Señor Lido" and von der Osten were one and the same.
Piecing together a reference from "Phil's" notebook, an intercepted cable from Portugal to "Fouzie", and information from the Joe K letters themselves, the FBI was able to identify von Osten's companion as Ludwig himself. He was located and thus placed under surveillance to determine his contacts.
Surveillance
It was later known that von der Osten did arrive in the U.S. with the purpose of directing the Joe K spy ring; however, with his untimely death, Ludwig was left in command of the ring. Under FBI surveillance Ludwig was seen continuing his routine of visiting the docks in New York Harbor and U.S. Army posts around the state. On one occasion during May he took an extended trip to Florida, accompanied by Lucy Boehmler who acted as his "secretary" and courier who assisted him in preparing his reports and in maintaining detailed records of his observations by using a toothpick dipped in invisible ink. They stopped along the way at Army camps, airfields, and factories engaged in manufacturing wartime matériel.
When he arrived in
Associates
Soon, the FBI was able to gather information on all who were connected with the Joe K spy ring, aside from Ludwig and Boehmler (ages given as of time of arrest and/or conviction):
- Rene Charles Froehlich, 31, a German-born U.S. Army private who was stationed in Fort Jay, Governors Island in New York Harbor. He arranged mail drops for Ludwig and picked up his mail when Ludwig went out of town, as well as supplying defense magazines and gathering ship information;
- Mrs. Helen Pauline Mayer, 26, a housewife who aided Ludwig in obtaining information about aircraft manufacturing in plants in the Long Island area; She was the one who introduced Lucy Boehmler to Ludwig.
- Karl (or Carl) Victor Mueller, 36, a machinist who helped gather production figures; and
- Hans Helmut Pagel, 20, and Frederick Edward Schlosser, 19, youths of German extraction who were recruited from the German-American Bund, assisted Ludwig in making observations of various docks and Army posts in the New York area and in mailing the reports through various mail drops.
A ninth member of the ring, known only as "Robert," was tracked down by the FBI through papers obtained from a janitor in a building that housed the German Consulate; the janitor was in charge of the burn-bag detail and regularly put papers in the furnace while the Germans watched. However, he would surreptitiously pull them out, douse the flames, and hand them over to the FBI. "Robert" was identified as Paul Borchardt (1886-1957), a World War I veteran who served in the German Army from 1913 to 1933. He later became an archeologist, but claimed that he was fired from his university post and confined in Dachau for being a Jew. Borchardt agreed to travel to the U.S. posing as a refugee and to spy for Germany due to patriotism.[6]
There was also a tenth member of the ring, codenamed "Bill", who was a German-born Argentinian named Teodore Erdman Erich Lau. He served as paymaster for the Joe K ring.[7]
Flight and capture
When the
Believing that he was planning to leave the U.S. and make his way to Germany via Japan, the FBI arrested him at Cle Elum, Washington on August 23. They then rounded up the rest of the ring, except for Borchardt, who was arrested on December 8, Schroetter, who was arrested in Miami on September 2[8] and Lau, who eluded capture until October 18, 1946.
Trial and conviction
Ludwig and the rest of the Joe K spy ring were subsequently indicted in the
On March 6, 1942, they were all found guilty of all charges. Mayer, Mueller, and Pagel each received 15 year-sentences, Schlosser received 12 years, and Schroetter received 10 years. Lucy Boehmler was sentenced to five years in prison. Because their spying was undertaken before the U.S. entered World War II, Ludwig, Borchardt, and Froehlich avoided possible execution and were each sentenced to 20 years in prison instead. In 1947, Lau pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Kurt Frederick Ludwig was sent to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary to serve out his sentence. He was released in 1953 and deported shortly afterwards.
Notes
- ^ a b "National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Oral Histories - George H. Franklin addendum" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ^ Social Security Death Index gives death date of December 1987
- ^ a b "Bermuda's WWII Espionage Role". 11 November 2011.
- ^ "El taxista que accidentalmente ayudó a destapar una red de espías nazis en EEUU". 4 May 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ASIN B01FIXQACU.
- ISBN 978-0810863200.
- ^ "A Byte from History: FBI Gets the Last "Ludwig Ring" Spy". October 17, 2003. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- JSTOR 30154955.