Michael Batson

This piece follows on from Richard Sorge, Part One, ‘The Spy from Baku’. Richard Sorge was arguably the greatest spy of the 20th century. Ian Fleming, a spy who become a writer, called him the “most formidable spy in history”. John le Carré, a spy who wrote books and later a bestselling author of espionage once called Fleming’s chief creation James Bond, a “gangster” rather than a spy, said Sorge was “the spy to end spies”. Sorge was bad man who became a great spy. He was a heavy drinking womaniser (possibly also a bigamist) with a thrill-seeking bent who frequented bars, casinos and brothels where he gleaned much of the best information and cultivated networks. He carried out espionage while hiding in plain sight using his own name. Someone said of him if there was no wind, he’d want to create a hurricane. Sorge was never a sailor, rather a pirate who always thought of himself as a soldier, but who had yearned to be an academic. Back in Frankfurt in 1924, Sorge was chosen to provide security (logistical support) for a visiting Russian delegation of the Comintern headed by Osip Pyantinisky (or Pianitsky from Piatnitsa or “Friday”, a pseudonym for Osif Aronovich Tarshis; a man who later called Stalin a tyrant and a fraudster, for which he was executed). Founded by Lenin, the Comintern was the ‘General Staff of the World Revolution’ and considered Germany the key revolutionary prize in Europe. Pyantinisky was head of the Comintern’s International Department