The Red Orchestra (Hardcover)

by V. E. Tarrant (Author) "At 3.15 in the morning of Sunday 22 June 1941 a gigantic radial lightning flash, followed a split second later by deep thunderous roar, rippled..." (more)
Key Phrases: field policemen, radio monitoring stations, courier lines, Red Orchestra, Grand Chef, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This is at once an exciting adventure story and an excellent analysis of a modern intelligence operation. Agents and their contacts provided information; long-range radios enabled its rapid transmission. Soviet espionage against the Third Reich began in 1938, when veteran communist activist Leopold Trepper was assigned to create an information network. Recruiting sympathizers and resisters in France, the Low Countries and eventually Germany, until 1943 Trepper kept remarkably accurate data flowing to Moscow through his radio operators-the "pianists," dubbed the Red Orchestra. Then the Orchestra's transmitters were traced and monitored, and the organization was destroyed. Trepper, once captured, collaborated with the Gestapo, then made an escape. Most of those who had trusted him were executed. Trepper made his way back to Moscow, where because of his brief collaboration with Germany, he was imprisoned until 1954. In 1957, he returned to his native Poland; in 1974, he emigrated to Israel. He died in 1983.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This is a terrific book, a late-night page turner that World War II buffs, devotees of intrigue and spy stories, and fans of true-life adventure tales will enjoy. It brings into the open the nuts and bolts of one of history's most famous spy rings. For those who thought of Die Rote Kapelle as just a small, Berlin-based band of Soviet spies inside Nazi headquarters, the truth is more revealing. The Red Orchestra was a large spy network that included in its ranks trained Soviet agents, middle-class professionals, aristocrats, highly placed Nazi officers and officials, Communists, and workers. The information sent back was crucial to the Red Army's defeat of German forces. What may be new here is the account of the relative success of the Nazis in cracking much of the Die Rote Kapelle and, more surprising, of the number of agents who through torture or the threat of torture betrayed their comrades. Of 217 caught by the Gestapo, 143 died, most under horrendous conditions. An exciting story and, more importantly, a sobering story of politics, courage, and tough moral choices.?Henry Steck, SUNY Coll., Cortland
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471134392
• ISBN-13: 978-0471134398
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #697,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping,top-notch book. , June 21, 2000

By	Karun Mukherji (Calicut,, India) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cassell Military Classics: The Red Orchestra: The Soviet Spy Network Inside Nazi Europe (Paperback)

Reads like a fast-paced thriller .

The book tells the story of the biggest intelligence -gathering operation in the history of espionage .

On June 22 ,1941, Hitler launched the invasion of Soviet Union .The attack code- named "Barbarossa " led to the biggest land campaign in the history of war .Eastern campaign was four days old ,panzers smashing their way through forward Soviet defences ,when German long -range radio monitoring stations at Kranz on the Baltic coast of East Prussia intercepted cryptic messages beamed by clandestine radio transmitters.

Signal intelligence squads of Funkabwehr immediately swung into action. Using director- finder sets took cross bearings of these transmissions ,established that directional lines traversed Brussels ,Paris ,Lucerne and even Berlin itself .From the nature of these transmissions German intelligence admitted that this was the work of Soviet spyring in Reich and occupied territories ,recipient of enciphered messages was housed in Moscow.

Welcome to Red Orchestra .Though created by the GRU( Soviet Military Intelligence ) it included in its ranks people of several nationalities ,coming from different walks of life ,having diverse political persuasions ,but all united in their hatred for Nazi regime. Red Orchestra network of spies ,agents ,informers frustrated Hitler's
bid to conquer Russia.

Soviet spy apparat (network) in Berlin while transmitting information used call signs "Choro " , "Wolf " .After much dedicated and laborious detective work the cryptoanalysts of "Funkabwehr " uncovered their identies ."Choro "was Lieutenant Harro Schulze -Boysen, a Luftwaffe desk officer in the Reich Ministry of Aviation .This allowed him to access highly sensitive information ."Wolf "turned out to be Dr . Arvid Harnack ,a senior Civil servant in the Reich Ministry of Economics .Being members of Berlin high society they brushed shoulders with highest ranking officers of German High Command and Nazi party.

Another important cog of GRU spy network was Grand Chef's circuit,which operated from Belgium ,Holland ,France .But who was Grand Chef ? He was Leopold Trepper alias Adam Mikler ,Jean Gilbert , a Polish Jew.Recruited into the GRU,he went to Belgium .There he opened a commercial enterprise as a cover for his clandestine activities .His firms Simex ,Simexco -after the German Occupation of western Europe -did lucrative business with Todt organisation which supervised works of construction and fortification for "Wehrmacht" .Money generated from the business was used by Grand Chef to further expand activities of the network .As the author aptly puts it " Third Reich was subsidising the Red Orchestra just as a living organism will nourish the cancer that is eroding it "


It was during the course of such interactions Trepper's agents heard Hitler's preparations to invade Russia.However the most important source of intelligence for GRU proved to be "LUCY".LUCY worked for Soviet
Soviet intelligence which operated from neutral country Switzerland .The network dubbed "DIE ROTE DREI"(The Red Three) was erected by GRU agent ,a Hungarian map maker Sandor Rado ,whose call name was DORA.

LUCY was Rudolf Rossler, a German refugee publisher living in Lucerne,Harsh treatment meted out by Alfred Rosenberg who seized his profitable theatre company made him a rabid anti-nazi.Rossler alias LUCY ,whose identity was to remain secret long after the war had ended ,received information from sources in German High Command (OKW).The post war CIA study had partially unmasked their identities .The most important among them were Lt.Gen Fritz Thiele,second -in-command of OKW's communications branch and Baron Rudolf Von Gersdorff chief of intelligence on the staff of Army Group Centre on theEastern Front.

Thus through LUCY the GRU penetrated German General Staff .Scarcely ten hours passed between taking of a decision by OKW and its receipt in Moscow which means the decision was known to STAVKA(Soviet High Command)even before it came to the notice of German field commanders.
This was intelligence windfall of the first order which had no parallels anytime in history.

The operation of Soviet spy networks helped Red Army to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat .War began disastrously for the Russians .If only Stalin had heeded to the warnings of Red Orchestra of about impending German attack ,Wehrmacht could have been stopped on its tracks.

The book contains some startling revelations .This pertains to Operation Case Blue launched on June 28,1942 by Wehrmacht .Mr .Tarrant has debunked the claim of leading historians of the war on Eastern Front who said Stalin again ignored intelligence warnings and was responsible for the destruction of South -Western front with the enemy reaching the banks of Volga at Stalingrad.

Author has shown that Stavka was aware of German intentions thanks to Red Orchestra .Entire ten pages of Hitler"s Directive No:41 setting out the strategic intentions of summer offensive was transmitted to Moscow thanks to Lucy.This enabled Stalin and his generals to devise a strategy where by Germans were lured deep into the Soviet territory .In military parlance this is know as elastic or mobile defence.Red Army retreated,shirked contact with the enemy,surrendering vast swathes of land in the process.Author says Germans where drawn into the jaws of enormous steel trap which snapped shut in Stalngrad.

Knowledge bestows power and intelligence represents highest form of knowledge .Soviet foreknowledge again of German intentions helped Red Army to parry enemy blows .This was precisely what happened during Operation Citadel .Thanks again to LUCY, Red Army was able to blunt the German drive to pinch out the Kursk Bulge .

Some what strange it looks,Soviet histriography of war has virtually ignored the contribution of Red Orchestra in that country's victory over Nazi Germany .On the contrary author under the chapter ,"Ultra Myth " has reproached attempts made by some historians in the West to belittle its role.

By the end of 1943, Red Orchestra networks were all dead ,snuffed out in a massive counter -intelligence operation launched by Abwehr and Gestapo.LUCY's sources too perished due to purge unleashed by Nazi regime against senior Commanders of German Officer Corps for their attempt to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944.However by this time the tide of war on theSoviet front had changed ,Red Army began its inexorable advance towards Berlin .


Based on solid ,painstaking research ,this book I rate the book best read in recent times Author has shed new light on the war in the Eastern Front ignored by historians in the West for which he needs to be felicitated .Now it appears the history of Soviet-German war needs revision ,reinterpretation.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling,Stunning and gripping book, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

The book tells the story of the biggest intelligence gathering operation in the history of espionage. I n fact "RED ORCHESTRA" was a loose collection of Soviet spy apparats ,networks which operated in Nazi Germany ,Nazi -occupied France,Belgium ,Holland and in Neutral Switzerland.Erected by the GRU, (Soviet Military Intelligence)its purpose was to spy on Nazi Germany .It included in its ranks people from different walks of life .Some of its members were strategically -placed German officers ,who fed the Soviet Agents operational decisions ,details regarding German conduct of war in the eastern front.

The organisation ,played a key role in thwarting Hitler's designs to conquer Soviet Russia..The Nazis Came to know about Red Orchestra after Germany had launched its invasion of Russia.The founder of Soviet spy network in western Europe was a Polish Jew ,LEOPOL D TREPPER. However ,the most important among all the espionage network was the Lucy Ring ,which operated from Switzerland.Lucy warned Russians about Hitler's plan to invade Soviet Union, even went to the extent of giving the precise Time and date ,when invasion will commence.Strangely Stalin chose to ignore those warnings.As a result Soviet Union ,came to the brink of military disaster.

As the war progressed , Lucy started passing on top- grade intelligence to Russians .Top secret plans of the German High command ,were known to Soviet front -line generals ,even before they were known to German Field Commanders .Lucy's sources of imformataion were two senior officers who served in communications Branch;Col.Rudolf Von.Gersdorff, Chief of Intelligence in the staff of Army group centre.(Eastern Front)The information Relayed seriously compromised the German Military operations in Russia..During the latter half of the 1942,contrary to what I had known ,the WEHRMACHT was drawn into the jaws of an enormous steel trap Which eventually led to Stalingrad.Subsequently, on July 1943,again thanks to the intelligence provided by Lucy, the Red army was able to stop the German drive to pinch out the KURSK salient .

By this time ,Soviet spy networks were all rolled up by a massive counter-intelligence operation launched by the ABWEHR and the GESTAPO.Swiss network also stopped functioning.Lucy sources dried up due to ruthless purge unleashed by the Nazi regime against senior commanders of German officer corps for their alleged complicity to assassinate Hitler on July20,1944.But success came too late for Germans.Strategic initiative had already been wrested by the Red army as it began relentless drive towards Berlin.

Gripping ,thrilling absolutely marvellous book,the best that I have read in recent times.Based on solid painstaking research ,Mr Tarrant has shed some new light on Russo-German War for which he needs to be felicitated. This book is bound to alter how the posterity may look at this event.-Reviewed by K.Mukherji ([e-mail]

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars truthfull telling of spy ring, June 16, 2002

By	Joseph T. Colagreco "cojaysea" (cliffside park, nj United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cassell Military Classics: The Red Orchestra: The Soviet Spy Network Inside Nazi Europe (Paperback)

a breath of fresh air amongst all the garbage that is out there. this is one of the few books that simply and excitingly tells the truth of the greatest spy network in history. is there any wonder that the russians were so far ahead of us during the cold war considering the lead they had built up? this book reads like a novel with exciting caracters only the caracters are real. it takes less than 200 pages for v.e. tarrant to do what most authors of dubious reputation like louis kilzer only try to do. tell an incredibly fascinating and true story that is historically accurate. 5 big stars