Identified as Moscow’s most valued spy, Gerhart Eisler (1897 – 1968) – was arrested in October of 1947 and charged with espionage. Standing before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Eisler refused to take the oath before reading a statement:
Refusing to hear that statement, the committee asked the Justice Department to charge Eisler with
• Contempt
• Perjury
• Conspiracy to overthrow the government
• Evasion of income
• Falsification of passport
As if his own defiance was not enough to darken his future, Eisler’s guilt became even more evident by the testimony of Ruth Fischer and Wiliam Nowell; Nowell was an African-American communist and Moscow-trained labor agitator and Fischer, a reformed communist, was Eisler’s sister.
Having lost his final appeal in 1949, Eisler evaded his date with the hangman and made his way to East Germany where he received a hero’s welcome.
Additional magazine and newspaper articles about Cold War spies can be read on this page.
