In 1938, eighteen individuals in the United States were indicted on charges of spying for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The case resulted in four criminal convictions. The case was named after Guenther Gustave Maria Rumrich, a United States Army sergeant turned deserter who pleaded guilty to espionage and agreed to testify on behalf of the US government. All four individuals served time in prison, with sentences ranging from two to six years. The case was the first major international spy case for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI).

Background, spying, and arrests

Guenther Gustave Maria Rumrich was a United States Army sergeant turned deserter who pleaded guilty to espionage and agreed to testify on behalf of the US government. Johanna Hoffman was a hairdresser on the liner SS ''Europa''. Enrich Glaser was a soldier based at

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Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York, and Otto Voss was an airplane mechanic. Rumrich stated Hoffman served as a go-between on the ''Europa'' to convey messages between his contact person in Germany, Karl Schlueter, and himself and the other spies in America. Before his capture, under the codename "Crown", Rumrich mailed letters to Jessie Jordan, a Scottish woman who was a spy for the ''

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

'', in which he mentioned a plan for German secret service agents to physically overpower an American army colonel at the Hotel McAlpin in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City. The colonel would be carrying East Coast defense plans for the United States in the situation of war, and the agents would take the plans. Afterward, the agents would leave behind clues which indicated communists were behind the operation. German recruiter for the Nazi spy network Ignatz Theodor Griebl was described by historian Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones as the true "mastermind" behind the spy ring, with Rumrich described as a "minor cog". Griebl was arrested but released on bail and escaped to Europe before trial. Rumrich provided Germany with information on

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operations in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

. Rumrich was arrested on February 14, 1938, after impersonating Secretary of State

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

and trying to obtain 35 blank

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s to deliver to the German government.

Trial

The trial occurred in Manhattan Federal Court under judge John C. Knox. Jury selection began on October 14, 1938, the same day on which Rumrich pleaded guilty. Lamar Hardy prosecuted the case. In court, Rumrich stated a contact person in Germany gave him instructions to determine how many US soldiers were stationed on the country's east coast, and specifically around the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area. Rumrich testified he went out of touch with Nazi Germany for a period of about six months, after which he requested financial support from them. On the fourth day during his testimony, Rumrich stated Glaser obtained two pages of a manual which explained how to contact US airplanes while flying, and gave him the two pages; Rumrich in turn gave them to Schlueter.

Aftermath

Hoffman was sentenced to four years in prison, Rumrich and Glaser to two years each, and Voss to six years. In ''The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

: A Comprehensive Reference Guide'', Tony Poveda, Susan Rosenfeld, and Richard Powers cite the case as "the first major prewar espionage case", and the FBI cites it as its first major international spy case. Intelligence was gathered by FBI detective Leon G. Turrou, who wrote articles about his experiences as a detective. These articles became the book ''Nazi Spies in America'', in turn, became the movie ''

Confessions of a Nazi Spy ''Confessions of a Nazi Spy'' is a 1939 American spy political thriller film directed by Anatole Litvak for Warner Bros. It was the first explicitly anti-Nazi film to be produced by a major Hollywood studio, being released in May 1939, four ...

''. According to Jeffreys-Jones, the case highlighted to President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

the need for a "stronger counterespionage provision" in America, and highlighted an "immediate national security problem".

References

{{Reflist World War II espionage World War II spies for Germany Espionage in the United States 1938 in the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation operations 20th-century American trials Spy rings Interwar-period spies United States District Court for the Southern District of New York cases Trials in New York (state) Germany–United States relations