Who was German spy Karel Richter’s Fiancée in New York

German spy Karel Richter landed near London Colney via parachute in May 1941. He was quickly apprehended by the local police and sent to MI5’s secret interrogation centre, Latchmere House (a.k.a. Camp 020 or simply Ham). During his many interrogations at Latchmere House, Richter stated that he was trying to get back to America where he had a fiancée and an illegitimate son. I have always wondered, when reading these stories, how much was truth, and how much was fiction. Let’s take a look. A word of warning, this blog took on a life of its own and is quite long. I’ve tried to add various headings and subheadings to guide the reader.

What Richter Said

During his interrogations, Richter stated that he was a machinist on several ships that plied that Hamburg-New York route. According to Richter, his movements were as follows:

1935 – He wrote to the American Consul in Prague to try and obtain a visa for America, but was informed that he must wait two years before his turn on the quota would come. Prior to this, Richter had worked for his father or on his own account.

1935 – In the Autumn he went to Hamburg, where he shipped on board the “Casel” [Cassel] bound for Java, working as a machinist in the engine-room. This voyage lasted one year.

1936 – In the Autumn he returned to Hamburg on the “Cassel”, and joined another ship, the “New York”, plying between Hamburg and New York, the round journey taking 27 days. He was again employed as a machinist in the engine-room and in all made the trip to New York thirteen times during one year.

1937 – Back in Hamburg, he left his ship, and joined the “Hamburg”, also engaged on the Hamburg-New York run. He spent one year on this ship.

1938 – He changed over to the “Hansa” which also made the Hamburg-New York run, and he stayed with her (the ship) for one year. It is in this year that Gertrud Wegmann gave birth to his illegitimate son.

1939 – In July or August the “Hansa” berthed in Hamburg, and in view of the approaching war, he was paid off, and returned to his home in Kraslice.

On 16 May, 1941, Richter stated that the last address he had for his fiancée was:

Gertrud Wegmann
Ridgewood-Brooklyn
3684 – 64 Street
L.I. [Long Island]
New York

According to an MI5 report, within his possessions, Richter had a black leather wallet which contained:

• photograph of woman
• baptism certificate of illegitimate son
• part of a map showing East Anglia and South West England

Interestingly, a police report, completed by the Sergeant involved in Richter’s capture noted that Richter had a wallet, a piece of map and a Certificate of Baptism. No mention of a woman’s photograph. The police report lacks quite a bit of detail in regards to the possessions. The report makes no mention of brand names of items, composition of items or colour of items. Very much less helpful than the report compiled by the police involved in Josef Jakobs’ capture.

Let’s see if we can confirm, or dismiss, Richter’s story.

Richter’s Sea Service

One of the first questions I wanted to answer was this… was Richter actually a sailor as he claimed? Did he serve as a machinist on the SS Cassel, SS New York, SS Hamburg and SS Hansa in the mid to late 1930s?

I searched for a Karel/Karl/Carl Richter on the passenger/crew lists of those four ships between 1936 and 1939 and found a number of records which would seem to confirm his story. The Ancestry database contains no records for the SS Cassel’s voyage to Java. Most of the passenger lists are from New York, but we can still glean a bit of information for our purposes.

1936-1937 – S.S. New York

Passenger/crew lists show that a Carl Richter signed onto the S.S. New York on 1 September 1936 in Hamburg. He was 24 years old (born circa 1912) and was 5’11” tall and weighed 165 lbs. He had 8 years of service. I presume this to mean 8 years aboard ships of various sorts, not necessarily aboard the S.S. New York. This long service seems a bit odd and doesn’t jive with his story that he only shipped out in 1935. The ship’s manifest data on this Carl Richter is the same for 15 voyages of the S.S. New York (Sept 1936 to Sept 1937), most of the voyages were between Hamburg and New York, but some were West Indies cruises departing/arriving from/in New York. Richter’s position aboard the ship was a Wiper or Oiler. His ethnicity is primarily Czech on the voyages, although he is listed as German on a couple of sailings. I assume it is the same individual as his signing date, length of service, age, height and weight are all the same as the Czech individual.

Our spy, Karel Richter, was born 1912 and was taller than Josef Jakobs (5’10” tall). According to records from Wandsworth Prison for Richter’s execution in December 1941, Richter was 5’11.5″ tall and weighed 172 lbs.

The ship’s manifest notes the date upon which the ship arrived in New York as well as its planned departure date and next port of call. Using these dates, I came up with the number of nights the ship was berthed in New York. I would presume that sailors were given shore leave while in port except, perhaps, if the ship was only staying one night. Even if the ship was staying for multiple nights, I rather doubt that he would have been given the entire time for shore leave. There was likely some nights where we would have been stationed onboard the ship. Ultimately, I wanted to see how much time Richter might have had to cultivate a relationship with Gertrud Wegmann.

Role	Ethnicity	Dep Port	Dep Date	Arr Port	Arr Date	Nights in NY
Oiler	Czech	Hamburg	3 Sept 1936	New York	11 Sept 1936	6 nights
Oiler	Czech	Hamburg	30 Sept 1936	New York	8 Oct 1936	1 night
Oiler	Czech	New York	9 Oct 1936	New York	13 Oct 1936	2 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	29 Oct 1936	New York	6 Nov 1936	2 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	26 Nov 1936	New York	4 Dec 1936	6 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	22 Dec 1936	New York	30 Dec 1936	1 night
Wiper	Czech	New York	31 Dec 1936	New York	4 Jan 1937	2 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	21 Jan 1937	New York	30 Jan 1937	1 night
Wiper	Czech	New York	31 Jan 1937	New York	19 Feb 1937	1 night
Wiper	Czech	New York	20 Feb 1937	New York	11 Mar 1937	3 nights
Wiper	German	New York	12 Mar 1937	New York	26 Mar 1937	7 nights
Wiper	Czech	New York	27 Mar 1937	New York	4 Apr 1937	5 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	22 Apr 1937	New York	30 Apr 1937	2 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	20 May 1937	New York	28 May 1937	7 nights
Wiper	Czech	Hamburg	17 Jun 1937	New York	25 Jun 1937	2 nights

The passenger lists are only available for arrival in New York. The Hamburg records only seem to be open up to 1934. It would appear that sailors signed on for one year of service.

On 2 September 1937 (a year after signing on with the S.S. New York), 25 year old Karl Richter, a German, signed on with the S.S. New York. On this occasion, however, he only had 5 years of service and had shrunk two inches, being 5’9″ tall and weighing 170 lbs. This Karl was also an Oiler and sailed for New York on 23 September 1937. The ship arrived in New York on 1 October 1937 and stayed 6 nights before heading back to Hamburg on 7 October 1937. I found no other evidence that this Karl Richter continued to serve aboard the S.S. New York.

Could this be the same Karl Richter? It doesn’t seem all that far-fetched since a wiper and an oiler were similar duties. The wiper was the most junior rating in the engine room and was responsible for keeping the engine space and machinery clean. It was considered an apprentice position to an oiler. The oiler’s main job was to oil the machinery in the engine room. I can only imagine that either task would have been incredibly hot, noisy and dirty.

1937 – S.S. Hansa

I also found a 25 year old Karl Richter who signed on with the S.S. Hansa in Hamburg on 29 December 1937 as an Oiler. This Karl was listed as German and was 5’11” tall and weighed 190 lbs. Getting a bit chunky there, Karl. The ship departed from Hamburg on 30 December 1937 but Karl’s named had been stricken off the ship’s manifest with a note that he had been discharged. Seems a bit odd. Sign on one day and discharged the next? Perhaps he got into a bit of trouble in port? Or changed his mind about shipping out aboard the Hansa?

1938 – S.S. Hamburg

A month later, a 25 year old Karl Richter signed on with the S.S. Hamburg on 17 January 1938. This Karl was German, had 4 years of service and was 5’6″ tall and weighed 168 lbs. He sailed on nine Hamburg-New York trips (and presumably the return voyages) as a Wiper in the engine room.

The ship’s manifests for the various sailings do have one odd feature. While most of the voyages note that Karl signed on with the ship on 17 January 1938, some note that he signed on on 25 October 1937 and one even had 22 March 1938. I’m not sure if this is a typo on the part of the typist who completed the manifest or something else. The height, weight, age and occupation of this Karl are always the same, which leads me to think it is the same man.

As for time a budding romance, things were looking up in that department. Unlike 1936/1937 when the ship was often only berthed for a night or two in New York, 1938 saw longer stays of 6 nights. More than enough time to cultivate a girlfriend. Still, Richter would only have been in New York once a month at most. I didn’t pull all the Hamburg departure dates, as it was a bit tedious and doesn’t seem to contribute much to the discussion.

Role	Ethnicity	Dep Port	Dep Date	Arr Port	Arr Date	Nights in NY
Wiper	German	Hamburg	27 Jan 1938	New York	4 Feb 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg	23 May 1938	New York	1 Apr 1938	1 night
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	23 Apr 1938	5 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	20 May 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	17 Jun 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	15 Jul 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	12 Aug 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	9 Sep 1938	6 nights
Wiper	German	Hamburg		New York	9 Oct 1938	4 nights

1938-1939 – S.S. Hansa

On 5 December 1938, a 26 year old Karl Richter signed on (again?) with the S.S. Hansa. This Karl was German and had only 3 years of service (more in keeping with the story he told MI5). He was 5’7″ tall and weighed 172 lbs. He sailed on nine Hamburg-New York trips and served as an Oiler in the engine room.

The year 1939 was a good year for romance, in that the S.S. Hansa often stayed in New York for 6 nights.

Role	Ethnicity	Dep Port	Dep Date	Arr Port	Arr Date	Nights in NY
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	17 Dec 1938	5 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	13 Jan 1939	5 night
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	17 Feb 1939	6 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	17 Mar 1939	6 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	16 Apr 1939	4 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	12 May 1939	6 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	9 Jun 1939	6 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	7 Jul 1939	6 nights
Oiler	German	Hamburg		New York	4 Aug 1939	4 nights

Scullion/Mess Man

There is another Karl Richter who served aboard the S.S. Europa from 1936 to 1939, with a brief stint aboard the S.S. Deutschland in 1937. This sailor was about 5’5″ to 5’9″ tall and weighed 147 to 176 lbs. He sailed the Bremen/Bremerhaven to New York run and was born about 1912. This Richter served as a scullion, sculleryman, mess man or pantry man aboard the two ships. Given that the the voyages of the scullion Richter conflict with the engine room Richter, I conclude that these are two separate men. I also doubt that the scullion is our man as Richter the spy said that he served aboard the S.S. New York, S.S. Hamburg and S.S. Hansa. Unless of course he was lying. That is always a possibility.

The Baptism Certificate of the Illegitimate Son

Both the police report and the MI5 report note that Richter had a baptism certificate in his possession. Only the MI5 report states that it was of his illegitimate son. Alas, there is no other information about the certificate – no date, no name, no location. We can, however, conclude a few things from this information. Richter stated elsewhere that his illegitimate son was born in 1938 in New York. Had this information not matched what was on the baptism certificate, it is likely that the MI5 officers would have pounced on him and torn his story to shreds. Richter also noted that his fiancée was Gertrud[e] Wegmann and I would surmise that this name also matched the mother’s name on the baptism certificate. If the infant was illegitimate, it is quite likely that it was given it’s mother’s surname. So we are, theoretically, looking for a male Wegmann born in 1938.

Wegmann Children in NY City

Searching on Ancestry for any Wegmann born in 1938 (+/- 1 year), we have seven results:

• Fritz T. Wegmann – born 5 September 1938 in Manhattan
• Erika M. Wegmann – born 14 July 1939 in Manhattan
• Gertrude A. Wegmann – born 9 September 1937 (location unknown but in the City of NY)
• Doris S. Wegmann – born 21 April 1939 in Brooklyn
• Audrey A. Wegmann – born 29 April 1939 in Queens
• Anna Wegmann – born 8 November 1937 in Brooklyn
• Frederick W. Wegmann – born 31 August 1939 in Brooklyn

Out of all those names, only two are boys, Fritz T. and Frederick W., the first born in the correct year in Manhattan and the second born in 1939 in Brooklyn.

Ancestry helpfully suggests other records for the individuals. There is a William Wegmann, seven months old, living in Queens in the April 1940 United States Census. He was residing with his parents, Fred and Madeleine Wegmann. This is quite likely our Frederick W[illiam] Wegmann, born 31 August 1939 in Brooklyn.

As for Fritz T. Wegmann. I found a passenger list from 1941 which has our young Fritz (born 5 September 1939 according to the ship’s manifest) travelling with his parents, Friedrich and Elsbeth Wegmann. This is obviously the same as the infant born 5 September 1939 in Manhattan.

Baptism certificates for Catholic churches in New York are in the process of being scanned by Find My Past, but the most recent certificates only go up to 1920, not helpful for our search.

We now hit the proverbial brick wall. Both of the male Wegmanns born 1937-1939 in New York City are not the infant we are looking for. The mother’s name is wrong and both have fathers who are not Karl Richter. We can, however, cast our net further afield to encompass all of New York State.

Wegmann Children in NY State

If we look at all of New York State, we find another eight Wegmann children born 1937-1939.

• John A. Wegmann – born 16 April 1938 in Rochester
• Donald J. Wegmann – born 28 June 1937 in Rochester
• James E. Wegmann – born 28 October 1937 in Rochester
• Lorraine E. Wegmann – born 6 February 1937 in Henrietta
• Marc E. Wegmann – born 15 September 1937 in Albany
• Harold A. Wegmann – born 11 December 1938 in Rockland
• Edward J. Wegmann – born 28 April 1937 in Rockland
• Richard A. Wegmann – born 17 November 1938 in Port Chester

Of the eight children, seven are boys! Mind you, Rochester and Henrietta are both situated at the extreme northern border of the State of New York, along the shores of Lake Ontario. Similarly, Albany is quite a distance from New York City. That leaves us with three boys born in Rockland and Port Chester, both of which are relatively close to New York City. I found Edward living in Rockland with his parents (Fred and M. Rose) in the 1940 Census, so that rules him out. I found a Richard Wegmann, 1 year old in April 1940 (could be our boy born in November 1938) living with his parents in Queens, Leonard and Tilla Wegmann. And Harold was a brother to Edward, living in Rockland with his parents, Fred and M. Rose.

Variations on Wegmann Children

The other possibility is that the surname name was not transcribed or indexed correctly in Ancestry, or perhaps misspelled by MI5. I conducted a broader search for names resembling “Wegmann”, but focused on the year 1938, and pulled in the following:

• Roy C. Wiegmann – born 22 March 1938 in Queens
• Gustave F. Wiegmann – born 15 November 1938 in the Bronx
• Lawrence Wegeman Jr. – born 12 October 1938 in Manhattan
• Martin Wagman – born 19 November 1938 in Queens
• Kurt A. Wagemann Jr. – born 22 June 1938 in Manhattan
• Arnold Wagmann – born 20 June 1938 in the Bronx

I haven’t included the female births as I do believe we are searching for a boy. Here’s what I’ve been able to find on the above children:

• Roy C. Wiegmann – son of Dietrich Christian Wiegmann and Louise née Anderson
• Gustave F. Wiegmann – living with his parents, Gustave & Elisabeth Wiegmann in 1940 Census
• Lawrence Wegemann Jr. – living with his parents, Lawrence & Frieda Wegemann in 1940 Census (indexed as Wedemann!)
• Martin Wagman – living with his parents, Isidor and Fannie Wagman in 1940 Census
• Kurt A. Wagemann Jr. – living with his parents Kurt and Josephine Wagemann in 1940 Census
• Arnold Wagmann – living with his parents Jack and Anna Wagmann in 1940 Census

So, at this point, there is no easy answer to the identity of Karel Richter’s illegitimate son. It would appear that at least one of the key bits of information is incorrect. Perhaps the child was not born in 1938 but simply baptized in 1938. Or perhaps it did not receive the surname of its mother, Gertrud Wegmann. I checked 1937 and 1936 births in New York City and found no obvious matches.

The other possibility is that the baptism certificate was a clever German forgery, and part of Richter’s cover story. In which case, Richter was given far more attention by the Abwehr than any of the other Operation LENA spies!

So, our quest for Richter’s son must come to a halt. Perhaps we’ll have better luck finding the mother?

The Fiancée – Gertrud Wegmann

We don’t know very much about Gertrud from Richter other than that she worked in a creche in New York and gave birth to an illegitimate son in 1938. I dove into the Ancestry records, searching for a woman who would have been at least 16 years old in 1938, born before 1922.

There are a couple of possibilities.

Gertrude Wegmann from Ratingen

I did find a Gertrude Wegmann, born in 1915, who had immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1930 aboard the S.S. New York. According to the passenger manifest, Gertrude and her mother (also Gertrude but later went by Minna) had both been born in Ratingen (just northeast of Düsseldorf). Jacob (the father) was born in Schwegenheim (southwest of Heidelberg) and was a cook. I found Jacob and Minna in the 1940 US Census, living in Nassau (State of New York) but there was no trace of their daughter. I eventually discovered that young Gertrude had married Hans Voss (or Vass) on 25 May 1933 in Queens, New York. That is disappointing. I had high hopes that this Gertrude could be our girl, but it would appear not.

Long Shots on Gertrude Wegmann

There is also a Gertrude Annamaria Wegmann born in 1937 but this clearly could not be the fiancée of Karel Richter.

I also found a Gertrude Wegmann, born in 1892, who passed away in Nassau in 1937. Also unlikely to be our girl.

Gertrude Wagmann from New York

Finally, in the 1940 Census, there is a Gertrude Wagmann, 20 years old, living with her parents William M. and Anna Wagmann in New York City at 4915 Broadway. William was a draftsman for an engineering firm and Gertrude worked as a stenographer. She had been born in New York while her father was originally from Roumania and her mother had been born in Rhode Island. Beyond that, there is no other Gertrude Wegmann (or a variation on that name) living in the state of New York and born between 1905 and 1925. Could Gertrude the stenographer be our girl?

In one MI5 report, Gertrud’s surname was initially spelled as “Wagmann” and then corrected to “Wegmann”. Given how the officers struggled to spell some of these names correctly, it is possible that Richter’s fiancée was “Gertrud Wagmann”.

Gertrude the stenographer would be about the right age, although in 1938 she would have been 18 years old when she gave birth to Richter’s illegitimate son. On the other hand, Richter said that she only spoke a little bit of German, which would make sense if she was born in the USA. Her father, William Marcus Wagmann was born 25 May 1884 in Roumania and had immigrated to the USA in 1887 at the age of three. In 1911, William married Anna Newman in Manhattan. The couple had two children, Gertrude, and a son named Myron born 13 December 1912. Anna was a challenge to trace but, I did learn that William, Gertrude’s father, passed away in 1948 and was buried in Mt. Hebron Jewish Cemetery.

As for Gertrude, she became engaged to Alexander Louis Katz in December 1939 and married him the following year on 25 August 1940, in Manhattan. Alexander passed away in 1988 and Gertrude passed away in 2008. Both are buried in the Star of David Memorial Gardens in North Lauderdale, Florida.

I suppose that this could be our Gertrud, but what became of her possible illegitimate son? Why was he baptized in a Christian church if Gertrude was Jewish? Was he given up for adoption? Perhaps adopted by Alexander Louis Katz? There is no way to tell. What we do know is that in 1940, when Gertrude was living with her parents for the 1940 US census, there is no hint of an infant living in the household. This would make me suspect that the infant, if there was one, had been given up for adoption. Certainly this would have been the “right thing” to do for a “proper” family back in the day. An unmarried woman with an illegitimate child, the offspring of a non-Jewish sailor would have caused quite a scandal back then.

This all presume,s of course, that we have the correct Gertrude Wegmann/Wagmann. It would seem a bit odd that Richter, a Catholic (KV 2/33 86b) would be engaged to a Jewish girl, but I suppose stranger things have happened. We are left with one last bit of information about Gertrude, her address in New York.

Gertrud’s Address

Richter said that the last address he had for Gertrud (likely from his 1939 voyages) was:

Gertrud Wegmann
Ridgewood-Brooklyn
3684 – 64 Street
L.I.
New York

This address, obviously, does not match that of Gertrude the stenographer who, in the 1940 census, was living with her parents at 4915 Broadway, likely at the northern tip of Manhattan Island.

64th Street in Brooklyn

Right then. Let’s get this started. Many of the streets (or avenues or roads) in New York are numbered streets. And in most instances, the cross street or avenue provides the context for the house number. So, in our case, we would expect 3684 to be located on 64 Street between 36th Avenue and 37th Avenue. Another thing to know is that there are many 64 Streets (and Avenues) in the greater New York area, thus knowing the actual borough is quite important. The house numbers also seem to be hyphenated, thus 3684 would be written as 36-84 and might logically be pronounced as thirty-six eighty-four.

I thought I would do a reverse search for the address in the 1940 US Census and see who was living at 3684 64th Street. In order to do that, I needed to figure out the Enumeration District number. It was, to put it lightly, a headache, trying to find ED maps for Brooklyn and then figuring out where Ridgewood was on those maps. Most of headache derived from the fact that Richter gave inaccurate information right off the get go. Never trust a German spy to give accurate information.

Brooklyn is a borough at the far western end of Long Island. It is bordered to the east by the borough of Queens. Ridgewood is a neighbourhood near the boundary of Brooklyn and Queens and is actually part of Queens, not of Brooklyn! So, did Richter have the neighbourhood right (Ridgewood in Queens)? Or the borough (another neighbourhood in Brooklyn)?

Brooklyn does have a 64 Street in the far western end but all house numbers are in the 200 to 2400 range. Perhaps Richter meant 64 Avenue? Nope. there is no 64 Avenue in Brooklyn.

64th Street in Queens

The neighbourhood of Ridgewood (in Queens) does have a 64 Street. Within the Ridgewood neighbourhood, however, house numbers today range from 6400 to 6900. The street does extend to the south and north, but to the south, the house numbers simply increase into the 7000s. To the north, the house numbers steadily decrease and I felt a flicker of excitement. Perhaps Richter simply had the neighbourhood wrong? Several neighbourhoods north, one finds the neighbourhood of Woodside (Queens). Within this area, 64 Street is bisected by 35 Avenue, a diagonal Broadway and 37th Avenue. The houses numbers between 35 Avenue and Broadway, as well as those between Broadway and 37 Avenue are all in the 3500 range. There is no 36 Avenue in that area and therefore no 3600 block of numbers along 64 Street. As it turns out, 3684 does not exist.

Once I had figured out the ED numbers, I had a look at the 1940 Census for Woodside area around 35th Avenue and 64th Street (ED 41-694, ED 41-695, ED 41-610). The house numbers are the same as today. There are no 3600 house numbers on 64th Street. The Queens Enumeration District 41-694 has houses in the 3500 range along 64th Street. The next enumeration district to the south, 41-695 has houses in the 3700 range along 64th Street.

There is always the possibility that Richter did not remember the house number correctly or that the numbers were transposed. When Richter was reciting the house number (36-84), he likely did it in German and it would have been “sechs und dreißig, vier und achtzig” – essentially “six and thirty, four and eighty”. I always have to pause when I hear a German number and mentally convert it in my head because it just sounds backwards to me. If I’m not careful, I will write down 63 instead of 36 when I hear “sechs (6) und dreißig (30)”. It is possible that the number was 6348 which would have been pronounced in German as “three and sixty, eight and forty” which, if the translator was not paying attention, could have come out as 3684. If that’s the case, and it’s a big “IF”, then the house number could be 6348. This leads us to an area just north of Ridgewood, but even here, we hit a brick wall. The stretch of 64 Street between 62 Avenue and Admiral has house numbers in the 6200s. After that, 64th Street has no house numbers (the blocks are narrow and the only buildings facing onto 64 Street are car garages) until we reach the 6700s. Another dead end even with the fancy footwork.

I even checked to see if there was another 64 “something” in the area. There is a 64 Place and a 64 Lane in the Ridgewood area, but the house numbers are up in the high 6000s and into the 7000s. There is also a 64 Avenue northwest of Ridgewood, near Flushing Meadows but those numbers are in the 9000s and 10000s.

The address for Gertrud Wegmann, as given by Richter, does not exist.

Conclusion

At the end of all of this, we are really no further ahead, primarily because we do not have enough solid information.

We don’t know the name of Richter’s illegitimate son, although we presume he exists because MI5 saw the baptism certificate.

We haven’t been able to find his fiancée with any certainty, again because we don’t have enough information. It would have been helpful if MI5 had (a) kept a copy of her photograph for the file and (b) asked Richter a few helpful details such as her birth date or age.

We have also reached a dead-end with Gertrud’s address. As written in the MI5 report, the place simply does not exist.

I admit to being a bit irked by the MI5 officers. Josef Jakobs landed by parachute with a photograph of a woman and was interrogated quite extensively on who she was, where she lived, when she was born and what she did. The MI5 officers seem to have had virtually no interest in the photograph found on Karel Richter. Nor in the baptism certificate that he had on him.

The MI5 officers weren’t quite certain that Karel Richter was who he said he was. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps his name, his age, his parentage, his fiancée were all fictional creations of the German Abwehr. Perhaps the baptismal certificate was a fake. Perhaps Gertrud Wegmann was a figment of the Abwehr’s imagination, created to support Richter’s cover story that he was trying to get to America to be reunited with her. If such is the case, then Richter would have been one of the only spies to have been so well equipped. On the other hand, he arrived with a forged National Registration card in the name of Fred Snyder, with a registration number that did not exist. That would seem to be sloppy work on the part of the Abwehr. Unless… they were trying to fool the British into thinking they were sloppy? It is interesting that Richter arrived with a Czech passport in his own name. It’s enough to give anyone a headache. Were the Abwehr trying to fool the British or was Richter simply a hapless sailor who had fallen afoul of the Nazis and was exactly who he said he was?

I am also left wondering if MI5 passed Gertrud’s information along to MI6 who then put out feelers with the FBI and/or CIA in the United States. Perhaps they asked for a background check on Gertrud Wegmann and the illegitimate infant? If the British received a reply from the US, there is no longer a record of it in Richter’s MI5 file. I do have a note that I made in 2014 on Richter’s file which states that the Americans followed up and that there was no such person. I haven’t tried to find that reference in the KV files again, but I’ll have to start digging.

The mystery of Karel Richter’s girlfriend and illegitimate son is deeper than when we started. After chasing several leads, we are no further ahead, and, in some cases, even more confused. Perhaps Karel Richter really was a cover name created by the Abwehr. In which case, the real identity of the man known as Karel Richter will likely remain an eternal mystery.

Sources

Brooklyn ED map – eastern edge just north of Evergreen Cemetery – 3rd image
Queens ED map – Mt. Olivet Cemetery area – image 17
Queens ED map – Mt. Olivet Cemetery area – image 12
Queens ED map – Woodside Borough – image 14

Ancestry – genealogical records
National Archives (Kew) – Security Service files on Karel R. Richter – KV 2/30, 2/31, 2/32, 2/33.
London Metropolitan Archives – execution details for Richter – ACC/3444/PR/03/002

Header Photo – S.S. Hansa (1923) circa 1935-1939. The ship was originally called the S.S. Albert Ballin but was renamed by the Nazis in 1935 due to the fact that Albert Ballin had been Jewish. The ship made its last Atlantic voyage in 1939. Photograph from Wikipedia