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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| The Difference One Man Made |
| 2004-10-18 |
| Soviet intelligence man Rihard Sorge and his closest associate Hozumi Ozaki's execution papers have been disclosed in Japan. The Asahi newspaper published on Sunday photocopies of four sheets of paper where the enforcement of the two death penalties is described. Tomia Watabe, a Sorge biographer, found them by chance in an old bookstore in Tokyo among old papers of the U.S. occupation forces' HQ. According to Watabe, these papers draw a line under uncertainty as to the Soviet super-spy's last minutes. The death penalty log of the Itigaya prison and the Sugamo detention center for 1932-1945 reads: "Warden Itijima, on checking the name and age of the convict, told him that the Justice Ministry had ordered to serve the sentence on the same day, and that he was expected to meet the death calmly. The warden also asked the convict whether the latter wished to add anything to his will, as to what should be done to his body and his things. Zorge answered, "My will is going to remain as written." The warden asked, "Do you wish to say anything else?" "No, nothing else," said Zorge. "After that exchange Zorge turned to the prison men present and said, 'I thank you for your kindness.' Then he was put into the death chamber where the sentence was served. Time: 10:20 to 10:36. Under the executed man's will, his body was buried." Rihard Zorge was arrested by the Japanese counterintelligence in Tokyo on October 18, 1941, and executed on November 7, 1944. His reports in the very beginning of war with the Nazis convinced the Soviet leadership that Japan would not attack the Soviet Union, which enabled the Russians to send forces from the Far East to protect Moscow where the Nazis were defeated for the first time in WWII. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 They was gonna take the train JFM, didn't need no motorization. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-10-18 6:46:50 PM |
| #5 After Zukov kicked the Japaneae Armies collective ass in Mongolia the Imperial Army was in dread that the Red Army would move on them in Manchuria. The idea that Japan would attack the USSR as part of the pact with Germany and Italy is happy smoke in my opinion. In fact Hitler's biggest mistake in my opinion was not that he invaded the Soviet Union but that he declared war on the United States. That put the full weight of the Worlds greatest industrial power fully behind the British and really opened the door to lend lease to the russians. If Hitler ahd not declared war on the US it is doubtful IMO that the US would of been involved in the Eurpean war at all and and it most likely would of ended in a negotiated settlement that would of left Britian independent but largely shorn of hr empire. The settlement between the Germany and the USSR would of been somewhere in Belarus and the Ukraine. With the US devoting her entire resources to a naval war with Japan we might of seen an invasion of the home islands by late 44. Just my opinion |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2004-10-18 5:30:59 PM |
| #4 JFM: Remember that the troops in the Far Eastern district started moving in September, while the Germans were still a ways from Moskva and there was a hope that they could be held in Smolensk. While Uncle Joe would likely have moved the divisions west if the situation got desperate, it takes time (about a month) to organize them for shipment, get them west, then reorganize them to fight again. |
| Posted by: jackal 2004-10-18 3:30:57 PM |
| #3 Japan's advance westward across 11 time zones would have been several times more disastrous than Hitler's march eastward. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-18 2:45:56 PM |
| #2 I ever considered Sorge's role was higly inflated: with the Germans at the doors of Moscow Stalin would have been a fool to not bring back the troops from Siberia. And even without any Soviet resistance the poorly motorized Japanese Army would have taken ages to reach "real Russia". |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-10-18 2:34:37 PM |
| #1 I find it hard to believe they would have treated a convicted spy with such respect and dignity considering how atrociously they treated POWs and civilians in occupied territories throughout the war, e.g. Bataan death march, rape of Nanking, etc. If this article is true, then Sorge was quite lucky to be executed with a minimum of fuss. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-10-18 9:56:39 AM |