Leo Roth (Agent)

Leo (Leon) Roth (born 18 March 1911 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, 10 November

1937 in Moscow, was an agent of the German Communist Party (KPD) and
significant other by Helga von Hammerstein, a daughter of Kurt von HammersteinEquord.
Origin and vocational training [Edit]
Roth was born on 18 March born in 1911 [1] [2] in Rzeszw in the then AustroHungarian Galicia. He was the son of a Jewish textile merchant, who emigrated with
his family to Berlin in January 1913. Post-secondary education Roth began an
apprenticeship, as he sought a practical training for the planned emigration to
Palestine.
Political beginning [Edit]
Roth joined already at the age of 13 the left-oriented youth group bndisch Poale
Zion. In 1926, he joined the Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD), but a
year later he was graduated from similar such as Nathan Steinberger as Korsch
trailer from KJVD. Instead, he was a member of the Leninbund and consorted with
the outlawed Communist Party at the Ruth Fischer and Arkadi Maslow Hugo
Urbahns. In 1929, Roth within the boundaries of the Communist Party of the now
"social fascists" fought German Social Democratic Party (SPD), again a member of
the KJVD and advanced in the Berlin-Brandenburg region for full-time official in the
operating illegally "BB device", the organization operating reporting the KPD.
1930/1931 it won with Erich Mielke an intelligence training in a special school with
attached military training ("M-School") in the Soviet Union. [3]
Activity [Edit]
Back in Germany he lived from 1933 illegal under various aliases (especially Ernst
Hess and Victor, also Rudi, Stefan Berndt, Friedrich Kotzner, Albert) and was
Reichsinstrukteur of BB apparatus of the Communist Party. In 1932 he became
secretary of Hans Kippenberger. Under the party name "Victor" he rose in 1933 to
one of the most important functionaries of the "M-apparatus", illegal military-political
organization of the KPD. [4] As head of "special connections", he organized the socalled tip links between the Communist Party Politburo and the individual members
of the Communist Party Secretariat as Kippenberger and Herbert Wehner and
informers from the economy, military and politics. On behalf of the Communist Party,
he also entertained others with the consent of John Schehr connections the British,
French and Czech intelligence to military personnel, diplomats and journalists such
as Margret Boveri States [5]. These tasks led to frequent travel with forged
documents from Western and Eastern countries and in neutral countries like
Switzerland. The incoming information at Roth arrived with the intelligence service of
the KPD usually as encrypted radio messages about the Soviet Embassy in
Moscow. Since 1934, Roth was head of the "defense" in the apparatus of the
Communist Party.

Albert Einstein [Edit]

Einstein's secretary Helen Dukas and her sister had sublet a portion of their Berlin
apartment to Luise Kraushaar, Communist Party secretary for specific tasks, which
among other things Decrypted messages, and Leo Roth Kraushaar took office also.
Relationship by marriage to Helene Dukas were the members of the KPD Sigmund
Wollenberger and Albert Wollenberger. The husband of Einstein's stepdaughter
Margot was Dimitri Marianoff, then right hand of Arthur Norman, the chief Soviet
spies in Germany. Einstein himself until emigrating taught at the suggestion of Anna
Seghers at the Marxist Workers School (MACH) [6], and thus he had constantly
dealing with other left-wing figures such as John Heartfield, Egon Erwin Kisch,
Jrgen Kuczynski, Willi Mnzenberg, Erwin Piscator , Annie Reich and Karl August
Wittfogel. He had also shown sympathy for other "socialist" ideas. [7] is obvious
against this background that he of the secret functions of Kraushaar and Roth in the
apartment of his secretary not only knew, but she gladly endured.
Family of Hammerstein [Edit]
1928 Roth learned the Socialist Students Federation, the only 15-year-old Helga von
Hammerstein, the third child of the then Chief of the Army General Kurt von
Hammerstein-Equord know. She was interested in at that time already for communist
ideas. The two moved in together in Berlin barn area, where Nathan Steinberger, the
former friend Helga lived. 1930 Helga left high school, joined the Communist Party
and stood her under the alias "Grete Pelgert" available. From 1935 to 1936 also
gave Helga Gerd Kaden information. Roth had opposed. Helga over contact with
their two older sisters Marie Louise and Marie Therese The former was a member of
the Communist Party since 1927, for which she carried out covert assignments since
1930, and for a time allied with Werner Scholem. In total, Roth and other secret
information from these sources in politics and the Reichswehr, the father of three
daughters, also came after privatization end of January 1934 continue. So probably
comes the most complete records of Hitler's speech on 3 February 1933 to members
of the army in the official residence Hammerstein from its files, it was only
discovered in 2000 in the archives of the Comintern. It is known that Kurt von
Hammerstein such handoffs tacitly tolerated. Among the revelations from this
source, which at that time also attracted great international attention, was the "Brown
Book on the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror", the Willi Mnzenberg published in
Paris.
The Reichstag fire [edit]
Roth's Division concluded in 1933 photocopies of the top-secret indictment against
the defendants in the Reichstag fire trial, Georgi Dimitrov, Marinus van der Lubbe
and others. Roth brought the copies personally to Paris, where she was the
"committee of inquiry to investigate the Reichstag fire", which had been founded by
Willi Miinzenberg "World Committee for the Victims of Hitler's fascism" is passed.
Roth also managed, Norman Ebbutt, correspondent of the London Times and
spokesman of the foreign press in Germany than to win secret rapporteur for the
KPD. The material that Roth was collected, stored at the U.S. consulate in Leipzig,
where Roth was able to organize press conferences and illegal.

Fememord [Edit]
Roth had early in 1934 concerned the weapon to assassinate the Gestapo "inverted"
Alfred Kattner, then provided the killer with a fake passport and put him in the
company of Helga von Hammerstein out of the country. [7]
Travel and contacts [Edit]
1934 Roth was under the code name "Ernst Hesse" temporarily speaker at the "M"
school of the Comintern in Moscow, then defensive leader of the Communist Party in
the Saar, where he ran ahead of the Saar plebiscite of January 1935 the communist
agitation and example, Herbert Wehner a journalist card and a safe place to stay
worried. Presumably in consultation with Erich Honecker was there he also
participated in armed attacks against institutions of the German front. [5] After the
failed vote was in favor of joining the German Empire, he met in Prague with Wilhelm
Pieck and Walter Ulbricht. Thereafter, he moved to Amsterdam as Wehner, lived
there with Helga von Hammerstein and led from there for a year the entire defense
apparatus of the Communist Party of West Germany.
Herbert Wehner [Edit]
As part of its intelligence activities Roth had often since 1932 at the latest exchange
with Herbert Wehner aka "Kurt Funke". [5] particularly close cooperation between the
two during their work was in the Saar. Wehner characterized "Viktor" in his "witness"
as follows: [8]

"Victor, who then led the work of Kippenberger's terminal in this section was one of
the most capable organizers, who I met. He managed and maintained ties to an
extent, as I have found before or since matched by any other ... All his youthful vigor,
his enormous desire to revolutionary activity, his extraordinary grasp of political
nuance he placed at the service of this work, in which he came up. "
Victims of the purge [Edit]
The "Brussels" conference of the Communist Party in 1935 in Moscow was in the
Central Committee controversial M apparatus partially dissolved and the former head
Kippenberger removed from the Central Committee. [9] It also weakened the position
of Roth's, since he is the confidant Kippenberger and trailers been off Politburo
members Hermann Schubert and Fritz Schulte was. Roth was dismissed from his
post in the Communist Party and called to Moscow. [10] From the beginning of 1936
he worked as a "Ernst Hess" in a Soviet research institute for cars and tractors.
Unfortunately for him, was the fact that since the assassination of the first secretary
of the Leningrad party organization Sergei Kirov end of 1934 a further Stalinist purge
alleged "Trotskyist elements" began, which then led to the Great Terror. In June
1936 the party a concrete denunciation written by Roth was Grete Wilde (aka "Erna
Mertens") before (which should weigh later Herbert Wehner), 22 November 1936 he
was therefore arrested by the NKVD in Moscow. The charges against him was that
he was the military attach of the British, French and Czech embassies in Berlin also
informed about the internals of the Communist Party and to regularly receive money.

During interrogations, he stressed Hans Kippenberger hard but tried to relieve and
Helga Marie-Luise von Hammerstein, by making false statements to Marie-Therese
von Hammerstein, the then already out of danger, was there emigrated to Japan. On
30 August 1937 Wehner responded in a multi-page presentation on allegations of
the Comintern, he was closely familiar with Roth. In it, he distanced himself from
some of Roth's actions and attitudes, while others he justified. [5] The Military
Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR Roth said on 10 November 1937 the
preparation of terrorist attacks and espionage guilty and sentenced him to death. Leo
Roth was shot on the same day in the basement of the Lubyanka.
Family [Edit]
Leo Roth probably had no children. Helga von Hammerstein escaped the fate of her
partner in the "Trapped Moscow" because Walter Ulbricht spoke out against the
desired of her emigration to the Soviet Union. They married in 1939 Walter Rossow
and died in 2003.
References [edit]
First Roth, Leo (Viktor). In: Hermann Weber, Andreas Herbst: German
communists. Biographical Handbook 1918 to 1945. 2nd, rev. and strongly heated.
Edition. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin, 2008, ISBN 978-3-320-02130-6.
2nd Hans Magnus Enzensberger 2008: The Hammerstein or obstinacy. A German
Story. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, ISBN 978-3-518-41960-1
third Bernd Kaufmann inter alia 1993: The news service of the Communist Party
from 1919 to 1937. Dietz, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-320-01817-7
4th Franz Feuchtwanger: The military-political apparatus of the Communist Party in
the years 1928-1935. Memories, in: 'International Scientific Correspondence of the
history of the German workers' movement (IWK), Vol 17 Issue 4, December 1981,
pp. 485-533
5th abcd Reinhard Mller 1993: The Act Wehner. Moscow until 1937 1941st
Rowohlt Berlin, 1 Edition, ISBN 978-3-871-34056-7
6th Gabriele Gerhard Sonnenberg 1976: Marxist Workers Education in the Weimar
period (MACH). Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne, ISBN 978-3-760-90245-6
7th from Siegfried Grundmann 1998: Einstein's record: 978-3-540-63197-2 Einstein
year in Germany from the perspective of German policy, Springer, Berlin, ISBN
8th Herbert Wehner 1982, testimony. Personal notes, 1929 - 1942. Edited by
Gerhard Jahn, Cologne: Kiepenheuer & Witsch 1982, ISBN 3-462-01498-6
9th G. v. Schnehen (OD): Revisionist or Marxist-Leninist? Ulbricht - a
documentary. [1]
10th Reinhard Mller 2001: Trapped Moscow. Stalinist persecution and exile.
Hamburger Edition, 1st Edition, ISBN 978-3-930-90871-4