The Execution of Soviet Spy Richard Sorge

Summary

History Daily: The Execution of Soviet Spy Richard Sorge

Host: Lindsay Graham
Date: November 7, 2025
Theme: The remarkable life and execution of Richard Sorge, a German who became one of the most important Soviet spies of the twentieth century, whose fate was ultimately sealed by the very government he served.

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Episode Overview

This History Daily episode transports listeners through the pivotal moments in Richard Sorge’s life—from his WWI injury and communist conversion, to daring espionage in Germany, China, and Japan during the rise of fascism and World War II. The episode culminates with Sorge’s capture, torture, and execution by the Japanese in 1944, while his true allegiance was denied by Stalin himself. Hosted in a vivid narrative style by Lindsay Graham, the episode confronts the ironies of fate, loyalty, and political paranoia in the most dangerous era of global espionage.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Richard Sorge’s Origin and Political Awakening

• WWI Injury and Aftermath (00:00 – 02:00)
  • Sorge, a young German soldier, is gravely injured on the Eastern Front.
  • Recovers in Germany under the care of a doctor “who’s also an ardent communist,” leading to his conversion to socialism.
  • “His wounds will change his life in more ways than one…” (Lindsey Graham, 01:20)

2. From Student to Committed Marxist and Soviet Recruit

• Post-War Academic and Political Activism (04:05 – 07:00)
  • After discharge, Sorge studies philosophy and economics, influenced by left-wing ideals.
  • Becomes a reporter and activist, attending Communist Party conferences and writing favorable accounts.
  • His loyalty and talent attract Soviet attention.
  • “The Soviet delegates reach out to Richard with a proposal. They want him to move to Moscow and work for the Soviet Union's intelligence services…” (Lindsey Graham, 05:35)

3. Groundwork for Espionage: London, Germany, and China

• Early Espionage and Nazi Infiltration (07:00 – 09:00)
  • Sent to London—quickly identified and deported as a Soviet agent.
  • Next mission: infiltrate the Nazi Party in Germany under deep cover, complete with renouncing Communist ties.
  • “He pretends that his years in the Soviet Union have opened his eyes to the flaws of communism and that he's abandoned his old beliefs…” (Lindsey Graham, 07:57)
  • Reports from within the Nazi Party as Germany spirals into extremism and economic depression.
• Spy Work in China
  • Soviet handlers next send Sorge to China, using his journalist cover to observe and report on nationalist anti-communist forces amid the civil war.

4. Japan: Sorge’s Most Dangerous Assignment

• Building the Spy Network in Tokyo (10:27 – 15:38)
  • By 1938, Sorge is in Tokyo under the persona of a German journalist; he’s even gained the trust of Nazi diplomats at the German embassy.
  • Uses charm, relationships—including seducing a military attaché's wife—and recruits Communist sympathizers to gather intelligence.
  • Coping with stress, he develops a drinking problem, leading at one point to a motorcycle crash.
  • His briefcase, filled with secret documents, is nearly lost in the hospital but is safely retrieved by another Soviet agent.
• Surviving Stalin’s Paranoia
  • During Stalin’s Great Purge, Sorge narrowly avoids being recalled to Moscow, feigning illness to escape probable execution as fellow agents disappear.

5. World War II: Sorge’s Critical Warnings

• On the Eve of the Nazi Invasion (15:38 – 16:58)
  • Sorge sends Moscow intelligence reassurances that Japan won’t invade the USSR from the east, but also warns—accurately—of Germany’s pending invasion from the west.
  • “Stalin… refuses to believe the warnings. So when Adolf Hitler orders his troops into the Soviet Union in June 1941, Stalin's armies are unprepared.” (Lindsey Graham, 14:49)
  • Later, Sorge intercepts Japanese plans for a preemptive strike in the Pacific, but his reports are again dismissed by Stalin.
• Exposure and Arrest
  • Japanese authorities intercept Soviet transmissions, arrest Sorge and dismantle his network in October 1941.
  • Sorge endures three years of torture and interrogation, eventually confessing under duress and bargaining for leniency for others.

6. Execution and Aftermath

• Final Hours (16:58 – 19:48)
  • November 7, 1944: Sorge is hanged in Sugamo Prison, Tokyo.
  • Before execution, he loudly proclaims loyalty to the Communist Party and Red Army:
    • “‘…he fills the silence by loudly declaring his allegiance to the Red army and the Communist Party…”’ (Lindsey Graham, 19:17)
  • Japan’s government attempts to swap him for captured nationals, but Stalin denies Sorge’s existence:
    • “…Joseph Stalin ordered his diplomats to deny all knowledge of Rickard and his spy ring and to claim that Rickard's confession was a fantasy made up by a madman.” (Lindsey Graham, 19:07)
  • Only decades later does the USSR acknowledge his service, posthumously naming him a hero.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sorge’s motivations:
  “Richard will be sent to a field hospital in Germany, where he'll come under the care of a doctor who's also an ardent communist. And while Richard recovers, he'll be converted to the socialist cause.” (Lindsey Graham, 01:11)

• On double life in the Nazi Party:
  “Only when he thinks he's put a convincing distance between him and his communist past does Rickard begin his infiltration of the Nazi Party…” (Lindsey Graham, 07:57)

• On intelligence failures:
  “But again, Stalin doesn't trust the intelligence, and he decides not to pass on the warnings to America or Britain.” (Lindsey Graham, 15:20)

• On final loyalty:
  “In the seconds that follow, Rickard fills the silence by loudly declaring his allegiance to the Red army and the Communist Party…” (Lindsey Graham, 19:17)

• Posthumous irony:
  “Twenty years after Rickard Sorga's death, the Soviet Union will finally admit that he did work for them as an undercover agent... Even if Stalin failed to act on the valuable intelligence that Rickard provided, had he done so, the invasion of the USSR and the Japanese attacks in the Pacific may have had very different outcomes.” (Lindsey Graham, 19:43)

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Key Moments & Timestamps

• WWI injury and conversion to communism: 00:00 – 02:00
• Entry into Soviet intelligence & German Communist convention: 04:05 – 06:10
• Infiltration of Nazi Party: 07:00 – 09:00
• Assignment to China and then Japan: 09:46 – 10:27
• Motorcycle accident and survival of Stalin’s purge: 10:27 – 13:30
• Critical WWII warnings & Stalin’s disbelief: 14:40 – 15:30
• Spy ring’s exposure and Sorge’s arrest: 15:38 – 16:58
• Execution and Stalin’s betrayal: 16:58 – 19:48

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Conclusion

Richard Sorge’s story is one of extraordinary courage, duplicity, and ultimate betrayal: a German leftist turned legendary Soviet agent whose intelligence could have changed world history—had it been believed. The episode situates Sorge’s spycraft within the major tides of the twentieth century, revealing how paranoia, political expediency, and trust (or lack thereof) shaped not just a single life, but the fate of nations.

Transcript

[Lindsey Graham]

There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history [e-mail] It's April 1917 in the city of Minsk in the Russian Empire. 21 year old German corporal Richard Zorga huddles in a trench as Russian artillery fire shakes the earth around him. Gripping a pencil tightly in his hands, he presses his back against the wall of the trench and tries to focus his attention on the letter he's writing to his family back home. It's two and a half years since the outbreak of World War I. When fighting began, Richard volunteered for the German army Almost immediately. He saw action on the Western Front before being transferred to the east, and right now Richard's battalion is part of a vast offensive against the Russians, who are putting up fierce resistance to the German advance. Ricard looks up from his letter as the telltale sound of a falling shell whistles through the sky above. He has just enough time to throw his arms in front of his face. The blast blows Ricard out of the tren. Mud and soil rain down on him. He tries to lift his head and instantly wishes he hadn't. Pain floods through his body, his uniform is ripped to shreds and his legs are covered in blood. Ricard's vision begins to blur and the last thing he sees before he blacks out is a stretcher bearer rushing to his aid. Rickard Sorge will lose three fingers in this explosion, and the shrapnel damage to his legs will leave him with a permanent limp. But his wounds will change his life in more ways than one. Richard will be sent to a field hospital in Germany, where he'll come under the care of a doctor who's also an ardent communist. And while Richard recovers, he'll be converted to the socialist cause. And over the next two decades, he'll go on to become one of the most successful Soviet spies in history before his career as a secret agent comes to an end when he's captured and put to death on November 7, 1944.

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[Lindsey Graham]

From Noiser and Airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is History. Daily history is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is November 7, 1944 the execution of Soviet spy Richard Sorge It's April 1924 in Frankfurt, Germany, six years after the end of World War I. 28 year old Richard Sorga sits in a packed conference hall scribbling down notes in shorthand. He glances up occasionally to look up at the speaker addressing his enthusiastic audience. The man raises his voice as the speech comes to an end and the audience members around Richard rise to cheer as the speaker proclaims, long live the Communist Party. After Richard was medically discharged from the German army, he studied philosophy and economics at Berlin University. He approached his studies from the left wing perspective that had been instilled in him by the doctor who converted him to the socialist cause. After graduating, Richard then embarked on a career as a freelance reporter, and it's in that capacity that he's here at the Communist Party of Germany's annual convention. Although as a member of the party himself, Richard is by no means a neutral observer. After he's finished his last few notes on the speech, Rickard jumps to his feet and joins the applause. Then he returns to his hotel room and begins writing up what he's heard when they're printed, Rickard's favorable reports soon catch the attention of some important guests at the conference. Seven years ago, radical socialists took power in Russia in the Bolshevik Revolution. They replaced the old autocratic empire of the czars with the Soviet Union. And now they're looking to expand the socialist movement outside the borders of the ussr. And they're seeking out allies like Rickard to help them do it. Soon after the convention concludes, the Soviet delegates reach out to Rickard with a proposal. They want him to move to Moscow and work for the Soviet Union's intelligence services, translating reports and analyzing the communist struggle in the German speaking world. Richard agrees, and for the next four years, he diligently applies himself to the work. Eventually, however, his superiors realize that Rickard's skills and passion for the socialist cause are wasted behind a desk in Moscow. So in 1929, Rickard is entrusted with more difficult and dangerous work. He is first sent to London to report on the communist movement there. But the British Secret Service quickly identifies him as a Soviet agent and deports him. Despite this failure, Rickard's experience in London whets his appetite for further adventures. And he requests another foreign assignment. He soon gets it, and his new mission is much closer to home. The Soviets are worried about a growing right wing movement in Germany that's openly hostile to communists. They want Rickard to infiltrate this Nazi party and discover all he can about its leader, Adolf Hitler. But Richard's experience in Britain has taught him that he needs better cover if he's going to succeed in espionage. So when he returns to his home country, Richard resigns his membership of the Communist Party of Germany and he breaks off all contact with his socialist friends. He pretends that his years in the Soviet Union have opened his eyes to the flaws of communism and that he's abandoned his old beliefs. Only when he thinks he's put a convincing distance between him and his communist past does Rickard begin his infiltration of the Nazi Party. He starts attending their meetings and rallies before signing up as a party member. And to all appearances, Richard is now just another ardent young Nazi in a country increasingly full of them. He joins the movement at a critical time. In September 1929, the stock market crash on Wall street sparks a worldwide economic depression, and no country is more vulnerable to upheaval than Germany. As millions are driven into poverty, the Nazis find a willing audience for their promises of national renewal and their scapegoating of Jews and communists for the country's problems. Rickard faithfully reports all the disturbing things he sees and hears back to Moscow. But he doesn't remain in Germany to see Adolf Hitler seize power in 1930. His Soviet handlers decide that Rickard will be even more useful elsewhere. A civil war is raging in China between the Nationalist government and communist insurgents, so Rickard is ordered to use his cover as a journalist to spy on the Nationalists and report intelligence about its military strategy to the Soviets. By 1933, Rickard will have proved himself to be an expert spy, but his next mission will be his most dangerous yet. He will be sent to spy on the country that Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin is most worried about. It's not America or Britain or even Nazi Germany, but Imperial Japan.

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[Lindsey Graham]

It's May 1938 in Tokyo, Japan, nine years after Rickard Sorga began spying for the Soviet Union. Now 43 years old, Rickard twists the throttle on his motorbike and speeds through an intersection, narrowly missing a pedestrian. His bike weaves down the street as Ricard grips a briefcase to his chest with one hand and steers the bike with the other. But it's not just the awkward cargo he's carrying that's making the drive difficult. Rickard is also drunk. Over the last few years, Rickard has firmly established himself in Japan. He's been helped by his membership of the German Nazi Party since Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933. Many of the diplomats at the German Embassy in Tokyo have been replaced with Nazi appointees, and Richard has worked hard at winning their trust. Over drinks and dinners, he's charmed his way into the confidence of the embassy staff. But all the while, he's been using his new friends to learn more about the military secrets of Japan and Germany and the deepening cooperation between the two nations. To make sure nothing is kept from him, Rickard has seduced the wife of a military attache and he's also recruited several other reporters with Communist sympathies to help him gather intelligence. But the pressure of running a spy ring is testing Rickard's nerves. He started drinking heavily to cope with the stress. And tonight, during a meeting with one of his contacts, he's had far too much. As Rickard turns a corner, the rear wheel of his motorbike slips. And before Rickard can do anything to stop it, he crashes the bike into a wall at the side of the road, and he's knocked unconscious. A short while later, Rickard comes to in a hospital bed. Rickard looks around groggily, and he spots his clothes laid out neatly on a nearby chair. He then instantly snaps alert. His briefcase isn't anywhere to be seen. Rickard's heart races. That briefcase contains secret documents about the Japanese military. If the police got their hands on them, it won't take them long to realize that Rickard is a spy. Trying to remain calm, Rickard calls a nurse and asks where the briefcase is. She tells him it was collected by a colleague only a few minutes ago. Fearfully, Rickard asks for the man's name. But when the nurse tells him, Ricard breathes a sigh of relief. The colleague is a fellow Soviet agent and part of the spy network. The briefcase is safe. Rickard's undercover work means he's in constant danger of being unmasked by both the Japanese and the Germans. But he's not safe from his own side either. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin is a paranoid man. He's convinced that political opponents are seeking to undermine him. And while Rickard is still recovering from his injuries, Stalin begins a purge of anyone he thinks could threaten his position as leader of the ussr. He is especially suspicious of the Soviet intelligence agency. And soon Rickard, like many other international agents, receives orders to return to Moscow. Rickard knows he'll be placed under arrest as soon as he arrives, so he claims he's not yet healthy enough to travel, and it's a good decision. Many spies are imprisoned or executed during Stalin's purge, but Rickard survives, and his work is about to become more important than ever. Just over a year after Rickard's accident, World War II breaks out. Drawing on intelligence from German and Japanese sources, Rickard reports back to Moscow that the Soviet Union's eastern frontier is safe from Japanese attack. But he does predict that instead, Germany has plans to invade the USSR from the West. Stalin, though, refuses to believe the warnings. So when Adolf Hitler orders his troops into the Soviet Union in June 1941, Stalin's armies are unprepared. Richard is frustrated that his intelligence was ignored, but he keeps working, and a few Months later, in October 1941, he hears a new rumor that he believes could alter the course of the war. Ricard gets his hands on confidential communications between the Japanese government and the German ambassador in Tokyo. These messages reveal that the Japanese are going to launch a preemptive strike against the United States and Britain in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Ricard reports what he's learned to Moscow, emphasizing the reliability of his sources. But again, Stalin doesn't trust the intelligence, and he decides not to pass on the warnings to America or Britain. But while Rickard's urgent communications may be ignored in Moscow, they do catch the attention of the Japanese counterintelligence service. Although they can't read the coded messages, the intercepted transmissions are a clear sign that foreign spies are active in Tokyo. The Japanese set to work flushing them out. Several agents in the Soviet spy ring are arrested, and soon suspicion falls on the one figure who connects them all. Rickard Sorge. The Japanese will put Rickard under immediate surveillance, and a few days later, on October 18, 1941, he will be arrested in a morning raid on his home. Ricard always knew the likely price he would pay should his espionage be discovered. But he will have to endure more than three years of torture and interrogation before he will face his final punishment.

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[Lindsey Graham]

Foreign 20am on Nov. 7, 1944, at Sugimo Prison in Tokyo, three years after Ricard Zorga was arrested for espionage, a Japanese prison guard steps forward and ties 49 year old Rickard's wrists. Next, the guard bends down and lashes Rickard's ankles. Then the guard places a black hood over Rickard's head and tightens a noose around his neck. After Rickard was arrested, his Japanese interrogators initially suspected he was a double agent working on behalf of their allies, the Germans. But when they questioned Rickard under torture, he broke down and confessed. He told them that he was a Soviet spy and that he'd been passing intelligence to Moscow for more than a decade. Under duress, Rickard struck a deal. He told his torturers everything, but only after they promised to spare the wives of the agents in his spy ring. When his case finally came to trial, Ricard was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death by hanging. But since Japan was still not officially at war with the ussr, Ricard's conviction presented the Japanese government with a dilemma. Executing Ricard and his fellow spies might provoke the Soviets to declare war first. So rather than execute them, the Imperial government offered to swap the spies for Japanese captives currently held in Soviet prisons. But Joseph Stalin ordered his diplomats to deny all knowledge of Rickard and his spy ring and to claim that Rickard's confession was a fantasy made up by a madman. That rejection by the man Rickard had served so loyally sealed the spy's fate. After the prison guard checks that the bindings holding Rickard are secure, he steps to back out of the room. In the seconds that follow, Rickard fills the silence by loudly declaring his allegiance to the Red army and the Communist Party Party. But the guard ignores Ricard and instead he watches the steely face of the prison governor waiting for a signal. When the governor gives a small nod, the prison guard pulls a lever that opens a trapdoor beneath Rickard's feet. 20 years after Rickard Sorga's death, the Soviet Union will finally admit that he did work for them as an undercover agent. He'll be named a hero of the Soviet Union and lauded as one of the most effective specialists spies in history. Even if Stalin failed to act on the valuable intelligence that Rickard provided, had he done so, the invasion of the USSR and the Japanese attacks in the Pacific may have had very different outcomes. Instead, the war ground on. Stalin abandoned his best spy to the hangman's noose. And Richard Sorge was executed for espionage on November 7, 1944. Next on History Daily. November 10, 1871. A young journalist locates a missing explorer in Tanzania, famously greeting him with the phrase Dr. Livingston. I presume from Nouser and Ayrship. This is History Daily. Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Mohamed Shazi Sound design by Matthew Filler Music by Thrum. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves. Edited by Dorian Marino. Managing producer, Emily Burke Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.

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