William G. Sebold (''Gottlieb Adolf Wilhelm Sebold ''; March 10, 1899 in
Mülheim
Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...
, Germany – February 16, 1970 in
Napa, California
Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...
) was a United States citizen who was coerced into becoming a
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
when he visited Germany after being pressured by several high-ranking Nazi members. He informed the American Consul General in Cologne before leaving Germany and became a
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
for the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
. With the assistance of another German agent,
Fritz Duquesne, he recruited 33 agents that became known as the
Duquesne Spy Ring
The Duquesne Spy Ring is the largest espionage case in the United States history that ended in convictions. A total of 33 members of a Nazi German espionage network headed by Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne were convicted after a lengthy inve ...
. In June 1941, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested all of the agents. They were convicted and sentenced to a total of 300 years in prison.
Early life
Sebold served in the German army engineering corps during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
After emigrating to the United States in 1922, he married and worked in industrial and aircraft plants throughout the United States and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
On February 10, 1936, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
He returned to Germany in February 1939 to visit his mother in Mülheim. Upon his arrival in
Hamburg, Germany
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, he was approached by a
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
agent who said that Sebold would be contacted in the near future due to the knowledge he obtained while working in United States aircraft factories. Sebold proceeded to Mülheim where he obtained employment.
Coerced into spying
In September 1939, a Dr. Gassner visited Sebold in Mülheim and interrogated him regarding military planes and equipment in the United States. He also asked Sebold to return to the United States as an espionage agent for Germany. Gassner and another man, a "Dr. Renken", told him that they would expose information that he had omitted from his U. S. citizenship application about serving time in a German jail unless he agreed to assist them.
Renken was in fact Major Nickolaus Ritter of the
Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...
.
After the threats to his family, his life, and his citizenship, Sebold agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. He was then sent to a seven-week training program in Hamburg, Germany, where he learned to operate a clandestine shortwave radio, which he would set up when he returned to the United States.
Ritter gave Sebold final instructions before he left for the United States, including
shortwave radio
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
codes and the use of microphotographs. Sebold was given the alias "Harry Sawyer",
the code name TRAMP, and Abwehr number A.3549.
Sebold was tasked to meet with various spies, pass along instructions to them from Germany, receive messages in return, and transmit them back in code to Germany.
The intention was to pull off the efforts of spies who were passing technological secrets to the Germans during World War II.
Contacts U.S. embassy
Before leaving Germany, Sebold visited the U.S.
Consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...
in
Cologne, Germany
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...
, and insisted on speaking with the
Consul General
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
. He told the Consul that he had been blackmailed into becoming a German spy but that he was a loyal American citizen and wanted to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States. The U.S. government agreed.
Sebold sailed from
Genoa, Italy
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
, and arrived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on February 8, 1940. There, Sebold (with secret help from the FBI) set himself up as a consulting diesel engineer, with an office in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Duquesne Spy Ring
With the assistance of the FBI, "Harry Sawyer" was able to obtain an office in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
for a company under the name "Diesel Research Company". This office provided a seemingly safe space where Nazi spies felt comfortable meeting with and discussing their plans with Sebold. The office also allowed spies to send letters to manufacturers like Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, where they would then receive letters back such as "Development of Diesel Engines." The spies came to the office to deliver blueprints, wartime information, and other sensitive information regarding the United States. However, the office was outfitted with hidden microphones and two-way mirrors, so FBI agents would be able to film the meetings for future use. Using the office, the FBI were able to obtain countless hours of incriminating footage. For example, the group's leader
Fritz Joubert Duquesne
Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne (; 21 September 187724 May 1956; sometimes Du Quesne) was a South African Boer and German soldier, big-game hunter, journalist, and spy. Many of the claims Duquesne made about himself are in dispute; over his l ...
was caught discussing how fires could be started at industrial plants to slow production, and showed photographs of blueprints for a new bomb being built in the United States. In different footage, a spy explains his plan to bomb a building, going as far as bringing dynamite and detonation caps to Sebold's office.
Sebold was instructed by the Abwehr to contact
Fritz Joubert Duquesne
Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne (; 21 September 187724 May 1956; sometimes Du Quesne) was a South African Boer and German soldier, big-game hunter, journalist, and spy. Many of the claims Duquesne made about himself are in dispute; over his l ...
, code-named DUNN, a German spy in New York. Duquesne had been a spy for Germany since World War I; before that, he had been a
Boer
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...
spy in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
.
In the United States, Duquesne had been a
New York Herald
The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''.
His ...
journalist and was the "master coordinator" of the Nazi spies operating in the United States. He contacted aircraft and other technology companies and requested information that he claimed he would use for his lectures. Any plans or photos that he received were sent to the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
.
At their first meeting, Duquesne was extremely worried about the possibility of listening devices in Sebold's office. He gave Sebold a note suggesting that they should talk elsewhere. After relocating to an
automat
An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drinks are served by vending machines. The world's first automat, Quisisana, opened in Berlin, Germany in 1895.
By country Germany
The first automat in the world was the Quisisana ...
, the two men exchanged information about members of the German espionage system with whom they had been in contact.
In his office and with cameras secretly rolling, Sebold met with a string of Nazis who wished to pass secret and sensitive national defense and wartime information to the Gestapo.
Duquesne provided Sebold with information for transmittal to Germany during subsequent meetings, and the meetings which occurred in Sebold's office were filmed by FBI Agents. Duquesne, who was vehemently anti-British, submitted information dealing with national defense in America, the sailing of ships to British ports, and technology. He also regularly received money from Germany in payment for his services.
On one occasion, Duquesne provided Sebold with photographs and specifications of a new type of bomb being produced in the United States. He claimed that he secured that material by secretly entering the DuPont plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Duquesne also explained how fires could be started in industrial plants. Much of the information Duquesne obtained was the result of his correspondence with industrial concerns. Representing himself as a student, he requested data concerning their products and manufacturing conditions.
In May 1940, FBI agents on Long Island set up a
shortwave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
radio station, and established contact with the Abwehr's radio station in Germany, posing as part of Sebold's spy ring. For 16 months this radio station was a main channel of communication between German spies in New York City and the Abwehr. During this time, the FBI's radio station transmitted over 300 messages containing falsified or useless information to Germany, and received 200 messages from Germany. Through Sebold, the U.S. identified dozens of German agents in the United States, Mexico and South America.
In June 1941, the FBI arrested 33 German agents that were part of Sebold's network. Nineteen of the agents arrested pleaded guilty. The remainder were tried in
Federal District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, beginning 3 September 1941. The jury found all 14 guilty on 13 December 1941.
The 33 members of the
Duquesne Spy Ring
The Duquesne Spy Ring is the largest espionage case in the United States history that ended in convictions. A total of 33 members of a Nazi German espionage network headed by Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne were convicted after a lengthy inve ...
were sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison. Duquesne was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The Duquesne Spy Ring remains the largest
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
case in U.S. history that ended in convictions.
As a result of the massive investigation, when the United States entered the war the FBI was confident that there was no major German espionage network hidden in U.S. society.
When the trial ended, Sebold disappeared. He entered a government witness protection program and moved to California under another assumed identity. He had countless jobs, even trying to be a chicken farmer, but could never hold down a job and was constantly plagued by bad health. Additionally, letters from his family back in Germany explained that the Nazis still wanted to exact their revenge, leaving him in a constant state of fear. Sebold was diagnosed with manic depression and committed to
Napa State Hospital
Napa State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Napa, California, founded in 1875. It is located along California State Route 221, the Napa- Vallejo Highway, and is one of California's five state hospitals. Napa State Hospital holds civil and for ...
in 1965. Five years later he suffered a heart attack and died.
Books and film
Books detailing Sebold's career as a double agent include:
* the 1943 book ''
Passport to Treason: The Inside Story of Spies in America'' written by Alan Hynd.
* the 2014 book ''Double Agent: The First Hero of World War II and how the FBI Outwitted and Destroyed a Nazi Spy Ring'' written by Peter Duffy.
Film:
* the 1945 thriller, ''
The House on 92nd Street
''The House on 92nd Street'' is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. ''The House on 92nd Street'' was made with the full c ...
,'' is a thinly disguised version of the Duquesne Spy Ring saga
See also
*
FBI Counterintelligence Division
The Counterintelligence Division (CD) is a division of the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The division protects the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage. It accomplishes its miss ...
**
British Security Co-ordination
British Security Co-ordination (BSC) was a covert organisation set up in New York City by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in May 1940 upon the authorisation of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Its purpose was to investigate ...
*
Leon G. Turrou, FBI Special Agent - 1938 Rumrich-
Greibl Ring
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebold, William G.
1899 births
Double agents
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
German Army personnel of World War I
World War II spies for the United States
1970 deaths
People from Mülheim
World War II spies for Germany