Arnold Deutsch, variously described as Austrian, Czech or Hungarian, was an academic who worked in London as a Soviet spy, best known for having recruited Kim Philby.
17 Facts About Arnold Deutsch
1.
2.
Arnold Deutsch was a cousin of Oscar Deutsch, the proprietor of the Odeon Cinemas chain.
3.
At the age of 24, Arnold Deutsch received his PhD with distinction in chemistry from the University of Vienna.
4.
Arnold Deutsch was a follower of Wilhelm Reich and his "sex-pol" movement.
5.
In 1933, Arnold Deutsch was arrested by the Nazi authorities in Germany, but was freed with the help of Willi Lehmann, the highly placed Soviet agent within the Gestapo.
6.
Arnold Deutsch then travelled to Britain under his real name, so that his university credentials would be valid.
7.
Arnold Deutsch observed that the high quantity of Communist students and constant turnover due to matriculation and graduation provided an excellent recruiting ground.
8.
Arnold Deutsch recruited Kim Philby in Regent's Park, London, on 1 July 1934.
9.
Arnold Deutsch told Philby that he must break-off all communist contacts.
10.
Arnold Deutsch should establish a new political image as a Nazi-sympathiser.
11.
Arnold Deutsch began to instruct Philby on the rudiments of tradecraft: how to arrange a meeting; where to leave messages; how to detect if his telephone was bugged; how to spot a tail, and how to lose one.
12.
Arnold Deutsch then went on to recruit Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess in 1934.
13.
In September 1937, in the midst of Joseph Stalin's fatal purges in the Moscow show trials, Arnold Deutsch was recalled to Moscow.
14.
At that time, Arnold Deutsch was at great risk of being discovered in Western Europe, because of the defections of the highly placed Soviet operatives Ignace Reiss and Walter Krivitsky; he had been familiar with some elements of their operations.
15.
Arnold Deutsch was employed as an expert on forgery and handwriting, and was not allowed to go abroad again until the early 1940s.
16.
Kim Philby's fourth and last wife, Rufina, cites the drowning story, but says that the Russian sources are divided on where Arnold Deutsch was headed when his ship, the Donbass, was sunk on its way to the United States.
17.
Arnold Deutsch says that Volume 3 of the KGB History states that Deutsch's eventual destination was Latin America, but then says that Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vasilliev, citing KGB files, write, in Haunted Wood, that Deutsch was headed to the New York residency to expand its operations.