14 Facts About Jack Soble

Jack Soble was a Lithuanian who, together with his brother Robert Soblen, penetrated Leon Trotsky's entourage for Soviet intelligence in the 1920s.

Jack Soble was born in Vilkaviskis, Lithuania as Abromas Sobolevicius and sometimes used the name Abraham Sobolevicius or Adolph Senin.

Jack Soble travelled to Leipzig, Weimar Republic in 1921, to attend college, while there he joined the German Communist Party.

Jack Soble studied briefly at the University of Berlin where he became a Trotskyist which led to his expulsion from the Communist Party and the university.

Jack Soble returned to the USSR and began working for Profintern.

Jack Soble later testified that Beria had told him that if he undertook the mission to spy on the United States, Beria would allow Jack Soble's entire family to leave the Soviet Union.

Jack Soble arrived in 1941, and took over supervision of an NKVD spy ring known as the "Mocase", replacing Vasily Zarubin who under the pseudonym "Vasili Zubilin" became the head of the NKVD in the United States.

The seeds of Jack Soble's downfall came in 1947, when founding member of the ring, Boris Morros confessed to FBI agents that he had been working as a Soviet spy.

Myra Jack Soble received a five-and-a-half year prison sentence for her role in the espionage ring.

Jack Soble was found to have been informing the Soviet Union about aspects of the United States' national defense.

Jack Soble himself was sentenced to a seven-year sentence, which he began serving at Lewisburg Prison.

In 1958, Jack Soble intentionally swallowed more than a pound of nuts and bolts, in what was characterized as a suicide attempt but which Jack Soble later claimed was a protest against prison conditions.

In 1961, Jack Soble testified against his brother, despite attempts by Robert's attorney to have Jack Soble declared mentally incompetent.

Jack Soble's brother committed suicide in 1962, and shortly thereafter, Soble was released early for good behavior.