Cunning Master Spy Tricked Everyone But Japanese

Richard Sorge, the son of Gustav Sorge, a German mining engineer, and the youngest of nine children, was born in Baku, Russia, on 4th October, 1895. His father was employed by the Caucasian Oil Company. His mother was Russian. In 1898 the Sorge family moved to Germany. (1)
Gustav Sorge had a senior position with a Berlin bank and the family settled in a comfortable middle-class neighbourhood. Richard later recalled: "My childhood was passed amid the comparative calm common to the well-off bourgeoisie in Germany. Economic worries had no place in our home." He was a rebel at school: "I was a bad pupil, defied the school's regulations, was obstinate and wilful and rarely opened my mouth." However some subjects did appeal to Sorge: "In history, literature, philosophy, political science... I was far above the rest of the class." (2)
On the outbreak of the First World War Sorge joined the German Army. In June 1915 Sorge's unit was transferred to the Eastern Front. He was a courageous soldier and was awarded the Iron Cross. In March 1916 Sorge was badly wounded when both legs were broken by shrapnel. While in hospital he began a relationship with one of his nurses. Over the next few months he met and was influenced by the woman's Marxist father. Not fit enough to return to the frontline, Sorge was allowed to study at Berlin University and Kiel University before studying for a PhD at Hamburg University. (3)
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