"THE RED ORCHESTRA" by V.E. Tarrant is a very good read. Hooks you from the first page. Illustrates some of the ciphers used by the group for clandestine radio transmissions by Morse code. Knowing their fate if caught,still they kept at it. Their cover and locations blown from a message sent from Russia and decrypted by German cryptanalyst is one of the greatest blunders of any war with tragic results for all agents captured by the Gestapo. Why would Russia betray it's own agents?
The Red Orchestra was a pure resistance group and never a spy network. After World War 2, Gestapo officers justified their killings by telling their Allied captors that the resisters had been dangerous Communist spies. They were rewarded with freedom. History writing promoted the Gestapo lies throughout the Cold War. Only after the fall of the Berlin wall and access to formerly secret KGB archives it became known that the Red Orchestra had never been in the service of the Soviets.
Oops, I guess my book by Gilles Perrault is out of date. He does interview a lot of Gestapo in it. Do you know who Leopold Trepper really was , then? I want to watch your film... has it come out already? Could you recommend some further reading for me?
Thank you for getting it right. People often combine Trepper's network with the Berlin group erroneously. I too made that mistake until I read Anne Nelson's brilliant book on the Red Orchestra. It was inspiring and heartbreaking
Read "The Red Orchestra" by Gilles Perrault. This organization, masterminded by Trepper, a Polish Jew and Russian officer, passed information on to Moscow which was indispensable to reversing the Nazi advances into Russia. It would have been a very different war had the Red Orchestra not existed, for the French Resistance and the so-called German "resistance" of high level German officers had little effect in comparison to the enormous contribution of the Red Orchestra.
Gilles Perrault's very good book was written during the Cold War, before the truth about the Red Orchestra became known. The resistance group consisted of people from all walks of life, ages and gender. The Gestapo, incapable of grasping that a gathering of people could defy classification, named them "Red Orchestra". In their secret service terms, a spy hitting Morse codes was a pianist and a group of Communist pianists a 'Red Orchestra". The actual group never had a name.
"THE RED ORCHESTRA" by V.E. Tarrant is a very good read. Hooks you from the first page. Illustrates some of the ciphers used by the group for clandestine radio transmissions by Morse code. Knowing their fate if caught,still they kept at it. Their cover and locations blown from a message sent from Russia and decrypted by German cryptanalyst is one of the greatest blunders of any war with tragic results for all agents captured by the Gestapo. Why would Russia betray it's own agents?
Flickchaser 5 months ago
I just finished reading Anne Nelson's book on the Red Orchestra. Very compelling and probably more up to date than the Perrault book
Pamw320 1 year ago
***** re, specialy concerning the actor representing the old man in the interview. Very convincing !
Ramsimenachem 1 year ago
The Red Orchestra was a pure resistance group and never a spy network. After World War 2, Gestapo officers justified their killings by telling their Allied captors that the resisters had been dangerous Communist spies. They were rewarded with freedom. History writing promoted the Gestapo lies throughout the Cold War. Only after the fall of the Berlin wall and access to formerly secret KGB archives it became known that the Red Orchestra had never been in the service of the Soviets.
when6is9 4 years ago
Oops, I guess my book by Gilles Perrault is out of date. He does interview a lot of Gestapo in it. Do you know who Leopold Trepper really was , then? I want to watch your film... has it come out already? Could you recommend some further reading for me?
Okileen 4 years ago
@when6is9
Thank you for getting it right. People often combine Trepper's network with the Berlin group erroneously. I too made that mistake until I read Anne Nelson's brilliant book on the Red Orchestra. It was inspiring and heartbreaking
tristanlyonesse 1 year ago
Read "The Red Orchestra" by Gilles Perrault. This organization, masterminded by Trepper, a Polish Jew and Russian officer, passed information on to Moscow which was indispensable to reversing the Nazi advances into Russia. It would have been a very different war had the Red Orchestra not existed, for the French Resistance and the so-called German "resistance" of high level German officers had little effect in comparison to the enormous contribution of the Red Orchestra.
Okileen 4 years ago
Gilles Perrault's very good book was written during the Cold War, before the truth about the Red Orchestra became known. The resistance group consisted of people from all walks of life, ages and gender. The Gestapo, incapable of grasping that a gathering of people could defy classification, named them "Red Orchestra". In their secret service terms, a spy hitting Morse codes was a pianist and a group of Communist pianists a 'Red Orchestra". The actual group never had a name.
when6is9 4 years ago