Trepper, Leopold
KV 2/2074
PF 68258
Page initiated on: 14 January
His main cover-name was
Grand Chef
The problems with these kind of files, where British Secret Services were apparently more or less hunting a ghost, that they had to rely on second class sources; because they never represent the value of the real Subject.
He was born in 1904 in Neumarkt, in Galicia; in those days, belonging to the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy.
On the other hand, they had no other source to rely upon than Germans whom dealt with him during wartime days.
Difficult, these men belonged to a now regarded: Criminal SS organisation of the RSHA as they were police personnel of various branches.
Stapa - Stapo, SD, Gestapo ...
"more or less inflicted" was the Kriminalpolizei, the normal criminal police, which, by the way, constituted about 50% of the entire police services. They dealt with burglars, prostitution and that like.
Less inflicted, but also, sometimes, encountered was the Orpo. The latter constituted the Police organisation dealing with controlling (countering) illicit wireless communications. Their main job was monitoring these kinds of wireless traffic, often designated W/T.
Their obligation was to provided the DFing personnel (main centre was in Spandau) as long as not the Wehrmacht was in charge.
However:
You will understand why he was pushed into the Communism corner.
The objective of our historical survey is Communication; but in particular in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Holland - a well known Communist spying organisation engendered, which the Germans designated: "Rote Kapelle".
Trepper and Kent (Sukolov) whose real name was, according Wikipedia:
Anatoly Markovich Gurevich (Anglo-Saxon way of spelling it)
It is advisable to consider also some foregoing series:
KV 2/1500 & 1501 on Kopkow and KV 2/1503
as well as
In some way or another, Kent but also Trepper had an exceptional friendly contact with the personnel of the German secret police in Paris (Sonderkommando). Not only that they, cooperated, but, for example:
When Trepper escaped during a guarded visit in a big Pharmacy store, he was never caught again.
But what to think of - that he later wrote some letters to apologise for his escape!
I would like to notice also: that a wider picture is emerging: that the Abwehr, a military related organisation versus the police related services, differed in success enormously; the police, albeit the bad guys, were by far more successful in what they did find-out about matters, than was ever the Abwehr.
They traced, for example, someone, by exhaustingly searching (browsing) through the French administration on foreigners and that like.
Simply: they were policemen.
By Arthur O. Bauer
