The Great Game

Fülszöveg

LEOPOLD TREPPER Of all the tales of courage and dignity to emerge from the Nazi occupation of Europe, Leopold Trepper's may be the most amazing. His is the story of4a man who pitted himself against the monoliths of Nazism and Stalinism and survived with integrity and compassion intact-. A Jew by birth and a Communist by commitment, Trepper was the founder and leader of the legendary Soviet Intelligence network (dubbed "the Red Orchestra" by the Gestapo) in underground Europe during World War II. Born in Poland, Trepper fought first in Palestine and then Francé for the ideals of socialist revolution. Soon after, he was trained in a Moscow university of the Communist International and while he rejected Stalin and his purges, Trepper's hatred of Nazism led him to work with Soviet Intelligence against the Germans. As he writes: "Between the hammer of Hitler and the anvil of Stalin, the path was a narrow one for those of us who still believed in the revolution:" Assigned to Brussels... Tovább

Fülszöveg

LEOPOLD TREPPER Of all the tales of courage and dignity to emerge from the Nazi occupation of Europe, Leopold Trepper's may be the most amazing. His is the story of4a man who pitted himself against the monoliths of Nazism and Stalinism and survived with integrity and compassion intact-. A Jew by birth and a Communist by commitment, Trepper was the founder and leader of the legendary Soviet Intelligence network (dubbed "the Red Orchestra" by the Gestapo) in underground Europe during World War II. Born in Poland, Trepper fought first in Palestine and then Francé for the ideals of socialist revolution. Soon after, he was trained in a Moscow university of the Communist International and while he rejected Stalin and his purges, Trepper's hatred of Nazism led him to work with Soviet Intelligence against the Germans. As he writes: "Between the hammer of Hitler and the anvil of Stalin, the path was a narrow one for those of us who still believed in the revolution:" Assigned to Brussels before the war, Trepper established his "cover" and began to supply information through a network of spies and radio operators (called "pianists"). As the Wehrmacht rolled across Europe, Trepper and his comrades moved to Paris, Marseilles, and Berlin. They soon conducted somé of the boldest clandestine episodes of the war-even in the Germán staff's very own offices. Then came betrayal from within his own ranks, the hunting,
(continued from front flap) bruta) incarceration and torture of rnany members of the Red Orchestra. Trepper himself was captured and held by the Gestapo, yet he managed to outwit his captors and ha ve the nowNazi-infiltrated network continue to supply valűable information to the Rus- - sians. Ultimately he escaped and fougtit wíth the Resistance until the liberation of Paris, despite the wounding news, time and again, of the sufferings, self-sacrifices, and tragic deaths of Gomrades and loved ones in Germán prisons and extermination camps. ' With the defeat of • Hitler, Trepper began a new ordeal. Rather than receiving the customary hero's welcome in Moscow and a happy family reunion, ¦ * ¦ ' i Trepper was led intő ten years of imprisonment, five of which were.in sol'itary, in the deadly Lubianka Prison. Upon Stalin's death, he was suddenly freed. Here for the first time the master spy himself telis his chilling story-of bravery, self-sacrifice. cowardice, ingenuity, tyranny, cynicism, and loyalty-with all the unbearáble suspense of the very best espionage thriller. Vissza