308:, north of London. Richter quickly hid his parachute and equipment and spent the next few days and nights hiding in a forest, too nervous to travel to London. When Richter eventually came out of hiding, he was approached by a lorry driver who asked Richter for directions. Unable to give directions, Richter aroused the suspicions of the lorry driver who drove a short distance and reported the strange foreigner to a police officer. The police officer found Richter and, after examining his papers and asking him a few questions, decided to take Richter to the local police station. Richter's identity papers, in the name of Fred Snyder, were clearly forged and did not match the expired Czechoslovak passport in his possession (which was in his own name). Richter was sent to
345:, the executioner, entered Richter's cell to bind his wrists, Richter charged at the cell wall headfirst. After a struggle, Pierrepoint succeeded in binding Richter's wrists behind his back with a leather strap, but Richter's ferocious strength was so great that he split the leather strap and was free again. Four warders eventually subdued Richter and bundled him into the gallows chamber where a strap was fastened around his ankles, a hood placed over his head and the noose placed around his neck. Richter continued to fight and just as Pierrepoint pulled the lever that would open the trapdoors beneath Richter's feet, the condemned man jumped in the air. The noose slipped and almost came off Richter's head but caught under his nose. Richter had died instantly.
214:. Upon completion of his apprenticeship, around 1930, Richter returned home and worked in his father's metal-work business. In 1932, with support from his father, Richter started a car-rental business, but by 1934 the business had failed. Unemployed for six months, Richter sought to join the Czechoslovak Army but was rejected three times on medical grounds. In 1935, Richter wrote to the American Consul in Prague, seeking an American visa, but was told he would have to wait two years.
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and found guilty on 24 October 1941. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Richter filed an appeal which was, after much discussion in the
Security Service, rejected. Faced with his imminent execution, Richter wrote a letter to one of the MI5 officers: "You can rely upon it that I shall not be less
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where he was interrogated by officers of MI5. Richter was a difficult agent to break and it was only when he was confronted with Jakobs that
Richter began to crack. Richter revealed the true purpose of his mission, to check up on Schmidt.
238:, which travelled between Hamburg and New York, with each round trip taking about 27 days. Richter was employed as a machinist in the engine room and made the round trip thirteen times that year. In 1937, Richter joined the
301:, a German spy working in Britain. The Germans suspected that Schmidt (known as Agent LEONHARD) had been turned into a double-agent by the British, which in fact he had, being known to the British as agent TATE.
171:(29 January 1912 – 10 December 1941) was a German spy. Richter was captured on 14 May 1941 after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was convicted of espionage at the
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National
Archives, Security Service Files KV2/30 and KV 2/31, RICHTER: Karel. German. Agent of the German Intelligence Service in the Second World War. Executed. Case papers.
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where he was arrested by the
Swedish police as his papers were not in order. Richter was imprisoned at the LĂĄngmora Camp in Sweden for eight months before being deported to
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bound for Java. Richter worked as a machinist in the engine room and this particular voyage lasted one year. In the autumn of 1936, Richter returned to
Hamburg on the
203:. His parents were Richard Richter, a metal worker, and Marie Burgert. Richter had one sister, Gertrude, who later married a Totzauer and one brother, František.
297:, who was sent to Britain on 31 January 1941. Unlike Jakobs, who was to report on the weather in Britain, Richter had a very specific mission, to check on
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From 1918 to 1923, Richter attended the State School in
Kraslice. When he was 11 years old, Richter attended the Staats-Oberreal-Gymnasium in the city of
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Richter wanted to return to
America where he had a girlfriend, Gertrude Wegmann, and a young son. In October and November 1939, Richter travelled across
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returned to
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brave than Jakobs; I too will know how to die, yet not as a Nazi spy on your gallows, but as a man."
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MI5 - the True Story of the Most Secret
Counterespionage Organization in the World
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Richter parachuted into
Britain on the early morning of 12 May 1941, landing near
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Double Agent Snow: The True Story of Arthur Owens, Hitler's Chief Spy in England
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on 24 October 1941, sentenced to death and hanged on 10 December 1941 at
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Operation Fortitude: The Story of the Spy Operation that Saved D-Day
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285:In November 1940, Richter was recruited by the
321:Richter was charged with espionage under the
289:as a spy. During his training in Hamburg and
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550:People executed under the Treachery Act 1940
505:National Archives Case File on Karel Richter
337:On 10 December 1941, Richter was hanged at
269:in July 1940. Richter was arrested by the
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540:Abwehr personnel killed in World War II
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277:Concentration Camp near Hamburg.
234:. In Hamburg, Richter joined the
195:(that time known as Graslitz) in
127:Richard Richter and Marie Burgert
37:Richter after his arrest (1940)
222:In 1935, Richter travelled to
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535:German people executed abroad
545:Executed military personnel
381:MI5 file, KV2/30, folio 15a
293:, Richter met another spy,
16:German Second World War spy
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372:MI5 file, KV2/30, folio 4a
103:Wandsworth Prison Cemetery
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191:citizen born in 1912 in
449:Levine, Joshua (2011).
430:Hayward, James (2013).
226:and shipped aboard the
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530:Sudeten German people
169:Karel Richard Richter
25:Karel Richard Richter
468:West, Nigel (1981).
416:Hayward, pp. 253–254
94:Execution by hanging
407:Levine, pp. 128–135
317:Trial and execution
90:Cause of death
343:Albert Pierrepoint
323:Treachery Act 1940
273:and imprisoned in
147:Service years
133:Espionage activity
480:: Stein and Day.
460:978-0-00-731353-2
441:978-0-85720-854-5
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108:Nationality
514:Categories
349:References
331:Old Bailey
183:Early life
173:Old Bailey
139:Allegiance
116:Occupation
49:1912-01-29
327:in camera
291:the Hague
259:Lithuania
150:1940-1941
124:Parent(s)
310:Camp 020
267:Sassnitz
236:New York
193:Kraslice
155:Codename
57:Graslitz
329:at the
271:Gestapo
240:Hamburg
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197:Bohemia
158:ROBOTER
142:Germany
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232:Cassel
228:Cassel
111:German
248:Hansa
244:Hansa
482:ISBN
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257:and
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