◆ SpookStack

- Federal Bureau of Investigation "Washington, D.C. 20535 March 12, 1985. c DUQUESNE SPY RING On January 2, 1942, 33 members of a Nazi spy ring : headed by Frederick Joubert Duquesne wére sentenced to serve a ; total of over 300 years in prison. They were brought to justice | : ‘after a lengthy espionage investigation by the FBI. William Sebold, who had been recruited as a spy for Germany, was a. major factor in the FBI's successful resolution of this case through his work as a double agent for the United States. A native of Germany, William Sebold served in the German army during World War I. After leaving Germany in 1921, . he worked in industrial and aircraft plants throughout the a United States and South America. On February 10, 1936, he became a naturalized eitizen of the United States. oe . Sebold returned to Germany in February, 1939, to visit . his mother in Mulheim. Upon his arrival in Hamburg, Germany, he was approached by a member of the Gestapo who said that Sebold _ would be contacted in the near future. Sebold proceeded to Mulheig where he obtained employment. . i | In September, 1939, a Dr. Gassner visited Sebold in . Mulheim and interrogated him regarding military planes and . equipment in the United States. He also asked Sebold to return to the United States as an espionage agent for Germany. Subsequent visits by Dr. Gassner and a "Dr. Renken," later identified as Major Nickolaus Ritter of the German Secret™ Service, persuaded Sebold to cooperate with the Reich because he feared reprisals against family members still living in Germany. . Since Sebold's passport had been stolen shortly after i his first visit from Dr. Gassner, Sebold went to the American ; Consulate, in Cologne, Germany, to obtain a‘new one. While doing -. 80, Sebold secretly told personnel of the American Consulate about his future role as a German agent.and expressed his wish to cooperate with the FBI upon his return to America. Sebold reported to Hamburg, Germany, where he was i instructed in such aréas as preparing coded messages and : microphotographs. Upon completion of training, he was given five . _ microphotographs containing instructions for preparing a code and i detailing the type of information he was to transmit to Germany —4 from the United States. Sebold was told to retain two of the - ~~ Mierophotographs and to deliver the other three to German.