Out of the NightPickle Partners Publishing, 2020 M01 30 - 724 pages A bestseller in 1941, selected by the Book of the Month Club for a special edition and described by Book of the Month Club News as: “...full of sensational revelations and interspersed with episodes of daring, of desperate conflict, of torture, and of ruthless conspiracy...It is, first of all, an autobiography the like of which has seldom been.” The son of a seafaring father, Richard Julius Herman Krebs, a.k.a. Jan Valtin, came of age as a bicycle messenger during a maritime rebellion. His life as an intimate insider account of the dramatic events of 1920’s and 1930s, where he rose both within the ranks of the Communist Party and on the Gestapo hit list. Known for his honesty and incredible memory, Krebs dedicated his life to the Communist Party, rising to a position as head of maritime, organizing worldwide for the Comintern, only to flee the Party and Europe to evade his own comrade’s attempts to kill him. As a professional revolutionary, agitator, spy and would-be assassin, Krebs traveled the globe from Germany to China, India to Sierra Leon, Moscow to the United States where a botched assassination attempt landed him a stint in San Quentin. From his spellbinding account of artful deception to gain release from a Nazi prison and his work as a double-agent within the Gestapo, to his vivid depiction of a Communist Party fraught with intrigue and subterfuge, Krebs gives an unflinching portrayal of the internal machinations of both parties. |
From inside the book
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... stood packed around the window. Loud calls burst from the charivari of voices. “Down with the politician!”...“Pull off his beard!”...”Beat him!” “Register this man!” the stoker roared. Captain Brahms walked calmly to a telephone. He ...
... stood packed around the window. Loud calls burst from the charivari of voices. “Down with the politician!”...“Pull off his beard!”...”Beat him!” “Register this man!” the stoker roared. Captain Brahms walked calmly to a telephone. He ...
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... stood massed, yelling in chorus: “Hunger! Hunger! We want a ship!” A high-pitched scream came from the yard. “Überfallkommando!” Police. Sirens pierced the air. Three large trucks full of men in green uniforms clashed to a halt. Before ...
... stood massed, yelling in chorus: “Hunger! Hunger! We want a ship!” A high-pitched scream came from the yard. “Überfallkommando!” Police. Sirens pierced the air. Three large trucks full of men in green uniforms clashed to a halt. Before ...
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... stood a few empty freight cars. This was our point of assembly. A dark figure leaped suddenly on the highway and raised an arm. In the shadows of the empty freight cars huddled a group of local communists. None of them had firearms. By ...
... stood a few empty freight cars. This was our point of assembly. A dark figure leaped suddenly on the highway and raised an arm. In the shadows of the empty freight cars huddled a group of local communists. None of them had firearms. By ...
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... . I saw two of my comrades fall. For a while one of them whimpered like a dog that had been ran over. Against the wall of a short hallway, flanked by two guard-rooms, stood two policemen. Stilettos of yellow fire leaped from their hands.
... . I saw two of my comrades fall. For a while one of them whimpered like a dog that had been ran over. Against the wall of a short hallway, flanked by two guard-rooms, stood two policemen. Stilettos of yellow fire leaped from their hands.
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... stood the boilermaker. “Look at these beauties,” he said. “Motorcar, fur coat and all.” Here, we thought, was a true profiteer. We made the man take off his topcoat and his pants. The woman we forced to surrender her fur coat and her ...
... stood the boilermaker. “Look at these beauties,” he said. “Motorcar, fur coat and all.” Here, we thought, was a true profiteer. We made the man take off his topcoat and his pants. The woman we forced to surrender her fur coat and her ...
Other editions - View all
Out of the Night: The Memoir of Richard Julius Herman Krebs Alias Jan Valtin Jan Valtin Limited preview - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
aboard agents Albert Walter Antwerp Apparat arms arrested arrived ashore asked Bandura Berlin British Brownshirts Captain cell chief Cilly Comintern Communist Party Comrade Copenhagen courier crew death Dimitrov door Elite Guards Ernst Wollweber eyes face Firelei front Fuhlsbüttel gave Gestapo girl guns Hall Halvorsen Hamburg hands harbor head headquarters Heinz Neumann Heitman Hertha Jens Hitler Hugo Marx hundred Inspector Kraus International Club Jensen John Scheer Karl Liebknecht knew later leaders Leningrad looked marine mass Michel Avatin morning Moscow murder Murmansk mutineers Narvik Nazi never night organization passport Pioner police policemen political ports prison Profintern propaganda Radam Reichswehr Rotterdam Russian sailors Samsing seamen secret sent shouted smuggled socialist Soviet Union station steamer stood storm troopers street strike told took towline train voice waiting walls wanted waterfront Western Secretariat window woman workers yard young