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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... received by a voluptuous-looking olive-skinned young woman. I recognized that she was Russian from the way she spoke German. Her name, I learned subsequently, was Maria Schipora. But the message which I carried from Otto Marquardt was ...
... received by a voluptuous-looking olive-skinned young woman. I recognized that she was Russian from the way she spoke German. Her name, I learned subsequently, was Maria Schipora. But the message which I carried from Otto Marquardt was ...
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... received from the Soviet embassy. They then talked of the tasks of the T-units to keep the Party clean from spies, and of murder. Late at night five other people arrived, two girls and three men, among whom was a powerful six-footer ...
... received from the Soviet embassy. They then talked of the tasks of the T-units to keep the Party clean from spies, and of murder. Late at night five other people arrived, two girls and three men, among whom was a powerful six-footer ...
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... received instructions to put Rausch out of the way. Three attempts were made, one with the help of a girl from Maria Schipora's group, the second in the lavatory of a brothel where Neumann had posted Tchekists armed with razors, and the ...
... received instructions to put Rausch out of the way. Three attempts were made, one with the help of a girl from Maria Schipora's group, the second in the lavatory of a brothel where Neumann had posted Tchekists armed with razors, and the ...
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... received long terms in prison. Between two court hearings an attempt was made in prison to assassinate Felix Neumann, the traitor. He was struck on the head, but escaped. Before the Leipzig trial began, a silent drive was inaugurated by ...
... received long terms in prison. Between two court hearings an attempt was made in prison to assassinate Felix Neumann, the traitor. He was struck on the head, but escaped. Before the Leipzig trial began, a silent drive was inaugurated by ...
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... received a bicycle and crossed the outskirts. Once out on the highway, I extinguished the light, and followed the railway line until a cluster of long low sheds popped out of the night. A few lanterns drew small circles of yellow light ...
... received a bicycle and crossed the outskirts. Once out on the highway, I extinguished the light, and followed the railway line until a cluster of long low sheds popped out of the night. A few lanterns drew small circles of yellow light ...
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