Clara Schabbel
Clara Schabbel | |
|---|---|
 Clara Schabbel as a young women | |
| Born | 9 August 1894 |
| Died | 5 August 1943 (aged 48) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Soviet intelligence officer |
| Known for | Soviet Red Orchestra ("Rote Kapelle") |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | Young Communist International (1924–1929) Young Communist League of Germany (1921) Communist International (Comintern) (1929-1943) |
| Service years | 1924–1943 |
Clara Schabbel (born 9 August 1894 in Friedrichshain, Berlin, died 5 August 1943 in Plötzensee Prison) was a German communist and Soviet intelligence officer.[1] During the 1920's and 1930's, Schabbel lived with Henry Robinson, a comintern agent who ran an espionage network that operated between France, Great Britain and Switzerland.[2] Schabbel, working from a house in Hennigsdorf, became the main liaison between the Berlin Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and Johann Wenzel, a radio operator who assisted and also transmitted intelligence for the KPD.[3]
Life
Clara Schabbel was the daughter of rope maker Ludwig Schabbel and his wife Emilie Pauline, née Borchert. Her birthplace was located at what was then Landsberger Straße 14 (today approximately Platz der Vereinigte Nationen 26)[4] Both her parents were poltically aligned with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Arrest
In her last letter to relatives she stated
"Срок моей жизни истек. Не печальтесь, я все уже перетерпела… Я не боюсь и умираю спокойно. Оставьте мне место в вашем сердце… Будьте все здоровы… ("My life is up. Do not be sad, I have already endured everything ... I am not afraid and I am dying peacefully. Leave me a place in your heart ... May you all be healthy ...")[5]
Monuments
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Stolperstein placed in Hennigsdorf to honour Schabbel memory -
_Klara_Schabbel.jpg)
Memorial plaque to Schabbel, located at 63 Conrad-Blenkle-Straße, Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin -
Clara Schabbel's gravestone in Hennigsdorf Forest Cemetery
References
- ^ Rumyantsev, Vyacheslav (2012). "Шаббель Клара". In Alekseev, M.A.; Kolpakidi, A.I.; Kochik, V.Y (eds.). Энциклопедия военной разведки [Encyclopedia of military intelligence.] (in Russian). Кучково поле. p. 838.
- ^ Kesaris, Paul L, ed. (1979). The Rote Kapelle: the CIA's history of Soviet intelligence and espionage networks in Western Europe, 1936–1945 (pdf). Washington DC: University Publications of America. pp. 341–342. ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
- ^ Bourgeois, Guillaume (24 September 2015). La véritable histoire de l'orchestre rouge (in French). Paris: Nouveau Monde Editions. p. 325. ISBN 978-2-36942-069-9.
- ^ Geburtsregister StA Berlin VIII Nr. 1652/1894.
- ^ Shlyakhterman, Vladimir (4 May 2014). "Резидент № 1?". Lehaim (in Russian). Книжники (Knizhniki). Retrieved 14 August 2025.