Erna Eifler

Erna Frida Eifler (31 August 1908 in Berlin, 8 April or 7 June 1944 in Ravensbrück concentration camp) was a German steno typist secretary,[1] who became a communist, resistance fighter, Soviet GRU agent and courier.[2] In 1942, Eifler along with GRU agent Wilhelm Fellendorf were trained by Soviet intelligence in sabotage, wireless telegraphy and parachuting.[3][2] In May 1942, they were both parachuted into East Prussia by a Russian bomber,[4] with seperate missions to contact members of the Berlin based Red Orchestra ("Rote Kapelle").

Life

Eifler grew up an orphan, after her father, Hermann Eifler, a lithographer died in 1919 and mother died in 1922, leaving her and her four siblings alone. After attending school, Eifler completed a commercial apprenticeship to train to work as a stenotypist. By 1926, Eifler was a member of Communist International (Comintern).[2] In 1928, she began working for the Soviet Trade Delegation in Hamburg.[2]

References
  1. "Die Toten der Roten Kapelle". Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (in German). Berlin: German Resistance Memorial Center. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  2. 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. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  3. Dallin, David J (1955). Soviet espionage. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 264. ISBN 9780598413499. OCLC 602807911.
  4. Perrault, Gilles (1969). The Red Orchestra. New York: Schocken Books. p. 129. ISBN 0805209522.
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