Gerhard Eisler

Gerhard Eisler, along with his sister Ruth, was a prominent member of the Communist Party of Germany during the Weimar Republic. During his exile, he was a liaison between the Communist International and the Communist Parties in China and the United States. Although accused of espionage after World War II, he was never charged with violating U.S. laws apart from misrepresenting his Communist Party affiliation on his emigration application. Newsweek (February 23, 1948) described him as the "Number One Red Agent" in the U.S. In a dramatic escape in 1950, Eisler secretly boarded a Polish freighter bound for London and was discovered by the crew after the ship was at sea. Once in England, authorities allowed him to leave for the German Democratic Republic, where Eisler became chief of East German radio and a leading propaganda voice for the Communist government. After his death, several schools and streets in the GDR were named in his honor. He was the brother of leftist composer Hanns Eisler.

Reference

• State Department passport brief, A115–A116
• Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, hearings of 6 February 1947, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American Activities, 80th Cong., 1st sess., 14–19.