1951
August 9, 22 and 23
Prosecutor of Sorge Yoshikawa Mitsusada, now the Chief of the Special Investigation Bureau of the
Attorney General's Office, testifies before the House Un-American Affairs Committee of the U.S.
House of Representatives investigating the Sorge Spy Ring. The Committee was interested in the
international implications of Sorge's actions, specifically how spy rings like Sorge's might be
operating world-wide. Yoshikawa said of Sorge: "In my whole life, I have never met anyone as great
as he was."
August 10
A New York Times headline reads "SOVIET KNEW AHEAD OF TOKYO WAR PLAN: Japanese Investigator Asserts
Spy Told Russians of Attack Two Months in Advance." According to the article "Mitsusada Yoshikawa...
testified today that the Russians had been informed two months in advance by a Tokyo spy of Japanese
plans to attack the United States and Great Britain in the Pacific." According to Yoshikawa, Sorge's
final telegram said that if America refuses to compromise by the middle of October, Japan will attack
America, the Malay countries, Singapore, and Sumatra." At the bearings, Congressman Frances E. Walter
of Pennsylvania, questioned Yoshikawa:
Mr. Walter: Did your investigation disclose that at that time both Germany and Russia knew of plans to make the attack at Pearl Harbor?
Mr. Yoshikawa: It wasn't disclosed during the examination.
Mr. Walter: Was it subsequently learned. as a result of these arrests and the investigation, that both Germany and Russia were informed of the plans for the attack?
Mr. Yoshikawa: The Pearl Harbor attack did not come up.
However, later in the testimony, Yoshikawa cites the final Spy Ring telegram as proof that Sorge bad informed Stalin of an impending Japanese attack against U.S interests in the Pacific. According to Yoshikawa, the final message stated: "The American-Japanese talks have entered upon their final stage. In Konoye's opinion they will end successfully if Japan decreases her forces in China and French Indochina and gives up her plan of building eight naval and air bases in French Indochina. If America refuses to compromise by the middle of October, Japan will attack America, the Malay countries, Singapore, and Sumatra. She will not attack Borneo because it is within reach of Singapore and Manila. However, there will be war only if the talks break down, and there is no doubt that Japan is doing her best to bring them to a successful conclusion, even at the expense of her German ally." Congressman Frances E, Walter then asked Yoshikawa:
Mr. Walter: So that there is no doubt but that Russia knew in advance of the plans on the part of Japan for aggression?
Mr. Yoshikawa: Yes; and also, Russia would probably welcome a Japanese attack, instead of going north, going south.
Only Ralph De Toledano bothered to look at the HUAC transcript. The other Sorge biographers do not quote directly from the transcript, nor do they mention that Stalin had advanced warning, via Sorge, of Pearl Harbor. We should remember, however, that the United States Army distanced itself from Yoshikawa's testimony, stating that the Sorge telegram mentioned only a "move South," but did not specify the United States or its interests. (New York Times, August 10, 1951; Newsweek, August 20, 1951; U.S. House of Representatives, 82nd Congress, First Session, Committee on Un-American Activities. Hearings on American Aspects of the Richard Sorge Spy Case. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951, pp.1 138-9)(See also October 4, 1941).
Mr. Walter: Did your investigation disclose that at that time both Germany and Russia knew of plans to make the attack at Pearl Harbor?
Mr. Yoshikawa: It wasn't disclosed during the examination.
Mr. Walter: Was it subsequently learned. as a result of these arrests and the investigation, that both Germany and Russia were informed of the plans for the attack?
Mr. Yoshikawa: The Pearl Harbor attack did not come up.
However, later in the testimony, Yoshikawa cites the final Spy Ring telegram as proof that Sorge bad informed Stalin of an impending Japanese attack against U.S interests in the Pacific. According to Yoshikawa, the final message stated: "The American-Japanese talks have entered upon their final stage. In Konoye's opinion they will end successfully if Japan decreases her forces in China and French Indochina and gives up her plan of building eight naval and air bases in French Indochina. If America refuses to compromise by the middle of October, Japan will attack America, the Malay countries, Singapore, and Sumatra. She will not attack Borneo because it is within reach of Singapore and Manila. However, there will be war only if the talks break down, and there is no doubt that Japan is doing her best to bring them to a successful conclusion, even at the expense of her German ally." Congressman Frances E, Walter then asked Yoshikawa:
Mr. Walter: So that there is no doubt but that Russia knew in advance of the plans on the part of Japan for aggression?
Mr. Yoshikawa: Yes; and also, Russia would probably welcome a Japanese attack, instead of going north, going south.
Only Ralph De Toledano bothered to look at the HUAC transcript. The other Sorge biographers do not quote directly from the transcript, nor do they mention that Stalin had advanced warning, via Sorge, of Pearl Harbor. We should remember, however, that the United States Army distanced itself from Yoshikawa's testimony, stating that the Sorge telegram mentioned only a "move South," but did not specify the United States or its interests. (New York Times, August 10, 1951; Newsweek, August 20, 1951; U.S. House of Representatives, 82nd Congress, First Session, Committee on Un-American Activities. Hearings on American Aspects of the Richard Sorge Spy Case. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951, pp.1 138-9)(See also October 4, 1941).
