The Soviet Spy in Tokyo Warned Stalin That Germany Would Invade. Stalin Had Him Arrested.

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]In 1933, a German journalist arrived in Tokyo. He was charming, brilliant, and a committed Nazi. He was also the Soviet Union's most important spy.

[00:00:11]His name was Richard Sorge. Sorge befriended the German ambassador to Japan. He attended every diplomatic dinner. He read every classified cable.

[00:00:21]In May 1941, he sent Moscow a precise warning.

[00:00:25]Germany will invade the Soviet Union on June 22nd. Stalin received the message.

[00:00:31]He wrote on it personally.

[00:00:33]This is British provocation. Ignore it.

[00:00:36]Germany invaded on June 22nd, 1941, exactly the date Sorge had predicted.

[00:00:41]Sorge then sent Moscow a second intelligence breakthrough.

[00:00:45]Japan will not attack the Soviet Union.

[00:00:48]They are going south on toward the US.

[00:00:51]This information allowed Stalin to move 30 Soviet divisions from Siberia to defend Moscow. Those divisions stopped the German advance at the gates of Moscow in December 1941. One month after his Japan warning, Sorge was arrested by Japanese counterintelligence. The Soviets refused to acknowledge him. They denied he worked for them. They made no attempt to exchange him. Japan hanged him in 1944. The Soviet Union awarded him the Hero of the Soviet Union medal 20 years after his death.