Monthly WIN Short-Form Book Review

In 1994, Christine Kuehn received an unexpected query about her grandfather’s espionage activities as an Axis spy in Hawaii prior to the United States’ involvement in WW2. She dismissed it as a simple error; certainly someone else, not Otto Kuehn. Eventually, the truth came out. Her father, Eberhard, had tried to “shield her” from the family secret. Thus began Ms. Kuehn’s trek into: German history, her family’s pre-war history, the birth of the Nazi party, its recruitment of domestic and international intelligence personnel, her family’s espionage activities on Hawaii, the efforts of the US Government (e.g., the War Department, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the president) to manage it. Ms. Kuehn has documented this history and her research in a concise and readable book. The book includes an index, annotations, numerous photos of events and documents.

Assisted by co-author and husband, Mark Schiponi, Ms.Kuehn’s research included Freedom of Information requests, and use of social media to seek out long-lost relatives. The story moves from WW1 when Otto served on the ill-fated German battle cruiser SMS Blücher to his membership in the Nazi Party when he was in competition with Reinhard Heydrich to run the Nazi’s secret intelligence apparatus. Events shifted after his step-daughter’s affair with Joseph Goebbels collapsed when Goebbels learned that her birth-father was Jewish. Perhaps as a way to bury the facts of his dalliance, Goebbels arranged for Otto and family to move to Hawaii to work as operatives reporting to the Japanese Empire. Shortly after 7 December 1941, the family was arrested. Otto was quickly convicted in a military tribunal, but despite the efforts of J. Edgar Hoover and others to have him executed, he was sentenced to Ft. Leavenworth because of doubts regarding the legality of his conviction. Eberhard, never involved in espionage, served with honor in the US Army on Okinawa.

A fascinating story that exposes some gaps in tradecraft and raises questions of the spy’s worth. Otto made several trips to support his cover of learning Japanese. This was unnecessary; Hawaii’s population was nearly 50% Japanese. Otto was paid excessively ($100,000s in today’s money). Otto seemed to operate without meaningful direction. Except for his signals to miniature submarines, it’s difficult to determine what viable intelligence he actually provided. Did the Japanese get their money’s worth? As time went on, Japan also seemed to question that. (We would know more about Otto’s effectiveness had the Japanese consulate been less diligent in destroying its files.) Yet, except for one hard-working FBI agent, no one took notice. There was never an effective effort to interdict his activities. The author implies that Hoover knew of Japan’s plans for a surprise attack, but neglected to tell the president. Was this yet another gap in intelligence coordination? Finally, the author’s description of Otto’s and his family’s descent down a very dark path serves as a needed cautionary reminder.

Paul Womer is a retired US Army Military Intelligence Officer and a retired CIA Operations Officer with 30+ years intelligence experience. He resides in Maine.