Publications

Agent 146 is just one of many books written by Erich Gimpel. Other novels include Ma vie d'espion and Spion fur Deutschland. Agent 146 was first published in Great Britain in 1957 as Spy for Germany.

Books by Erich Gimpel

Biography

Erich Gimpel was one of Germany's most accomplished spies. Born on March 25, 1910, he began his espionage career in the 1930s in Peru. He was one of few agents that were able to land in America undetected.

Nazi Spies Come Ashore

Identification Information for Erich Gimpel

Billy's Betrayal

Billy traveled with Erich to America saying he wanted to serve Germany and hated all of America. However, he begins to enjoy his life in America has he spends most of his money on booze and women. Erich does not like this and begins to fear for Billy if he does something stupid. One day, he decides to take the suitcases they brought from Germany which contains transmitters, money, identificiation papers, and other important things needed for the transfer of information of Germany. Erich is able to retrieve these suitcases and when Billy finds out he has lost them, he spends his remaining money drinking in a bar with an American friend who is a soldier and divulges all the information to him. The F.B.I. later question Billy and Billy thinks that he can save his own skin by exposing Erich. Most people when captured will betrayed their loved ones or their comrades to save their own skin.

The Young are the Future...

In this story, a Boy Scout notices that Erich and Billy walking with unusual coats, no hats, and briefcases. He tails them for a couple of minutes then follows their footprints to where they came from which lead to the shore. He was convinced they came out from open sea. He tried to report this to the authorities and the F.B.I., but they did not believe them because they have heard many rumors of spies reaching America and only the Boy Scouts reporting them. Though most of these stories are false, the authorities need to check every story even from the younger generation and believe any citizen during times of war for one mistake can lead to the destruction of a country.

The Three Sins Not To Commit When a Spy

As a spy, Erich Gimpel is told not to indulge in women, alcohol, and money as these are the three vices that can compromise a spy. Any one of these "sins" can get a spy captured by the enemy government. Even though Erich Gimpel has all of these, he limits the use of them. He pretends to love women though he loves the German government more. He drinks only in to respect for Germany to win the war. As for money, he does not spend too extravagantly as that will arouse suspicion but Erich does owe the German government for giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As Death Approaches...

As death slowly approaches for Erich Gimpel, he begans to suffer both physically and emotionally. His appetite for food and water begins to decrease and we see the physical change as he loses weight. His mind shifts over to the time of each day as hours, minutes, and seconds pass by slowly but surely. He begins to have thoughts of his father in Germany and wonders how the war has affected his homeland. As the sentence to hang until dead approaches, he goes insane over the thought of death and cannot push it out of his mind no matter how hard he tries.

"An exciting true story of the enemy within, fast moving and tough. A warning, too, that today we still fight such enemies."

 -Charles Whiting, author of The Spymasters and Gehlen: Germany's Master Spy