I think there is just a fascinating parallel in the lives of two men who were both responsible for the key bit of knowledge that turned the fates of the Europea

I think there is just a fascinating parallel in the lives of two men who were both responsible for the key bit of knowledge that turned the fates of the European and the Pacific - Sorge and Rochefort. Sorge’s key contribution to the war was the knowledge that the Japanese would not attack Russia in 1941, which allowed Stalin to move forces to save Moscow. Rochefort on the other hand led the intelligence effort that allowed Nimitz to ambush the Japanese fleet six months later. Both of these men ultimately lost “office politics” which led to them both being marginalized and ignored by their governments after their great victories. Rochefort ended up the better of the two, only being reduced to building dry docks, while Sorge ended up being shot,even though the Japanese tried multiple times to trade him back for their own captured spies. One side note - it’s amazing how good and ruthless the soviet spy network was. They were simultaneously stealing Japanese war plans, hitlers sexual history, Churchill oppositions private notes and atomic designs from the US. It’s not for nothing that the red scare occurred after the war.