Brian Goold-Verschoyle
Encyclopedia
Brian Goold-Verschoyle (1912–1942) was a member of the Communist Party of Ireland
and a victim of Joseph Stalin
's "Great Purge
".
into the Anglo-Irish
gentry. After he finished his schooling, he moved to England to work as an engineer. However, after visiting his brother in Moscow
, he was recruited into Soviet espionage
.
to be a "naïve supporter" of the Soviet Union
; unaware that he was being used to courier messages for the NKVD
while he lived in London
. He was controlled by Henri Pieck
.
Goold-Verschoyle couriered UK agent's reports, mainly from John Herbert King, a Foreign Office clerk. In 1936 he traveled under an assumed name to Moscow to undergo wireless training. Previously he had worked as an engineer. He fell in love with a German Jewish refugee, Lotte Moos
, and took her to Moscow against orders, falling foul of his Soviet masters. He was then sent to the Spanish Civil War
(Barcelona) on the condition that he broke off all contact with Lotte. However he disobeyed this order.
).
In April 1937 he was asked to report to Barcelona harbour to repair a ship’s radio. When he embarked he was escorted to the radio cabin and the door was locked behind him. He had in effect been kidnapped and when the ship arrived in USSR he was immediately transferred to the Lubyanka (KGB)
prison in Moscow. He was eventually sentenced to eight years for counter‑revolutionary Trotskyist activities.
Communist Party of Ireland
The Communist Party of Ireland is a small all-Ireland Marxist party, founded in 1933. An earlier party, the Socialist Party of Ireland, was renamed the Communist Party of Ireland in 1921 on its affiliation to the Communist International but was dissolved in 1924. The present-day CPI was founded in...
and a victim of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's "Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
".
Early life
Brian Goold-Verschoyle was born in County DonegalCounty Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
into the Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
gentry. After he finished his schooling, he moved to England to work as an engineer. However, after visiting his brother in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, he was recruited into Soviet espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
.
Spy
He was said by MI5MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
to be a "naïve supporter" of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; unaware that he was being used to courier messages for the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
while he lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was controlled by Henri Pieck
Henri Pieck
Henri Christiaan Pieck was a Dutch architect, painter and graphic artist.Pieck married twice. On 12 July 1922, he married Geziena van Gelder, with whom he had one son. This union was dissolved on 14 May 1928. His second wife, Bernharda Hugona Johanna van Lier, whom he married on 25 May 1928 in St...
.
Goold-Verschoyle couriered UK agent's reports, mainly from John Herbert King, a Foreign Office clerk. In 1936 he traveled under an assumed name to Moscow to undergo wireless training. Previously he had worked as an engineer. He fell in love with a German Jewish refugee, Lotte Moos
Lotte Moos
Margarete Charlotte Moos was politically active poet and playwright.-Early life:Margarete Charlotte Jacoby, daughter of Samuel and Luise Jacoby, was born in Berlin on 9th December 1909...
, and took her to Moscow against orders, falling foul of his Soviet masters. He was then sent to the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(Barcelona) on the condition that he broke off all contact with Lotte. However he disobeyed this order.
Arrest
The flash point was a disagreement with the Soviet ambassador in Valencia, for whom he was working. His increasing anti-Stalinist views may have been a factor in his split with Moscow, as he quickly realised the Soviet Union had no interest in a world revolution which would be independent of Moscow's control. His letters to his family in Ireland reveal a growing sympathy for the anti-Stalinist Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUMPoum
Poum is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The town of Poum is located in the far northwest, located on the southern part of Banare Bay, with Mouac Island just offshore....
).
In April 1937 he was asked to report to Barcelona harbour to repair a ship’s radio. When he embarked he was escorted to the radio cabin and the door was locked behind him. He had in effect been kidnapped and when the ship arrived in USSR he was immediately transferred to the Lubyanka (KGB)
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
prison in Moscow. He was eventually sentenced to eight years for counter‑revolutionary Trotskyist activities.