Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1942, The American Republics, Volume V

862.20210/1220: Telegram

The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State

Rio de Janeiro, April 2, 1942—11 p.m.
[Received April 3—7:15 a.m.]

1141. Nils C. Christensen who signed in intercepted messages as Lucas, last night under heavy questioning made the following admissions:

1. That he at no time had any informant in or connected with the American Embassy at Rio. That he stated so in messages to enhance his value in the eyes of his superiors and because he felt he was losing the confidence of his associates. That he also lied to his principals in Germany regarding information obtained from the third officer of the SS Sabor. That he spent on himself the 20 contos authorized by Germany in its message of October 25, 1941 for use in the Green matter.

2. That his true name is Josef Starziczny and that his signature is on file at Hazelwood and Tarney, patent attorneys, New York.

3. That he was in contact with a member of the crew of the SS Uruguay named Boettscher whose cover name was Fass and who was in contact in New York or Hoboken with a German named Vogel. That Vogel also was in contact with Otto Uebele, ex-German Consul in Santos who was arrested again today and from whom efforts are being made to secure the addresses of Boettscher and Vogel.

4. That there is a German agent in Curaçao named Mueller, a brew-master, who is in contact with one Weber, an official of the VASP¹⁴ Airline through PAA¹⁵ personnel. Weber was arrested today.

5. That Albert K. Schwab has been referred to in the messages as Herbert Spencer.

6. That Karl Muegge, who had a station and was working for him as radio operator, had the cover name Moss; and that he met Karl Muegge through Albert K. Schwab in May 1941.

7. That Ulrich Uebele who has been under arrest since March 6, son of Consul Otto Uebele used the cover name Mendes. That Otto Uebele’s cover name was Kuntzet.

8. That Ulrich and Otto Uebele furnished all fuel oil destined for Axis vessels at Santos and it was they he placed himself in touch with in connection with the supplying of submarines.

9. That an employee of the British Consulate at Santos named Esilvac Mosilveira or Silvio was to produce routing orders of British vessels through an intermediary named Giesele located at Santos whose cover name was Green.

10. That he met Engels in April 1941 through German Naval Attaché Bohny, the master of the SS Hermes and Albert O. Schwab of the firm Theodor Wille.

11. That his agent in Recife and Natal was von Densteinen, son of the German Consul at Recife.

12. That Engels principal agents were Herbert von Heyer in custody here and one Backhaus who is supposed to be in Recife.

13. That his and Engels cover address in Lisbon was Simon Simon, Travessa Rio de Janeiro 73.

14. That one Bukhoff connected with Standard Oil Company in Rio was one of Engels agents who furnished information on ship movements.

Please inform FBI immediately.

Caffery

14. Viação Aerea São Paulo.
15. Pan American Airways.