chemistry with distinction from the University of Vienna at the age of- With a serious interest in philosophy and psychology as well, he
abandoned his family’s orthodox Judaism, joining the Austrian Com-
munist Party in 1924 and involving himself in the “sexpol” move-
ment of the Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, which held that
the abolition of the bourgeois family would eliminate the Oedipal
complex and that fascism was the result of both political and sexual
repression. Following his graduation, Deutsch pursued a dual career
for several years: as a secret courier for the Comintern International
Liaison Department (OMS) traveling to Greece, Romania, Palestine,
and Syria; and as the director of the Münster Verlag in Vienna, which
published the works of Reich and other kindred authors. Deutsch’s
Austrian wife, Josefine, likewise became an OMS recruit and was
later given the alias Liza Kramer.
In 1932, while in Moscow, Deutsch underwent training as an
Illegaler, or covert operative, for the OGPU (the Soviet state political
directorate). Josefine was trained as a radio operator. His first post-
ing as a member of the OGPU’s international department (INO) took
him to France where, using the alias Stefan Lange and code name
stefan, he established secret border-crossing points on the northern
and eastern frontier and started to outfit French fishing boats for
clandestine wartime radio communication. Shortly afterward in Ger-
many, a warning by the Soviet agent Willy Lehmann prevented his
arrest by the Gestapo.
The most illustrious chapter in Deutsch’s life began with his
transfer to England in early 1934. Arriving in London, he used his
true name, declared his profession as “university lecturer,” and
indicated he was there to conduct research. He took a postgradu-
ate course in psychology at the University of London and started
to cultivate a circle of faculty and students. A year later, Josefine
joined him, and they moved to a spacious apartment in Hampstead
(next to one owned by mystery writer Agatha Christie). Almost
immediately, Deutsch implemented a shrewd new strategy of his
own: targeting certain young radical students who had potentially
influential careers ahead of them, obtaining their agreement to
work undercover, and then providing them with a fresh noncom-
munist political identity. According to his calculations, the later
discovery of a communist affiliation could simply be dismissed as
80 • DEUTSCH, ARNOLD