The Soviets Had Their Very Own Version Of James Bond

Less action, more wits, and still popular today

Human intelligence, new technologies, and subterfuge were such massive parts of World War II that it is no wonder that the conflict spawned a fascination with espionage and tradecraft. Ian Fleming, the venerable creator of James Bond, was a British naval intelligence officer whose father died on the Western Front in 1917. But the west was not the only society with an interest in suave agents working behind enemy lines. The Soviet Union had its own version of James Bond though the character was much different from the dashing Western action hero most people know and love.

Max Otto von Stierlitz was a spy that infiltrated the German foreign service during World War II. Stierlitz, as the character is commonly called, routinely engaged in battles of wits and low tension with his Nazi and SS counterparts while working in Germany. While James Bond was largely a Cold War hero, Stierlitz was a World War II figure.

Stierlitz, Max Otto von Stierlitz

Interestingly, the character of Stierlitz engaged in a much more realistic form of espionage than his Western counterpart. While James Bond was an accurate marksman who engaged in violence, seduction, and the use of near-magical gadgets, Stierlitz often performed simple human intelligence. Stierlitz worked in the offices of the SS officer Walter Schellenberg who headed a division of foreign intelligence officers. Instead of running around guns blazing, Stierlitz would eavesdrop around corners, peek at sensitive correspondence and trick his peers into giving up valuable information through pure guile.

Stierlitz often missed his family and longed to return home to the Motherland. His character was contemplative, complicated, and melancholy. He stayed in Germany, flirting with death and danger for the good of the Soviet Union.

Many of the plots revolved around the Germans' slow and unabating investigation into the mole. They knew that one of their own was compromised, and the investigation brought them ever closer to unveiling Stierlitz’s identity. The action is slow and tense rather than fast and furious.