Jan Valtin

Richard Julius Hermann Krebs (December 17, 1905 - January 1, 1951), better known by his alias Jan Valtin, was a German writer during the interwar period.

"[1]: 131, 139 In 1926, working as a courier, he stowawayed to Victoria, British Columbia and then hitch hiked to San Francisco and made contact with the Comintern.

Valtin was assigned to execute someone in Los Angeles, but failed in the attempt, was caught, and sentenced to San Quentin State Prison.

During the 1000 days he spent there, he studied Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, astronomy, journalism, map making, English, French, and Spanish.

Held at Concentration Camp Fuhlsbuettel, Valtin states, "I had thought much about the black, humiliating defeat of the Communist Party of Germany, and I could not find a satisfying answer.

On 17 February 1937, he pledged "...my willingness to accept and execute to the best of my abilities all and any orders issued to me by the Secret State Police of Germany (Gestapo)."

[1]: 728–746 In 1938, he returned to the United States to settle, this time under his most famous alias, Jan Valtin - where he published the highly publicized autobiography Out of the Night.

In the book he described in detail the actions he supposedly had carried on as a secret agent of the Soviet State Political Directorate, or GPU.

Garlin claimed no "Jan Valtin" existed and that the book's authors were Isaac Don Levine, Walter Krivitsky, and Freda Utley (known ex- or anti-communists).

The Board of Immigration Appeals declared: His life has been so marked with violence, intrigue and treachery that it would be difficult, if not wholly unwarranted, to conclude that his present reliability and good character have been established.

Then, late in life, Richard Krebs came to the service of his country in the clandestine anti-communist efforts launched by the US intelligence agencies still operating in Europe in the early years of the Cold War.

To understand this view see SPYWRITER: Richard Krebs’ Astonishing Journey from German Communist Conspirator to American Combat Hero.