George Mink in the 30’s
When we last read about George Mink in the 1920’s, we learned he was a rising star in the Communist Party. By the 30’s George, had become one of the chief G.P.U.’s (the Soviet secret-police) international operatives. After receiving training in Moscow, he was responsible for reporting on those members of the Communist Party who had become disillusioned with the cause and had fallen out of favor with Stalin. He was also tasked with solving the problem which meant eliminating them.
The first such individual was Hans Wissinger who wanted to resign from his job with the Party in Hamburg, Germany. He was ordered back to Moscow, but he refused to go. On May 22, 1932, Hans Wissinger was found shot to death in his bed in his apartment.
We know George was involved in Wisinger’s murder from the book, Out of the Night. It’s written by Jan Valtin, a German Communist who immigrated to the U.S. and states, “the chiefs in the S-Apparet then decided to do away with Wissinger. Among the men to carry out this mission were Hugo Marx and George Mink. Marx and Mink were birds of a feather.”
The book goes on to describe the inner workings of the Communist Party around the world. In Chapter XXIII, he describes his impression of George Mink after they met in Hamburg. “He was an unusual type of man, young, dapper, with slightly Jewish features, and full of watchful, cynical arrogance. He was short but strongly built. … Yet to the uncritical eye, Mink appeared a nondescript mediocrity.”
Interesting to note that in all of the documents I read this is the only one that had a visual description of him and recalled a personal interaction.
At this time, George Mink was traveling extensively. He toured Mexico and other Latin American countries. He spent more time in Hamburg, Berlin, and Moscow, than he did in New York City, which he called home.
In 1934 George had a little problem in the U.S. He tried to renew his passport but the State Department refused because he couldn’t produce a birth certificate or prove citizenship. His navy documents had Philadelphia as his place of birth, but his original passport said that he was born in Scranton, PA.
State Department refusal to renew George’s passport
George’s cancelled passport
Twenty-four communications, letters and telegrams, went between George and the State Department, between March and December 1934. Finally, George suggested that the State Department speak to his aunt and cousin, Samuel Mink, of whom he had the contact information.
Letter about Sam and Edith
At that point, my father sent George a short telegram. “Call me at home before 6.”
Telegram from Sam to George
That’s a conversation that I would’ve loved to have heard.
A letter from the State Department to George, dated December 10, 1934 says that “That while it appears that neither of them (Sam Mink and Edith Pritzger (George’s aunt / Sam’s mother)) were able to furnish any definite information concerning the place of your birth, their testimony as a whole can be considered to corroborate your claim to American citizenship.”
Letter extending George’s passport.
George got a passport extended to March 1936.
The next set of archival documents that I have are letters between Sam Mink and the State Department.
George was arrested in Copenhagen in June 1935. It seems as though George had tried to rape the hotel maid and her cries for help were answered. When the police arrived, they found multiple passports and he was arrested and convicted of espionage. He was sentenced to 18 months but was pardoned after 12 months and he left for Moscow. This would be the last time that any law enforcement agency would know where George was.
The next person George allegedly dispatched was Juliet Stuart Poyntz in New York, 1937. She was a leading American Communist who had a change of heart and not only denounced Communism but also Stalin. He also allegedly assassinated these 5 people who supposedly fell out of favor of Stalin:
Camillo Berneri Barcelona 1937
Paul Block Barcelona 1937
Ignacio Reiss Lausanne, SW 9/2/1937
Laura Law Aberdeen, WA 1/5/1940
General Walter Krivitsky Washington DC 2/11/1941
In addition, George orchestrated the first attempt to assassinate Trotsky in Mexico, which failed.
By 1939 George was a person of extreme interest to the FBI. He was mentioned in the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings whose chairman was Martin Dies. He was also mentioned in an article in the Philadelphia Bulletin, November 2, 1939. The headline reads, “Dies asks G-Men to Get Witness Wants Them to Subpoena Russian Agent Named by Unionist” On June 9, 1940, he’s mentioned again in the same paper, “If you want to see how Communism operates in the United States, examine the life and background of George Mink.”
Philadelphia Bulletin articles about George
By 1941, George’s status changed and the FBI considered him to be the most dangerous and someone who should be interned in the event of war. Over 12 FBI Field Offices were actively gathering intelligence on him. Information came from informants and hearings from the House Committee on Un-American Activities. But they still couldn’t link George to any crimes.
In 1943, the FBI reached out to the Mink family for information on George Mink’s whereabouts. The story the FBI told my family was that there was some pension money owed George from the navy and they wanted to know where to send it.
The FBI interviewed Sam and Sylvia Mink, and also Edith Pritzger, Sam’s mother, in Miami.
Interview transcripts
At the time of the interviews, the FBI put a secret surveillance on my parents house on 78th Avenue. They also put a mail cover on mail coming and going from the house and Sam’s law office. The records show the sources and the destinations of all mail. It should be noted that the family had assumed that George was dead already.
Even though George was certainly a known personality, his death is still a mystery.
A search for George Mink on newspaper.com shows 16 articles from Miami, FL, to Dayton, OH, to Lexington, KY, to Scranton, PA and on. The collection of aliases that he used included: Alfredo Blumenthal, Geo Mink, Al Gottlieb, George Hirsh, Alfred Herz, George Martin, George Minkoff, Jaun Fernandez, Mink the Butcher, Mink the Harbor Pirate.
Carrying on the Mink legacy, I have shared what I know about George with the authors of, “Spy Sites of Philadelphia.” He is featured on page 72. I have also been in contact with the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. I’ll be sending them all the archival documents I have about George including the five cd’s of his rap sheet from the FBI.
What was George’s ultimate fate? I don't know. Jeremy Bigwood (who you may remember searched the KGB archives on my behalf) feels that he was probably murdered in Latin America. That sounds like as good a guess as any.
What do you think happened to George? Drop a note in the comments below.
Excerpt from Out of the Night by Jan Valtin
