Bernard Kuehn
Surname | Kuehn |
Given Name | Bernard |
Country | Germany |
Category | Intelligence |
Gender | Male |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseBernard Julius Otto Kuehn was an associate of German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Despite lacking formal training as a spy, Goebbels sent Kuehn to the US Territory of Hawaii in 1935 to work with Japanese intelligence agents. Kuehn began collecting intelligence for the Japanese immediately, with assistance from his wife Friedel Kuehn, his daughter Susie Ruth Kuehn, and even his young son Hans-Joachim Eberhard Kuehn. He linked up with Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa after Yoshikawa arrived in Honolulu, and the two communicated by occasional flashed messages across the city. A Japanese consulate staff member who received intelligence from Kuehn later noted that the intelligence shared by Kuehn were generally low in value. On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, his flashes to Yoshikawa was observed by the Americans. Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of Kuehn, his wife, and his daughter on 21 Feb 1942. He was found guilty as a spy and was given a death sentence; it was later commuted to 50 years of hard labor at the Hawaiian Island Detention Camp on Sand Island. Dr. Bernhard Hormann of the University of Hawaii looked after Hans-Joachim Eberhard Kuehn for the remainder of the war. After the war, the Kuehn family was deported back to Germany in 1948.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Apr 2015
Bernard Kuehn Timeline
15 Aug 1935 | Bernard Kuehn and his family arrived in Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii. |
21 Feb 1942 | Bernard Kuehn was arrested in Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii. |
21 Feb 1942 | Susan Kuehn was arrested in Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii. |
Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Visitor Submitted Comments
14 Dec 2015 11:44:26 AM
Does anyone know the address of where the Kuehn family lived in Hawaii?
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
- » Wreck of USS Edsall Found (14 Nov 2024)
- » Autumn 2024 Fundraiser (7 Nov 2024)
- » Nobel Peace Prize for the Atomic Bomb Survivors Organization (11 Oct 2024)
- » Wreck of USS Stewart/DD-224 Found (2 Oct 2024)
- » See all news
- » 1,150 biographies
- » 337 events
- » 43,917 timeline entries
- » 1,241 ships
- » 350 aircraft models
- » 207 vehicle models
- » 375 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 260 facilities
- » 470 book reviews
- » 28,549 photos
- » 432 maps
Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!
Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!
27 May 2015 02:35:12 PM
Just read up on the Bernand Kuehn FBI files - insanely riveting!