The next portion of the message was the one which in the Centre's view caused all the trouble. "Sisi's position is sad. Please inform Gisel's parents that they must remit 6,700 dollars. This sum must be handed over through you. There are no other possibilities. The Gisels must bear these expenses." This message is perfectly clear. Cissie's financial position was precarious and Hermina was to inform the Centre that they were to send $6,700 through Hermina, as there were no other means of obtaining money.

The last sentence, "Advise me about Aleksander where is he," is a sentence where I think that the Commission went somewhat astray. They identify Aleksander with Alexander A . . . whom I take to be Isaac, one of Cissie's sources in the I.L.O. It is not surprising that the Commission was confused, because Alexander A...is mentioned later, as he was the cut-out for this transaction. In point of fact I am certain that that Aleksander referred to in this sentence is myself. Cissie was unaware of my cover name Jim, and knew me only by my real name, which she had learnt from the members of the Abwehr who had visited her that summer and asked about me. It will be remembered that at this time we were not in touch as Rado had refused to allow us to meet, so she would have to refer to me by my real Christian name. At that early stage she would have been unaware that I was under arrest and might have thought that I was still in hiding. The signature "Rachel" is of course Rachel Duebendorfer.

Later on Hermina wrote again to Tounkin with a request that he should take action over the matter referred to in her first letter, i.e., the transfer of the funds, and to show the genuineness of the request she attachéd to this letter a second letter from Cissie of which the following is the gist:

I have received your [Hermina's] telegram of 23.1.44. Please inform Gisel's family, that she should advise Znamensky 19, that Sisi is alive and works as of old with Lucy. Lucy wanted to change the personnel, but funds ran out. Albert is sick and is not interested in business. For the work of Sisi, Gisel's family must transfer 10,000 dollars. The transfer must be made by Hermina personally through N.Y. in connection with the wishes of Mr. Helmars.

R.D.

From this it appears that Hermina had replied to Cissie by telegram, presumably through the cut-out Isaac. Cissie then asked Hermina to inform "Gisel's family," i.e., the Russians in Canada, that they should inform Znamensky 19, which is the street address in Moscow of the Red Army Intelligence Headquarters, that Cissie was alive and continuing her work for the network. She was also working as before with Selzinger, who wanted to make a change of agents but funds had run out. Rado was in hiding and was not concerned with this operation. In this message Cissie increases her demand and asks now for $10,000 to be transferred by the Centre through New York. The initials R.D. which sign the letter are of course those of Rachel Duebendorfer.

As a result of this Pavlov informed Motinov and it was decided that she should be contacted by telephone and told she must not write or ring up, but that she would be visited in two weeks' time by a man from the Centre. This visit was in fact made by Koudriavtzev. It was considered by Motinov that the money should be transferred but that it must be transferred to Washington and then handed over to Hermina in New York as it was dangerous to cross the border with such a sum. Motinov added that Hermina's letters with copies of Cissie's letters had been sent by mail and in all probability had passed through the censorship. He was particularly concerned over the second letter quoted above and the mention of Znamensky 19, which he regarded as "particularly prejudicial."

Some time later, on May 5, 1944, Koudriavtzev went to Montreal and met Hermina and allowed her to read a letter addressed to her and signed Gisel. This letter was obviously taken back by Koudriavtzev as it was one of the documents produced by Gouzenko and is the second of the five documents mentioned above.

The letter is as follows:

Dear Hermina