Harro was the grandnephew of Alfred von Tirpitz, the most famous German naval commander in history, the creator of German naval doctrine and a personal friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Witness at his wedding to Libertas Haas-Haye was himself Reich Air Marshal Hermann Goering, who was a member of the Fuhrer's inner circle. His mother-in-law got Harro a position as an attaché of the Ministry of Aviation. She lived next door to Goering, was friendly with him and the Reichsmarshal was happy to do her a small favor.
Now about such a life would say that it is written in black caviar on the red. However, Harro Schulze-Boysen was a convinced enemy of Nazism and realized that the Nazis were leading Germany not to a thousand years of prosperity, but to a quick shameful death, despite all the successes.
Harro Schulze-Boysen, who came from a privileged background, became close to the Communists in the 1930s while studying at university law school. Harro did not change his sympathies for left-wing ideas even when, after leaving his law degree, he joined the Ministry of Aviation. In 1940, he came into contact with the 3rd secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Berlin and professional intelligence officer Alexander Korotkov and agreed to work for Soviet intelligence, receiving the agent nickname Starshina.
The young officer, a protégé of Goering, had access to secret information of the Reichsmarshal's department and began to transfer data of an important strategic nature to Soviet intelligence on a gratuitous basis. Schulze-Beusen was not interested in money; he worked for ideological reasons.
The level of Schulze-Beusen's knowledge is evidenced by the fact that he was among those who informed Moscow of the date and detailed plans for the initial stage of the Nazi invasion of the USSR. Here is a fragment of his report dated June 16, 1941: “All German military preparations for the invasion of the USSR are fully completed, and the strike can be expected at any time ... Hungary will actively participate in the hostilities on the side of Germany. Some German airplanes are already on Hungarian airfields... The heads of the military and economic departments of the 'future districts' of the occupied territories of the USSR have already been appointed.”
Unfortunately, the resolution imposed by the hand of the Soviet Supreme Commander-in-Chief was summed up in one word: “Disinformation!”
Harro had wide connections both in the service and in the aristocratic and military circles of the 3rd Reich. He actively transmitted to Moscow various information: flight and technical instructions, data on real losses and the number of Luftwaffe forces, design documentation of aircraft and weapons in service and under development.
In mid-1942, the Germans managed to decipher an intercepted GRU radiogram from Moscow to Brussels in the fall of 1941, which contained the name and address of Harro Schulze-Boysen. Harro and his wife Libertas, who was aware of her husband's affairs and helped him in any way she could, were arrested.
Harro managed to set up an underground organization of German anti-fascists, which in addition to collecting and transmitting data for Soviet intelligence was engaged in propaganda against the Nazis and their lies: members of the organization hung leaflets and posters on the streets of Berlin. The more humiliating was the failure, which happened through no fault of Harro and his comrades.
A military court sentenced the 33-year-old Harro Schulze-Beusen and his 29-year-old wife Libertas to death. The sentence was carried out on December 22, 1942 in Berlin. Shortly before, Harro's father was given the opportunity to see his son.
He confessed that he realized how it might end, but he had no regrets.
