Eric Erickson (spy)

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Eric "Red" Erickson (1890-1983) was a Swedish oilman who spied on German synthetic oil plants for the American OSS in World War II.^[1][2] Alexander Klein wrote a 1958 book about his exploits, The Counterfeit Traitor, which was made into a 1962 movie of the same name, starring William Holden as Erickson.^[2]

Erickson was born in America, the son of Swedish immigrants. He fought in the U.S. Army in World War I and graduated from Cornell University in 1921. He attended Cornell at the suggestion of oil magnate Walter C. Teagle.

Erickson came to Sweden in 1924 and became a Swedish citizen in the mid-1930s.

At the outbreak of World War II, he offered his services to the United States. Pretending that he was a Nazi, he visited Germany more than 30 times between 1939 and 1945.

[edit] References

1. ^ Eric Erickson, Wartime Spy (abstract of obituary). New York Times (January 25, 1983). Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
2. ^ ^{a b} Alexander Klein, 83; Wrote Spy Thriller (obituary). New York Times (August 24, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-11-16.