# The Rumrich Nazi Spy Case (1938): The FBI’s First Major International Espionage Investigation

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940/the-rumrich-nazi-spy-case-1938-the-fbi-s-first-major-international-espionage-investigation
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940/the-rumrich-nazi-spy-case-1938-the-fbi-s-first-major-international-espionage-investigation.md
Podcast: [Spy Craft](https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940)
Published: 2026-04-21T14:53:58+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rumrich-nazi-spy-case-1938-the-fbi-s-first-major-international-espionage-investigation--71522707
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71522707/podcast_1776782770.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/spy-craft-2136940/episodes/the-rumrich-nazi-spy-case-1938-the-fbi-s-first-major-international-espionage-investigation
Duration seconds: 367

## Resource

In this episode, we examine the Rumrich Nazi Spy Case of 1938, the FBI’s first major international espionage investigation. Naturalized U.S. citizen Guenther Rumrich, a former Army deserter recruited by German intelligence, was arrested after impersonating the Secretary of State to obtain blank passports for Nazi agents. The case exposed a broader spy ring, led to four convictions, and established key precedents for U.S. counterintelligence on the eve of World War II.

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## Transcript

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