The Russian Consulate — Erich von Neff

After the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and later, other countries, it is well known that artworks were stolen. But what about mathematics and scientific papers at the universities of Warsaw and Paris, to name a few. My World War II historical novel, The Russian Consulate, traces how a ruthless German intelligence officer, Hans Krauss, confiscates mathematics papers—some of them Jewish—and claims to have written them.In 1938, Hans Krauss does not qualify for his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Göttingen. Later, when World War II breaks out, he is assigned to military intelligence. Although Hans has not been given authority to do so, he confiscates Ph.D. mathematics theses and other math papers at the University of Warsaw and later other universities. He uses these papers, some by Jewish students, to gain his Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen. He has these students sent to Dachau with orders to be killed in two weeks. He also orders all the other students killed. He later becomes a mathematics professor at Stanford. Eventually, Hans' deceit is exposed and he is killed.