Eighteen individuals in the United States were indicted on charges of spying for Nazi Germany in 1938. The case resulted in the criminal convictions of Johanna Hoffman, a hairdresser on the SS Europa liner, Enrich Glaser, a soldier based at Mitchel Field, and Otto Voss, an airplane mechanic. The case was named after Guenther Gustave Maria Rumrich, a United States Army sergeant turned deserter who pleaded guilty to espionage and agreed to testify on behalf of the US government. Rumrich was arrested on February 14, 1938, after impersonating Secretary of State Cordell Hull and trying to obtain 35 blank United States passports to deliver to the German government. All four individuals served time in jail, with sentences ranging from two to six years. The case was the first major international spy case for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
