Alfred Corbin

Alfred Valentin Corbin (26 February 1916 at Clichy, France; 28 July 1943 in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin) was a French communist sympathiser, editor and reviewer, commercial director, Before the war, Corbin ran a poultry feed business with his brother. After serving in the French Foreign Legion in the lead up to the war, Corbin was recruited by Soviet intelligence to run a black market trading company. In 1941, Corbin worked as a director of the Paris-based, Simex black market trading company, that was in reality a cover for a Soviet espionage organisation, later known as the Red Orchestra ("Rote Kapelle").

Life The Simex group was the 5th espionage group in Leopold Trepper organisation of seven groups. Before the war, Corbin lived in an apartment on the 17th arrondissement of Paris along with his wife Marie Corbin and his 16-year-old daughter Denise. He and his brother Robert Corbin, ran their own business, making poultry feed and breeding chicken's in Giverny. In 1940, Hillel Katz, who was the group's recruiter, approached Corbin personally to store a Wireless transmitter in Giverny, that was planned to be used to contact Soviet intelligence. after being captured in June 1940 during the German advance. Katz invited Corbin to come and run a new import and export business that his colleague was establishing. Grossvogel became its managing director. Simex was a covert black market trading company. and was established in two rooms above the Le Lido next to 78 Champs-Élysées in Paris, Simex managed finances and gathered intelligence from German firms and the German military. Its main customer was Organisation Todt, the German military engineering organisation.

On 2 September 1941, Corbin became the commercial director of the firm when Grossvogel left to assist Trepper. Grossvogel felt his Jewishness would interfere with the contacts that the firm maintained and damage the business. Initially Corbin was not aware of the true nature of the Simexco company but as the months past, he began to suspect its real purpose. Corbin maintained a good relationship with the Germans. In the context of travelling to Zone libre, Corbin worked as a courier between Paris, Marseille and Lyon.

Arrest On 19 November 1942, Corbin along with Suzanne Cointe, a secretary and Vladimir Keller, the Simex translator were arrested by Gestapo officer Karl Giering of the Sonderkommando Rote Kapelle. Corbin was put under enhanced interrogation by the Gestapo and subsequently informed them of the address of Trepper's dentist, that resulted in Trepper being arrested on 25 November 1942 by Giering.

Court martial On 8 March 1943, a Luftwaffe court martial was convened at the Roger & Gallet building, at 62-64 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, Paris, that was presided over by General Judge of the Luftwaffe Manfred Roeder. The employees of Simex were tried at the court including Jaspar and his wife Claire Legrand. Corbin was sentenced to death by Roeder in a trial lasting mere minutes. Corbin along with many other prisoners were loaded onto closed train wagons and taken to Germany. Corbin was deported to The Lehrterstrasse prison in Moabit, Berlin. On 28 July 1943, he was executed by guillotine in Plötzensee Prison.