Into the Night

Richard Julius Herman Krebs, alias Richard Anderson, alias Richard Peterson, alias Richard Williams, alias Rudolf Heller, alias Otto Melchior, alias Jan Valtin was born in Germany 37 years ago. Last week the Justice Department ordered him sent back there after the war.

As author of the best-selling Out of the Night, which he wrote under the name of Jan Valtin, hulking, gap-toothed Richard Krebs had shocked U.S. readers with his offhand account of a lurid, turbulent life as an agent of both the Ogpu and Gestapo. He later admitted he had added the experiences of other men "to make the book as effective as possible," was roundly denounced by Communists as a faker. But his fame was his undoing: he admitted that he had once before been deported by the U.S., that he had committed perjury --both grounds for deportation.

Said the Board of Immigration Appeals: "His life has been so marked with violence, intrigue and treachery that it would be difficult, if not wholly unwarranted, to conclude that his present reliability and good character have been established. ... It appears that he has been completely untrustworthy and amoral."

Arrested at the snug Connecticut country home which he bought with his literary earnings, Richard Krebs was taken to Ellis Island. Next day his 18-year-old wife began a battle for his freedom.

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