NOEL FIELD - THE FICTIOUS SPY

The time: the early 1950s. The place: the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. The connection: Switzerland, Germany.  The staging of the show trials of the 1950s was an opportunity for Stalin to display his power. Intellectuals and Communists critical of the system were brought to trial and sentenced, in order to remove any possible threat to the Stalinist order. Many were condemned to death. The major accusation: spying for the American secret services. The major proof: any connection with Noel Field, the alleged American secret agent.

The charges were completely unfounded, the evidence based on a different set of facts. The accused actually had met Field: during wartime, in connection with their emigration from Fascist-occupied countries. Field, as American head of the Unitarian Service Committee, organised such emigrations, mainly to Switzerland.

Noël Field, his wife and his brother were also arrested in Hungary and imprisoned without charge. After 5 years they were suddenly released and declared innocent. Paradoxically, Field and his wife applied for political asylum in Hungary. Rumours began that the Field Affair had been organised by the American secret service.  But who was Field really: a naïve humanitarian who accidentally fell into the CIAs trap, or really a double agent?