(1911-?) an
American business executive who, while in
Hungary in 1949, was
arrested by
Communist police on
charges of espionage. Shortly thereafter he made a
brief courtroom appearance in which he confessed to spying and received a fifteen-year sentence. He was not seen again by anyone other than his inquisitors for more than a year and a half. Finally, to
obtain his
freedom, the US made a deal agreeing to (a)
hand over millions of dollars in Hungarian
goods seized by
Nazis in
World War II (1939-1945) and in US hands since 1945, (b) permit Hungarian consulates to
open in
Cleveland and
New York and (c)
lift the
ban on
American travel in
Communist Hungary. Vogeler was
released to the United
States in 1951, at which
point he withdrew his original
confession relating how he was tortured into admitting falsehoods by
incessant questioning, malnutrition,
screaming, ice baths,
blows on the head,
dead silences, etc.