In September 1942, Sorge's wife, Katya Maximova, was arrested by the NKVD on the charges that she was a "German spy" since she was married to the German citizen Sorge (the fact that Sorge was a GRU agent did not matter to the NKVD), and she was deported to the gulag, where she died in 1943. Hanako Ishii, the Japanese woman who loved Sorge and the only woman whom Sorge loved in return, was the only person who tried to visit Sorge during his time in Sugamo Prison. During one of her visits, she expressed concern that Sorge, under torture by the "Kempeitai", would name her as involved in his spy ring, but he promised her that he would never mention her name to the "Kempeitai". The "Kempeitai" was much feared in Japan for its use of torture as an investigation method. Sorge ultimately struck a deal with the "Kempeitai" that if it spared Ishii and the wives of the other members of the spy ring, he would reveal all. Ishii was never arrested by the "Kempeitai" Sorge told his "Kempeital" captors: