 In 1918, he became a member of the German Communist Party, met Lenin in 1919 and became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.Kurella began living in Moscow in spring 1934 and began writing for the "Deutsche Zentral Zeitung" in 1935.In 1937, Kurella became Soviet citizen and in 1943 was involved in the activity of the antinazi Committee for Free Germany.