This is Part 5 of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family, tracing the later life of Yvonne Sommerfeld and her son Edgar.Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. We now turn to the central figure in this long traverse through the Sommerfeld family—Yvonne Sommerfeld. It […]
Yvonne Sommerfeld: The Chaos of a Borderless Life Read More »
This is Part 4 of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family, focusing on Margarete Sommerfeld and her daughter Evelyne,who spent a decade caught in the Swiss welfare system.Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 5 will follow on January 28, 2026. Introduction You would think that Georg’s children,
Evelyne and Margarete Gundelfinger: A Childhood in the Files Read More »
This is Part 3 of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family, focusing on Georg Sommerfeld’s path from bookseller to scandal and decline in Switzerland.Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 4 will follow in a week. Part 5 will follow on January 28, 2026. Setting the Stage: The Sommerfeld Family in Zürich
From Wanted Man to Bookseller: The Reinventions of Georg Sommerfeld Read More »
This is Part 2 of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family, tracing the fates of the wider family—so many of whom were caught up in the Holocaust.Part 1 is here. Part 3 is will be here Jan 14, 2026. Part 4 will be here Jan 21, 2026. Part 5 will follow on January 28,
Yvonne Sommerfeld’s Family: Survival and Loss Under the Third Reich Read More »
This piece is a follow-up to my 4-part series on Werner Adolf Goldstein.Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here & Part 4 is here. In earlier posts (see above), I explored the gold-related frauds of Josef Jakobs and Werner Goldstein based on Josef’s MI5 interrogations as well as brief notices
Independent Confirmation: Swiss Newspapers on the Jakobs–Goldstein Fraud Read More »
Introduction For more than a decade, the name “van Hees” has been a thorn under my skin—a mystery I kept picking at, to no avail. Josef told his MI5 interrogators that van Hees had betrayed him to the Gestapo in 1940. He gave a good description of the man: a First World War veteran, a
Albert van Hees: The Man who Betrayed Josef Jakobs Read More »
This post follows up on my earlier overview of the spies sent by Germany to Ireland during the Second World War Henry Obed is one of the unlikeliest spies of the Second World War. Born to an Indian Muslim family in 1895, Henry was a restless and ambitious young man. He found his way to
Henry Obed: An Indian Spy in the Shadows of Empire Read More »
Most accounts of Gösta Caroli’s capture in September 1940 note that he was apprehended by a farmer in Northamptonshire. This is true enough—but “farmer” hardly does Clifford Charles Beechener justice. He was also a celebrated steeplechase jockey, a respected trainer with winners to his name, and a man whose photograph had appeared in the sporting
The Farmer Who Wasn’t: Clifford Beechener, Jockey, Trainer, Spy-Catcher Read More »
Imagine stepping out of a plane at night, a heavy wireless set strapped to your chest. The parachute snaps open, jolting you violently. When you hit the ground, the thirty-pound case slams into your chin, and your head hits the ground. No helmet. No medics. Just the start of a mission you are already too
Concussion, Confabulation, and Caroli: Rethinking an “Unreliable” Agent Read More »
Last September, I wrote a blog post about an email from Bengt Caroli, the grand-nephew of Gösta Caroli—one of the lucky few LENA spies who survived the war. Bengt asked if I’d ever been in touch with his father, Ulf Caroli. Ulf, son of Gunnar Caroli (Gösta’s brother), passed away in 2016, but he had
From Silver Foxes to Double Agents: Ulf Caroli’s Family Story Read More »