Several years ago, I came across Harm Knol Bruins in the Guy Liddell diaries. His story intrigued me and I dug deeper. How had a Dutchman, caught with a wireless transmitter, managed to escape the hangman’s noose? More to the point, why had his wife—complicit in his crimes—been shot by firing squad, while he survived?
Espionage and Execution in 1940: Anna Lilian von Vaupel-Klein Read More »
N.B. I had done an earlier post on Josef Emil Roos in 2020, available here.This current one expands on his life story. Across four decades, Josef Emil Roos turned paper into power—until the paper stopped moving. In 2020 I traced the path of Emil Josef Roos as a shadowy swindler orbiting the likes of Hans
Emil Josef Roos, Revisited: New Swiss, German, and Dutch Files (1901–1941) Read More »
This is the Addendum of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family,tracing the right-wing affiliations of Harald Tobler and hints of Yvonne’s involvement with the French military.Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. I was sure that I had finished the Sommerfeld
Sommerfeld Addendum: A Right-Wing Agitator and Suspicions of French Intelligence Read More »
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.N.B. An Addendum can be found here, touching on Yvonne’s French military connections. We now turn to the
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 is hereN.B. An Addendum can be found here, touching on Yvonne’s French military
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 3 is here. Part 5 is hereN.B. An Addendum can be found here, touching on Yvonne’s French military connections. Setting the Stage:
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 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 5 is hereN.B. An Addendum can be found here, touching on Yvonne’s French military connections.
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 »