I had an email the other day from a gentleman in Norway, the son-in-law of Karl Victor Hagen! Those who read this blog regularly, may remember I did a series of blogs about Josef’s involvement with a black market passport business in Berlin in 1938. One of the individuals who purchased a Finnish passport from […]
Follow-up to the story of Louis Georg Hagen Read More »
A few weeks ago, I received an email from Mike Guilfoyle, Vice-Chair of the Friends of Bockley & Ladywell cemeteries. I’m always amazed at how many diverse people find my blog and reach out. Mike was researching historically interesting deceased individuals with links to Lewisham (just southeast of London) and came upon my website and
The German Spy and the Lewisham Barrister Read More »
In the first three instalments of this blog series, I looked at the life of Arthur Albert Tester, swindler and conman extraordinaire. (Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here) In today’s post, I’m going to sweep up the stories of what became of his two wives and six children. Interestingly,
The Mysterious “Dr.” Arthur Albert Tester – Part 4 Read More »
N.B. This is Part 3 in a four part series on Dr. Arthur Albert Tester: Part 1 can be found herePart 2 can be found herePart 4 can be found here There have been a lot of rumours and theories about how and when Arthur Albert Tester left England. One particularly glamorous story relates how
The Mysterious “Dr.” Arthur Albert Tester – Part 3 Read More »
We are following the story of Arthur Albert Tester, a larger-than life character who gained notoriety across Europe throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s.In the first blog of this series, I outlined Tester’s beginnings and how he managed to get into legal trouble in Germany, France and Belgium during the 1920s. Tester then made the
The Mysterious “Dr.” Arthur Albert Tester – Part 2 Read More »
As noted in earlier blogs, I came across Tester’s name while researching the individuals associated with the black market passport business in Berlin in the late 1930s. Tester’s name came up as an associate of Josef Emil Roos and piqued my interest. A British banker who had infiltrated the British Secret Service? That sounded fascinating.
The Mysterious “Dr.” Arthur Albert Tester – Part 1 Read More »
Whilst searching for information on Arthur Albert Tester and his shady associates, I signed up for a trial subscription to FindMyPast.co.uk. They appeared to have some info on Tester and I wanted to have a look at it. Imagine my surprise when up popped a record from the Gestapo’s arrest list for their planned invasion
Nazi Germany’s Arrest List for the 1940 Invasion of England Read More »
A year and a half ago, I did a series on Josef Jakobs and his involvement in a black market passport scheme in Berlin. The scheme was orchestrated by a German lawyer, Jürgen Ziebell, and involved selling fake passports to Jews desperate to escape Nazi Germany. Many of the fake passports were from Finland and
On the trail of Blackmarketeer Josef Emil Roos Read More »
With a bit of viral lockdown time on my hands, I transcribed and translated the first two chapters of the Swedish book on Gösta Caroli. These chapters were most interesting to me for the information it had on Caroli’s time in Canada during the 1920s. In late 2018, I had written a blog about Caroli’s
The Avant Espionage Career of Gösta Caroli Read More »
A year and a half ago, I took a research detour into the career of Gösta Caroli. I had come across a reference which suggested that Caroli had been tried, condemned and executed by the British. This was news to me since there is no evidence of a trial, nor an execution. In fact, according
The Après Espionage Career of Gösta Caroli Read More »