Evening star., 1942-11-24

Mere" night club In Munich. wa
Twenty-three years earlier an
other German girl went into the
same business-her name was Mata
Hari. That famous spy also began
her career as a dancer and courte-
san. Before the war she travelled
with q vaudeville troupe to Berlin,
where her affairs with high Ger
man police officers finally led to
her joining the secret service. Mary
Lassow's story presents strange
parallel to Mata Harris career.
BY the time Mary had finished
her special training" in Berlin, she
was no longer a German, but a
White Russian emigrant travelling
under one Of the Nansen passports
provided for Czarist refugees by
Geneva. Her name was now Olga
Penkowa." In Munich. Mary had
been blond-in Paris, she was red
headed.
Started With Blind Date"
As q dancer with an English bal
let troupe engaged at the Casino de
Paris, Olga" soon became a IA
vorite Of the English girls, most of
whom had men friends in England.
When the war began and the BEF
arrived In France, "Olga" was in
vited as blind date" with Eng
lish boys, most of them RAF men.
Following her training" faith
fully. she soon had many good
friends"
Olga lived in a little hotel in the
Rue de Douai in Montmarte. In
the same house was a White Rus
sian waiter-also Gastapo agent.
All Information Olga wormed out
OF her English soldier friends" she
passed on to him. Twenty-four
hours before the Germans entered
Paris some Frenchmen discovered
she was a Nazi spy.
She was shot mysteriously on
June 13.
Another woman Gestapo agent
was Hide Hildebrandt, who was a
prominent German actress even be-
fore the days of Hitler. For months
before the German invasion of Nor
way, she toured the country. When
the tour was ended Hide disap-
peared, and with her important Nor
~egian documents. Among these
were the detailed mobilization or
ders OF the Norwegian Army.
Society Matrons Used,
Not all women Gestapo agents are
dancers and actresses. Many are
society matrons, who behind their
appearance of middle -class respecta-
bility are actually in the pay of the
Geetapo. One Of the most important
Of these is Maria Jenke, sister Of
Foreign Minister Joachim Won Rib
bentrop.
When the Nazis sent Franz Won
Papen to Ankara as Ambassador to
Turkey, they did not trust him en-
trely. for Won Papen is too much of
a thief even to honor his fellow
thieves. II an official Gestapo agent
were assigned to watch Won Papen,
the Ambassador would notice it i'm
mediately. So Frau Juettke, chief of
the women's Gestapo, assigned the
secret mission TO Won Ribbentrop's
sister, Maria, who was married to
an insignificant commercial attache.
Herr and Frau Jenke were dis
patched to Ankara. Much to Frau
van Papen's distress, Frau Jenke
assumed the role of First Lady" of
the NaI Embassy by holding nu-
merous receptions and fashionable
parties. Frau Jenke watched Won
Papeu until the Nazis were salts
ned OF his loyalty, but remained in
Turkey as a spy
One branch of the womens Ges-
tapo is the female division of Hitler's
specially created department to un-
dermine morale in occupied coun-
tries. When France collapsed and
100000 Frencnmen were locked up
as prisoners of war, this branch
began one Of the most brutal as
signments the women's Gestapo is
known to perform. Organizer of this
branch was Maria Johst, wife of the
notorious Gestapo Chief Karl Johst.
FalShed Letters.
Maria's job was to produce fall
sined letters written to French pris-
toners from their home towns. The
letters ran like this:
Dear M. Maurice:
you will be surprised to receive
. letter from me. But I consider
It my duty to inform you that your
. wife is behaving in a scandalous
way. Gisette has become the friend
Of M. Louis who owns the bistro
at the corner of your street. ;"
After the prisoner had received
this and other letters harping on the
same theme, Maria Johst would en-
ter the picture as the good Samari-
tan out to console the unhappy
Frenchman. Such thing would
never happen in Germany. she
would point out. A German woman,
thank God, was brought up in the
National-Socialist spirit and would
never betray her husband. The only
- L.