The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1946-03-15

ity was lopsided, Portugal, Erie ana
Turkey we're marginal states, For
all the helligerents, Sweden was the
desirable place from which to spy
upon one another,
SPIES PARADISE
OF course, Berne, Madrid, Lis
bon, Dublin and Ankara also were
thick with intelligence agents. But
Stockholm was the real spies
paradise, the great black market
for information, where success
meant fortune and failure eX-
posed one to little more than NOM
inal punishment,
All the major powers, and a good
many lesser ones as well, maintain
ed well-staffed and open-handed
espionage outfits In Sweden. Toward
the end OF the war, German and
Allied agents were literally stepping
on each others toes In Stockholms
jam packed hotels, restaurants and
bars.
BY and large. this secret war
did not directly affect Sweden.
or course, no foreign agent worth
his salt would disdain juicy piece
of local information, which could
be picked up en- PEASANT. The Ger
mans were always keen on Swed-
ish shipping and aviation news. The
Allies, preferred theirs about iron
ore, ball bearings, and Bofors guns,
Yet very few spies were con-
cerned primarily with such mat
tiers. For the vast majority Of them
Sweden was Just a convenient mart
where to get information about the
enemy, or q communications switch
board for news not directly trans
Missile from the country OF origin.
Accordingly, the Swedish author
tiles made a sharp distinction be-
tween acts of espionage directed
against Sweden and those aimed at
a foreign country. The former were
sternly repressed by an alert police,
operating hand in hand with a
subtle, efficient, but altogether UNI
official, censorship bureau, The lat
ter were tolerated within certain
limits.
When, for example, the activities
Of certain agent became public
scandal, or when the envoy OF a
major power pointedly brought the
doingS of the other side TO the For
eign Ministry's attention, the gov
eminent cracked down to protect
SwedenS claim to neutrality
Apart from a few such cases, how
ever, the espionage and counter
espionage and counter-e espionage
activities Of both belligerent sides
went on fairly unmolested from the
first TO the last day Of the war, Most
Of the arrests made by the Swedish
police during that period, and prac-
tically all the cases brought to trial
were concerned with Swedish secur-
ity-attemptS to ferret out secrets
Of Swedish war production or for
eign trade, illegal assistance given
by local NaziS or Communists to
Germany or Russia, and so forth.
German citizens, and in particu-
lar members or employees Of the
German Legation, figured in one
affair after another, especially from
1914 on, when the Swedes no longer
were afraid of Nazi reprisals. Gen
orally speaking, the Swedish prac-
tice of dealing harshly or gently
with spies of a certain nationality
followed closely the fluctuations of
Swedish foreign policy
In March 1914, a translator of
the German Legation, Friedrich G..
Guenther was arrested for espion-
age. A few months later, in Novem-
Der, several high Nazi officials, in
GLIDING an attache of the legation,
DR.. Johannes Metzger and the chief
of the German Tourist Bureau
Baron Bernt Won Goessler, were ex-
PEELED from the country on suspicion
of being Gestapo operatives.
NAZI EXPELLED
Still another NaZi diplomat, whose
identity was not revealed, was
caught red-handed in the act Of
photographing secret gun drawings;
he was expelled in January 1915.
This brings US up to the faScin-
ating three-months period Of Ger
man espionage described and il
Illustrated in such profuse detail by
the provident Herr x of the code
and teleprinter room.
The Gestapo, or rather its foreign
branch S. D. (Sicherheits Dienst OF
Security Service) had its headquar-
tiers in a drab, three-Storied Office
building at Nybrogatan 81, Stock
holm.
To the Germans, the place was
known as Bureau Wagner" Sc
called after Colonel Fritz Wagner
of the Gestapo, a burly, fiftyiSt
man with globous eyes, heavy jowls
and an unctuous smile.
The colonel was attached to thu
legation under the conveniently
vague designation of "Wehrwirt'
schaftsof1lzier" economic defens.
officer) He and Frau Wagner werI
frequently seen in society. Away
joyial, eager to make friends. am
discreetly inquisitiVe. Ever so Otter
the colonel would vanish on extend
ed business trips" invariably re-
turning with a bulky brief ease il
hand.
In the Nazis' secret correspond
enee, Wagner is usually referred 4
as Herr Doktor" Among his Swed
ish acquaintance, too, he took car
nor 10 display his military rank, still
less his connection with the Ges
tapo, He was a scientist" connect
ed WIN the German Scientific In
stitute and the German Academy Il
Sweden.
Two Of the colonels pgineipa
aides We're an SD man called Aug
ust Fnke head OF Bureau Finke'
and a Captain uteFmark,
The military intelligence Seryie
formerly the "Abwehr" also hai
Two Offices. both located on Karla
yaesen, a principal thoFoughfare u
the same city district, oesleFmaln
A. karlaYaegen 3D., IN see0nl
floor once suite with windows Ol
both The street and The backyard
there was the So-ealled Raids
Bureau" Here. X vas employed u
the code and telepFlnler room
Closely connected with The Radl
3 - Y A.