MOVIE: DIE SCHØNE SPIONIN- THE SPY

VERA VON SCHALBURG- THE MYTH AND THE REALITY

An updating of information presented about the movie: The Spy.

What is fiction, myth, and what is reality with reference to the movie about Vera von Schalburg and books published? Is the task an impossible mission? The journalist and active archive digger Kristine Kloster Andersen has written a book about Vera von Schalburg. The archive digger has done research in different archives and libraries worldwide aiming at the most correct information about the story of Vera von Schalburg. Sources presented as facts and corrects data have been evalutated in a critical way. The result of her work is that too much of the published facts have to be forgotten, wiped because the facts are more assumptions than facts. The limited information presented in public about the book is revealing facts in a negative sense about the true story of the women
.

The story of Vera von Schalburg is the story of a tragic woman. She was a ballet dancer in Paris at «Folies Bergere», a professional prostitute at well-known brothel in Paris, a spy for both Nazi Germany, Russia and Great Britain and a drug addict. She died in1946 among the ruines of Hamburg, Germany: A human wreck,a drug addict and a nervous wreck who had been nearly killed twice by knife.

The title of the book: SPURVEN – Den dramatiske historien om spionen Vera Schalburg.

Storyhouse 2018.403 pages.

ESPIONAGE, PROSTITUTION AND SEXPIONAGE IN MOVIES SELECTED

The former Assistant FBI Director William C. Sullivan stated in November 1975 in testimony before the Church Committee: « …The use of sex is a common practice among intelligence services all over the world. This is a tough dirty business. We have used that technique against the Soviets. They have used it against us…». Sexpionage is the possibility of sexual activity to conduct espionage. My interest for the subject was a result of having read the book about « Frida» who was a prostitute.The author is Nina Grunfeld. My aim was to make a search in my private movie collection for movies dealing with espionage? My result was not a good one. But I found only four movies dealing with the subject: Spies, prostitution, military secrets and politics.

According to information published in the book titled: « Ultimate Spy» (Alt om spionasje) making use of prostitutes were a policy of the secret service of East- Germany. Hauptverwaltung Aufklarung (HVA) was set up in 1952. The German Director of HVA  from 1952 to 1986 was Markus Wolf. He was called « the man without face «. The agents of HVA were trained in exploiting human weekness. The training program was called « Romeo- method». Making use of prostitutes were also a part of the policy of HVA.How to seduce  men and women and making use of sexual intercourse to get military and political information were the aim of the « Romeo- method». Sex- schools were also set by the KGB. The use of « Honey trapping « is still an object for the training of agents in many countries. « Honey trapping» is a method involving the use of romantic or sexual relationships for interpersonal and political purpose.

THE MOVIES SELECTED FROM MY PRIVATE COLLECTION

The movie: « Die Schøne Spionin», or « The Beautiful Spy» or « The Spy» are titles used of the movie dealing with the story of Vera Schalburg. She was born in Siberia, Russia in November 23,1907 and died February 8, 1946. Christian Fredrik von Schalburg was her brother.Christian Fredrik von Schalburg was a Danish officer,the second commander of Free Corps Denmark (1906-1942).  Vera von Schalburg is portrayed by actress Valerie Niehaus. She is a German prostitute working for Nazi Germany. She was sent to Great Britain by the Germans as a spy but she was revealed. In order to save her life she accepted to become a British agent. The plot of the movie is thrilling but fictional.
She was a Soviet,German and British agent.The movie was released in December 2013.

SCANDAL

« SCANDAL» is the title of a British drama film released in March 1989. The film is a docudrama dealing with the Profumo affair. Minister of War John Profumo was a member of the British government chaired by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. The plot is about the relationship between the conservative politician John Profumo and the young exotic danser Christine Keeler. The British osteopath Stephen Ward was her friend and mentor. The contact with the young prostitute and the Minister of War became a public scandal when the affair was known. Besides Christine Keeler is also involved with an affair with a Russian diplomat. The Soviet military attache Yevgeny Ivanov was an intelligence officer in the Russian GRU. He was a friend of Stephen Ward too. In 1982 MI5 confirmed the contact between Stephen Ward, MI5 and Yevgeny Ivanov.

RED SPARROW

The spy thriller movie was released in 2018. The plot is about how  to train a young girl in acting like a prostitute in order to seduce men for information.The former ballerina Dominika Egorova has been recruited by Russian Intelligence Service.She attended the school " State School 4" where she got a realistic training in sexpionage. The movie is fictional but true in a way in presenting a realistic picture of the Russian espionage. The plot is thrilling with much dramatic actions too. Sex spy operations were made by making use of Bolshoi ballerinas, famous actresses, movie and theater actresses. The femal agents were called « swallows». The sexpionage school was called « State School 4».

MATA HARI

Movies have been made about the story of Mata Hari. She was born August 7,1876 and died October 15, 1917. Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod was her real name.She was a Dutch exotic dancer. During World War I she worked as a spy both for Germany and France. She was executed by firing squad in France. I found only one movie of Mata Hari in my collection.

« MATA HARI» was released in September 1985. The movie is an erotic biographical film dealing with the story of the dancer and the spy Mata Hari.The film is fictional. The plot is about the innocent dancer who is manipulated by the secret services of Germany and France. Mata Hari is making use of her erotic power seducing politicians, military officers and people who are involved in political and military matters in order to get information.

CONCLUSION

Espionage has been- and is still an object for feature films. My experience viewing feature films dealing with espionage led me to questions about the reality of the movies. Papers and published books about spies, prostitution, and political affaires with reference to matters of international importance are of great interest for the political events of today. What is reality and what is fiction might be hard to understand when official reports about the life of elected politicians are published?

NARVIK 1940

NARVIK 1940

Fremmedlegionen i kamp for Norge

I forordet til boken om den franske Fremmedlegionens historie i Narvik skriver forfatteren: «…Kampene om Narvik under den andre verdenskrig i 1940 har en helt sentral plass i den norske krigshistorien, og det med rette… likevel er det lite skrevet på norsk som også går i dybden når det gjelder den franske  Fremmedlegionens heroiske innsats i disse kampene….».

Fremmedlegionens soldater kjempet sammen med norske, britiske , polske styrker og franske alpejegere i Narvik i 1940. Forfatteren dokumenterer på en grei og lettlest måte legionens aktivitet, engasjement og tap i striden mot de tyske styrkene som hadde inntatt Narvik nesten uten kamp. Gjenerobringen av Narvik er også viet stor oppmerksomhet i legionens museum i Frankrike. Vi får en innføring i de ulike franske militære avdelingene. Navn på offiserer og avdelinger blir fremhevet samt opplysninger om de harde kampene hvor legionen viste styrke. Flertallet av soldatene var franske. Likevel blir soldater fra andre land også fremhevet i boken. I registret over falne finner vi soldater fra Belgia, Tyskland, Egypt, Romania, Polen, Italia, Spania, Luxemburg, Jugoslavia, Irland, Sveits, Nederland, og fra et ubestemt land i Asia. De totale tapene for legionen var fem offiserer, fem underoffiserer og sytti legionærer. I tillegg ble minst tohundre soldater såret.

De allierte trengte styrker på kontinentet. Derfor ble fremmedlegionen også trukket ut av striden den 8.juni. Narvik ble kjent for byen hvor Adolf Hitler led et alvorlig og uventet nederlag. Den politiske beslutning om å trekke alle allierte styrker ut av Norge var en stor skuffelse for den norske regjering og kongehuset.

Den norske regjering måtte velge mellom minst fire alvorlige avgjørelser:

-          Fortsatt kamp mot de tyske styrkene alene uten støtte fra Storbritannia

-          Forhandlinger med Nazi-Tyskland om en avslutning på krigen

-          Dele landet i to. Fortsette med et selvstyre i den nordlige delen av landet og overlate den sørlige delen av landet til en tysk okkupasjon

-          Fortsette krigen fra Storbritannia på britenes side

Regjeringen valgte å fortsette krigen sammen med Storbritannia og de allierte landene.

Personlig stiller jeg noen kritiske spørsmål til den politiske avgjørelse. Ble de polske og franske styrkene formelt kontaktet om en fortsatt krigføring i Norge? De norske styrkene hadde utmerket seg i striden. De tyske styrkene var nesten slått. En evakuering til Sverige var planlagt. Sammen med de polske og franske styrkene kunne seiret være sikret. Økonomisk kunne vi fortsette fordi landets gullbeholdning var i sikkerhet i Storbritannia og USA. Fly hadde vi innkjøpt i USA allerede. Marinen kunne aktiviseres. Soldater kunne bli hentet sørfra og aktivt motstand mot tyske forsyninger kunne med letthet ha blitt organisert. Landet ville også bli utsatt for en begrenset borgerkrig fordi mange offiserer støttet okkupasjonen- dessverre.

Winston Churchills hovedoppgave var å vinne krigen. Han var ikke opptatt av redde Norge fra tysk okkupasjon. Det britiske samveldets fremtid var hans oppgave. En seier uansett kostnad var hans mål. Norske politikere har klaget etter krigen over den dårlige kvaliteten på de britiske soldatene. Klagen er nok korrekt vurdert fra et fagmilitært synspunkt. Likevel må regjeringen og de øvrige politiske partiene ta et ansvar. Forsvaret var redusert kraftig i flere år før krigen. Et forsøk på å bygge opp forsvaret igjen kom for seint. Dessuten mente mange offiserer at arbeiderbevegelsens revolusjonære paroler før krigen kunne føre til borgerkrig med bruk av våpen lagret og innkjøpt for et forsvar av landet. Derfor var sluttstykkene til geværene og geværene lagret på ulike steder i 1940.

Tilbake til den franske Fremmedlegionen. Forfatteren har klart å forklare på en forståelige måte legionens betydning for den oppsiktsvekkende militære seieren i Narvik i 1940. Viktig at vi blir forklart at kampene i landet ikke ble vunnet av « Gutta på skauen « .

Fremmedlegion og de mange myter om legionen har blitt brukt som emne i flere spillefilmer og i seriøse dokumentarfilmer.

Knut Flovik Thoresen: NARVIK 1940. Fremmedlegionen i kamp for Norge. Historie& Kultur.2020. 156 sider.

Boken er trykt og innbundet i Vilnius, Litauen. ISBN 978-82-8323-029-1

FRIDA: A PROSTITUTE ONLY?

«FRIDA. Min ukjente farmors krig» is the title of an interesting book written by the Norwegian writer and film director Nina F. Grunfeld. The book was published in 2020 in Norway but printed in Riga, Latvia. The content of the book is the story of Frida Grunfeld who was the grandmother of the author. She was Jewish, she was forgotten, she was a secret to her family and above all: What happened to her at the end of the Second World War?

The first question I asked myself why should I spend 24 hours reading the book at all? The history of the holocaust and the tragic events of the Jewish people are knowledge known for years. After having read the book during a night without any sleep I can give you some good reasons for buying the book and reading the book. But I warn you: You can forget about sleeping at all because you cannot leave the book before you finish the story of Frida. Some good reasons for reading the book:

-You may approach the book if you are interesting in searching after reports of your own familiy.The writer is publishing reports about her own private experience in finding her forgotten grandmother.She has worked for years making contacts with different official archives in many countries searching for facts about a prostitute who happen to be the mother of her famous Norwegian father, Berthold Grunfeld. How to approach the archives and how to get information are a profession where personal experiences and knowledge in international librarianship are needed.

-You may approach the book if you are interested in a combined study of the poverty of any society and a research after your own family. The story of Frida is not only a story of the Jewish people in Europe before the Second Word War,but also a report of family problems among the poorest of the poor in society including the Jewish societies.

What about the title of my essay? Was she a prostitute only? The few facts given the writer before she went on a journey searching for her grandmother was that she was only a prostitute presenting in a negative way. But was she a prostitute only? We have few facts to deal with but she acted as a prostitute for more than ten years officially. She was not rich at all. She did not make must money. She was all her life poor.

After having read parts of the book once more, I must present my own assumptions about her activities in the field of prostitution with refererence to her personal contacts with Michal Neischl and his illegal group. The secret police of Slovakia had arrested members of an illegal group who worked for an independent Slovakia. Frida is only 22 years of age. She was arrested because she had contact with Michal Neischl. Those who are involved in any illegal resistance group or work have to act according to some standard rules: Never stay to much at one site.Move from one place to another as often as you can. Collect information all the time by contacting people when they are relaxed and making love. You must know as little as possible of the persons with whom you are working. The work of prositution is a perfect tool for those who want information. Even today secrets agents are trained in seducing people sexually for information. Frida was the perfect agent for collecting information because she is just a poor prostitute without any importance at all.

For your information only: Michal Neischl joined the secret police of Slovakia after the Second World War. He was a qualified person for the work but he died before he could give facts about his contact with Frida.

-You may also approach the book making an attempt to understand the tragic life of poor prostitutes because Frida does not finish her work by making money fucking men as a street prostitute. No. She has been exploited, misused and arrested many times for prostitution. Why was the secret police interested in a young and poor prostitute at all? My private assumption is that the police thought she might have contact with unknown illegal political gruops?- only my private observations.

- You may approach the book if you want to learn about holocaust. The writer connected the story of Frida to the history of holocaust and the concentration camps situated in different European countries. The history of holocaust must not be forgotten.

FINALLY- CONCLUSION

The story of the research after Frida is a thrilling story. You learn a lot about the hard work of the writer who went on for years with her work. She was fed up of the work but she went on searching for her forgotten grandmother, the prostitute who gave away her son without making a good life for the boy and a lady whose photo is still unknown. Exploited, forgotten,lost and left as a nervous wreck when she was taken to a concentration camp where she was killed. Above all: You are informed about the dramatic life of the son of Frida who escaped death twice due to people who wanted to help Jews before the war. Berthold Grunfeld was sent to Norway before the war. He became a doctor, famous in Norway, and he educated himself as an expert in sexuality.

Nina F. Grundfeld: FRIDA. Min ukjente farmors krig .Aschehoug, Oslo, 2020, 308 pages.

PS
If you are interested in the viewing movies dealing with prostitution, sexpionage, honey trap operation, spies and espionage fiction, I can recommend movies like:
" Red Sparrow ",  " Die Schøne Spionin", or "The Spy" and the movie about Christine Keeler: " Scandal" from 1989
and the movies about Mata Hari. Good luck.