Georges Blun (1 June 1893 – 1999) was a French journalist and intelligence agent who was the Berlin correspondent of the ''Journal de Paris''.

Early life, World War I and the interwar years

Georges Blun was born to a French family on 1 June 1893 in the then German-held region of Alsace-Lorraine. He was married to a fellow journalist. He worked for the British

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

, as well as French intelligence during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1920 he was expelled from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

for conducting "clandestine activities" and communist agitation. By 1925, he had grown close to the leadership of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. From 1925 to 1930 he worked in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

as a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for various newspapers, such as ''

Journal des débats The ''Journal des débats'' (, ''Journal of Debates'') was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the outbreak ...

''. In 1928, it was reported that following publication of a controversial ('distorted') article on the Silvesternacht (New Year's Eve) in Berlin in a Paris paper, he resigned his chairmanship of the Association of Foreign Press and made an apology visit to the government press department. He returned to Switzerland in 1939 after having worked as a journalist in Berlin for a considerable amount of time.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he became a resistance fighter against Nazi Germany in the service of the Red Orchestra. Under the pseudonym "Long" he was the head of the eponymous George Blun group in Switzerland. This group formed part of the Red Three, led by

Alexander Radó Alexander Radó (also ''Alexander Radolfi'', ''Sándor Kálmán Reich'', ''Alexander Rado''; born Sándor Radó, ; 5 November 1899 – 20 August 1981) was a Hungarian cartographer who later became a Soviet Union, Soviet military Intelligence (i ...

. During the war, he spied primarily and most notably in service of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, but also worked for American, British, French, Swiss and Polish intelligence agencies as well – a fact described by at least one source covering the events as "common" among Switzerland-based spies at the time. His loyalties were described by

Nigel West Rupert William Simon Allason (born 8 November 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subject of esp ...

as "always prioritizing" the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

and the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

, while the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

assesses his group as having an "ambiguous" ideology. During his clandestine activities, he worked with figures such as

Hans Bernd Gisevius Gustav-Adolf Timotheus Hans Bernd Gisevius (14 July 1904 – 23 February 1974) was a German politician, ''Gestapo'' and ''Abwehr'' officer and diplomat during the Second World War. He was a member of the Military Resistance, who actively part ...

, members of the

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

, as well as

Joseph Wirth Karl Joseph Wirth (; 6 September 1879 – 3 January 1956) was a German politician of the Centre Party (Germany), Catholic Centre Party who was Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany fr ...

(who had served as

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

). Blun's group was viewed by the Soviets as the second most valuable, after the group led by

Rachel Dübendorfer Rachel Dübendorfer ( Hepner; 18 July 1900 – 3 March 1973) was an anti-Nazi resistance fighter. During the Second World War, her codename was Sissy, and she was in a section of the Red Three (espionage), Red Three Swiss resistance movement. ...

Post-War life

Blun survived the war, following which, along with

Otto John Otto John (19 March 1909 – 26 March 1997) was a German lawyer and intelligence official. During World War Two, he was a conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Following the war, he became the first head of West Germa ...

and several others, he reportedly became a member of a political group led by Josef Müller. The group advocated for a united and neutralist Germany with a pro-USSR alignment. He was still working as a journalist on 11 May 1950, when he penned an article in the French ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' newspaper regarding the division of Berlin and was cited for his work covering the division of the country. He died in 1999.

Publications

*''L'Allemagne mise a nu'' (La nouvelle Soc. d'Edition, Paris,. 1927, 183 p.)

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

described it as being about "the German attitude toward foreign politics."

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

stated it was, "Germany as seen by the Berlin correspondent of the Paris Journal."Langer, William L. ww.jstor.org/stable/20028674 "Some Recent Books on International Relations."Foreign Affairs, vol. 7, no. 1, 1928, pp. 156–167. JSTOR, Accessed 10 February 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blun, George 1893 births 1999 deaths French men centenarians French spies Soviet spies British spies World War II spies for the United States Polish spies World War I spies Interwar-period spies World War II spies 20th-century French journalists French Resistance members Red Orchestra (espionage) Date of death missing Place of death missing