Hugo Bleicher
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Hugo Bleicher (August 9, 1899 – August, 1982) was a
sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
(military intelligence agency) assigned to the
Geheime Feldpolizei The ''Geheime Feldpolizei'' (; ), shortened to GFP, was the secret military police of the German ''Wehrmacht'' until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plainclothes and undercover security work in the field. Their ope ...
(secret field police) in German-occupied
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
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 ...
. Described as a "super spy-catcher," Bleicher infiltrated resistance networks in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and was responsible for the arrest of more than one hundred French resistors and British
Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...
(SOE) agents. Most of the SOE agents he captured were later executed.


Early life

Hugo Ernst Bleicher was born in
Tettnang Tettnang () is a town in the Bodensee district in southern Baden-Württemberg in Swabia region of Germany. It lies 7 kilometres from Lake Constance. The region produces significant quantities of Tettnang hop, an ingredient of beer, and ships t ...
, Germany on 9 August 1899. He was the son of a businessman. In
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 ...
, he was drafted into the German army. He was captured by the British near the
Somme River The Somme ( , ; ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geologica ...
and interned as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. He escaped four times, but was recaptured each time. After the war he worked for a export company in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and from 1925 to 1928 in
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. On return to Hamburg, he lived the normal life of a businessman, marrying in 1929. The couple had a child in 1939. He was not involved in politics, but interested in languages.


World War II

In August 1939, Bleicher responded to a newspaper advertisement asking for volunteers with language skills. Bleicher spoke fluent
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and passable
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and
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. He volunteered for what he thought was a civilian job, but in November 1939 he was called up to serve in the German military and sent for training as an undercover policeman. After the German conquest of France he was assigned by the Abwehr to
Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
and later to
Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
.


''Interallié''

The resistance organization ''Interallié'' was founded by Polish soldiers stranded in France after its defeat and occupation by Nazi Germany in June 1940. Roman Czerniawski was the leader. A French woman,
Mathilde Carré Mathilde Carré (30 June 1908 in Le Creusot, France – 30 May 2007), née Mathilde Lucie Bélard and known as "La Chatte" ("The Cat"), was a French Resistance agent during World War II who betrayed the Franco-Polish resistance organization ...
, called "the Cat" and "Lily," became prominent in the organization as Czerniawski's aide.
Pierre de Vomécourt Pierre de Crevoisier de Vomécourt (1 January 1906, Chassey-lès-Montbozon, Haute-Saône – 1986), code names Etienne, Lucas, and Sylvain, was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II. The purpo ...
was one of the earliest leaders of the
French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
, but he lacked radio communications with the British SOE in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and needed money to continue building his resistance network. Unknown to Vomécourt and SOE, Interallié had been penetrated by Hugo Bleicher and the Abwehr. In October 1941, Bleicher had arrested an Interallié operative named Raoul Kiffer in Cherbourg. Threatened with being turned over to the Gestapo, Kiffer became an informant and the Abwehr began arresting Interallié members, including Carré who was working in Paris. Bleicher persuaded Carré to become a German agent by offering her money and luxurious accommodations. She became his mistress. In December 1941, Vomécourt contacted Interallié and Carré to use their radio link to SOE. Carré introduced Vomécourt to Bleicher who went by the alias of Jean Castell and portrayed himself as a Belgian resistance leader. Vomécourt, however, was wary and in January concluded that Carré was working for the Germans. Vomécourt confronted her and she confessed. He persuaded her to become a British agent and she persuaded Bleicher that she should accompany Vomécourt on a visit to London, the Germany theory being that she could gather information there about SOE and pass it along to the Germans after her return. However, in London Carré was interrogated and then imprisoned for the rest of the war. Bleicher and the Abwehr had destroyed Interallié. Vomécourt returned to France on 1 April 1942. Bleicher captured one of his couriers and recognized Vomécourt's handwriting on a report the courier carried. Knowing Vomécourt was back in France, Bleicher found and arrested him on 24 April. Bleicher interrogated Vomécourt and the two of them had an amiable chat about both being deceived by Carré. Vomécourt and several of his associates spent the rest of World War II in a German prison camp, among the few SOE agents to survive being captured by the Germans. With the arrest of Vomécourt and the destruction of his Autogiro network, SOE had few resources left in France except for
Virginia Hall Virginia Hall Goillot DSC, Croix de Guerre, (April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982), code named Marie and Diane, was an American who worked with the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of Stra ...
in Lyon.


Carte and Spindle

With his success in destroying Interallié, the Abwehr gave Bleicher, still only a sergeant, considerable autonomy to do his job as he saw fit and to travel throughout France to search for and arrest SOE agents and French resisters and to break up resistance networks. Bleicher used a number of aliases such as Jean Castell, Monsieur Jean, and Colonel Henri. Bleicher did not rush into making arrests. He preferred to gather information that could be used to wipe out complete networks as compared to arresting a single agent or resister. On March 21, 1943, the Abwehr told Bleicher to arrest Frenchman
André Marsac André Marsac was a member of the French resistance organisation known as the CARTE network or circuit, based in Cannes, organised by André Girard (1901–1968), André Girard. Marsac acted as a courier. In November 1942 Marsac was travelling on ...
and use him, if possible, to infiltrate the remnants of the Carte network, now called
Spindle Spindle may refer to: Textiles and manufacturing * Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn * Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool Biology * Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus ''Euonym ...
. Marsac was betrayed to the Germans by his lover, Helen James, an Irish woman. In March 21, 1943, Bleicher arrested Marsac at a Paris cafe and had him incarcerated in Fresnes Prison. Over the next few days Bleicher spent hours talking to Marsac. He portrayed himself as a German colonel who was dissatisfied with the Nazis and wanted to defect to England. He needed cooperation from Marsac or he would be forced to turn him over to the Gestapo. Marsac pledged his cooperation provided that Bleicher would help him escape. Together they hatched a plan to flee to England. Bleicher persuaded Marsac to write a letter to his second-in-command,
Roger Bardet Roger Julien Bardet (14 March 1916 – 7 April 1972) was a member of the French resistance organisation known as CARTE, based in Cannes, organised by André Girard. He was betrayed by a fellow agent and became a double agent. In November 1942 C ...
, introducing him as a potential defector who needed transportation to England. Armed with a letter of introduction from Marsac and the blessing of Bardet, Bleicher traveled to the village of
Saint-Jorioz Saint-Jorioz (; ), located on the western banks of lake Annecy, is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in south-eastern France. Population Wo ...
. He met with SOE agent
Odette Sansom Odette Marie Léonie Céline Hallowes, (née Brailly; 28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Sansom, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in ...
. He asked her to arrange an evacuation flight for him and Marsac and said they would return on April 18 to depart France on the airplane. She wired SOE in London seeking advice and was told to break off all contact with "Colonel Henri" and go into hiding immediately. However, she and her organiser (leader)
Peter Churchill Peter Morland Churchill, Croix de Guerre (1909 – 1972) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentrat ...
did not move quickly enough. Not expecting Colonel Henri until April 18, they stayed in Saint-Jorioz and were arrested by Bleicher on April 16. Bardet, compromised by Bleicher, became a German agent and helped Bleicher destroy other SOE networks. Marsac and Bardet survived the war as did Sansom and Churchill. Bardet helped Bleicher destroy the
Inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
network, leading to the arrests in October/November 1943 of its organiser Sidney Jones, wireless operator
Marcel Clech Marcel Rémy Clech (1905 – 1944) was a French agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. He was sent to France on three missions and worked as a wireless operator in three different networks be ...
, and courier
Vera Leigh Vera Leigh (17 March 1903 – 6 July 1944) was an agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II. Leigh was a member of the SOE's Donkeyman circuit and Inventor sub-circuit in occupied France unti ...
, all of whom were executed, and resulting in the collapse of the network. Bardet also helped arrest
Henri Frager Henri Jacques Paul Frager (3 March 1897 – 5 October 1944) was a member of the French Resistance during World War II . He was second in command of the CARTE network (under André Girard), then head of the SOE (F section) network DONKEYMA ...
, another former Carte member who had been commissioned by the SOE as leader of its Donkeyman circuit, whom Bleicher arrested in July 1944. Frager was subsequently executed.


Postwar

In summer 1944, as the allied armies approached Paris, Bleicher requested that he and 10 agents be reassigned to
Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...
, which was further from the allied armies. His mistress, Suzanne Laurent, accompanied him to Auxerre. He was safe there for only a short time, fleeing with Laurent to
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. He refused to surrender when the Canadian army captured Utrecht and fled again to Amsterdam. Hugo Bleicher, together with two of his French Abwehr agents Jean Rocquefort and Francois Barbier, was arrested in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
on 15 May 1945 by the
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
NBS, who interrogated him for two weeks on his activities in the Netherlands before handing him over to the
First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army () was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 until May 1945. It was Cana ...
, who interrogated him for a further period, also on his operations in the Netherlands, before handing him over to the British authorities, who transferred him on 16 June 1945 to the UK for longer term interrogation at
Camp 020 Camp 020 at Latchmere House in Ham, Surrey (now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames), was a British interrogation centre for captured German agents during the Second World War. It was run by Lieutenant Colonel Robin "Tin Eye" Stephen ...
. He was handed over to the French government on 12 October 1945, and they also interrogated him. While imprisoned in Paris he met Bardet and told him he had planned to assassinate him on one occasion as Bardet knew too much against him. He visited the UK after the war, to testify against Abwehr colleague
Robert Alesch Robert Alesch (6 March 1906 – 25 January 1949) was a Catholic priest and collaborator with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Biography Alesch was born 6 March 1906 in Aspelt, Luxembourg. He claimed that his father was a Lorraine French ...
during his trial in May 1948 as a double agent. He also visited Peter Churchill in France.Sonia Purnell, ''A Woman of No Importance'', Viking, 2019 Bleicher's persuasiveness influenced even those who prosecuted him. He maintained that his job was to "arrest spies, imprison them, and then entertain them with Viennese waltzes." He denied mistreating prisoners. SOE agents captured by him said he was "extremely nice and polite" and his British and French counterparts respected him for his expertise. "At the end of the espionage intrigue," said author Larry Loftis, "the deft spy-catcher had once again proven his mastery of the game." According to author Sarah Helm, Bleicher was never charged with a crime. His imprisonment was for interrogation. After being released from prison, Bleicher ran a tobacco shop in
Tettnang Tettnang () is a town in the Bodensee district in southern Baden-Württemberg in Swabia region of Germany. It lies 7 kilometres from Lake Constance. The region produces significant quantities of Tettnang hop, an ingredient of beer, and ships t ...
. In 1954, he published his memoirs, ''Colonel Henri's story''. He was decorated by the Abwehr with the
War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...
1st Class for his services. The character of Sergeant Gratz in the 1970
LWT London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...
television series ''
Manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...
'' suggests that he is partly inspired by Bleicher.


Bibliography

* ''Colonel Henri's story : the war memoirs of Hugo Bleicher former German secret agent''. Hugo Ernst Bleicher, Ian Colvin, and Erich Borchers. London : William Kimber, 1954. OCLC Number: 220971979


External links


Bleicher in Spartacus Educational


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleicher, Hugo 1899 births 1982 deaths Abwehr personnel of World War II German Army personnel of World War I People from the Kingdom of Württemberg People from Bodenseekreis Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg