Otto Pünter (4 April 1900 – 13 October 1988) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

journalist and anti-Nazi

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, his codename was Pakbo, and he was a member of the Rote Drei.

Personal life

Pünter was born in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland. His father was a merchant. He gained an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

from the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking public research university in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, ...

. Afterwards, he lived in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Career

In 1928, Pünter was a founding member of the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

news agency INSA. INSA aimed to spread

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

news and worked with anti-fascist groups in Italy. Through this role, Pünter met many Italian

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

s. Pünter was also suspected to be a secret member of the Communist Party of Switzerland, and he saw

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

as less evil than fascism,

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, and

Francoism Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, it was claimed that Pünter built his own intelligence network, in order to sell secrets to the French and British. He also met many Soviet

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 ...

agents, and decided to become a Soviet spy. During the

, Pünter was a member of the Red Orchestra, and the Red Three. His codename was Pakbo, or sometimes Paquebot, and Pünter worked with the Soviet intelligence agencies. His encryption methods included

crosswords A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

and

lemon juice The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

. Others in the movement included Georges Blun (codename Long) and

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. ...

(codename Sissy), and they collaborated with Hungarian spy

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 ...

. Pünter helped Georges Blun to become part of Radó's network, and Pünter also managed a Yugoslav spy codenamed Gabel, and a German

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

codenamed Poisson. Radó was accused of using Pünter to sell information to the British secret service. In 1941, Pünter claimed he had intelligence from the French of the German invasion of the USSR; his source was said to be

Rudolf Roessler Rudolf Roessler (German: ''Rößler''; 22 November 1897 – 11 December 1958) was a Protestant Germany, German and a dedicated German resistance to Nazism, anti-Nazi. During the interwar period, Roessler was a lively cultural journalist, with a ...

. The information was believed to be fabricated. Pünter also claimed to have received information from German general

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; born Alfred Josef Baumgärtler; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German Wehrmacht Heer, Army ''Generaloberst'' (the rank was equal to a four-star full general) and War crime, war criminal, who served as th ...

, and had a team of agents in a secret monastery location in the Alps. None of these claims have ever proved to have been true. However, the USSR saw Pünter as an important ally, and Pünter was called one of the most useful agents in Switzerland. After the War, he became President of the Association of Federal Parliament Journalists. From 1956 to 1965, he was the head of public relations of the

Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

(SRG). Afterwards, he worked as a district judge. In 1966, he appeared on a panel discussion show about Switzerland's involvement in the Second World War.

Awards

In 1948, he was awarded the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

journalism prize. In 1975, he was awarded the

Hans Bredow Hans Bredow (26 November 1879 – 9 January 1959) was a German radio broadcasting pioneer and the first chairman of Weimar Germany's Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, National broadcasting service. He is regarded as the "father of German broadcasting ...

medal for services to radio. The ceremony was in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

Works

* Pünter, Otto, ''Wie es war: Erinnerungen eines Journalisten, 1919–1977'' (''How it was: memories of a journalist, 1919–1977''), Cosmos-Verlag, 1977 * Pünter, Otto, Payot, Marc, ''Guerre secrète en pays neutre: Les révélations d'un agent secret sur l'espionnage en Suisse contre le fascisme et Hitler 1930–1945'' (''Secret war in a neutral country: The revelations of a secret agent on espionage in Switzerland against fascism and Hitler 1930–1945''), 1967

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punter, Otto Red Orchestra (espionage) World War II spies for the Soviet Union Swiss spies University of Neuchâtel alumni 1900 births 1988 deaths People from Bern