Renate von Natzmer
Renate von Natzmer (* 1898 ; † February 18, 1935 in Berlin-Plötzensee ) was a German aristocrat and spied for the Polish intelligence service during the Weimar Republic and the National Socialist German Empire . She was exposed in 1934 and executed in 1935 .
Life
Renate von Natzmer worked for the Reichswehr Ministry and had access to important military secrets. The Polish intelligence officer Major Jerzy Sosnowski recruited von Natzmer for espionage services in 1927. Von Natzmer was the main source of news in Sosnowski's spy network. She had an overview of and access to secret Ministry matters. It even delivered the deployment plans (A plans) of the German Reichswehr to the Polish General Staff. These plans were known only to a few people in the ministry and were among the most secret documents of the German military. The Polish generals , however, questioned the authenticity of the plans, as the idea that a single woman would have access to such important documents seemed absurd and untrustworthy.
The Polish intelligence officer was exposed and arrested by the German counterintelligence in February 1934 . The unmasking was mainly made possible by the statements of the dancer Lea "Niako" Kruse, a disappointed lover of Sosnowski. The statements also incriminated Renate von Natzmer, Benita von Falkenhayn and other female spies recruited by Sosnowski, including Irene von Jena .
Renate von Natzmer was with her friend Benita von Falkenhayn for treason by the third Division of the People's Court on 16 February 1935 sentenced to death and two days later, on February 18, in Berlin-Plötzensee executed. Previous requests for clemency from the German nobility were refused personally by Adolf Hitler . The execution of the two women was carried out by the executioner Carl Gröpler with an ax . Hitler initially intended to have both women executed in the yard of the Reichswehr Ministry in the presence of Ministry employees and officers. He gave up this plan after protests from the German generals. After the execution, Hitler ordered all future executions to be carried out with the guillotine .
Literary processing
- Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti : Renate von Natzmer. A parallel poem to Schiller's child murderer . Kling Verlag, Linz 1951.
- Arkadij Maslow : The General's Daughter, Bebra-Verlag, Berlin 2011. ISBN 978-3-937233-76-5 (Renate von Natzmer and Marie Luise von Hammerstein are merged into a fictional main character)
Film adaptations
The espionage affair served as a motif for several film adaptations.
- Movie Rittmeister Wronski from 1954, screenplay by Axel Eggebrecht , with actors Willy Birgel and Irene von Meyendorff in the leading roles based on real characters Sosnowski and von Falkenhayn.
- TV film condemned to death for a fee from 1966 with the actors Ernst Stankovski and Doris Schade in the leading roles.
- Polish TV series (in 24 parts) Pogranicze w ogniu (Fire in the Border Region) from 1991 with Maria Gładkowska as Renate and Tomasz Stockinger as Georg.
Web links
- Trilingual description of the execution ( Memento of March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English, German, Polish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Geocity article with a picture of Renate von Natzmer." ( Memento from January 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b “Stoogettes and Neuter.” Time . March 4, 1935.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Natzmer, Renate von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German spy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1898 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 18, 1935 |
| Place of death | Berlin-Plötzensee |