Germany was blocked by government officials, who refused to honor
his former status in the GDR and issue a replacement passport.CARRÉ, MATHILDE (1908–1970?). A French double agent during
World War II, Mathilde Carré, the daughter of a decorated French
army officer, was educated at the Sorbonne. A teacher in Algeria
before the war, she returned to France in 1940 and became a nurse,
nicknamed “La Chatte” (The Cat) for her quiet manner of movement.
At a reception center in Toulon, Carré met a Polish officer, Roman
Garby-Czerniawski, who persuaded her to join the French-Polish
intelligence network, Réseau Interallié, that he had just established.
Her activities became known to the Abwehr through a double agent,
and she was taken into custody in Paris on 17 November 1941. Not
only were Garby-Czerniawski and numerous other Interallié agents
arrested as a result of her interrogation, but she was recruited for the
Abwehr by Hugo Bleicher, who also became her lover. Her code
name, victoire, remained unchanged.
Hoping to penetrate the British Special Operations Executive, the
Abwehr permitted Carré to travel to London in February 1942. She
was immediately placed under surveillance and later arrested. At-
tempts to turn her into a triple agent failed, and she remained interned
for the remainder of the war. In 1949, her trial for collaboration took
place in Paris and resulted in a death sentence, which was subse-
quently commuted to life imprisonment. Released in 1954, Carré
wrote her autobiography, J’ai été la Chatte (I Was the Cat) several
years later.
CASEMENT, ROGER (1864–1916). The British diplomat who sought
German assistance for the Irish nationalist cause during World War I,
Sir Roger Casement was born in Sandycove near Dublin, Ireland, on
1 September 1864, the son of a Protestant father and Catholic mother.
During nearly 20 years in the British foreign service, he was a consul
in Portuguese East Africa, Angola, Congo Free State, and Brazil. His
revelation of the exploitation of native labor by white traders in the
Congo attracted international attention, while his report on the mal-
treatment of Putomayo indians in Peru earned him a knighthood in
- Ill health, however, brought about his retirement the following
year, and he returned to Ireland.
CASEMENT, ROGER • 65