Vlasov. In March 1943, Roenne became head of Fremde Heere West
and concentrated on gathering information regarding the Atlantic
front. Whether his reports deliberately drew attention away from the
planned Allied landings in Normandy—and thus helped ensure a de-
feat for the Nazi regime—remains an unresolved issue. Although his
Christian beliefs prevented his participation in the conspiracy of 20
July 1944 against Adolf Hitler, Roenne’s close contact with anti-Nazi
officers, including Claus von Stauffenberg, led to his arrest by the
Gestapo and execution at Plötzensee Prison on 12 October.ROESSLER, RUDOLF (1897–1956). Considered the single most
valuable source of German military information for the Soviet Union
during World War II, Rudolf Roessler was born in Kaufbeuren (Ba-
varia) on 22 November 1897, the son of a forestry official. After
serving in World War I, he was a reporter in Augsburg before work-
ing as a literary critic in Berlin. The advent of Nazi rule caused him
to immigrate in 1934 to Switzerland, where he founded the small
publishing firm Vita Nova in Lucerne. Among his connections he
cultivated in Germany were officials in various branches of the mili-
tary and the civilian bureaucracy. Strongly opposed to the policies
of Adolf Hitler, they supplied him with high-level information that
was initially passed by Roessler to Bureau Ha, a private Swiss intel-
ligence agency run by Hans Hausamann, and after 1941 to the Soviet
Union under the code name lucy. These sources, however, remain
known only by their various code names, the most important being
werther. Although GRU (Soviet military intelligence) officers
termed Roessler’s first dispatches unreliable, their suspicion soon
abated, and his reports assumed top priority. Of particular importance
was advance information concerning the Wehrmacht’s plans at Stal-
ingrad and Kursk.
At the end of the war, Roessler worked on behalf of Czechoslova-
kia until his arrest by Swiss officials in 1953. Charged with violating
Swiss neutrality and given a 22-month sentence, he died impover-
ished on 11 December 1956.
ROGALLA, JÜRGEN (1933– ). The head of North American opera-
tions for the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA), Jürgen Rogalla
was born in Rostock on 19 February 1933. He began his long career
ROGALLA, JÜRGEN • 373