to the Soviet Union during World War II, the Rote Drei (Red Three)
included those operated by Alexander Foote in Lausanne, Edmond and
Olga Hamel in Geneva, and Margarita Bolli in Lucerne. Forming part
of a larger network under the direction of Hungarian-born Sándor Radó
(code name dora), all four were apprehended by Swiss authorities in
fall 1943. See also ROTE KAPELLE.ROTE KAPELLE. The most acclaimed Soviet spy network during
World War II, the Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra) received its des-
ignation from the Abwehr, which discovered the group’s existence
shortly after Adolf Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union. In Abwehr
nomenclature, an “orchestra” was any enemy espionage circuit.
Its shortwave transmitters were called “pianos,” its radio operators
“musicians,” and its organizer the “conductor.” Devised by the GRU
(Soviet military intelligence) and maintaining only loose internal
connections, the Rote Kapelle had begun initially in Belgium and
then France under the direction of Leonard Trepper, who concealed
his apparatus behind sham companies such as Simex. Another major
center was in Berlin, where resistance groups led by Harro Schulze
Boysen and Arvid Harnack were utilized used by Soviet intel-
ligence unbeknownst to the majority of their members. The third
group—known as the Rote Drei—was headed by Sándor Radó and
had three radio transmitters in Switzerland.
After an intensive investigation, the Gestapo arrested the first
agents in Belgium in spring 1942. More than 120 people ultimately
were apprehended in Berlin alone, and under the special command
of Karl Giering of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, a Funkspiel
(deceptive radio transmission) was devised to sow confusion in
Moscow. Using six of the eight seized radio transmitters in Bel-
gium, France, and Holland and obtaining the outward cooperation
of Trepper and others, Giering began broadcasting in mid-August
with the intention of deepening Soviet suspicion about its Western
allies and also gaining more information about clandestine com-
munist activity in France. In August 1943, Giering was replaced by
Heinz Pannwitz, who, for security reasons, reduced the military-
related content. While Trepper managed to include secret warning
signals, it remains unclear how the GRU reacted to this stream of
disinformation.
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