German communists later maintained—quite erroneously—that
Bell’s prior knowledge of the Reichstag fire was the main motive
behind his murder.BENCKENDORFF, ALEXANDER VON (1783–1844). The Baltic
German who devised Russia’s first modern internal security system,
Alexander von Benckendorff was born in Reval (now Tallinn, Esto-
nia) and served in the Napoleonic Wars. After helping to quell the
Decembrist revolt in 1825, he was authorized by the new tsar, Nicho-
las I, to create the Third Section the following year, ostensibly to
gather “information about all events, without exception” and to arrest
or exile “dangerous or suspicious persons.” Benckendorff proceeded
in a determined manner and, ironically, modeled his centralized
agency after a proposal of Pavel Pestel, a grandson of German im-
migrants and the chief of the revolutionary southern league of army
officers. By forming close ties with the paramilitary Corps of Gen-
darmes, the Third Section extended its unprecedented reach to both
urban and rural areas of Russia. Still, Benckendorff refrained from
using his authority for petty or evil purposes and remained generally
well regarded, reflecting the values of many educated Russians. It
was not until 1832 that the first agents were sent abroad to monitor
exile dissidents such as Alexander Herzen, but with only minor suc-
cess. Benckendorff’s tenure ended with his death.
BENECKE, BERTHOLD (1889–?). The early head of the Abwehr in
Norway, Berthold Benecke was born in Hanover. In July 1937, using
the cover of the Nordic representative of a German firm, Ruhrstahl
AG, he conducted an extensive tour of Scandinavia, taking particular
notice of the Norwegian iron ore mines in South Varanger. The fol-
lowing year, Benecke, under the alias Dr. Altvater, returned as the
head of the Kriegsorganisation in Norway. However, one important
recruit, former Russian ballerina Marina Goubininia, was a double
agent for the NKVD (Soviet People’s Commissariat of Internal Af-
fairs). Despite some successful work, Benecke’s involvement in Nor-
wegian politics—notably his efforts to expose Vidkun Quisling as a
liability to a more acceptable collaborationist regime—angered the
fascist politician’s German sponsors and led to Benecke’s dismissal
in June 1940.
28 • BENCKENDORFF, ALEXANDER VON