The "Venlo Incident" that occurred in November 1939, on the one hand, paved the way for Hitler's future invasion of Europe; on the other hand, it also became an important turning point in the intelligence war in World War II.
After this, the restraint of Britain and Germany no longer existed. The era of sitting in cafes to spy on intelligence was over. The use of force became "commonplace", and the intelligence war escalated.
Looking for the "Black Band"
In early September 1939, a German named Franz Fisher contacted two of the most important British intelligence agents in continental Europe-Major R. Henry Stevens and S. Captain Payne Best got in touch. Fischer claimed to be a representative of an anti-Hitler underground organization within the German army and asked the British if they would be interested in meeting important members of this organization.
At that time, Major Stevens' public identity was a staff member of the British Office in The Hague, the Netherlands. Captain Best had lived in the Netherlands for a long time and opened a mainland trading import and export company, which was regarded as a cover for intelligence activities. Both were agents of the British intelligence agency MI5, and Stevens was unified in charge of intelligence activities in Germany.
Before this, the British had long heard that there was a secret anti-Nazi organization called the "Black Band" within the German army. Its members included some veteran generals and officers, and their leader was the former Chief of Staff of the German Army. baker general.
Members of the "Black Band" were convinced that Hitler's military adventure would bring disaster to Germany, so they have been plotting to overthrow the Nazi regime. Stevens knew that London was very concerned about this situation, so he showed great interest in this unexpected guest, hoping to establish contact with the conspirators through Fisher, and then assist them in overthrowing Hitler's regime. At least a lot of valuable information can be obtained.
Despite this, Stevens was still very careful, because Sir Stuart Menzies, the new British intelligence chief, had paid special attention to him: the counterintelligence capabilities of Nazi Germany's intelligence agencies should not be underestimated to avoid falling into a trap.
Stuart Menzies
On October 30, after careful testing, negotiations between Stevens and the other party began. However, what Stevens never expected was that he and his colleague Best had fallen into a trap carefully set by the German intelligence agency.
Franz Fischer is not an ordinary German, but an agent of the German SS Reich Security Bureau, code-named "F479"; the so-called Captain Schemel with him is actually a security guard Ward Slamb, head of the Foreign Intelligence Section of the Bureau's Intelligence Division and captain of the SS Commando.
The entire operation was planned by Reinhard Heydrich, the director of the Security Bureau. The purpose was to understand the contacts between the British and the anti-Nazi organizations within the German army, so as to wipe out this organization and destroy the entire British intelligence network on the European continent. .
Heydrich and his wife and children
The British fell into the trap
This deception operation was personally directed by Heydrich and reported directly to the SS leader Heinrich Himmler, and finally to Hitler himself.
In Amsterdam , Stevens and Slamb held day-long talks, which resulted in a memorandum that included seeking to overthrow the Nazi regime, immediately make peace with the West, and restore Austria , Czechoslovakia and the independence of Poland , the restoration of the gold standard system, etc.
In order to gain the trust of the British, Slambu even vowed to request the British to adopt an "equal" attitude towards the new German regime.
As soon as the meeting ended, Stevens immediately reported the situation to his immediate boss, Menzies. The latter is also encouraged by the results achieved.
The next day, in order to further deceive the British, Slambo introduced a new guest to Stevens - Army doctor Captain Hersman.In fact, this person was Slambu's good friend Max de Clinis, a professor of psychology at the University of Berlin and Charité Hospital.
Slambu claimed that he was the right-hand man of the leader of the "Black Band". The personable and cultivated Klinis is naturally a perfect fit as the general's adjutant.
Soon, the British believed in him just as they accepted Slambu. Clinis then further suggested that his superior (a general, of course) would be willing to fly to London and hold talks with the British at the highest level.
Believing it to be true, the British gave Slambo a suitcase radio and a code book, and asked him to use the 0N-4 call sign to contact the British Intelligence Agency directly.
On October 31, Best drove two Germans across the Dutch border. A few days later, word came from ON-4: The general was willing to fly to London on November 9.
Menzies thought it might be General Baker himself, so he arranged for a Royal Air Force Anson aircraft to pick him up. At the same time, he instructed Stevens, as a precaution, not to go to the border to talk to the Germans. If there are problems, he must go to The Hague and Amsterdam.
On November 7, Stevens and Slamb finalized their itinerary plan and decided to meet at the Bacchus Cafe on the Dutch-German border on November 9, and then go to Denmark to fly to the UK.
On the evening of November 8, Slambu went to bed early to rest and took a sleeping pill so that he would have enough energy for the next day. At midnight, while he was sleeping soundly, the phone beside his bed suddenly rang, and what came from the receiver was the voice of SS leader Himmler.
He claimed that when Hitler attended the annual meeting of Nazi veterans in a Munich beer hall that night, an explosion occurred at the scene. "Several old comrades in the party were killed and the losses were considerable."
Nauyocks and Heydrich
Hitler was furious about this. He determined that British Intelligence had planned and carried out the assassination. Although there was no intelligence to confirm this, the German press clamored and offered a reward of US$200,000 for clues about the assassin.
Hitler himself suddenly decided to take revenge immediately. He had reservations about Slambu's mission, and had hinted more than once that such a thing was too dangerous and should be cancelled. Now, he ordered to cancel the action plan, kidnap the two British agents by force and escort them to Berlin .
Now that Hitler had made a decision, Heydrich had no choice but to implement it immediately. He found a capable subordinate, Alfred Naujokes, the SS 1st Sturmbannführer, and ordered him to lead 20 carefully selected SS soldiers to the Netherlands to cooperate with Slambu in completing this task.
The ruthless Naujoux is an expert in performing such tasks. He is responsible for most of the assassinations, kidnappings and other activities of the Security Bureau.
After receiving the order, he immediately led the heavily armed SS soldiers and set off.
Slambu got up early in the morning on November 9th. He carefully discussed the action plan with Neujokes who came in a hurry, and then the group set off from Dusseldorf by car.
At around 2 p.m., Slambu arrived at the Bacchus Cafe in the town of Venlo in the Netherlands at the agreed time. This is a very ordinary border cafe, the awning is decorated with striped patterns, there is a small children's playground nearby, and everything seems peaceful.
However, in a hidden location in Germany not far away, Naujokes and his SS soldiers were nervously waiting for the signal from Slambu.
At about 2:08, Best's blue Buick car drove slowly along the narrow street. They may have also noticed something unusual in the atmosphere. Someone was peeking around the corner, so they immediately stopped the car. There were a total of 4 people in this car: Best, Stevens, the driver and Dutch intelligence officer Klopp.
After observing for a while, they felt that there was no movement, so they slowly drove the car to the corner and parked in front of the cafe.
At this moment, Slambu saw that the time was right and sent the signal to Naujoux to act.
The intelligence war escalated
After seeing Slambu, Best and others thought there was no problem, but an accident happened: a huge engine roar suddenly came from the German side of the border, and 3 Mercedes · The Mercedes-Benz sedan broke through the boundary pole and rushed straight towards the cafe.
The vehicle was loaded with SS soldiers equipped with automatic weapons. An SS soldier used an submachine gun to shoot at the bewildered Dutch soldiers guarding the border post, knocking down two people on the spot. A Mercedes-Benz stopped and blocked the Buick's path. These are all pre-planned.
Nauyocks and four SS men jumped out of another car and captured the panicked British and their driver.
Nauyocks handcuffed them himself. Klopp, a Dutch agent in the same car, was ignored at this time. He quickly took out his pistol, but two NP-38 submachine guns fired at him at the same time, and Cropp's body was almost cut in two.
Nauyocks didn't dare waste time. The Mercedes-Benz did not turn around, but reversed directly down the street. SS men fired aimlessly from inside the vehicle.
A few minutes later, the vehicle had returned to Germany. The operation was beautifully accomplished.
Best and Stevens, the two most important agents of the British Intelligence Agency in Europe, were quickly taken to Berlin and thrown into the basement of the Security Bureau at Prince Albrecht Street 8.
Hitler was also very satisfied with this operation. He received Slamb, Naujokes and other SS personnel who participated in the operation at the Chancellery and awarded each of them an Iron Cross.
The "benefits" brought by the "Venlo Incident" to the Third Reich are obvious. First, two British intelligence officers who held important intelligence fell into the hands of the Germans (they spent the entire war in concentration camps), which caused the British intelligence system on the European continent to collapse, and the "Black Band" The generals who were preparing to overthrow the Nazi regime had to be careful lest the cunning Gestapo get hold of anything.
In addition, Hitler also used the "Venlo Incident" as an excuse to accuse the Dutch government of violating the principle of neutrality and assisting Britain in intelligence activities against Germany.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
6 months later, the German army launched an invasion of other European countries.
