Records Describe Glamorous Ballerina as a Nazi SpyUpdated: 5 hours 6 minutes ago
Print Text Size Hugh Collins
Contributor
AOL News (Aug. 28) -- A glamorous Nazi spy with toned legs may have played a crucial role in a major Allied defeat in World War II, according to documents released by British secret services.
Marina Lee, a blonde ballerina who spoke five languages, allegedly stole British campaign plans and so contributed to the fall of Norway to the Nazis early in the war.
Lee was born in Russia, and married a Norwegian communist. She trained as a ballerina before she went to work for the Germans, who at the time were fighting on the same side as the Soviet Union.
Fox Photos / Getty Images
Gen. Sir Claude Auchinleck found himself frustrated during World War II by the work of Marina Lee, a blonde ballerina spy.
The documents, released by Britain's National Archive, describe Lee as "blonde, tall, with a beautiful figure, refined and languid in behaviour," as well as "very pretty legs," The Daily Telegraph reported.
Lee was useful to the Germans when they invaded Norway and encountered resistance from Allied forces including British commander Gen. Claude Auchinleck.
Lee infiltrated the headquarters of British forces in the Scandinavian country and got her hands on the British plans, which she passed to the German commander, Eduard Dietl.
Dietl stopped thinking about withdrawing and worked to block the British plans. Eventually, British, French and Norwegian troops were forced to abandon Nazi-controlled Norway.
"With these details in hand Dietl was able to rearrange his defence and to defeat Auchinleck," a German agent told British security forces, according to BBC News.
The fall of Norway led to Neville Chamberlain standing down as British prime minister, to be replaced by Winston Churchill.
The documents also details Allied attempts to look for intelligence efforts by Germans living in countries from Iran to Chile.
The documents note that Germany called on all citizens to "render service to the Fatherland in time of war," including those living outside the country.
One particular target was the German company Siemens, with British authorities trying to assess the loyalties of Siemens' employees in Britain, The Associated Press reported.
Interrogators reduced one woman to tears while trying to get information from her about a house guest who worked for Siemens.
After the fall of Norway, the mysterious Lee vanished from Allied radar. She resurfaced in Spain, living an expensive lifestyle in Madrid and Barcelona.
She adopted the name Marina Noreg, which means "Marina Norway." She died in Barcelona in 1976 at the age of 74, The Daily Telegraph reported.
In the years after the war, the British spy agency MI5 worried that "Noreg" was an active spy on behalf of her native Russia, describing her as "a potential threat to security."
The last entry in her file, in 1948, says that Lee was "just the type to transfer her allegiance, having once had a taste of the game," The Daily Telegraph said
Print Text Size Hugh Collins
Contributor
AOL News (Aug. 28) -- A glamorous Nazi spy with toned legs may have played a crucial role in a major Allied defeat in World War II, according to documents released by British secret services.
Marina Lee, a blonde ballerina who spoke five languages, allegedly stole British campaign plans and so contributed to the fall of Norway to the Nazis early in the war.
Lee was born in Russia, and married a Norwegian communist. She trained as a ballerina before she went to work for the Germans, who at the time were fighting on the same side as the Soviet Union.
Fox Photos / Getty Images
Gen. Sir Claude Auchinleck found himself frustrated during World War II by the work of Marina Lee, a blonde ballerina spy.
The documents, released by Britain's National Archive, describe Lee as "blonde, tall, with a beautiful figure, refined and languid in behaviour," as well as "very pretty legs," The Daily Telegraph reported.
Lee was useful to the Germans when they invaded Norway and encountered resistance from Allied forces including British commander Gen. Claude Auchinleck.
Lee infiltrated the headquarters of British forces in the Scandinavian country and got her hands on the British plans, which she passed to the German commander, Eduard Dietl.
Dietl stopped thinking about withdrawing and worked to block the British plans. Eventually, British, French and Norwegian troops were forced to abandon Nazi-controlled Norway.
"With these details in hand Dietl was able to rearrange his defence and to defeat Auchinleck," a German agent told British security forces, according to BBC News.
The fall of Norway led to Neville Chamberlain standing down as British prime minister, to be replaced by Winston Churchill.
The documents also details Allied attempts to look for intelligence efforts by Germans living in countries from Iran to Chile.
The documents note that Germany called on all citizens to "render service to the Fatherland in time of war," including those living outside the country.
One particular target was the German company Siemens, with British authorities trying to assess the loyalties of Siemens' employees in Britain, The Associated Press reported.
Interrogators reduced one woman to tears while trying to get information from her about a house guest who worked for Siemens.
After the fall of Norway, the mysterious Lee vanished from Allied radar. She resurfaced in Spain, living an expensive lifestyle in Madrid and Barcelona.
She adopted the name Marina Noreg, which means "Marina Norway." She died in Barcelona in 1976 at the age of 74, The Daily Telegraph reported.
In the years after the war, the British spy agency MI5 worried that "Noreg" was an active spy on behalf of her native Russia, describing her as "a potential threat to security."
The last entry in her file, in 1948, says that Lee was "just the type to transfer her allegiance, having once had a taste of the game," The Daily Telegraph said
