Mata Hari's execution, October 15, 1917
Posted on 04/28/2014 3:48:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The famed Dutch exotic dancer who was executed in 1917 in France for passing information to the Germans was stoic in her final moments, newly released documents reveal. She remained stoic to the end.
The famous World War I spy known as "Mata Hari" did not reveal anything during her last prison interrogation before she was executed by a French firing squad, recently revealed top secret files from the British intelligence agency MI5, reports The Star.
The former Dutch exotic dancer whose name was Gertruda Margaretha Zelle never made a full confession nor gave up the name of any accomplices an officer notes in the report. "She was a 'femme forte' and she worked alone," the report concludes, according to The Star.
She also did not flinch when an interrogator told her of a long list of officers from different ranks and countries she had supposedly slept with.
"She replied that she loved all officers, and would rather have as her lover a poor officer than a rich banker," the MI5 files state.
A postcard of Mata Hari from 1906, which is featured in a new book "Femme Fatale: Love, Lies and The Unknown Life of Mata Hari", is seen in this undated handout. Femme fatale Mata Hari was beautiful, a compulsive liar, and without morals -- but she wasn't a spy and suffered from syphilis contracted from her husband not her promiscuity, according to the new biography.
Her real name was Margaret Gertrude Zelle and she was a Dutch exotic dancer.
The Mata Hari was accused of spying for Germany and feeding them information. She was executed for the charges near Paris on Oct. 15, 1917. She famously blew a kiss to someone in the crowd during the execution.
But whether she actually passed along secret information is up for debate by some historians.
In May she admitted to spying for the Germans and was paod 20,000 francs, the document states.
Wesley Wark, a security, intelligence and terrorism expert at the University of Ottawa, told The Star the Mata Hari served as a scapegoat when the French people were concerned over losing the war and wrestled with emerging power for women and fears of losing the war.
"They needed a scapegoat and she was a notable target for scapegoating," Wark told the outlet.
Long time ago I heard the story that she pulled open her outer garment to show her naked body just before being shot. (Worth a try? Might have worked.)
Mata Hari's execution, October 15, 1917
Ah, the cost of boy-toys has always been high…too high, some might say.
“she was a Dutch exotic dancer”
She learned Pole dancing in Krakow.
The irony is that the intel gleaned from the French officers who slept with her was worth nothing to the Germans because they didn’t need to change anything that they were doing based on it.
The French tactics were horrid, and far more damaging to millions of doomed French soldiers, than to the Germans.
64% of all French males were casualties in WW1.
French tactics obliterated their Warrior Class.
There was once a 600+ lb. sow named Gertude in the Ozarks.
...Gertrude, even.
The FR Pun Police render a verdict.
I almost wonder if she was shot to keep secret the full list of French officers she had slept with.
Still an inconceivable number. At least one out of every ten men was killed - the country was literally decimated.
Careful or I’ll tell the story of the remarkable young man from Koblentz. I’ve got a limerick and I’m not afraid to use it!
OK, If Mata Hari married a Hairy Krishna, would they name their daughter Hairy Mary?
If you consider military aged men, the original figure is closer. Oh to be a older teenaged boy in post war France...
“She learned Pole dancing in Krakow.”
And Lap Dancing in Lapland.
“She learned Pole dancing in Krakow.”
And Lap Dancing in Lapland.
The French shoot a woman.
Quelle domage.
I like the information. Thank you.
Or England or Germany or one of the many countries involved in this mess.
If you were born from 1903 to 1907 life should have been very well indeed.
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