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.
Can you show me the steps to post a picture? Thanks.
More likely to keep secret how many French officers she had seen sleeping with each other.
How do you post that kind of graphic?
:-)
Dita is hot, but she is well endowed, which Mata Hari was not. In fact, even though she obviously had no problem with nudity, she was very self conscious about the small size of her bust.
Would they not have bound her hands before lining her up for the firing squad?
Joel Landau needs to learn to proofread.
Good question. Don’t know if you can tell by the picture. Makes for a good story though. Amazing how long lasting the whole thing is. Something about it I guess.
Or Krakwow.
FMCDH(BITS)
I read she got the data that aletered the Germans to the sailing dates for Lord Kichener—they torpedoed the cruiser and he went down with the ship—puting British war goals back for weeks.
Kitchener was killed in 1916 when the warship taking him to negotiations in Russia was sunk by a German mine, not by a sub.
Amazing how long lasting the whole thing is. Something about it I guess.
***
Sex sells.
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