Erich Vermehren (December 23, 1919-April 28, 2005) was a German agent of the Abwehr, the German intelligence organization, whose well-publicized defection to the British in early 1944 led directly to the abolishment of the Abwehr. is the 357th day of the year (358th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ...

Early life

Born in Lübeck to a family of lawyers whose known opposition to the Nazi regime was such that they were considered politically unreliable, Erich Vermehren's repeated refusal to join the Hitler Youth marked him as unfit to "represent German youth", and he was prevented from taking up a coveted Rhodes scholarship in Oxford University by personal order of Hitler when he saw his name on the roster. His passport was revoked, making it impossible for him to travel outside of Germany. For other uses, see Lübeck (disambiguation). ... National Socialism redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Rhodes House in Oxford, designed by Sir Herbert Baker. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... For other types of travel document, see Travel document. ...

Vermehren converted to Roman Catholicism in 1939 shortly after his elder sister Isa Vermehren^[1] (who was expelled from her school after refusing to salute the Nazi flag) when he met the Countess Elisabeth von Plettenberg, whom he married in October 1941. Plettenberg, a member of one of Germany's traditional Catholic families who were also opposed to Hitler, had clandestinely distributed the banned anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge in 1937. As a result of this Elisabeth's parents were imprisoned by the Gestapo, but she was able to effect their release after three weeks. In addition she herself was brought in repeatedly for questioning for her subversive activities. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... An encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. ... Mit brennender Sorge (German for With deep anxiety, word by word: With burning worry) is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI, published on March 10, 1937 (but bearing a date of Passion Sunday, March 14). ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

As Abwehr agent

Despite the Vermehrens' unwillingness to openly resist the Nazi regime, they inevitably found themselves in various anti-Nazi circles, several of which centred on Adam von Trott zu Solz, a cousin of Vermehren. Finally it came to a point that they felt their lives were at risk while they remained in Germany. Erich, who was excluded from military service due to a childhood injury, managed to get himself assigned to the Abwehr with the help of von Trott and Paul Leverkuehn, the Abwehr station chief in Istanbul. Adam von Trott zu Solz (born August 9, 1909 in Potsdam, Germany - died August 26, 1944 in Berlin, Germany) was a lawyer and diplomat who opposed the Nazi regime. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ...

At that time (late in 1943), the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, was making peace overtures with the Americans with the help of Franz von Papen, the German ambassador to Turkey, who was coincidentally a cousin of Elisabeth Vermehren, and had been asked to meet then-Archbishop Francis Spellman. Family relations in Germany being what they were, as now, in the foreign service that it ensured Erich's assignment to Istanbul as a junior-grade agent. To give him the necessary qualification, he was given two weeks' training in secret inks. Wilhelm Franz Canaris (January 1, 1887 – April 9, 1945) was a German admiral and head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944. ... Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen (29 October 1879 – 2 May 1969) was a German nobleman Catholic politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman, (4 May 1889–2 December 1967) was an American prelate, the ninth bishop and sixth archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York. ...

While Vermehren was posted in Istanbul, he was, however, unable to bring his wife along, as she was detained by the Gestapo as a "hostage". Then, returning to Berlin on leave, Erich and his wife agreed that they defect to the British and for that to be possible, Elisabeth should accompany him to Istanbul. For this purpose, she managed to procure an official assignment from the Foreign Office with regard to Archbishop Spellman's visit to Turkey. This article is about the capital of Germany. ...

On the train from Berlin to the Turkish capital they experienced a temporary setback when it was discovered that a high-ranking officer of the Gestapo had taken the compartment in the sleeping car next to the Vermehrens. Sure enough, at the border crossing in Bulgaria, Elisabeth was arrested by Gestapo agents and taken to the German embassy in Sofia, while Erich was permitted to continue alone to Istanbul. Fortunately, the Abwehr station chief in Sofia, together with the ambassador, who was a close family friend of the Vermehrens, managed to sneak her on board a diplomatic courier plane that landed in Sofia to pick up the diplomatic bag en route to Istanbul. This article is about the capital of Bulgaria. ...

Defection

Meanwhile, Erich had made overtures to the British Secret Intelligence Service, through its counter-espionage representative Nicholas Elliot. Apparently the British had a file on him because when Vermehren and Elliot first met, Elliot cheerfully greeted him saying, "Erich Vermehren? Why, I believe you were coming up to Oxford." The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6),[1] is the United Kingdoms external intelligence agency. ... Counter-intelligence ...

Just as Elisabeth was reunited with her husband, they received word that a friend from the Foreign Office, Otto Carl Kiep, had been arrested on January 12, 1944, in connection with his attendance at the Frau Solf Tea Party. The pair were summoned to Berlin by the Gestapo to answer questions in connection with the case. Knowing what was in store for them, they refused, and made final arrangements with the British for their defection in early February. In the hope that their families would be protected from reprisals due to Sippenhaft (detention for the crimes of a family member) as a result of their defection, their defection was initially set up as a kidnapping by the British. The Vermehrens were smuggled to England via İzmir, Aleppo, Cairo, Gibraltar, and finally London. Otto Kiep Otto Carl Kiep (born 7 July 1886 in Saltcoats, Scotland; died 23 August 1944 in Berlin) was the Chief of the Reich Press Office (Reichspresseamt). ... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The Frau Solf Tea Party (September 10, 1943) , as it came to be known in Nazi circles, was a gathering of anti-Nazi intellectuals which ultimately resulted in the demise of the Abwehr in February the following year. ... Fabian Graf zu Dohna, arrested in July 1944, aged 18, as a result of his fathers involvement in the July 20 plot. ... Ä°zmir, historically Smyrna, is the third most populous city of Turkey and the countrys largest port after Ä°stanbul. ... Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: , ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: , Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Although it was agreed that the defection should remain a secret, British propaganda understandably broke the news knowing that would cause havoc among Germany's various intelligence services, especially since the invasion of Western Europe was just around the corner. The news was the talk of Berlin, and Hitler was incensed. Although the Vermehrens did not bring along anything of intelligence value, it was mistakenly believed that they absconded with the Abwehr's secret codes. For Hitler, it was the last straw against the Abwehr and Canaris. On February 18, 1944, the Abwehr was abolished and its intelligence functions were taken over by the RSHA, under the jurisdiction of Heinrich Himmler. For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Reinhard Heydrich - the first director of RSHA The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office), was a subordinate organization of the SS created by Heinrich Himmler on September 22, 1939, through the merger of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD, or Security Agency), the Gestapo (Secret State Police) and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police). ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900–23 May 1945) was the commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany by being second in power to Adolf Hitler in the Nazi hierarchy. ...

The couple's families were not spared either, for numerous members of them were arrested. A few days after their defection Erich's parents, his elder brother Michael and sister Isa — a minor film actress and cabaret singer — as well as Elisabeth's youngest sister Gisela were interned in various concentration camps until the end of the war. Miraculously, all of them survived. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue — a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... The German word Konzentrationslager (abbreviated KZ) is a literal translation of the English term, concentration camp. ...

In England

The Vermehrens meanwhile were given accommodation in the South Kensington flat of the mother of Kim Philby, where they provided him with lists of personalities of the Catholic underground in Germany. However, it was unsurprising that when the British tried to link up with them at war's end, they found that most of them were liquidated. The junction with Old Brompton Road and Pelham Street, outside South Kensington tube station. ... Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell Kim Philby or H.A.R. Philby (OBE: 1946-1965), (1 January 1912 – 11 May 1988) was a high-ranking member of British intelligence, a communist, and spy for the Soviet Unions NKVD and KGB. In 1963, Philby was revealed as a member of...

They also tried to persuade the British Foreign Office to allow leading members of the German opposition to help in rebuilding the country as the government was in support of the Morgenthau Plan, but to no avail. They then asked their status as "Guests of the Foreign Office" be annulled and be left to their own devices. Despite the scarcity of jobs Elisabeth soon found employment as an assistant teacher in Worth Priory, a preparatory school run by the Benedictine Order while Erich founded a small export company. The early success (which went away too soon) of the company enabled them to settle for a while near the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Brompton Road, but it was five years before Erich was able to find a decent job with a firm of brokers with Lloyd's of London. It was during their stay in England that they changed their surname to Vermehren de Saventhem for genealogical reasons. Henceforth they were known as Eric and Elisabeth de Saventhem. The Morgenthau Plan showing the planned partitioning of Germany into a North State, a South State, and an International zone. ... A preparatory school, or prep school in the United Kingdom, and previously in the British Empire and so the Commonwealth in current English usage, is an independent school designed to prepare a student for fee-paying, secondary independent school (public school). ... The longest lasting of the western Catholic monastic orders, the Benedictine Order traces its origins to the adoption of the monastic life by St. ... The Brompton Oratory, with Holy Trinity Brompton visible in the background Statue of Cardinal Newman outside the church The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly but incorrectly known as the Brompton Oratory, is a church in Knightsbridge, London. ... Brompton Road, looking east. ... It has been suggested that Council of Lloyds be merged into this article or section. ...

Later years

After many years in the UK the de Saventhems settled in Zurich, Switzerland, in the 1960s with Eric managing the firm's Swiss subsidiary until he was promoted as Director for Europe in 1964. Because of this they lived in Paris, France for two years before moving back to Switzerland in 1966. In the meantime they became active in the Catholic Traditionalist Movement in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, with Eric becoming one of the founding members of the Una Voce movement, becoming its first president. Location within Switzerland   Zürich[?] (German pronunciation IPA: ; usually spelled Zurich in English) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Conservative Catholic vs. ... The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Una Voce (Engl. ...

The couple decided to move back to Germany in view of Elisabeth's failing health, and there she died in 2000. Eric himself died in Bonn at the age of 85. Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany, located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Main source

Bassett, Richard. "ERICH VERMEHREN; German defector to the British in 1944". Obituary in The Independent, May 3, 2005. The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• A Lion in the Faith
• A biography of Elisabeth de Saventhem