Anna Nikolayevna Wolkova (1902 – 2 August 1973), sometimes known as Anna de Wolkoff, was a White Russian émigrée, and secretary of The

Right Club The Right Club was a small group of antisemitic and fascist sympathising renegades within the British establishment formed a few months before World War II by the Scottish Unionist MP Archibald Maule Ramsay. It was focused on opposition to war w ...

, which was opposed to Britain's involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

She was the eldest child of Admiral Nikolai Wolkoff (1870–1954) who was the last

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

naval attaché A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

in London. Her family had decided to stay in Britain in the aftermath of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...

, and they became naturalised British subjects on 10 September 1935. In 1923 the Wolkoffs opened the Russian Tea Rooms, at 50 Harrington Road,

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, near the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

, a rendezvous point for other White Russians. Anna and her father held

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

, anti-Semitic views and were considered sympathizers of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, which she visited several times in the 1930s. She later claimed to have met

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

and

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

. Her visits caused

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

to take an interest in her activities and from 1935, she was placed under

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

as a possible German spy.

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused ...

was a client of her couture business and also was under surveillance by British counterintelligence.

The Right Club

Wolkoff belonged to "one of many small anti-semitic associations in Britain", the

, an antiwar movement with a membership of about 350. The club had been founded by Captain

Archibald Maule Ramsay Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop o ...

, MP, who later stressed his patriotism in the House of Commons and said that there was a distinction between anti-Semitism and pro-Nazism. Other members included

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, J ...

(briefly), who then defected to Germany as a broadcaster,

A. K. Chesterton Arthur Kenneth Chesterton (1 May 1899 – 16 August 1973) was a British far-right journalist and political activist. From 1933 to 1938, he was a member of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). Disillusioned with Oswald Mosley, he left the ...

, later the author of ''The New Unhappy Lords'',

Francis Yeats-Brown Major Francis Charles Claydon Yeats-Brown, DFC (15 August 1886 – 19 December 1944) was an officer in the British Indian army and the author of the memoir '' The Lives of a Bengal Lancer'', for which he was awarded the 1930 James Tait Black ...

, best-selling author of '' Bengal Lancer'', Admiral

Wilmot Nicholson Admiral Wilmot Stuart Nicholson Order of the Bath, CB (18 May 1872 – 9 June 1947) was a Royal Navy officer who became Commodore Submarine Service, Chief of the Submarine Service. Naval career Nicholson joined the Royal Navy in 1891. He was serv ...

and his wife Christabel, and

the Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

. The club's members often held their meetings in the Russian Tea Rooms. In his autobiography, ''The Nameless War'', Ramsay argued: "The main object of the Right Club was to oppose and expose the activities of Organised Jewry, in the light of the evidence which came into my possession in 1938. Our first objective was to clear the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

of Jewish influence and the character of our membership and meetings were strictly in keeping with this objective".

Espionage

When Britain went to war against Germany in September 1939, the Right Club officially disbanded but some members continued their antiwar activities. Wolkoff, using Assistant Military Attaché Col. Francesco Marigliano, an intermediary from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

embassy, sent information to Berlin, including suggestions for Joyce's propaganda broadcasts. The Right Club had been infiltrated early on by

, first by Marjorie Mackie and then by young Belgian mystic Helene De Muncke as well as by Joan Miller, a young undercover agent who had worked as an office girl for

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929, s ...

. Through these women, controlled by head of MI5 Section B(5)b

Maxwell Knight Charles Henry Maxwell Knight OBE, known as Maxwell Knight, (9 July 1900 – 27 January 1968) was a British spymaster, naturalist and broadcaster, reputedly a model for the James Bond character "M". He played major roles in surveillance of an e ...

, MI5 was kept informed of and was able even to influence the activities of the group. In February 1940, Wolkoff met

Tyler Kent Tyler Gatewood Kent (March 24, 1911 – November 20, 1988) was an American diplomat who stole thousands of secret documents while working as a cipher clerk at the US Embassy in London during World War II. Early life and career Kent was born in ...

, a cipher clerk from the US embassy with similar views, who became a regular visitor to the Right Club. Kent later revealed to Wolkoff and Ramsay some of the documents that he had stolen from the embassy and was holding in his flat, notably on sensitive communications between

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. On 13 April 1940, Wolkoff went to Kent's flat to borrow some of the documents to have them photographed, as it emerged later. Her espionage work took a downturn when she then approached De Muncke and asked her if she could pass a coded letter to William Joyce through her Italian embassy contacts. De Muncke agreed and then showed the letter to Knight.

Arrest and trial

Wolkoff and Kent were arrested on 20 May 1940 and charged under the Official Secrets Act. As she was put into the police car, her arrest was witnessed by 11-year-old

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...

. She was tried ''

in camera ''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...

'' at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, with Sir William Jowitt as prosecutor. On 7 November 1940, Wolkoff was sentenced to 10 years'

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

for "attempting to assist the enemy" and Kent, an American citizen, was sentenced to 7 years. After her conviction, the Certificates of Naturalisation (Revocation) Committee was contacted and her citizenship was revoked on 13 August 1943.

Release and death

She was released from prison in 1947 and worked as a seamstress, lodging in the house of society figure

Felix Hope-Nicholson Charles Felix Otho Victor Gabriel John Adrian Hope-NicholsonFamily First: Tracing Relationships in the Past, Ruth Alexandra Symes, Pen and Sword History, 2015, pg 83 (21 July 1921 – 15 September 1990) was a British aristocrat and genealogist. '' ...

. She was killed in a road accident in Spain in 1973 in a car driven by

Enid Riddell Enid Mary Riddell was a British socialite and racing driver during the 1930s and 1940s. She was also a member of some far-right political groups in the United Kingdom and was imprisoned for violating the Official Secrets Act 1911 during the Second ...

(1903–1980), another former member of the Right Club.

Early life

The Right Club

Espionage

Arrest and trial

Release and death

References

Further reading