Rudy de Mérode, real name Frédéric Martin (1905 in Silly-sur-Nied,
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
– ?, probably in Spain) was a French collaborator during the
German occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
in the
Second World War
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Life
Originating in Luxemburg, his family emigrated to France and were naturalised as French citizens in the 1920s. He studied engineering in Strasbourg and then in Germany, where he was recruited by the
Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' ( German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the '' Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. ...
in 1928. In 1934 he participated in building works on the
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...
and passed on the plans (to which he had access) to the German intelligence services. Unmasked as a spy in 1935, he was condemned in 1936 to 10 years in jail (which he served at
Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison is a high-security prison in France, on the grounds of the former Clairvaux Abbey
History
Clairvaux Abbey was founded in 1115 by Bernard of Clairvaux. During the French Revolution, it became property of the State. In 1808, Napol ...
) and 20 years' exile from France.
During the debacle of the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, hundreds of thousands of prisoners roamed the roads of France. On 14 June, at
Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube (, literally ''Bar on Aube'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of France.
Surrounded by hills and Champagne vineyards, the city is traversed by the river Aube, from which it derive ...
, a group of prisoners was evacuated from the central prison at Clairvaux, including Rudy de Mérode and other spies, who all took advantage of the anarchy to escape and request help from the Germans.
In July 1940, he returned to Paris and set himself up at German military intelligence's HQ in the
Hôtel Lutetia
The Hôtel Lutetia, located at 45 Boulevard Raspail, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, is one of the best-known hotels on the Left Bank. It is noted for its architecture and its historical role during the G ...
. Attached to a supply office at 18 in Paris as a cover, he spied for the Abwehr alongside another SD agent, the Dutchman (called the Baron d'Humières).
At first, he gathered intelligence via a team of thirty, under his orders, who he trained himself. Most of them were fugitives from justice, and he used them to gather equipment and buildings. His team requisitioned several apartments and hôtels particuliers under the cover of being French or (more often) German policemen.
His speciality was bank convoys, of money gathered from different sources or in the form of gold, jewels, art objects or ingots. In 1941, he set himself up at 70 boulevard Maurice-Barrès in
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
, but van Houten and de Mérode separated after a disagreement in 1942.
With the aid of the DSK ( Devisenschutzkommando) he opened bank vaults, buying gold and silver objects from their owners at a debased price or, if they refused to cooperate, having them deported. If the property belonged to Jews, it was entirely confiscated and the Gestapo had the owner imprisoned and often deported. The "gestapo de Neuilly" team confiscated over 4 tonnes of gold, and de Mérode's network accumulated enormous sums of silver and had over 500 people arrested and deported.
Escape to Spain
At the start of 1944, the Abwehr charged him with secretly setting up an office in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
, where he dubbed himself "the prince de Mérode". In 1953, he was still living in Spain, now 60 km north of Madrid in a brickyard. He was never brought to justice, and the date of his death remains unknown to this day, though 1970 has been suggested.
See also
* Friedrich Berger
*
Henri Lafont
Henri Lafont (born Henri Chamberlin, 22 April 1902 – 26 December 1944) was a French criminal based in Paris who headed the French Gestapo during the Nazi German occupation in World War II.
He was executed by firing squad on 26 December 1944 a ...