Margrit Bolli

Venerable
Margrit Bolli
Born15 December 1919
Basel (BS), Switzerland
Died13 October 2017
Therwil (BL), Switzerland
Occupation(s)Dancer
Radio operator (espionage)
Known forher "Red Three" activities, driven by her antifascist beliefs and in opposition to German National Socialism and to Hitler's war
Political partyKPS

Margrit Bolli (15 December 1919 - 13 October 2017[1]) was a Swiss dancer, better known to students of espionage during the Second World War as a radio operator for the "Red Three", the Swiss branch of the so-called "Red Orchestra". "Red Orchestra" was the umbrella term used by the German security services to identify a widely dispersed network of anti-(German) government resistance activists. The German authorities, and many commentators following their lead, operated according to the simplifying assumption that the entire "Red Orchestra" was a coherent network directed by Soviet intelligence. The reality was a little more nuanced, but many of the most effective resistance activists were indeed committed communists, and many did maintain close links to Moscow. For this, the work of politically engaged radio operators such as Margrit Bolli was vital.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Todesfall: Schatz Margarete". 16 October 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. ^ Paul L. Kesaris, ed. (1986). "Personalities of the Rote Kapelle: Margaret Bolli (alias Rosa, aka Schatz-Bolli and Schwarz-Bolli". The Rote Kapelle .... Digitised 2014. Margaret Bolli's potted biography appears on page 266, which some online search functions may identify as page 286 due pagination misalignment, presumably at digitisation. United States. Central Intelligence Agency & Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America inc. (The Rote Kapelle: the CIA's history of Soviet intelligence and espionage networks in Western Europe, 1936-1945). pp. 166–167, 181–182, 212, 229 266. ISBN 978-0-89093-203-2.
  3. ^ Gabriel Heim [in German]. "Secret agents at Lake Geneva". The Soviets received vital information from Switzerland during World War II. The spies of the ‘Red Three’ knew exactly what Hitler was up to. Swiss National Museum / Landesmuseum Zürich. Retrieved 2 May 2022.