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Thümmel, Paul

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Thümmel, Paul (?–1945),Dresden-based high ranking member of the Abwehr who, from March 1937, supplied Czechoslovakia with reliable information about Germany's intentions and order of battle. He continued to do so via the Czech underground when the Czech government-in-exile was established in the UK. Code-named A-54, Thümmel's intelligence was passed to both MI6 and the USSR and helped maintain the credibility of Edvard Beneš, the exiled Czech leader.

Thümmel was a highly decorated Nazi Party veteran and so many protests followed his arrest in October 1941 that the Gestapo released him. Rearrested the following March, he was imprisoned without trial and murdered by his SS guards a few days before the war ended.

The motives for his treachery remain a mystery. He received payments, but not enough to compensate for the dangers to which he exposed himself, and the information he passed was too valuable for him to have been a double agent. See also spies.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Thümmel, Paul." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Thümmel, Paul." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-ThmmelPaul.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Thümmel, Paul." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-ThmmelPaul.html

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