Otto Pünter Explained

Otto Pünter
Birth Date:4 April 1900
Birth Place:Bern, Switzerland
Death Place:Bern, Switzerland
Nationality:Swiss
Serviceyears:1939–1945
Codename1:Pakbo

Otto Pünter (4 April 1900 – 13 October 1988) was a Swiss journalist and anti-Nazi resistance fighter. During the Second World War, his codename was Pakbo, and he was a member of the Rote Drei.

Personal life

Pünter was born in Bern, Switzerland.[1] His father was a merchant.[1] He gained an apprenticeship from the University of Neuchâtel.[2] Afterwards, he lived in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Career

In 1928, Pünter was a founding member of the socialist news agency INSA.[2] [3] INSA aimed to spread anti-fascist news and worked with anti-fascist groups in Italy.[3] Through this role, Pünter met many Italian informants.[4] Pünter was also suspected to be a secret member of the Communist Party of Switzerland,[5] and he saw Stalinism as less evil than fascism, Nazism, and Francoism.[6] During the Spanish Civil War, it was claimed that Pünter built his own intelligence network, in order to sell secrets to the French and British.[7] He also met many Soviet GRU agents, and decided to become a Soviet spy.[4]

During the Second World War, Pünter was a member of the Red Orchestra,[1] and the Red Three.[8] His codename was Pakbo,[1] or sometimes Paquebot,[8] and Pünter worked with the Soviet intelligence agencies.[1] His encryption methods included crosswords and lemon juice.[3] Others in the movement included Georges Blun (codename Long) and Rachel Dübendorfer (codename Sissy),[9] [10] and they collaborated with Hungarian spy Alexander Radó.[11] [12] Pünter helped Georges Blun to become part of Radó's network,[4] and Pünter also managed a Yugoslav spy codenamed Gabel, and a German social democrat codenamed Poisson.[13] Radó was accused of using Pünter to sell information to the British secret service.[7]

In 1941, Pünter claimed he had intelligence from the French of the German invasion of the USSR; his source was said to be Rudolf Roessler. The information was believed to be fabricated.[5] Pünter also claimed to have received information from German general Alfred Jodl, and had a team of agents in a secret monastery location in the Alps. None of these claims have ever proved to have been true.[5] However, the USSR saw Pünter as an important ally, and Pünter was called one of the most useful agents in Switzerland.[6]

After the War, he became President of the Association of Federal Parliament Journalists.[1] From 1956 to 1965, he was the head of public relations of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG).[1] [2] [3] Afterwards, he worked as a district judge.[3] In 1966, he appeared on a panel discussion show about Switzerland's involvement in the Second World War.[14]

Awards

In 1948, he was awarded the Turin journalism prize.[3] In 1975, he was awarded the Hans Bredow medal for services to radio. The ceremony was in West Berlin.[1] [2]

Works

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Otto Pünter. de. Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. 27 October 2009. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190730172612/https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/041613/2009-10-27/. 30 July 2019. live.
  2. Web site: Nachlässe und Einzelbestände / N-R / Pünter, Otto. PDF. de. ETH Zurich. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20180109181607/http://onlinearchives.ethz.ch/ReportViewer.aspx?obj=9a11cd27ba5c4ea2ab852953e5676170&format=PDF. 9 January 2018. live.
  3. Web site: Pünter alias Pakbo. fr. Zoller. Pierre-Henri. Radio Télévision Suisse. 9 September 1969. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200411162918/https://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/culture/personnalites-suisses/3468883-punter-alias-pakbo.html. 11 April 2020. live.
  4. Book: Gannon, James. Stealing Secrets, Telling Lies: How Spies and Codebreakers Helped Shape the Twentieth Century. Potomac Books. 2001. 978-1-61234-207-8.
  5. Web site: The Rote Drei: Getting Behind the 'Lucy' Myth. CIA. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190731125348/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol13no3/html/v13i3a05p_0001.htm. 31 July 2019. dead.
  6. Book: Dallin, David. Soviet Espionage. registration. Yale University Press. 1955. 207–214.
  7. Book: Day, Peter. The Bedbug: Klop Ustinov: Britain's Most Ingenious Spy. Biteback Publishing. 2015. 978-1-84954-946-2.
  8. Web site: Otto PUENTER, alias PAKBO: Swiss. The National Archives. 12 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200412122058/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11190826. 12 April 2020. live.
  9. Book: Kilzer, Louis. Hitler's Traitor: Martin Bormann and the Defeat of the Reich. Presidio Press. WorldCat. 2000. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190116050203/https://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DCARead?standardNo=0891417109&standardNoType=1&excerpt=true. 16 January 2019. live.
  10. Book: Richelson, Jeffrey T.. A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press. 127. 1997. 978-0-19-511390-7. 11 April 2020.
  11. Web site: Die Schweiz im Zweiten Weltkrieg. https://web.archive.org/web/20080820133515/http://www.acipss.org/intelligence/beitraege/die_schweiz_im_2wk/geheimdienste_und_widerstand.htm. dead. 20 August 2008. de. Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda & Security Studies. 20 August 2008. 11 April 2020.
  12. Book: Foot, M. R. D. . Resistance: European Resistance to the Nazis, 1940–1945. Biteback Publishing. 2016. 978-1-78590-063-1.
  13. Book: West, Nigel. Historical Dictionary of World War II Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. 2007. 188–189. 978-0-8108-6421-4.
  14. Book: Braunschweig, Pierre. Secret Channel to Berlin: The Masson-Schellenberg Connection and Swiss Intelligence in World War II. Casemate Publishers. 2004. 272, 496. 978-1-61200-022-0.
  15. Book: Guerre secrète en pays neutre: Les révélations d'un agent secret sur l'espionnage en Suisse contre le fascisme et Hitler 1930–1945. 1967. fr. Bibliothèque nationale de France. 11 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200411163326/https://ccfr.bnf.fr/portailccfr/ark:/06871/00110836126. 11 April 2020. live.

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