Margrit Bolli 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".
19 Facts About Margrit Bolli
1.
2.
Margrit Bolli's father was a known anti-fascist, originally from Italy.
3.
Margrit Bolli had trained as a dancer, but was not always able to earn enough to live on simply from her dancing.
4.
Margrit Bolli is frequently identified in sources as a "double agent".
5.
Margrit Bolli was much prized by his Soviet handlers for his expertise as a radio operator, though in the eyes of admirers he was, in fact, something of an "espionage all-rounder".
6.
Margrit Bolli's skills were quickly brought up to standard, and Rado agreed to pay her a monthly salary of 400 francs.
7.
Margrit Bolli's workplace became a one-room city-centre apartment in a block at "rue Henri Mussard 8", close to the lake.
8.
Margrit Bolli used a radio transmitter provided by Rado, which was concealed within the casing of a portable "gramophone".
9.
Margrit Bolli had stayed in neutral Switzerland after war broke out in Germany, he explained, because he was an antifascist.
10.
If, as some supposed, Margrit Bolli was still sharing her bed with Rado, the arrangement now came to an end.
11.
Margrit Bolli had in reality, been a member of Switzerland's semi-legal National Socialist movement since the 1930s.
12.
Margrit Bolli was working as a secret agent for the German security services.
13.
Some sources indicate that his initial meeting up with Margrit Bolli was a lucky happenstance.
14.
Sources differ as to whether Margrit Bolli told Peters that the novel was being used in this way, or whether she remained totally unaware that Peters had somehow worked out the book's significance in the context of her secret work.
15.
When Peters and Margrit Bolli were arrested, it was the Swiss security services who came for them.
16.
Margrit Bolli had become aware some weeks earlier that her apartment was under surveillance; and she had asked Rado to remove the transmitter and its "portable gramophone" disguise casing.
17.
Margrit Bolli was represented by Jacques Chamorel, a defence attorney from francophone Lausanne, who would later transfer into national politics as a Liberal.
18.
Margrit Bolli was sentenced with a ten month jail term and a fine of 500 francs.
19.
Margrit Bolli paid for a guarantee on Bolli's behalf, described in an English-language CIA report as "her bail", as a result of which she never served her jail term.