Malcolm Atkin Military Research
SECTION D AND GERMAN RESISTANCE
A fond belief of the British government in 1939-1940 was that the Nazi state was fragile and might soon implode through internal division, including a rebellion of the army. In furtherance of this, Section D tried to encourage subversion through a wide range of initiatives including the distribution of propaganda smuggled through its German contacts.
The head of Section D, Laurence Grand, was a committed Conservative and a regular army officer - twin pillars of the British establishment. Yet one of the aspects of Section D of SIS that caused particular consternation was its ready acceptance of the principle ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ in opposing the Nazis. Section D formed alliances with a wide range of anti-Nazi opposition groups across Europe, particularly targeting German socialists and trade unionists, nationalists and Jewish organisations, who were often in conflict with official British foreign policy. In a remarkable feat, this work upset the British government, Nazis and Soviets alike! Generally absent from this consortium of common interests in the story of Section D were the European Communist Parties. The German Communist Party (KPD) maintained an underground organisation in Germany after they were banned in 1933, circulating their own anti-nazi propaganda, and suffered many arrests. They did, however, have a confused attitude towards any sort of united front against the Nazis. This was a result of the Stalinist line that any grouping that veered from loyalty to the shifts of Communist Party policy was a 'social fascist', making the SPD as much of an enemy as the Nazis. There were fitful attempts to change this from 1936 but it took the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 as a direct attack on the ideal of 'socialism in one country' to make them fully embrace the war as an anti-fascist, rather than an imperialist, struggle.
It is sometimes forgotten that the earliest organised resistance to the Nazis was in Italy and Germany (also providing the largest contingents of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War). All the German anti-Nazi organisations suffered heavy persecution between 1933 and 1939, with thousand executed or sent to concentration camps. The Munich Agreement was disheartening for the German opposition and, once war was declared, many would still not work on behalf of a foreign power. Aware of such sensibilities, Grand was careful to stress that the work of Section D was directed against the Nazi state rather than the German people. Consequently, in December 1939 Grand rejected the offer of the German Freedom Party (DFP) to organize sabotage in Nazi Meeting Halls in return for Section D funding, due to the risk of civilian casualties.
1920s pin badge of the German SPD.
1931-2 pin badge of the German Iron Front.
1920s pin badge of the German Communist Party (KPD).
The German Iron Front was formed in December 1931 as a popular front of socialist groups and trade unionists, that was both anti-fascist and anti-communist (consequently excluding the KPD), although it quickly focused on the rise of the Nazis. The badge was later the inspiration fror the 1970s Anti-Nazi League. The Iron Front was driven by the German Social Democratic Party (SDP), before this was banned by the Nazis in 1933. The SPD was then obliged to establish an organization of exiles (SOPADE). One of its leaders was Willy Brandt, who went into exile in first Norway and then Sweden, later becoming Chancellor of West Germany. It was important that SOPADE could still be presented as a ‘home-grown’ German resistance and so funding from Section D was funnelled through the British Labour Party rather than having to admit to any funding from British intelligence. SOPADE and other exile groups including LEX (suspected by MI5 of being led by trotskyists) smuggled Section D propaganda and sabotage materials into Germany but progress was interrupted by the fall of France. Leading members of SOPADE managed to escape to England but the organization was now seriously weakened. Although communication was resumed in 1941 by SOE, the latter admitted that little progress was made in Germany, beyond what had been achieved by Section D.
During 1936, SIS established an undercover contact within the German section of the the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). This organised the smuggling of anti-nazi propaganda into Germany through the Low Countries, via the 'Seaman's Action Group', but in January 1939 SIS became aware of discussions within the ITF about interrupting the supplies of iron ore to Germany in the event of war, through Norway and Sweden. Responsibility for managing the contacts was then passed to Section D, who planned to recruit ITF seamen passing through Sweden for sabotage work in the German ports. Unfortunately, the Nazis became aware of the plan and passed details to Swedish Intelligence, leading to the arrest of the organiser, Hermann Knüfken. The latter may have been indirectly betrayed by Section D officer Guy Burgess, who was in reality a Soviet agent. His information on such trade union activity, which was often led by socialists who had broken with the official Communist Party and had therefore attracted the ire of Stalin, was then passed on to the Nazis as a sop to the Hitler-Stalin pact (which was particularly targeted in the Section D propaganda). Nonetheless, propaganda continued to be smuggled into Germany and, after supplying another contact with a range of incendiary devices, in April ITF members claimed responsibility for destroying a goods train of sixty wagons beween Aachen and Cologne.
Propaganda leaflet distributed in November 1939 from Sweden. It appeals to German nationalism by accusing the Hitler-Stalin pact of being a ‘Sale of German Honour, Population and Property’, surrendering its sphere of influence in the east.
Das Wahre Deutschland (‘The True Germany’) published by Hans Albert Kluthe for the German Freedom Party from 1938 – 40 and funded by Section D.
Leaflet showing Hitler under the control of Stalin with the heading: 'I award Comrade Hitler membership of the Communist Party of Germany'.
Much of the propaganda appealed to German nationalism and the accusation that Hitler had betrayed the country to Soviet expansion. Other material exploited worries about the state of Germany's war economy and inflation. Not just relying on socialist contacts, other propaganda protested the anti-Christian nature of the Nazi party. Section D began to fund (to the extent of £150 per month) the newsletter of the German Freedom Party (DFP), Das Wahre Deutschland (The True Germany), produced from January 1938 to December 1940. The DFP was a loose alliance of liberal and conservative opposition groups, founded by Karl Spiecker and Otto Klepper in Paris in early 1937. The support of Section D allowed the DFP to publish on a scale that belied the actual size of the small organization. Das Wahre Deutschland was widely circulated amongst German émigrés across Europe and helped give the impression of a substantial, moderate German opposition beyond that of revolutionary socialists.
The pamphlet Alles Fürs Kind asked German mothers to put themselves in the position of Polish mothers who had seen their children executed ‘German mothers – are you not ashamed?’ and praised the contribution of Germany to Western civilization, now threatened by the Nazis.
Leaflet to encourage division between the German army and the SS. Acold and wet German soldier in the trenches complains that he had received no letter from home. The picture alongside shows an SS man seducing his wife. ‘NO POST … NO WONDER … the Home Front is in firm hands – the SS and SA are always ready for action…’
Section D similarly targeted German mothers. appealing to their sense of humanity. The pamphlet Alles Fürs Kind (All for the Child) asked 'German mothers - are you not ashamed?', exhorting them to put themselves in the position of Polish mothers who had seen their children executed. Some of the propaganda was more scurrilous and attempted to drive a wedge beteen the ordinary soldiers suffering on the battlefield and the Nazi elite at home. A common theme was that of the SS stealing the wives and sweethearts of the men at the front. In similar vein, one draft cartoon showed Goering and Goebbels indulging themselves at the expense of the German people. This never went into production - possibly because it was considered too risqué!
The British government had recognized the Anschluss that united Germany and Austria in 1938 but Laurence Grand took the view that there was a large body of nationalist opinion within the country that would resist the union with Nazi Germany. Austria was therefore to be separately referenced in any radio broadcast or propaganda and 10,000 stickers and 3,000 posters were printed under the headline Weder Hitler noch Stalin, ‘Neither Hitler nor Stalin – Austria for the Austrians’. The analysis failed to understand both the widespread support for the Nazis within Austria as well as the desire for a pan-German revolution by many socialist opposition groups. The most effective anti-Nazi organisation in Austria that was supported by Section D was, instead, the separatist Slovenian TIGR that was mainly based in Yugoslavia.
There was a strong nationalist movement in Slovenia (dating back to the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire), which maintained crossborder links with ethnic Slovenian districts in Austria and Italy. TIGR (Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March - Trieste, Istria, Gorizia and Rijeka) had been formed in 1927 to achieve the annexation of Istria, the Slovenian Littoral and Rijeka to the Slovenian province in Yugoslavia. After the Anschluss, the TIGR also expanded its sabotage operations to attacks in neighbouring Nazi Germany, particularly targeting the railway network using material supplied by Section D. The overall contribution of TIGR to the early anti-Nazi struggle only began to be properly acknowledged from the 1990s, having been previously suppressed by the communist government - not least because of how it had been supported by British Intelligence from 1939.
Section D for Destruction: forerunner of SOE and Auxiliary Units
by Malcolm Atkin
2017
Updated Edition 2023
The first comprehensive study of Section D.
Using newly-released documents from The National Archives, the book surveys the operations of Section D across over twenty countries, including Britain. It analyses the fraught relationship of Section D to the Foreign Office and War Office,including its support for German, Austrian and Italian resistance groups and the various efforts to distribute propaganda. This resulted in a systematic effort to destroy its reputation, and demonstrates how its history has been distorted by those wishing to establish the reputation and romance of SOE.
An integral part of the publication is a substantial online appendix provided at Academia.edu for free download. This provide short biographies of known Section D officers, agents and contacts.