A MAN CALLED LUCY

In 1952 the Dutch government said, ""We should both thank Switzerland and refrain from doing so..."" They referred to Switzerland's minimum quota of Jewish refugees during WWII and to her indulgence of the espionage network code-named ""Lucy."" The contributions of the secret service under the guidance of Rudolf Roessler, who operated out of Lucerne, were called more important than the atom bomb in defeating the Axis. ""Lucy,"" or Roessler, filtered information to the Allies, actually to three governments, information in such mint condition that it was often only twelve hours old. Roessler gave Stalin every detail of Hitler's invasion of Russia before it happened. The incredible series of scoops involving German war plans boggles the mind: the invasions of Poland and France and Denmark, progress reports on V-1 rockets and jet planes by Germany, almost every secret Hitler had. And it was all channelled through a Swiss bookseller, Roessler, now dead. Lucy's reports now fill forty volumes; still Roessler is a continuing mystery.... A truly tantalizing story for the Operation Cicero audience, and quite expert triangulation on a vanished man.