Rudolf Roessler

Rudolf Roessler was born on 22 November 1897 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria. He was the son of a Bavarian Forestry Official. When World War I broke out, Rudolf Roessler enlisted in the army at the ripe age of 17. For four years, he served in the German army as a combat soldier. While in the army, he met ten men who would later become his contacts in World War II. After being released from service in the German army, he studied theology in Augsburg.

When Adolf Hitler became prominent in German politics, Roessler and his ten contacts realized the dire danger and evil posed by this political leader. Rudolf Roessler started working as a newspaper man at the Augsburg Post Zeitung to wake fellow Germans to the rise of Nazism.

In 1933, Rudolf Roessler and his wife, Olga, had to flee to Lucern, Switzerland, with only 10 marks in his pocket(about $50). In Lucern, he opened a publishing house, the Vita Nova. There he wrote about the evils of Nazism under the name R.A. Hermes, after the Greek messenger god.

Unfortunately, due to the secrecy of Rudolf Roessler, not all of his contacts were ever disclosed. What we do know is they were all top German officials dedicated to the demise of Hitler. Of his ten contacts, five were generals. Their names were Helmuth S, Hermann F, Rudolf von Gersdorf, Fritz Thiele and Georg T. There was one colonel, "O", Major "K", and three Captains, "S", "A" and "O". These high German Officials had top spots in German Operations, Logistics, Transport, Military, Economy, and Communications. All 10 of the contacts survived through the various purges of Hitler.

One day, Rudolf Roessler was visited by German generals and two of his contacts, Rudolf von Gersdof and Fritz Thiele. He was given a radio and the nickname Lucy, short for Lucern where he lived. The one condition for his services was that he would never name his sources.

Roessler's information came straight from the German High command. He would get radio contact from the Official Broadcasting Center of the OberKommando de Wehrmadt. His contacts betrayed their country directly under the nose of Hitler himself. The information was given to a transmitter who only knew Roessler by his call number "RAHS." Any information regarding the German army was preceded by "Werther" and Air Force "Olga." His information contained troop movements, invasion timetables, production statistics, casualty counts, and loss of equipment for each battle. Often, his information was transmitted to the Russians before the German units received orders.

A typical day for Rudolf Roessler was: up at 6:30 and at 7:30 ride the trolley to work. By 8:00, the Vita Nova was open. Lunch was at noon. In the afternoon, he worked on Swiss intelligence. After dinner, he transmitted messages to the Russians. Rudolf Roessler never slept more than 3 hours a night.

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