French historians have unveiled secret service archives from the Second World War, revealing that fashion designer Coco Chanel was registered as an agent for the Nazi intelligence organisation, the Abwehr. The documents, stored for years at the medieval castle of Vincennes east of Paris, include a note written in Paris in November 1944 stating that Chanel was the mistress and agent of Baron Günther von Dincklage, a suspected German agent.
According to Frédéric Queguineur, in charge of the secret service archives, the file shows Chanel was documented as an agent by the Nazis. 'From the German point of view, they registered her, so it means she potentially could be a source of information, fulfil a mission, work for them. But from her point of view, we don't know if she was really aware of that,' he said.
The archives also contain files on other celebrities, including American-born singer and dancer Josephine Baker, who helped General Charles de Gaulle's Free France effort. A 1943 note from de Gaulle's intelligence services praised her: 'She demonstrates a tremendous devotion, she is totally unselfish. Keen and vibrant spirit, she is able to render us great services.'
The documents include letters, reports, cables and photos from rival intelligence agencies of the French resistance, the collaborationist Vichy regime and German authorities. Most remain unpublished. Following a government decision in 1999, hundreds of boxes were given to the defence ministry's archives with no classification system, an intelligence technique to prevent easy foreign access. Only half have been inventoried.
Historian Thomas Fontaine noted that history is more complex than a simple division between resisters and collaborators, citing a regional resistance leader who later served the Germans after his wife and daughter were detained by the Gestapo. The archives also include private documents, such as a moving handwritten letter from de Gaulle's niece Genevieve seeking advice on serving in May 1943.
