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YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Iconic French designer Coco Chanel was registered as an Abwehr agent, according to declassified documents of the French secret services, but historians believe that she might not have been aware of it, “Armenpress” reports citing Sputniknews website.
French historians unveiled French secret services' archives fromWorld War II providing insight intosecretive operations led byboth the Nazis and the French resistance.
The documents also revealed the individual paths taken bythousands ofagents, including celebrities like French designer Coco Chanel.
Coco Chanel who is one ofthe most famous French women ofthe 20th century was listed asa German intelligence agent; the Associated Press reported citing the unveiled secret service’s archives.
The designer’s file includes a note written inParis inNovember 1944. “A source inMadrid informed us that Madam Chanel was in1942-43 the mistress and agent ofBaron Guenter von Dinklage. Dinklage used tobe an attaché atthe German embassy in1935. He worked asa propagandist and we suspect him ofbeing a (German) agent,” the document says.
According toFrederic Queguineur, who is incharge ofthe secret services' archives, the file shows that Coco Chanel was documented asan agent bytheNaziintelligence organization, the Abwehr.
“From the German point ofview, they registered her, so it means she potentially could be a source ofinformation, fulfill a mission, work forthem. But fromher point ofview, we don't know if she was really aware ofthat,” he told the AP.
With the beginning ofwar Chanel closed her fashion boutiques and shops. After the arrest ofher nephew she made contact withthe Germanauthoritiesand afterliberation ofFrance, she was accused ofcollaboration and was expelled fromthe country.
Earlier, historians suspected that Coco Chanel not only supplied the Abwehr withinformation, butalso excelled inmore thana dozen spy missions.
The secret services' archives include German documents seized bythe French atthe end ofthe war and thousands ofindividual files pertaining tomembers ofthe French resistance and investigation files ofsuspected collaborators.