Agent Garbo (42 page)

227 “I think he was extremely pleased”: Ibid., p. 251.
“It was a very moving moment”: Pujol and West, p. 226.
“world civil war”: KV 2/69, message of May 3, 1945.
“London exploded with joy”: Pujol and West, pp. 226–27.

228 “We ask you to frequent the Cafe Bar la Moderna”: KV 2/69, message of May 8, 1945.
“He ... had been invented by the Abwehr”: Delmer, p. 21.
“instructing him to give every assistance”: Liddell, p. 295.
“[He] wanted to meet me personally”: Pujol and West, p. 227.

229 They hiked up to the treeline: Harris, p. 230.
“Speaking of the future”: KV 2/102, “Summary of meeting with Federico,” undated.
“He fell for it completely”: Pujol and West, p. 230.
“overcome with emotion”: KV 2/102, “Summary of the conversation with Carlos, November 11, 1945.”

230 “He thought me almost a God”: Ibid.
“At present I am a man unaware”: KV 2/69, message of January 14, 1945.
“It is only a few days”: KV 2/69, message of February 2, 1945.

231 “I interviewed Mrs Garbo myself”: KV 2/102, “SIS Report No. 5108,” November 14, 1945.
“I do not feel that Mrs. Garbo”: KV 2/102, message of November 1, 1945.

232 “an adventuress” who was “likely to attempt”: KV 2/102, extract from an undated draft telegram.

22. The End

235 “I was afraid the Germans would take revenge”: “The Spy Who Saved Europe,”
Mail on Sunday,
June 3, 1984.
a total of 17,554 pounds: Juárez, p. 380.
Harris supplied his coconspirator: Details of Pujol’s business are from Juárez and from the correspondence of Thomas Harris in the collection of José Antonio Buces.
“public artistic treasure taken out of Spain”: Juárez, p. 384.

236 The erstwhile chicken farmer: Ibid., p. 393.
“No one in Venezuela had seen anything like it”: Author interview with Juan Kreisler.
Forced to sell the property: Juárez, p. 393.
“It was as if the dictators were following me”: Juan Pujol, letter to Tamara Kreisler, undated.
Some say that Pujol sent Araceli home: Author interview with Bill Bristow.

237 “When the world war was over”: Araceli Pujol, letter to her grandchildren, undated.
In 1949, a year after Araceli left Venezuela: Author interview with Nigel West.
Through hard work and sheer force: The details of Araceli’s post-Venezuela life are drawn from author interviews with Juan, Maria and Tamara Kreisler.

238 “If I could only tell you”: Author interview with Raúl del Pozo.
She talked about meeting with Churchill: Author interviews with Maria and Tamara Kreisler.
“The Pujols were kept very, very, very isolated”: Author interview with Felipe Fernández-Armesto, son of a noted Spanish journalist who resided in London during the war.
“Mallorca was a perfect place”: Author interview with José Antonio Buces.

239 “Hilda began crying hysterically”: Bristow, p. 277.
“If the works had been painted in crushed glass”:
Scotsman,
December 4, 1954.
When his villa needed to be rewired:
Daily Express,
October 22, 1971.
had chosen his seaside home:
Arts & Antiques Weekly,
February 1980.
He’d paid the school fees for Philby’s son: Bristow, p. 276.
“As an art dealer he had the perfect cover”:
Daily Telegraph,
November 17, 1979.

240 “He was restless, altered”: Author interview with José Antonio Buces.
“I think the war destroyed him”: Author interview with Andreu Jaume.
“I just cannot say how it happened”:
Majorca News,
undated article, from the collection of José Antonio Buces.
“astonishes with its electric and dazzling precision”: Author interview with José Antonio Buces.

23. The Return

241 he loved soccer and the Olympics especially: Juan Pujol, letter to Tamara Kreisler, August 24, 1988.
he was known as “the Anarchist”: Author interview with Javier Juárez.

242 “If he’d worked for the USSR”: Juárez, p. 235.
“I begged him to tell anyone”: Pujol and West, p. 232.
After Araceli left for Spain in 1948: The account of Pujol’s life in Venezuela after Araceli’s departure is drawn from Juárez, Pujol and West, and an interview with Juan Pujol, the spy’s son with Carmen Cilia.
“Oh, I won a medal during the war”: Juan Pujol, interview with Josep Espinas,
Identities,
Catalan TV documentary, date unknown
.

243 “He had the mania for safety”: Author interview with Xavier Vinader.
He would never leave a phone number: Ibid.
When he wanted to post a letter: Interview with Joan Miguel Pujol Maimo, Pujol’s nephew, in the documentary
Garbo the Spy,
directed by Edmon Roch, 2009.
“We thought it strange”: Ibid.

244 In 1973, Pujol’s youngest son: The story of the men with British accents is from an author interview with Juan Pujol (Jr.).
Once, when Juan Jr. was a college student: Ibid.

245 He’d begun searching: Author interview with Nigel West.

246 “I spoke to one person”: Ibid.

247 “hugged each other like footballers after a goal”: “The Spy Who Saved Europe,”
Mail on Sunday,
June 3, 1984.
“Some very strange things happened”: Bristow, p. 222.
“My father respected him in a certain way”: Author interview with Bill Bristow.
“You’ve heard of General Eisenhower”: Author interview with Nigel West.
“I knew the Nazis had to be destroyed”: “The Spy Who Saved Europe.”

248 “I didn’t do enough”: From
Garbo the Spy.
One American colonel was being interviewed: Juan Pujol, interview with Josep Espinas,
Identities.
“blond and Teutonic-looking”: Juan Pujol, letter to Tamara Kreisler, Easter 1987.

249 “He told me that some of his Spanish family”: Author interview with Nigel West.
In Madrid in June 1984: Author interview with Juan Kreisler.
“She went to bed for three days”: Author interview with Tamara Kreisler.
A reunion between Pujol and his Spanish children: Author interviews with Juan and Maria Kreisler.
“Perhaps he felt he couldn’t do anything for us”: Author interview with Juan Kreisler.

250 “Destiny intervened in a very painful way”: Juan Pujol, letter to Jorge Kreisler, October 29, 1987.
“I don’t talk much about my personal relationships”: Juan Pujol, letter to Tamara Kreisler, May 25, 1988.
“Today, as yesterday, as always”: Juan Pujol, letter to Jorge Kreisler, October 29, 1987.
“the great pretender, the comedian nonpareil”: Author interview with Rafael Fraguas.
“had to disappear for a long time”: Juan Pujol, letter to Tamara Kreisler, Easter 1987.

251 “He seduced us with the writing”: Author interview with Tamara Kreisler.
“I’m a famous writer”: Author interview with Rafael Fraguas.
And at the German embassy in Madrid: Author interview with Xavier Vinader.
“Why don’t we get married again?”: Author interview with Juan Kreisler.

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Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank the Pujol and Kreisler families for their generosity in allowing me full access to Juan Pujol’s letters and speaking to me so openly about his life. Tamara Kreisler was especially gracious in welcoming me into her home and sharing her family memories. I wouldn’t have been able to write the book without her help.

Tessa Estévez was my tireless interpreter and researcher in Madrid, and contributed enormously to the project. Her husband, Richard, gamely read over the translations and the final manuscript. I’m grateful to them both for their hard work and friendship.

José Antonio Buces, nephew of Tommy Harris, graciously allowed me access to his archives and enlarged my understanding of that remarkable man.

Thaddeus Holt gave me indispensable advice on the deception operations and was always willing to field the next question. Nigel West was kind enough to talk about his search for Pujol, as well as offer his insights into the period and the intelligence agencies.

Jaysa and Mariano Faz, our upstairs neighbors on Calle Velázquez, welcomed us warmly to Madrid. Many thanks.

My editor, Bruce Nichols, strengthened the book with his clear eye. And my agent, Scott Waxman, saw the potential from the beginning.

Once again, my love to Marie, Asher and Delphine for sharing the adventure.

Index

Abwehr: agents defect to Allies,
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attempts to infiltrate MI6,
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Canaris as head of,
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,
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,
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–
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