Hermine Schanelcova (1920-1952)

Last update: September 14, 2021
Previous update: September 14, 2021

Hermine Schanelcova (1920-1952)

A tragic story


Hermine Schanelec (born November 17, 1920 in Protivin, CSR) was arrested on 22. Januar 1951 in Zurich as Jrene Fleischner on the suspicion of being a foreign agent acting for a hostile power. The police had a lead after they had caught a certain Leo Diamond redhanded taking pictures of military installation in the Simmental valley of Canton Bern a few days before.

In February she gave an extensive confession (over 40 pages) detailing her life story and her activities as a trained and experienced agent working since 1945 for the Czechoslovak secret service, first under the Benes governement, and then under the communist governement. She also gave a detailed description on how her section of the secret service was organized and operated. The authorities could not find any transgression of Swiss law committed by her on Swiss territory. Although they found her confession and testimony extremely valuable, they were not willing to give her political asylum, considering holding such a valuable defector too dangerous for Switzererland.

By a decree of the Swiss Federal Council she was to be expelled from Switzerland on March 12, 1951. However, fearing for her life and the life of her parents, Schanelec refused to be extradited. Instead she was interned in Switzerland and died under unclear circumstances on her 32th birthday, on November 17, 1952. It was suggested that she had chosen to end her life.

Sources

All the material posted here is from the Swiss Federal Archive

The events of January 1951

Hans Anton Schanelec arrested
Jrene Fleischner arrested and interrogations, Part 1
Jrene Fleischner arrested and interrogations Part 2

The big confession, February 1951

Summary of the interrogator Insp. O. Maurer
Her life
Her relation to Leo Diamond
Her relation to J. Friedmann
Her relation to J. Cremer
About her extended stay in Austria in 1950
About Section 2 of the CSR Secret Service

The expulsion order, March 1951

Expulsion order Jrene Fleischner alias Hermine Schanelcova, March 1951

Interned as Hermine Chanel 1951-1952

Photo on ID, 1
Photo on ID, 2
ID card as internee
Death report
Financial support
Refugee's ID cover

Files in the Dossier Anna Schick

In April 2022 I discovered another, very rich, dossier concerning Hermine's fate. Here are some relevant files.

Unsent letter of Hermine to Hans Spring 1951
Suicide report by the Swiss police
Correspondence Hans Schanelec with Swiss authorities, October 1952-1957
Hermine's CV drafts from October 1952
Request to lift expulsion and interned status On the day of her suicider.