Georg Bell

Georg Bell (21 July 1898 - 3 April 1933) was a German engineer, counterfeiter, and spy. A close friend and ally of Ernst Röhm, Bell most notably worked as a personal agent of Röhm's to help build a large-scale ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) network.

Born in Nuremberg to a family of Scottish descent, Bell graduated from the Higher Technical School of Nuremberg in electrical engineering in 1921, where he first met Röhm as both were a member of the paramilitary organization ''Reichsflagge''. Although for a few years he worked as an engineer in Munich and Nuremberg, his personal life was upended after the revelation of the Chervontsen Affair in 1928. The affair alleged that Bell had other right-wing German spies attempted to destabilize the Soviet Union by triggering extreme inflation by flooding the state with counterfeit Chervonets. After a lengthy and public trial, Bell was found guilty and was issued a small fine, although it led to a wider consequence of senior Nazis having a negative impression of Bell. Subsequently, in 1929, an arrest warrant was issued against Bell in Bavaria for another trial. This time the trial was for betraying military secrets, which reportedly happened after Bell tried to unmask a French spy. The trial ended with Bell getting charged, although much of the details of the trial were destroyed. By 1930, Bell was considered heavily undesirable due to his double convictions, and had significant trouble finding work as an engineer.

In November 1930, Bell and Röhm reunited and subsequently in April 1931 a formal pact was made for Bell to be Röhm's personal agent. He was instructed to set up a large-scale SA spy network, create an SA press office and newspaper, establish a propaganda office, and distance the SA from the rest of the NSDAP. Bell did this through the rest of 1931 into the spring of 1932. During this time he was also reportedly involved in a plan to assassinate Hitler, according to a testimony by Martin Schätzl, but Bell backed out after making a pilgrimage to Konnersreuth. In the spring of 1932, Bell started breaking away from Röhm due to a multitude of reasons, and finally resigned on 8 October 1932. Afterward, he started working for anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich, digging up plans by Röhm to overthrow Hitler. Finally, on April 1933, SA officers caught up with him while he was in exile in Austria in an inn, and he was shot dead by a revolver.

Although largely still obscure, Bell has received notable attention due to ''The Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror''. The book, which extensively mentions Bell, alleges that Bell kept a list of people he had procured for Röhm as his pimp, including Marinus van der Lubbe, who was the cover-up for the Reichstag fire. Although now discredited, especially since certain dates on where Bell would have been don't add up, it played an important role in bringing a wider attention to Bell. Provided by Wikipedia