Operation Cicero

Cicero is the pseudonym of Ilyas Bazna, who was born in 1904 in Pristina. He was one of the most famous spies of World War II, and worked for Nazi Germany in 1943-44 while he was employed as valet to Sir Hugh Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen, British ambassador to neutral Turkey from 1939. He photographed secret documents from the embassy safe and turned the films over to the former German chancellor Franz von Papen, who was at that time the German ambassador in Ankara. For this service the Hitler government paid Cicero large sums of British money, most of it counterfeited in Germany. Despite the evident authenticity of the films, the Nazi officials in Berlin distrusted Cicero and are said to have disregarded his information. Who was Cicero? Was he a German spy or a spy working for Turkish Intelligence (MIT)? Was he after money or was he just a man seeking vengeance for the death of his parents?