Jane Horney
Encyclopedia
"Jane" Ebba Charlotta Horney (married Granberg), (8 July 1918 – 20 January 1945) was a Swedish
woman, believed to have spied
in Denmark
for the benefit of Nazi Germany
, and to have been killed by the Danish resistance movement
on a fishing boat at Øresund, but it has never been confirmed for which nation she actually worked. Gestapo
in Denmark believed that she was an agent for the British
or USSR, and after WWII it was denied that she had been a Gestapo agent. Abwehr
officer
s likewise denied, when inquired by Säpo
(Swedish intelligence), that she had been their agent.
in an English private school for girls. In 1934 she took the name Jane, and became known as Jane Horney. In 1937-38, she traveled to Greenland
, and then sold her travel experiences to the newspapers in Stockholm
, where she later worked as a secretary
and journalist
. She married the Swedish journalist Herje Granberg, who worked for the newspaper Aftonbladet
, in Bromma church in December 1939.
, and she followed him there. The couple divorce
d in 1943, and she moved to Denmark, where she was employed at Skandinavisk Telegrambureau (= Scandinavia
n news agency
) in Copenhagen
. She then returned to Sweden. During her stay in Berlin, Horney had socialized with diplomat
s and reporters. This made intelligence officers take an interest in her. The German Horst Gilbert (born 1889) had served as an officer in the German army during the First World War; afterwards he went to the Soviet Union
, where he participated in the construction of the Red army
. He also became friendly with Alexandra Kollontai
. In 1934 Gilbert was mixed up in the Ernst Röhm
-affair, as well as Kurt von Schleicher
's attempted coup d'etat
against Hitler. He was consequently imprisoned, but in 1936 transferred to Denmark as an intelligence officer. He was regarded as one of admiral Canaris
' men. Like the admiral
, he was supposedly involved with the 20 July plot in 1944. On 14 October 1944 Gilbert was shot down in his office in central Copenhagen by a Danish resistance group led by the former nun
Ella von Cappeln. He died from his wounds one month later.
Gilbert was also suspected of being an agent
for the Soviets, due to the fact that he, in January 1944 with Horney as a courier
, succeeded in arranging a meeting with his old friend Kollontai in Stockholm. The same winter Horney had also met Regierungsrat Ernst Züchner at Gilbert's. The two men had discussed the possibility of a separate peace between Germany and the USSR. According to Züchner, Gilbert acted on behalf of admiral Canaris.
In Sweden Horney had connections with Allied intelligence people, like SOE
's Head of Danish cases, Ronald Turnbull. She also reported to the Swedish intelligence people Martin Lundqvist and Otto Danielsson. Danielsson considered using her further, as she "did not have moral scruples" when it came to looking up agents and pretending to be enamored with them. When interrogated, Horney informed Säpo
that she had helped Gilbert in meeting Kollontai by contacting the TASS
correspondent Alexander Pavlov in Stockholm; Pavlov was an agent for NKVD
. Reportedly she also informed the Swedish Communist Per Meurling about German troop transports along the east coast of Sweden.
In Stockholm Horney was also in contact with Heinz Thorner, who in August 1944 wanted her help to get photos of German victims of Allied air raid
s printed in the American magazine
Life
. This failed, although Horney did fetch the photos in a flat in Rindögatan 42. In the same building she had meetings with members of the German resistance, and here the Norwegian
Kai Holst
was liquidated in June 1945.
" informed another member of the Danish resistance, Frode Jakobsen
, that he had been ordered to assassinate a Swedish lady, Jane Horney Granberg, and asked how Jakobsen felt about that. "Flame" did not survive the war, but according to Jakobsen he replied that he had never heard of her, and so had no opinion in the matter. "Flame" attempted in vain to assassinate Horney when she visited Copenhagen in July, and in August he left for Stockholm, hoping to succeed there. According to Jakobsen the murder was ordered by the English, via SOE
, but in Sweden "Flame" explained that the order came from Denmark. SOE's management in Stockholm reportedly prevented it, and a week later "Flame" returned to Denmark.
14 August 1944 the illegal paper Information printed a warning against Jane Horney, claiming her to be a spy and informant
, and describing her social circle
. She was arrested by Swedish police
on 19 September, but set free after long interrogations. At a party just after Christmas
in 1944, members of the Danish resistance Sven Aage Geisler and Asbjørn Lyhne met Horney, who was attracted by Geisler's charm. Keeping her company in the following weeks, Geisler and Lyhne spent a fortune of the intelligence's money on the hectic Stockholm nightlife. Danes could not execute a Swedish citizen on Swedish territory. Instead they planned to make her trust them, and then lure her into returning to Denmark to clean herself of the allegations of espionage
. 17 January 1945 she took the night train to Malmö
, accompanied by Geisler, Lyhne and her friend Bodil Frederiksen (a female member of the Danish resistance who was going home, and thought the same about Horney). In Malmö the four of them spent the night at Grand hotel, where Horney's assassin had checked in already. Here they were waiting for an illegal passage across Øresund. A hotel portier later told the police that he, judging from their behaviour, thought Horney and Geisler engaged to be married. When Horney was informed that Geisler and Lyhne were not coming over to Denmark with her, she insisted on hosting a farewell dinner at the hotel Savoy on the evening of 19 January. After dinner at 10 pm Horney and Frederiksen left with the assassin in different taxis, until they reached Höganäs outside of Helsingborg
. Just after midnight they left harbour in the fishing vessel Tärnan (= the tern
).
Early in the morning of 20 January Jane Horney was shot, her body entangled in iron chains and dropped in the sea. The murder was claimed to be undertaken on Swedish territory, at Larød north of Helsingborg, while Danish authorities claim that it happened on Danish territory. Those present were probably only the captain on Tärnan and the student
"Jens" (= John), later identified as Hjalmar Ravnbo, who shot her.
Most likely the Danish intelligence officer Nils Bjarke Schou ordered the murder on behalf of SOE. The historian Hans Christiansen Bjerg claims in his book Ligaen that SOE was behind the assassination, but without sufficient documentation, whereas the journalist Erik Nørgaard in his book seems to think that the initiative came from the Danes, with the Brits taking on the responsibility in aftertime.
Tage Erlander
, Head of the Danish Home Office
Eivind Larsen, and Frode Jakobsen. The Danes regarded it as proven that Horney had been a spy for the Germans, therefore was liquidated as an action of war, and that this had taken place in Danish waters. Säpo however doubted that Horney had been a German agent. As prime minister, Erlander stated in 1956 that Swedish police investigations had not proven Horney to be a spy: "That does not necessarily imply that she was innocent." In the following year the Malmö police concluded that it was not agent activity, but "love of adventure
and sexual desire" which had motivated Horney to contact Germans.
At the meeting in July 1946, Frode Jakobsen presented both a written and an oral statement about the Horney case. It was untrue at central points, and Swedish police continued their investigation well into the 1950'es. In October 1947 Asbjørn Lyhne (who in May that year had been sentenced to 3 months of jail for forgery
of documents) claimed to the police in Helsingborg to have participated in the murder. He claimed to be the one who had pretended to be Horney's boy friend during the last two weeks ahead of the liquidation. Later however he tried to withdraw his confession. He was saved with the help of a phone call from Frode Jakobsen. In September 1983 Jakobsen explained about the phone call to the newspaper B.T. According to Jakobsen, Swedish police did not let Lyhne go until Jakobsen had assured them that the confession was "just bragging". Afterwards he had enjoined on Lyhne that he would be unable to help him a second time. About Geisler and Lyhne he stated that they were not "someone one wanted to have involved". Lyhne explained Jakobsen's helpfulness by claiming that he "knew something" about Jakobsen. In September 1948 Sven Aage Geisler was arrested in Malmö, suspected of the murder, but he denied this. Geisler was found killed in Denmark in November 1968.
, and died 3 April 2003, but this is not confirmed or considered to be likely, as Bodil Frederiksen is known to have lived until 1963. No documentation exists to prove that Horney was alive after January 1945. All documentation stating otherwise has been revealed as falsified.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
woman, believed to have spied
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
for the benefit of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, and to have been killed by the Danish resistance movement
Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
on a fishing boat at Øresund, but it has never been confirmed for which nation she actually worked. Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in Denmark believed that she was an agent for the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or USSR, and after WWII it was denied that she had been a Gestapo agent. Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
officer
Officer
-Shipping industry:*Captain the person in charge of a merchant ship*Chief Officer typically the person in charge of the deck department of a merchant ship*Second Officer typically the navigator and medical officer on a merchant ship...
s likewise denied, when inquired by Säpo
SAPO
SAPO , Servidor de Apontadores Portugueses, is a brand and subsidiary company of the Portugal Telecom Group...
(Swedish intelligence), that she had been their agent.
Background
Ebba Charlotta Horney was born in Sweden as the daughter of Swedish civil engineer Fredrik Horney. Her mother was a Danish nurse. There were two younger siblings: Johan and Britt-Marie. Horney grew up in Sweden, and from the age of 14 she was educated in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in an English private school for girls. In 1934 she took the name Jane, and became known as Jane Horney. In 1937-38, she traveled to Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, and then sold her travel experiences to the newspapers in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, where she later worked as a secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. She married the Swedish journalist Herje Granberg, who worked for the newspaper Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
, in Bromma church in December 1939.
Agent
In the autumn of 1941, her husband became his paper's correspondent in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and she followed him there. The couple divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1943, and she moved to Denmark, where she was employed at Skandinavisk Telegrambureau (= Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n news agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
) in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. She then returned to Sweden. During her stay in Berlin, Horney had socialized with diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
s and reporters. This made intelligence officers take an interest in her. The German Horst Gilbert (born 1889) had served as an officer in the German army during the First World War; afterwards he went to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he participated in the construction of the Red army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. He also became friendly with Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai was a Russian Communist revolutionary, first as a member of the Mensheviks, then from 1914 on as a Bolshevik. In 1919 she became the first female government minister in Europe...
. In 1934 Gilbert was mixed up in the Ernst Röhm
Ernst Röhm
Ernst Julius Röhm, was a German officer in the Bavarian Army and later an early Nazi leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia, and later was its commander...
-affair, as well as Kurt von Schleicher
Kurt von Schleicher
Kurt von Schleicher was a German general and the last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic. Seventeen months after his resignation, he was assassinated by order of his successor, Adolf Hitler, in the Night of the Long Knives....
's attempted coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against Hitler. He was consequently imprisoned, but in 1936 transferred to Denmark as an intelligence officer. He was regarded as one of admiral Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
' men. Like the admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
, he was supposedly involved with the 20 July plot in 1944. On 14 October 1944 Gilbert was shot down in his office in central Copenhagen by a Danish resistance group led by the former nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
Ella von Cappeln. He died from his wounds one month later.
Gilbert was also suspected of being an agent
Agent
Agent may refer to one who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from him; one entrusted with the business of another.- In law enforcement :...
for the Soviets, due to the fact that he, in January 1944 with Horney as a courier
Courier
A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...
, succeeded in arranging a meeting with his old friend Kollontai in Stockholm. The same winter Horney had also met Regierungsrat Ernst Züchner at Gilbert's. The two men had discussed the possibility of a separate peace between Germany and the USSR. According to Züchner, Gilbert acted on behalf of admiral Canaris.
In Sweden Horney had connections with Allied intelligence people, like SOE
SOE
- Organizations :* Special Operations Executive, a British World War II covert military organisation* State-owned enterprise, a government-owned business* Sega of Europe, a computer game developer* Sony Online Entertainment, a computer game developer...
's Head of Danish cases, Ronald Turnbull. She also reported to the Swedish intelligence people Martin Lundqvist and Otto Danielsson. Danielsson considered using her further, as she "did not have moral scruples" when it came to looking up agents and pretending to be enamored with them. When interrogated, Horney informed Säpo
SAPO
SAPO , Servidor de Apontadores Portugueses, is a brand and subsidiary company of the Portugal Telecom Group...
that she had helped Gilbert in meeting Kollontai by contacting the TASS
TASS
TASS or Tass may refer to:* Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar, a six-week educational opportunity for minority high school students* Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, TASS is the transliteration of the Russian abbreviation for it...
correspondent Alexander Pavlov in Stockholm; Pavlov was an agent for NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. Reportedly she also informed the Swedish Communist Per Meurling about German troop transports along the east coast of Sweden.
In Stockholm Horney was also in contact with Heinz Thorner, who in August 1944 wanted her help to get photos of German victims of Allied air raid
Air raid
Air raid refers to an attack by aircraft. See strategic bombing or the smaller-scale airstrike.Air raid may also refer to:*Air Raid , by the improvisational collective Air...
s printed in the American magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
. This failed, although Horney did fetch the photos in a flat in Rindögatan 42. In the same building she had meetings with members of the German resistance, and here the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Kai Holst
Kai Holst
Kai Christian Middelthon Holst was a Norwegian resistance fighter and member of Milorg. He was from Lillehammer and became a central leader of the resistance movement from the autumn of 1942, when many of the leaders were arrested by the Germans.Holst was the person with detailed knowledge about...
was liquidated in June 1945.
Assassination
In the summer of 1944, "FlameBent Faurschou-Hviid
Bent Faurschou-Hviid was a member of the Danish resistance group Holger Danske during World War II. His red hair quickly gave him the nickname "Flammen" meaning "The Flame"....
" informed another member of the Danish resistance, Frode Jakobsen
Frode Jakobsen
Frode Jakobsen, , was a Danish author and politician who is remembered for his contribution to Danish resistance activities during the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War.In 1941, Jakobsen formed Ringen or the Ring, a secret resistance organisation...
, that he had been ordered to assassinate a Swedish lady, Jane Horney Granberg, and asked how Jakobsen felt about that. "Flame" did not survive the war, but according to Jakobsen he replied that he had never heard of her, and so had no opinion in the matter. "Flame" attempted in vain to assassinate Horney when she visited Copenhagen in July, and in August he left for Stockholm, hoping to succeed there. According to Jakobsen the murder was ordered by the English, via SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
, but in Sweden "Flame" explained that the order came from Denmark. SOE's management in Stockholm reportedly prevented it, and a week later "Flame" returned to Denmark.
14 August 1944 the illegal paper Information printed a warning against Jane Horney, claiming her to be a spy and informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
, and describing her social circle
Social circle
Social circles are groups of socially interconnected people. A Social circle is distinguished from a social pyramid in that there are two perspectives that can be used to describe a social circle: the perspective of an individual who is the locus of a particular group of socially interconnected...
. She was arrested by Swedish police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
on 19 September, but set free after long interrogations. At a party just after Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
in 1944, members of the Danish resistance Sven Aage Geisler and Asbjørn Lyhne met Horney, who was attracted by Geisler's charm. Keeping her company in the following weeks, Geisler and Lyhne spent a fortune of the intelligence's money on the hectic Stockholm nightlife. Danes could not execute a Swedish citizen on Swedish territory. Instead they planned to make her trust them, and then lure her into returning to Denmark to clean herself of the allegations of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
. 17 January 1945 she took the night train to Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, accompanied by Geisler, Lyhne and her friend Bodil Frederiksen (a female member of the Danish resistance who was going home, and thought the same about Horney). In Malmö the four of them spent the night at Grand hotel, where Horney's assassin had checked in already. Here they were waiting for an illegal passage across Øresund. A hotel portier later told the police that he, judging from their behaviour, thought Horney and Geisler engaged to be married. When Horney was informed that Geisler and Lyhne were not coming over to Denmark with her, she insisted on hosting a farewell dinner at the hotel Savoy on the evening of 19 January. After dinner at 10 pm Horney and Frederiksen left with the assassin in different taxis, until they reached Höganäs outside of Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
. Just after midnight they left harbour in the fishing vessel Tärnan (= the tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
).
Early in the morning of 20 January Jane Horney was shot, her body entangled in iron chains and dropped in the sea. The murder was claimed to be undertaken on Swedish territory, at Larød north of Helsingborg, while Danish authorities claim that it happened on Danish territory. Those present were probably only the captain on Tärnan and the student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
"Jens" (= John), later identified as Hjalmar Ravnbo, who shot her.
Most likely the Danish intelligence officer Nils Bjarke Schou ordered the murder on behalf of SOE. The historian Hans Christiansen Bjerg claims in his book Ligaen that SOE was behind the assassination, but without sufficient documentation, whereas the journalist Erik Nørgaard in his book seems to think that the initiative came from the Danes, with the Brits taking on the responsibility in aftertime.
Postwar investigation
Horney's father reported the case to the police. On his request the Swedish Foreign Office undertook an investigation of her death in July 1945. In July 1946 there was a meeting with among others the later prime ministerPrime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tage Erlander
Tage Erlander
was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969...
, Head of the Danish Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
Eivind Larsen, and Frode Jakobsen. The Danes regarded it as proven that Horney had been a spy for the Germans, therefore was liquidated as an action of war, and that this had taken place in Danish waters. Säpo however doubted that Horney had been a German agent. As prime minister, Erlander stated in 1956 that Swedish police investigations had not proven Horney to be a spy: "That does not necessarily imply that she was innocent." In the following year the Malmö police concluded that it was not agent activity, but "love of adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
and sexual desire" which had motivated Horney to contact Germans.
At the meeting in July 1946, Frode Jakobsen presented both a written and an oral statement about the Horney case. It was untrue at central points, and Swedish police continued their investigation well into the 1950'es. In October 1947 Asbjørn Lyhne (who in May that year had been sentenced to 3 months of jail for forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
of documents) claimed to the police in Helsingborg to have participated in the murder. He claimed to be the one who had pretended to be Horney's boy friend during the last two weeks ahead of the liquidation. Later however he tried to withdraw his confession. He was saved with the help of a phone call from Frode Jakobsen. In September 1983 Jakobsen explained about the phone call to the newspaper B.T. According to Jakobsen, Swedish police did not let Lyhne go until Jakobsen had assured them that the confession was "just bragging". Afterwards he had enjoined on Lyhne that he would be unable to help him a second time. About Geisler and Lyhne he stated that they were not "someone one wanted to have involved". Lyhne explained Jakobsen's helpfulness by claiming that he "knew something" about Jakobsen. In September 1948 Sven Aage Geisler was arrested in Malmö, suspected of the murder, but he denied this. Geisler was found killed in Denmark in November 1968.
Rumoured survival
Some contend that Horney was not killed, but was replaced by her friend Bodil Frederiksen, who was killed in her place. Under this theory, Horney was taken to England, where she became a spy in service of the British intelligence during the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and died 3 April 2003, but this is not confirmed or considered to be likely, as Bodil Frederiksen is known to have lived until 1963. No documentation exists to prove that Horney was alive after January 1945. All documentation stating otherwise has been revealed as falsified.
Sources
- Flammen og Citronen - modstandsfolk og myter (on dk). Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen. http://www.natmus.dk/sw54219.asp. Read 25 October 2008.
- Lennart W, Frick; Lars Rosander: Bakom hemligstämpeln, Historiska Media, 2004, page 120, ISBN 91-85087-11-8.
- Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, book 19.
- Därför mördades Jane Horney
- Jane Horney by Erik Nørgaard, edited by Gyldendal, 2007, ISBN 978-87-02-05698-3
- René Rasmussen: En Pufedorf affære, Para-nyt (2007)