In 1928, Pünter was a founding member of the socialist news agency INSA.[2][3] INSA aimed to spread anti-fascist news and worked with anti-fascist groups in Italy.[3] Through this role, Pünter met many Italian informants.[4] Pünter was also suspected to be a secret member of the Communist Party of Switzerland,[5] and he saw Stalinism as less evil than fascism, Nazism, and Francoism.[6] During the Spanish Civil War, it was claimed that Pünter built his own intelligence network, in order to sell secrets to the French and British.[7] He also met many Soviet GRU agents, and decided to become a Soviet spy.[4]
During the Second World War, Pünter was a member of the Red Orchestra,[1] and the Red Three.[8] His codename was Pakbo,[1] or sometimes Paquebot,[8] and Pünter worked with the Soviet intelligence agencies.[1] His encryption methods included crosswords and lemon juice.[3] Others in the movement included Georges Blun (codename Long) and Rachel Dübendorfer (codename Sissy),[9][10] and they collaborated with Hungarian spy Alexander Radó.[11][12] Pünter helped Georges Blun to become part of Radó's network,[4] and Pünter also managed a Yugoslav spy codenamed Gabel, and a German social democrat codenamed Poisson.[13] Radó was accused of using Pünter to sell information to the British secret service.[7]
In 1941, Pünter claimed he had intelligence from the French of the German invasion of the USSR; his source was said to be Rudolf Roessler. The information was believed to be fabricated.[5] Pünter also claimed to have received information from German general Alfred Jodl, and had a team of agents in a secret monastery location in the Alps. None of these claims have ever proved to have been true.[5] However, the USSR saw Pünter as an important ally, and Pünter was called one of the most useful agents in Switzerland.[6]
After the War, he became President of the Association of Federal Parliament Journalists.[1] From 1956 to 1965, he was the head of public relations of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG).[1][2][3] Afterwards, he worked as a district judge.[3] In 1966, he appeared on a panel discussion show about Switzerland's involvement in the Second World War.[14]
Awards
In 1948, he was awarded the Turin journalism prize.[3] In 1975, he was awarded the Hans Bredow medal for services to radio. The ceremony was in West Berlin.[1][2]
Works
Pünter, Otto, Wie es war: Erinnerungen eines Journalisten, 1919–1977 (How it was: memories of a journalist, 1919–1977), Cosmos-Verlag, 1977 ISBN978-3856210311
Pünter, Otto, Payot, Marc, Guerre secrète en pays neutre: Les révélations d'un agent secret sur l'espionnage en Suisse contre le fascisme et Hitler 1930–1945 (Secret war in a neutral country: The revelations of a secret agent on espionage in Switzerland against fascism and Hitler 1930–1945), 1967[15]
^"Die Schweiz im Zweiten Weltkrieg" (in German). Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda & Security Studies. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2020.