Von Rosen's Capture and Amazing Baggage
By Jamie Bisher
On January 14, 1917, Baron von Rosen and Emil Jokela emerged from the winter darkness into a Norwegian bordertown called Karasjokk. Both were frostbitten and von Rosen had a painful wound on one foot. Nevertheless, the Baron telegraphed a report to Finnish rebel leaders in Stockholm, and pressed on.
Soon thereafter, Johannes Søhr received a telegram from an outpost of the Norwegian 6th Army Division in Kautokeino, a remote
village 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, reporting the presence of three suspicious foreigners. On Chief Søhr's orders, the local sheriff arrested von Rosen and two compatriots at Karasjokk on February 1, 1917, impounding a large quantity of supplies, too. Søhr wanted them charged with illegal stockpiling of explosives. The three men were not cooperative prisoners. Stärky gave his name as Anders Pettersen. Emil Jokela carried a forged U.S. passport in the name of Charles Baker. Apparently, Graaf was still safely over the border in Karesuando, Sweden. The Baron was silent. Stärky, Jokela and the expedition's supplies were moved to nearby Vadso for trial. Baron von Rosen was transported to Kristiania.
Soon thereafter, Johannes Søhr received a telegram from an outpost of the Norwegian 6th Army Division in Kautokeino, a remote
village 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, reporting the presence of three suspicious foreigners. On Chief Søhr's orders, the local sheriff arrested von Rosen and two compatriots at Karasjokk on February 1, 1917, impounding a large quantity of supplies, too. Søhr wanted them charged with illegal stockpiling of explosives. The three men were not cooperative prisoners. Stärky gave his name as Anders Pettersen. Emil Jokela carried a forged U.S. passport in the name of Charles Baker. Apparently, Graaf was still safely over the border in Karesuando, Sweden. The Baron was silent. Stärky, Jokela and the expedition's supplies were moved to nearby Vadso for trial. Baron von Rosen was transported to Kristiania.
On January 14, 1917, Baron von Rosen and Emil Jokela emerged from the winter darkness into a Norwegian bordertown called Karasjokk. Both were frostbitten and von Rosen had a painful wound on one foot. Nevertheless, the Baron telegraphed a report to Finnish rebel leaders in Stockholm, and pressed on.
Soon thereafter, Johannes Søhr received a telegram from an outpost of the Norwegian 6th Army Division in Kautokeino, a remote
village 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, reporting the presence of three suspicious foreigners. On Chief Søhr's orders, the local sheriff arrested von Rosen and two compatriots at Karasjokk on February 1, 1917, impounding a large quantity of supplies, too. Søhr wanted them charged with illegal stockpiling of explosives. The three men were not cooperative prisoners. Stärky gave his name as Anders Pettersen. Emil Jokela carried a forged U.S. passport in the name of Charles Baker. Apparently, Graaf was still safely over the border in Karesuando, Sweden. The Baron was silent. Stärky, Jokela and the expedition's supplies were moved to nearby Vadso for trial. Baron von Rosen was transported to Kristiania.
An inventory of the captured explosives included a can of magnesium powder, ten incendiary pencils, three rolls of fuses and three boxes of ignition caps. Otherwise, at first glance the expedition's equipage seemed rather modest, if a bit peculiar: a camera, a pistol, a rifle, several maps of Russia and Finland, von Rosen's diary, a bottle of mouthwash, a small flask, two boxes of sugar lumps and currency from Russia, Finland, and Sweden.
Eventually, Jokela confessed that he had been recruited by the Germans "to agitate" against the Russians in Finland. Stärky declared that their mission was to contact and smuggle money to German prisoners of war in Russia (excerpts in von Rosen's diary confirmed this objective). Von Rosen would only say that the expedition aimed to support Finnish independence. No one mentioned anthrax. All of their informal testimony agreed upon at least one thing: their assignment was not against Norway.
Regardless of Norway's neutrality, public opinion leaned strongly in favor of the Finnish rebels, so Norwegian politicians pushed to settle this sensitive case as quickly as possible. Twenty-one days after his arrest, von Rosen was deported to Sweden. Charges against Stärky and Jokela were dropped and the material evidence--which was still being held in Vadso--was forwarded to Søhr's counterintelligence office in Kristiania.
Days later, thorough inspection and chemical analysis of the captured equipment revealed the sinister nature of von Rosen's mission. Søhr's investigators were shocked to discover a relatively sophisticated arsenal of biological weapons. A tin can labelled "table salt" really contained a powerful explosive mixture of potassium chlorate "and some organic matter.” One lump of sugar was missing from each of the two boxes of sugar lumps. Every one of the remaining nineteen lumps in each box concealed a tiny glass ampule with anthrax in a few drops of some liquid medium. In addition, the captured bottle of mouthwash contained a yellow liquid rich in "toxic bacteria bullion," which Søhr's experts imagined was meant to be sprinkled over cattle fodder.
Although the Opdagelsespolitiet and Allied officials surmised that von Rosen's operation was managed and supplied separately from other German intelligence networks in Scandinavia, the shock of encountering biological agents on its own territory compelled Norway to take dramatic action. Four months after von Rosen's arrest, Norwegian police broke the diplomatic seals on the baggage of a courier for the German Foreign Ministry, Baron Walter von Rautenfels. Von Rautenfels' baggage contained "...a large supply of bombs, percussion heads, poisoned sugar [containing vials of anthrax] and apparatus for destroying machinery." For three years, Baron von Rautenfels had supplied a sizeable network of Scandinavian saboteurs and spies with explosives and biological agents brought in by diplomatic pouch. The network’s missions included planting bombs on American ships leaving Norwegian ports and smuggling munitions to Finnish rebels.
Soon thereafter, Johannes Søhr received a telegram from an outpost of the Norwegian 6th Army Division in Kautokeino, a remote
village 170 miles north of the Arctic Circle, reporting the presence of three suspicious foreigners. On Chief Søhr's orders, the local sheriff arrested von Rosen and two compatriots at Karasjokk on February 1, 1917, impounding a large quantity of supplies, too. Søhr wanted them charged with illegal stockpiling of explosives. The three men were not cooperative prisoners. Stärky gave his name as Anders Pettersen. Emil Jokela carried a forged U.S. passport in the name of Charles Baker. Apparently, Graaf was still safely over the border in Karesuando, Sweden. The Baron was silent. Stärky, Jokela and the expedition's supplies were moved to nearby Vadso for trial. Baron von Rosen was transported to Kristiania.
An inventory of the captured explosives included a can of magnesium powder, ten incendiary pencils, three rolls of fuses and three boxes of ignition caps. Otherwise, at first glance the expedition's equipage seemed rather modest, if a bit peculiar: a camera, a pistol, a rifle, several maps of Russia and Finland, von Rosen's diary, a bottle of mouthwash, a small flask, two boxes of sugar lumps and currency from Russia, Finland, and Sweden.
Eventually, Jokela confessed that he had been recruited by the Germans "to agitate" against the Russians in Finland. Stärky declared that their mission was to contact and smuggle money to German prisoners of war in Russia (excerpts in von Rosen's diary confirmed this objective). Von Rosen would only say that the expedition aimed to support Finnish independence. No one mentioned anthrax. All of their informal testimony agreed upon at least one thing: their assignment was not against Norway.
Regardless of Norway's neutrality, public opinion leaned strongly in favor of the Finnish rebels, so Norwegian politicians pushed to settle this sensitive case as quickly as possible. Twenty-one days after his arrest, von Rosen was deported to Sweden. Charges against Stärky and Jokela were dropped and the material evidence--which was still being held in Vadso--was forwarded to Søhr's counterintelligence office in Kristiania.
Days later, thorough inspection and chemical analysis of the captured equipment revealed the sinister nature of von Rosen's mission. Søhr's investigators were shocked to discover a relatively sophisticated arsenal of biological weapons. A tin can labelled "table salt" really contained a powerful explosive mixture of potassium chlorate "and some organic matter.” One lump of sugar was missing from each of the two boxes of sugar lumps. Every one of the remaining nineteen lumps in each box concealed a tiny glass ampule with anthrax in a few drops of some liquid medium. In addition, the captured bottle of mouthwash contained a yellow liquid rich in "toxic bacteria bullion," which Søhr's experts imagined was meant to be sprinkled over cattle fodder.
Although the Opdagelsespolitiet and Allied officials surmised that von Rosen's operation was managed and supplied separately from other German intelligence networks in Scandinavia, the shock of encountering biological agents on its own territory compelled Norway to take dramatic action. Four months after von Rosen's arrest, Norwegian police broke the diplomatic seals on the baggage of a courier for the German Foreign Ministry, Baron Walter von Rautenfels. Von Rautenfels' baggage contained "...a large supply of bombs, percussion heads, poisoned sugar [containing vials of anthrax] and apparatus for destroying machinery." For three years, Baron von Rautenfels had supplied a sizeable network of Scandinavian saboteurs and spies with explosives and biological agents brought in by diplomatic pouch. The network’s missions included planting bombs on American ships leaving Norwegian ports and smuggling munitions to Finnish rebels.
Copyright 2018, Jamie Bisher.