Mata Hari: The Famous Spy Who Refused to Be Blindfolded Before Her Execution

On the morning of October 15, 1917, a grey military vehicle left the main prison of Paris. Inside was a 41-year-old Dutch woman dressed in a long coat and wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

A decade earlier, this woman had captivated the capitals of Europe. She was a blazing flame, unmatched in dance, and among her admirers were ministers, industrialists, and military generals.

But then World War I broke out, changing the world forever. The woman still believed she could dazzle all of Europe with her charm. But now, the men in high places wanted something else from her — not her affection, but information.

Her crime? She was accused of being a spy who seduced Allied officers, extracted secrets from them, and passed them on to the German army. Newspapers sensationalized the stories, claiming that thousands of Allied soldiers had died because of Mata Hari.

But the evidence presented in court told a different story. In reality, she was a double agent, made a scapegoat.

About four years ago, the French Ministry of Defense released some documents revealing new details about one of history's most famous spies, previously hidden from the world.

These included interrogation records from 1917 involving Mata Hari. Some of these have been put on display in the Fries Museum in Mata Hari’s hometown of Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

These documents include a telegram sent from the German military attaché in Madrid to Berlin, which led to Mata Hari’s arrest.

Margaretha Zelle was born in 1876. It is said her famous name Mata Hari comes from the Indonesian language, meaning “Eye of the Day,” or the Sun.

After marrying young and then separating, she rose to fame in Paris as a dancer. Hans Groeneweg, curator of the Fries Museum, says:
"Even without the espionage, Mata Hari would be remembered for what she did in Europe’s capitals at the beginning of the last century."

"She practically invented striptease. We have photographs and newspaper clippings of her. She was a celebrity of her time."

Today, Mata Hari is remembered only as a spy. In recent years, several historians have come to her defense. Some argue that she was sacrificed to give the French government an excuse for its repeated military failures during the war.

Feminist activists say she was an easy target because of her "immoral character", which made it easier to label her as an “enemy of France.”

New documents reveal that Mata Hari established a relationship with German military attaché Arnold von Kalle in Madrid. At the time, she was working for French intelligence, aiming to track German networks.

However, von Kalle sent a telegram to Germany, which exposed Mata Hari. The telegram mentioned a German spy codenamed H-21. It included an address, bank details, and even the name of Mata Hari’s maid. French officials had no difficulty believing that H-21 was Mata Hari.

That telegram is also part of the exhibit. Or more accurately, the official French translation of the telegram is available, and this is where things begin to seem suspicious.

The telegram was coded, but the French had already cracked German codes long ago. The Germans also knew that the French could read their secret messages.

In other words, the Germans deliberately sent that telegram, knowing the French would intercept it and execute their own spy.

But there’s another theory.

Why is there only a translation on record? Where is the original telegram? Is it possible that the French fabricated the telegram themselves to arrest Mata Hari and boast about catching a “dangerous spy”?

Whether the Germans orchestrated it or the French, Mata Hari was the one who got trapped.

The documents also include Mata Hari’s confession. She told her interrogators that she indeed worked as a German spy, but only for money, and that her loyalties lay with the Allied forces.

However, no one believed her.

She was taken to Château de Vincennes, located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, where 12 soldiers with rifles were waiting for her.

Some reports claim that Mata Hari refused to be blindfolded. She waved goodbye to her lawyer, the commander lowered his sword, and the crack of 12 rifles filled the air. Mata Hari fell at her own feet.

No one came to claim her body. She was handed over to a medical college in Paris, where her body was used to teach anatomy to students. Her head was preserved in the Museum of Anatomy, but 20 years ago, it disappeared. Someone had stolen it.