Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War
Declassified files on her Abwehr connection; contested by the house.
Summary
Hal Vaughan, a former journalist and intelligence officer, used French, German, British and American archives to document Gabrielle Chanel's activities during the German occupation of France. The book's central claim is that Chanel was recruited as an agent of the Abwehr, German military intelligence, with the number F-7124 and the codename Westminster.
The documentary basis includes German intelligence records, French postwar investigation files and Allied intelligence reports. Vaughan documents her relationship with Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a German intelligence officer, her residence at the Ritz during the occupation, her attempt in 1941 to use the Vichy racial laws to take control of the Chanel perfume company from the Wertheimer family who owned most of it, and her participation in Operation Modellhut in 1943, an attempt to open a peace channel to Winston Churchill through her Spanish and British connections.
Vaughan also covers why she faced no serious consequence: she was questioned after the liberation and released quickly, and he examines the various explanations offered, including intervention by Churchill and the destruction of files. The book was contested by the Chanel company on publication and Vaughan's interpretation of some documents has been questioned, particularly on the extent of her operational activity as opposed to her associations. The documentary record of the perfume company attempt and of the Modellhut mission is not seriously disputed.
Key takeaways 7
- German intelligence files record Chanel as an agent with an assigned number and codename.
- Chanel attempted to use Vichy racial legislation to take control of the perfume company from its Jewish owners.
- She participated in a 1943 German attempt to open a peace channel to Churchill through her British connections.
- Chanel lived at the Ritz throughout the occupation with a German intelligence officer, which required official approval.
- She faced questioning after the liberation and no prosecution, and Vaughan examines the intervention that may explain this.
- The Wertheimer family financed her postwar return to fashion despite her attempt to expropriate them, because the name retained commercial value.
- Vaughan's interpretation of the operational significance of some documents has been contested, though the documents themselves are established.
Who should read it
Readers of the Chanel business story who want the documented wartime record that brand histories omit.
Where it sits in the reference 2
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