Mata Hari's Story: Sentenced To Death For Being A German Spy

Illustration (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - On July 25, 1917, exotic dancer Mata Hari was sentenced to death by a French court. Mata Hari received the sentence for being shown to be a spy for Germany during World War I.

Launching History, Saturday, July 25, the woman whose real name is Margueretha Gertruida Zelle was born in a small town in northern Holland. She was previously married to a captain in the Dutch army and lives as a dancer in Paris, France. Using the stage name Mata Hari, she claims to have been born in a sacred Indian temple and was taught ancient Indian dance by a priestess who gave her the name.

Her exotic dances quickly earned Mata Hari fans all over Europe. Mata Hari also frequently moves to perform, from Moscow to Berlin to Madrid, mainly because of her willingness to dance naked in public.

Mata Hari also became a high-class sex worker and with the outbreak of World War I, she had many "customers" including high-ranking military officers and political figures from France and Germany.

The allegations of spying during the war are still unclear. It is said that when Mata Hari was in the Netherlands in 1916, she was offered cash by the German consulate to report information on France. It appears that British intelligence discovered the details of the arrangement and passed them on to their French counterparts. However, Mata Hari was arrested in Paris in February 1917.

Under interrogation by French military intelligence, Mata Hari herself admitted that she had provided information, but that the information was out of date. He passed the information on to a German intelligence officer.

However, Mata Hari claims she was also paid to act as a French spy in Belgium then controlled by Germany, although she has not informed the French of her previous ties to the German consulate.

Upon examination, Mata Hari appeared to be acting as a double agent. However, Germany apparently removed Mata Hari's name as a spy because it was considered an ineffective agent. Mata Hari is also thought to have produced little intelligence value.

Mata Hari was last tried in a military court and sentenced to death and death by firing squad. As the Times of London reported on October 15, 1917.

Before being sentenced to death, Mata Hari had a habit of meeting German spies who were notorious outside of France. He is shown to have communicated important information to them, in return for him receiving large sums of money since May 1916.

However, her trial was fraught with bias, many of whom believed the French government and the press, made Mata Hari the "greatest female spy of the century" to distract from the heavy losses suffered by the French army.

Many people see Mata Hari as a victim because she has to give up her career as a dancer and high-class sex worker, while France simply makes her a scapegoat. Mata Hari is now one of the most glamorous figures who have emerged from the shadow world of espionage. He is also the archetype of female spies.