In a world of spies and con-artists, deceptions and double-crosses, Baron Rudolf von Koenig conned, manipulated and blackmailed his way around the world. But the fraudster also played a vital part in helping the Allies crack the German Enigma code and win WWII.
In a nondescript hotel in Belgium in 1931, a transaction takes place between a seasoned spy and his new contact. The contact opens the briefcase he has carried on the train from Berlin; it is full of documents, including one that will change the course of a war that won’t begin for another eight years. The manual for the German Enigma machine.
The contact was Hans-Thilo Schmidt. The spy’s name, however, was up for debate. He had been known as Rudolf Stallmann, Rudolf Lemoine and the Baron Rudolf von Koenig. To Schmidt, he was known simply as Rex.
But he was at the end of a long career that had its own amazing story. He had been a petty thief, a con-artist, a blackmailer and a jewel thief. Naturally charismatic, he had an amusing anecdote for any occasion, though should you play cards with him, you were dicing with danger.
But there was one game that he loved playing above all else — the game of espionage. Would the Germans track down the leak in their ranks? Would they be able to find the agent helping him? And what would happen to them if they were caught?
00.00 Introduction
02.20 Belgian connection
04.42 Agent Rex’s real name
07.03 Dubious beginnings
13.11 A Wilde link
19.26 Waiting out WWI in Spain
22.03 Interwar espionage
23.50 Solving the Enigma puzzle
28.19 Wire-tapping and Gestapo
30.44 WWII is declared
32.27 Koenig is captured
34.00 Shadow of an elite agent
Hosted by Marion Langford. Follow on Instagram or check out the website at ratbagsandroustabouts.com. Do you know a story that the history books forgot? Let us know about it!
In a world of spies and con-artists, deceptions and double-crosses, Baron Rudolf von Koenig conned, manipulated and blackmailed his way around the world. But the fraudster also played a vital part in helping the Allies crack the German Enigma code and win WWII.
In a nondescript hotel in Belgium in 1931, a transaction takes place between a seasoned spy and his new contact. The contact opens the briefcase he has carried on the train from Berlin; it is full of documents, including one that will change the course of a war that won’t begin for another eight years. The manual for the German Enigma machine.
The contact was Hans-Thilo Schmidt. The spy’s name, however, was up for debate. He had been known as Rudolf Stallmann, Rudolf Lemoine and the Baron Rudolf von Koenig. To Schmidt, he was known simply as Rex.
But he was at the end of a long career that had its own amazing story. He had been a petty thief, a con-artist, a blackmailer and a jewel thief. Naturally charismatic, he had an amusing anecdote for any occasion, though should you play cards with him, you were dicing with danger.
But there was one game that he loved playing above all else — the game of espionage. Would the Germans track down the leak in their ranks? Would they be able to find the agent helping him? And what would happen to them if they were caught?
00.00 Introduction
02.20 Belgian connection
04.42 Agent Rex’s real name
07.03 Dubious beginnings
13.11 A Wilde link
19.26 Waiting out WWI in Spain
22.03 Interwar espionage
23.50 Solving the Enigma puzzle
28.19 Wire-tapping and Gestapo
30.44 WWII is declared
32.27 Koenig is captured
34.00 Shadow of an elite agent
Hosted by Marion Langford. Follow on Instagram or check out the website at ratbagsandroustabouts.com. Do you know a story that the history books forgot? Let us know about it!