History
In the 1930s, Salon Kitty was a high-class brothel at 11 Giesebrechtstrasse in Charlottenburg, a wealthy district of Berlin. Its usual clientele included German dignitaries and foreign diplomats. Its owner and madame was Kitty Schmidt.
The idea to use Salon Kitty for espionage purposes came from Reinhard Heydrich, but SD chief Walter Schellenberg did most of the work. Instead of infiltrating the brothel, Schellenberg decided to take it over.
Kitty Schmidt had been sending money to British banks with fleeing refugees ever since the Nazis took power in Germany. When she eventually decided to leave the country on June 28, 1939, SD agents arrested her at the Dutch border and took her to Gestapo HQ. There Schellenberg made her an offer: either cooperate with the Nazis or be sent to a concentration camp.
The SD closed the brothel for repairs and refurbished it with numerous concealed microphones; wires from the microphones led to a cellar and from there to a room equipped with five monitoring desks and recording turntables. The idea was to entertain prominent guests with wine and women, so they would disclose secrets or talk about their real opinions.
Berlin's vice squad (the Sittenpolizei) arrested dozens of Berlin prostitutes and selected 20 as potential agents to work at Salon Kitty. They were put through seven weeks of rigorous indoctrination and training. Among other things, they were trained to recognize military uniforms, and to glean secrets from innocuous conversation. They were not told about the microphones but had to make a report after every encounter.
In March 1940, Schmidt was told to continue as if nothing had happened, except that now she had a special book of twenty additional girls she should show only to certain clients. If a customer used the phrase "I come from Rothenburg", she was instructed to show him the book, allow him make his decision and call for the girl he had selected. The girl would spend the night with the guest and depart later.
Read more about this topic: Salon Kitty
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