Georg Bell

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Georg Bell (21 July 1898 - 3 April 1933) was a German engineer, counterfeiter, and spy. A close friend and ally of Ernst Röhm, Bell most notably worked as a personal agent of Röhm's to help build a large-scale Sturmabteilung (SA) network. Born in Nuremberg to a family of Scottish descent, Bell graduated from the Higher Technical School of Nuremberg in electrical engineering in 1921, where he first met Röhm as both were members of the paramilitary organization Reichsflagge. Although for a few years he worked as an engineer in Munich and Nuremberg, his personal life was upended after the revelation of the Chervontsen Affair in 1928. The affair alleged that Bell and other right-wing German spies attempted to destabilize the Soviet Union by triggering extreme inflation by flooding the state with counterfeit Chervonets. After a lengthy and public trial, Bell was found guilty and was issued a small fine, although it led to a wider consequence of senior Nazis having a negative impression of Bell. Subsequently, in 1929, an arrest warrant was issued against Bell in Bavaria for another trial. This time the trial was for betraying military secrets, which reportedly happened after Bell tried to unmask a French spy. The trial ended with Bell getting charged, although much of the details of the trial were destroyed. By 1930, Bell was considered heavily undesirable due to his double convictions, and had significant trouble finding work as an engineer. In November 1930, Bell and Röhm reunited and subsequently in April 1931 a formal pact was made for Bell to be Röhm's personal agent. He was instructed to set up a large-scale SA spy network, create an SA press office and newspaper, establish a propaganda office, and distance the SA from the rest of the NSDAP. Bell did this through the...