Ernst Johann Hausamann (informally Hans Hausamann; 6 March 1897 – 17 December 1974) was a Swiss photographer, businessman, and freemason who later became an intelligence officer.
Hausamann's father was a photographer, and when Hausamann grew up he became an amateur photographer himself. He joined the Swiss Militia during World War I and this established his political character. He was initially opposed to left-wing politics and supported a strong military. After the war, he opened a specialist photography business and published an associated magazine, that eventually led the company to work for the Swiss press. During the early 1930's, he worked in the militia's education film service, where he created films that promoted a strong military. With the approach of Nazism, Hausamann was initially sympathetic to the Third Reich but realised the danger to Swiss sovereignty and began to resist. In 1935, he began offering his press service to the Swiss Militia with a focus on military intelligence. In 1936, the General staff sent Hausamann for military training at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin.[1] In 1939, he became the defence policy advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland.[2] In the lead up to the war, he recognised that the militia lacked a competent military intelligence agency and this led to the founding the Büro Ha, an intelligence agency that was established in September 1939, disguised as a press cuttings agency.[2][3]
In July 1940, Hausamann established the Officers League together with Alfred Ernst, Max Waibel and August R. Lindt,[4] an organisation designed to offer unconditional resistance to the Nazis. This was in response to speech by Marcel Pilet-Golaz, that referenced the coming of an authoritarian regime in Switzerland.[5] When it was dissolved by Henri Guisan, Hausamann along with August R. Lindt, created the secret paramilitary organization "Aktion Nationaler Widerstand", a civilian organisation designed to strengthen the militia against Nazism.[6]
After the war, he lectured on military history at University of St. Gallen. He returned to working in his business and as a keen horse rider, established a number of horse riding tournaments.[7]
- ^ Campbell, Kenneth J. (2011). "A Swiss Spy". American Intelligence Journal. 29 (2). National Military Intelligence Foundation: 159–162. JSTOR 26201964.
- ^ a b "NL Hans Hausamann". AfZ Online Collections Archiv für Zeitgeschichte (in German). Zürich: ETH Zurich. 7 February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Kesaris, Paul. L, ed. (1979). The Rote Kapelle: the CIA's history of Soviet intelligence and espionage networks in Western Europe, 1936-1945 (pdf). Washington DC: University Publications of America. pp. 213, 215, 225. ISBN 0-89093-203-4. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
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