Latest news with #ConstantineDobrowolski
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Blaise Metreweli: MI6 distances new chief from Nazi grandfather
MI6 has cast distance between its new chief and her grandfather, who was this week revealed to have been a Nazi spy known as "the butcher".Blaise Metreweli was announced as the incoming head of the Secret Intelligence Service earlier this month. She will be its first female "C" in its 116-year little known about her wider backstory, several newspapers reported on Friday that her grandfather was Constantine Dobrowolski, who defected from Soviet Russia's Red Army to become the Nazis' chief informant in Chernihiv, the Foreign Office, which speaks on behalf of MI6, said Ms Metreweli "neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather". A spokesperson added: "Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood."It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6."The Daily Mail, which first revealed the family link, reports that it found hundreds of pages of documents in an archive in Freiburg, Germany, which showed Mr Dobrowolski was known as "The Butcher" or "Agent No 30" by Wehrmacht reportedly signed off letters to his Nazi superiors with "Heil Hitler" and said he "personally" took part in "the extermination of the Jews".The archive documents are said to suggest Mr Dobrowolski looted the bodies of Holocaust victims, was involved in the murdering of local Jews, and laughed while watching the sexual assault of female the war, Mr Dobrowolski's wife, Barbara, and two-month-old son fled to Britain, and she married David Metreweli in 1947. Her son took his stepfather's name, but the Mail reports that on some official documents his surname was still Dobrowolski's son would go on to be a radiologist and UK armed forces veteran, and his daughter, Ms Metreweli, was born in 1977. She has not responded to the recent reports joined MI6 - which gathers intelligence overseas - in 1999, and is currently responsible for technology and innovation there. She will be the agency's 18th head when she takes over later this year from Sir Richard Moore, a senior civil servant. Upon her appointment, she said in a statement that she was "proud and honoured" to have been asked to Metreweli is a Cambridge graduate, a rower and has previously had operational roles in the Middle East and Europe.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
New MI6 chief's grandfather was Nazi spy, documents reveal
The new MI6 chief is reportedly the granddaughter of a Nazi spy known as the 'butcher', according to unearthed documents. Blaise Metreweli made history as she was appointed as the first ever female head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 earlier this month. But according to German archives, seen by the Daily Mail, her grandfather was Constantine Dobrowolski, a Nazi spy known as the 'butcher'. Mr Dobrowolski was a Ukrainian who reportedly defected from the Red Army to become the Nazi's chief informant in the region of Chernihiv. Ms Metreweli never met her grandfather as he stayed in Nazi-occupied Ukraine while his family fled the Red Army liberation of the region in 1943. The documents held in Freiburg, Germany describe how Mr Dobrowolski was dubbed 'Agent 30' by his Nazi commanders. Born to a German-Polish father and a Ukrainian mother in 1906, the Daily Mail reports he hated the Soviet Union when his family's estate was seized after the 1917 revolution. He joined the Nazis in 1941, and was paid a monthly wage of just 81 Reichsmark, around £250 today, for spying. In letters to his Nazi officers, he signed off 'Heil Hitler' and said he took part in a massacre of Jewish people near Kyiv. The Daily Mail reported that there are also accounts of him looting the bodies of Holocaust victims and laughing at the sexual assault of female prisoners. The Soviets put a 50,000-rouble – the equivalent of £200,000 today – bounty on Mr Dobrowolski and labelled him 'the worst enemy of the Ukrainian people'. He remained in Nazi-occupied Ukraine after his family fled the Soviet advance in 1943. The last record of him is from August 1943, a month before the Red Army took Chernihiv. After the war, his wife, Barbara, and son, Constantine, arrived in Britain. Barbara remarried and Constantine - Ms Metreweli's father - took his stepfather's name. Neither he nor Ms Metreweli knew his father. Ms Metreweli is a career intelligence officer, having joined the secret intelligence service in 1999, shortly after graduating from Pembroke College, Cambridge. Most of her career has been spent in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe. A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'
Metro
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Metro
New MI6 chief's grandfather was Nazi spy who boasted of 'exterminating Jews'
The grandfather of the incoming chief of MI6 was a leading Nazi collaborator who boasted of killing Jews, it has been reported. Blaise Metreweli, 47, is set to become the first ever female head of the agency after 26 years serving it in Europe and the Middle East. She is the granddaughter of Constantine Dobrowolski, a Ukrainian who infiltrated the Red Army to become an informant for the Germans, according to the Daily Mail. German archive documents unearthed by the newspaper show he was known to Wermacht commanders as 'Agent No. 30' or 'The Butcher'. He was said to have sent letters to superiors saying he 'personally' took part 'in the extermination of the Jews', signing off with 'Heil Hitler!'. Soviet leaders placed a bounty equivalent to £200,000 in today's money for the mole, whom they called the 'worst enemy of the Ukrainian people'. Dobrowolski, born to a German-Polish father and Ukrainian mother in 1906, was said to have vowed revenge on the Soviets after they destroyed his home and killed most of his family during the Ukrainian-Soviet war when he was 11. As an adult he spent 10 years in a Siberian prison camp for dissidence, antisemitism and concealing his ancestry. When the Germans invaded Ukraine in 1941, he joined the Red Army, later writing to his spy handlers that he used the 'panic' to get himself sent to the front despite his 'political unreliability'. That gave him an easy opportunity to defect to the Germans, serving in an SS tank unit and apparently taking part in the ethnic cleansing of Jews in occupied Kyiv. Ms Metreweli never met her grandfather, who stayed in Ukraine when his family fled the Soviet reclaimed Ukraine from German occupation in 1943. Reports indicate her father was also named Constantine Dobrowolski but also used the surname Metreweli after moving to the UK. More Trending Beka Kobakhidze, a Georgian historian who uncovered the family tree, told the Telegraph the revelation will likely become 'a favourite talking point for Kremlin propagandists for years to come'. A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. 'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
New MI6 chief's grandfather was Nazi spy, documents reveal
The new MI6 chief is reportedly the granddaughter of a Nazi spy known as the 'butcher', according to unearthed documents. Blaise Metreweli made history as she was appointed as the first ever female head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 earlier this month. But according to German archives, seen by the Daily Mail, her grandfather was Constantine Dobrowolski, a Nazi spy known as the 'butcher'. Mr Dobrowolski was a Ukrainian who reportedly defected from the Red Army to become the Nazi's chief informant in the region of Chernihiv. Ms Metreweli never met her grandfather as he stayed in Nazi-occupied Ukraine while his family fled the Red Army liberation of the region in 1943. The documents held in Freiburg, Germany describe how Mr Dobrowolski was dubbed 'Agent 30' by his Nazi commanders. Born to a German-Polish father and a Ukrainian mother in 1906, the Daily Mail reports he hated the Soviet Union when his family's estate was seized after the 1917 revolution. He joined the Nazis in 1941, and was paid a monthly wage of just 81 Reichsmark, around £250 today, for spying. In letters to his Nazi officers, he signed off 'Heil Hitler' and said he took part in a massacre of Jewish people near Kyiv. The Daily Mail reported that there are also accounts of him looting the bodies of Holocaust victims and laughing at the sexual assault of female prisoners. The Soviets put a 50,000-rouble – the equivalent of £200,000 today – bounty on Mr Dobrowolski and labelled him 'the worst enemy of the Ukrainian people'. He remained in Nazi-occupied Ukraine after his family fled the Soviet advance in 1943. The last record of him is from August 1943, a month before the Red Army took Chernihiv. After the war, his wife, Barbara, and son, Constantine, arrived in Britain. Barbara remarried and Constantine - Ms Metreweli's father - took his stepfather's name. Neither he nor Ms Metreweli knew his father. Ms Metreweli is a career intelligence officer, having joined the secret intelligence service in 1999, shortly after graduating from Pembroke College, Cambridge. Most of her career has been spent in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe. A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'
Malay Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
From Hitler's spy to Britain's next spy chief: Metreweli family's espionage past emerges
LONDON, June 27 — Britain's incoming MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli is facing uncomfortable scrutiny after revelations surfaced linking her paternal grandfather to Nazi war crimes in Ukraine during World War II. Metreweli, who is set to become the first woman to lead the Secret Intelligence Service, was widely praised for her intelligence, discretion, and exemplary service record when her appointment was announced earlier this month, according to a report in Mail Online. But German archives have revealed that her grandfather, Constantine Dobrowolski, was a Nazi collaborator and local intelligence chief in the Ukrainian region of Chernihiv, known for spying and killing on behalf of Hitler's regime. 'Captain Dobrowolski is a convinced opponent of Bolshevism and, accordingly, the most hated man among the Bolsheviks,' a German military assessment stated, praising his 'excellent reconnaissance' and branding him a 'talented gang fighter'. Dobrowolski, born in 1906, defected from the Red Army in 1941 and assisted the Nazis in tracking down resistance fighters and organising the extermination of Jewish communities, according to hundreds of pages of wartime documents. Metreweli, 47, never knew her grandfather, who remained in Ukraine as her grandmother fled west with their infant son — Metreweli's father — in 1943. The family later settled in the UK, adopting the stepfather's surname, Metreweli. While these revelations have no bearing on Metreweli's personal actions or loyalties, they risk becoming ammunition for Kremlin propaganda efforts, particularly as Russia seeks to label Ukraine and its allies as neo-Nazis. Professor Beka Kobakhidze of Ilia State University in Georgia warned the story would likely be exploited: 'I can say with confidence that this will become a favourite talking point for Kremlin propagandists for years to come.' Russia's state-aligned media has already speculated on Metreweli's Ukrainian roots, attempting to conflate her heritage with Nazi sympathies — a narrative experts fear could intensify as her profile rises. The Foreign Office responded by affirming Metreweli's dedication to public service: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather... her commitment to protect the British public stems from a complex heritage marked by conflict.' Metreweli has served in senior roles across MI6, MI5, and the Foreign Office, with a career that spans high-stakes operations in Europe and the Middle East since the early 2000s. As she prepares to assume the role of 'C', the head of MI6, Metreweli's past underscores the reality that while individuals can shape their destinies, they cannot choose their lineage — a truth not lost on Britain's intelligence community.
