In 1963, Stig Winnerstom, one of Sweden's most notorious superspies, was arrested by the Swedish secret police on a bridge in central Stockholm for being his family's beautiful maid.
On June 13, 1952, a Swedish "transport plane" was attacked by Soviet fighters during its 27th reconnaissance mission, killing all eight people on board.
The incident immediately sparked an international backlash, and everyone was questioning why the USSR was attacking a neutral country.
But the Soviet response was domineering, pointing out that the plane was actually a spy plane and had to be shot down!
And to unveil this thrilling incident, we have to start with a Swede named Stig Wennastrom.
Born in 1906 and a soldier for generations, Stig had a dream of becoming a dentist since he was a child, but fate played a joke on him, and he had a pair of short, clumsy hands that made it impossible to perform delicate dental operations. In the end, Steig chose to join the army, following in the footsteps of his fathers.
Stig started out as an ordinary officer, but during the 1940s he was allowed to travel to Moscow as an Air Force ambassador attaché. There, he not only learned Russian, but also made friends with some Soviet officials, laying the groundwork for the future betrayal of state secrets.
When Steig returned to Moscow in 1948, he was thoroughly targeted by Soviet intelligence, who saw Steger's multilingualism and, more importantly, his lack of loyalty.
It turned out that in the early years, Steig was hit by a promotion due to poor flight command, which traumatized his self-esteem and became increasingly resentful of his country. So when the Soviets extended an olive branch to him, Stig gladly accepted the espionage job.
No one expected that this officer, who was well-born and of good character, would turn his back on the country and give his life to the "enemy" of the Soviet Union.
As a Swedish colonel, Steig began leaking military secrets to the Soviet Union in large quantities, from missile launch programs to air defense control systems, and he even betrayed Sweden's secret signal-tracking agreement with the United States, inflicting tens of millions of losses on the Swedish military.
What's even more astonishing is that Steig also revealed how Sweden assisted Western countries in spying on Soviet espionage, and in 1960, he even informed the Soviet Union that American nuclear submarines were roaming in Swedish waters and could launch a strike on Moscow at any time.
However, even if it is well hidden, the evil will eventually be discovered, and a Swedish policeman disguised as a maid manages to infiltrate Steger's home and find a large number of classified documents in the attic.
Finally, in 1963, at the age of 57, Stig was arrested in central Stockholm and sentenced to life imprisonment the following year.
It wasn't until 1974 that Steig regained his freedom due to his good behavior.
Some have speculated that Stig may have been coerced by the Soviet Union, as there are indications that he had spied for Nazi Germany during World War II. If you don't agree to serve the Soviet Union, this black history will be made public.
But Steig himself gave another explanation: he betrayed intelligence to promote world peace, maintain military parity, and avoid the outbreak of war.
It sounds noble, but it's also ironic, after all, few people can be truly religious in the face of the lure of money and power.
Whatever the motives, Steger's actions are undoubtedly a great betrayal of Sweden. As soon as this shocking case was exposed, the Swedish people were shocked, and it was really unacceptable that a high-ranking official and dignitary would do such an "unimaginable" thing.
In turbulent times, everyone can make mistakes again and again, and eventually go astray, like Stig, who came from a prominent background and came from an extraordinary family, no one could have imagined that he would betray his country and collude with the Soviet Union.
Source: "Sweden's most notorious superspy sent to prison by maid" World News
