Australian Held Five Times As Spy Suspect

Northern Advocate, 28 May 1940, Page 10

Australian Held Five Times As Spy Suspect

Secret police activity against the formation of a Nazi “Fifth Column” in the Balkans resulted in an Australian being arrested five times on suspicion of being a spy. He is Mr Arthur Kerkenesov, 32, Australian-born science student, of Sydney University, who has returned by liner. Kerkenesov, whose father is Russian, had a breakdown in health after four years’ study, and went abroad for a holiday. Twice in Odessa (Russia) he was seized by the O.G.P.U. (Soviet secret police), and held for a day on each occasion. “I thought I was becoming a bit of a nuisance to the British Consul, who each time secured my release, so I moved on to Bulgaria,” said Kerkenesov. Seen Taking Photograph. “But in Sofia I was stopped twice and held as a spy. “My British passport, and the British Consul there, again got me free. “I went into the Bulgarian countryside, seeking peace for my shattered nerves. “But a secret agent saw me taking a photograph of a pastoral scene in a meadow, and I was again arrested. “My camera was taken each time and the films were developed,” he said. Kerkenesov then visited several friends in the A.I.F. in the Middle East. He was speaking to them with Mr Jacques Therenet, 19, a Frenchman, who lives in Sydney. “An Australian officer came up and ordered us away, and ordered our friends not to speak to us,” he said. To Serve France.

Therenet, son of a French woolbuyor in Sydoney, returned on the same ship from France. He will be called to the colours next year. “In France every man not in uniform but of military age is stopped in the street and put in the army,” he said. “I was stopped three times in Nice, and a companion, aged 25, was taken away by an official.” he added.