European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Aschaffenbur Ger g e s p Jetti c h e Johannes Gerfer a member of the German parliament said Germany received some of its key intelligence from Israel not its own agents. Moderator Guido Knopp Center sits with panel members once espionage enemies during the second Day of the spy symposium in Aschaffenbur Germany. One time enemies now talk show pals Leonid Sheb Arshin claims there were no murders kidnappings or cases of extortion during his reign As chief of the Kab. Byed Reavis staff writer a hat happened to All those spies Active 1 during the cold War did they just. Al in v Wither away like some of the a u communist governments and did the cloak and Dagger types in really indulge in nefarious skulduggery such As murder most by foul and revel in 007-like amorous adventure four former espionage Bosses gathered in Aschaffenbur Germany earlier this month to discuss their business in Public. And although the truth was t quite As exciting As fiction it certainly was t Boring either. Listeners Learned that Germany is still a hotbed of spies from All countries and that former East German agents in German governmental positions Are currently working for the Kab and the polish intelligence Agency. They also heard that the Kab still has faithful agents in the former soviet states who Are not satisfied with Independence. Old spies write books but this was a new wrinkle in their repertoire a talk show of sorts that could have been titled 5p/es r us. Under the auspices of the 17th annual Aschaffenbur talks the sex Bosses of intelligence services met for two Days to discuss the Power of espionage moderated by Guido Kopp a Well known German television historian. Among those on stage were Markus Wolf legendary spy master of the East German foreign intelligence service Leonid Sheb Arshin a former Kab chief Heribert Helle Broich former chief of a West German intelligence Agency and Alexander Schalk Glodkowski a former colonel in the East German intelligence Agency. Also present were Philip Knightley British cold War espionage expert and author of three books and Johannes Gerster member of the parliamentary committee that controls the three German intelligence agencies. Knightley said the key question for the spies and their Bosses was was it Worth it in my assessment All the cold War espionage was t Worth what it Cost in lives and they Are a threat to All governments even to democracies Knightley said. They really did t change or influence anything in the Long run intelligence services Are costly and have one main goal to expand and spend More Money. And there is no such thing As a Friendly intelligence service so the message is Don t allow your country to become playground for intelligence Wolf said he shared Knightley s assessment and that he saw no practical reason to have intelligence services in the future. Looking Back i can Only say that All my so called successes did nothing to save the former East Germany nor did All the Success of the Kab save the soviet Union he said. Is photos by Michael Abrams from 1958 to 1987, Wolf ran a network of some 500 agents who had infiltrated just about every institution in West Germany and other countries and betrayed their secrets. In addition his agents created a network of informants in West Germany that gave them ears and eyes everywhere in West German society from Bird Breeding clubs to labor unions and even the office of the German Chancellor. Wolf was successful in the use of so called Romeos and Juliet in Bonn the former wooed and became lovers of women in key jobs and the latter did the same with male politicians. Perhaps his most famous Case was that he succeeded in placing master spy Giinther Guillaume next to German Chancellor Willy Brandt. The discovery of Guillaume brought Down Brandt. Wolf claims he shot himself in the foot when they brought Brandt Down in 1974. Brandt was for detente and dialogue with the East and we could t have expected to improve relations with the West with a different Chancellor Wolf said. Wolf said he considered briton Kim Philby and american Aldrich Ames both Kab agents As More successful agents than he. He said Rainer Rupp also called Topaz and now on trial in Germany for Selling nato secrets delivered important information for judging the atmosphere in Western Europe. Continued on Page 22 Alexander Schalk Glodkowski says he was not a spy just a middleman who secured hard currency and machine parts for East Germany. Convicted agent says he did no harm to . Byed Reavis y staff writer ans Georg Muller s sedate soft spoken manner and almost Milquetoast appearance makes him an unlikely spy. But the 72-year-old Muller was Given a two year suspended sentence by a German court in july for spying on the . Army s v corps for East Germany Over 19 years. The court in Frankfurt Germany that sentenced him considered him a Small player but nevertheless a piece of a pattern that spelled betrayal. A spokeswoman for v corps said it would not comment on the Case. Muller was caught after the fall of the Iron curtain when a former East German agent revealed to Western authorities the names of 143 persons in the West working for him. Muller agreed to talk about his Case because he thinks the punishment he received far outweighs the crime he committed. It s All exaggerated Muller said the whole thing is so ridiculously minor i m surprised it even got into a court. This whole East West thing is Over and it should be dropped from the no doubt about it Muller was a spy. He passed on books describing army jobs or military occupational specialities to East German agents. Muller said it All began before he started to work for the engineering department at v corps in 1968. His official title in his american Job was Engineer and project coordinator. Before going to v corps in 1968,i worked for a Frankfurt firm that had an american License on a special system for moving synthetics internally from one part of a factory to another Muller said. The americans had sold several of these systems to East Germany and we serviced them for the american Muller said he had been working with the special systems about half a year when he received a mysterious letter from a company in. East Berlin Huber pkg asking about the systems he serviced. The letter invited him to their offices on Rosenthaler Strasse in East Berlin. Muller said he thought it had something to do with his business but could t imagine what they wanted because the company was unknown in the Trade. I went to the Rosenthaler Strasse address but there was t anyone there. I put our brochures in their Mailbox Muller said. I asked around the building about the company but no one knew anything about it. I thought this was fishy so i reported it to the West Berlin Security people. The Wiesbaden Federal criminal office told me they knew the address and that it was used by the East German state Security people Stasi. They also asked me to draw a sketch of the building and what i had that was the end of that Muller said until he began working for the americans. He said he told his Boss about his experience in East Berlin. The americans wanted to know More. First they interrogated me in Frankfurt and then asked me to renew the contacts with the East. I contacted the Huber pkg in East Berlin and began a series of meetings under instructions from the americans. My first Contact was at Friedric Strasse 2 in 1970. They wanted anything i could get concerning the German military bund Esteh armaments political parties and the . Muller said he supplied them with material that the americans gave him for that purpose Telephone books mos manuals and a lot of stuff from the trash bin and they the East germans knew it for what it was rather Muller said the East knew so much about the . Military that he believed they must have had a lot of informants working for them. Muller said his spy activity usually involved flying to Berlin with an envelope of material to be photocopied. I d meet my Contact in the restaurant Bukarest and is de reals Hans Georg Muller with some of his Lead soldiers behind him explains his Days As a pass the material. I also would Deposit a piece of Luggage at the Friedric Strasse baggage storage and they would pick it Muller said he usually met with the agents in East Berlin but they sometimes also met in Erfurt. When Muller had original material they would photograph it and return the original to him. " v Muller said the american interest in his activity was to find out who the East agents were. It was pretty amateurish. The � agents were so Clumsy i was near a heart attack several times. Once in a restaurant their agent photographed us with a such a loud clicking camera that i thought the East German had to know what was Muller admits that he began Selling information to the East without the knowledge of the americans around the end of the 1970s. It was mos books material that is purchasable in the United states. What was so secret about that that s All i could have gotten my hands on anyway he said Muller said he decided to betray the americans after an experience in the Abrams building in 1978. I was invited upstairs to a room Over the Abrams building ballroom which must have been used for lectures and strategy demonstrations he said. I watched a group of Drunken american officers play War in a Sandbox located in the Blue Salon of the Abrams Complex. They were so drunk they either forgot that i was German or did t know it. I was shocked Ana sickened As they played a red army attack on the West through the the americans Muller said began to destroy dams without consideration for the population and then they unleashed a nuclear attack on the advancing red army and theoretically wiped out Hundred of thousands of germans. They also setup concentration Camps for people against their policies. That night was the final Straw. As an East prussian i had always been pro american but that changed my the German court did not accept Muller s Story As a justification for what he had done nor did it place much credence in the Story. The court also claimed Muller tried to Contact the soviets after the fall of the East German government. That s ridiculous he said i went to the soviet Mission in Frankfurt to try to sell them models historic military figures for the firm i represent. I sold two Muller represents the French firm Hist Orex and has a private collection of thousands of historical Lead soldiers of which he is very proud. I be been Selling Hist Orex figures for several years. I advertise in collectors magazines attend fairs and it s a fairly Good business. An did a feature on my collection Muller said. But the court doubted his motives. For his service to the East Muller said he received Between 200 and 500 Marks for each delivery or $133 to $333 at the time and he delivered about every six to eight weeks since 1978. I used the Money for my son s education Muller said. I was never paid the 100,000 Marks the court claims i 20 the stars and stripes monday november 14,1994 the stars and stripes 21
