AS IT ACTUALLY IS

Evening Star, Issue 23129, 1 December 1938, Page 7

AS IT ACTUALLY IS

WAYS OF MODERN ESPIONAGE THE NAZE SECRET SERVICE A REMARKABLE ORGANISATION In these days when headlines are full of indictments of German spies in the United States, in some of my conversations with American friends t have been told: “ All this sounds rather unreal to us; we do not believe in the existence of the man with false whiskers” (writes Fritz Max Cahen). To a certain extent, my American friends are right. The man with false whiskers, who glides through the foggy night, who overcomes his victim with treacherous rays, and turns over the stolen documents to his mysterious emEloyer, a ghost-like cripple, who in turn ands him a cheque for millions—this man belongs in the detective stories and in movie thrillers. He does not belong in the picture of espionage, as it actually is. It is one of the first tasks of the modern spy to appear natural and to avoid calling attention to himself. His ultimate success depends largely upon whether he can succeed in this. Modern espionage is not identical with romantic disguises. Its means are much more prosaic; a refined psychology, ruthlessness, organisation, and a highly technical apparatus. The man with false whiskers does not satisfy any of these four conditions. Modern espionage is too refined to have any place for him. CASE OF GRIEBL. The case of Dr Griebl—one of the former heads of the “ Gernlan-Ameri-can Bund,” who recently escaped from New York, where he was due to appear as one of the principal witnesses in the German spy scandal which has been filling the American papers—has unveiled only a modest part of the German espionage system, the most harmless and the least dangerous. From the revelations of the Press, which named Captain von Bonin as the chief wirepuller in'Germany, it appears that it was the affair of the intelligence service of the German navy. Even in peacetime the secret work of such official departments is quite usual in most European States. Germany carries it on to-day more than before the war because during the war it became evident that the preparations made by the Imperial Army in this field had been entirely inadequate. The following explanation of this fact may be offered: The espionage service of the German army, the ill-famed Department 111. B, was originally a subdivision of Department 111. of the j operation division of the General Staff. This Department HI. was the French department, German pre-war spying being chiefly directed against France. At its head was Colonel Nikolai, a sinister, fishy-eyed individual, who was the real organiser of the spy system before and during the war, and the man chiefly responsible for acts of sabotage in the United States during those years. He was dismissed after the war, and Department TIL B was reduced to a minimum; it specialised in counter-espionage. “ PRIVATE ” BUREAUX. Colonel Nikolai used this involuntary period of rest to reorganise German spying by means of “private” burea^.

which were financed by the steel industry. The best known of these private bureaux was the “ German Overseas Service,’' allegedly a news agency, which maintained an office in the “ Telegraphen Union,” a news-service which was also financed by heavy industry. Most of its “ reporters ” were former officers of the German army and navy. Almost all of them are now reinstated in the German espionage service.

Nikolai had. a threefold objective in his reorganisation of the German military secret service. First of all, he wanted to bring up a group of thoroughly trained intelligence officers and agents, the lack of which had proved disastrous during the war. Secondly, he wished to protect Germany from foreign espionage. Herein belongs one of his favourite ideas: the creation of a central forging bureau in the German War Ministry, such as he. had set up toward the end of the war. The products of this forgery institute were to be smuggled into the hands of foreign agents in order to deceive them concerning the true status of German war preparation and to mislead foreign general staffs.

Finally, Nikolai was striving to perfect as much as possible the technical of German espionage. Well-informed circles point out the improvement of the technique of infrared rays, which make it possible to take pictures of important military objects through thick fog and even at night. They also stress flic importance of an excellent micro-camera. The old micro-camera models were unsatisfactory , as the photographs taken with them lacked depth of focus, and because they were not good for photostats. hidden in stick. ■A German micro-camera which recently found its way abroad rather mysteriously no longer has these imperfections. About _an inch long, it is equipped with innumerable diminutive prisms. To assemble such a camera requires more than 1,000 working hours. It is often hidden in a walking stick which the visitor casually places on the table in the office of the person with whom he is talking. In this way he is able to photograph any documents lying there. Already during the republic, Colonel rvikolai had tried to get back to the War Ministry. Ho was not successful. But under Hitler he was reappointed to his former position, where he collaborates closely with Captain Protze, a navy man who owes his success to his joviality and good fellowship. He Sipecialises in anti-spy activities, and is usually seen with a middle-aged secretary who has already become a myth. Known as Aunt Emma or Aunt Louise, she is noted for her remarkable memory. She knows by heart all conceivable data on any man or woman who has ever been mentioned in the dossiers of the German secret service. In discussing them with her, Protze need have no important documents with him. VERY ACTIVE. Protze is said to be very active. It has been reported several times that he appeared personally in the neutral neighbour countries of Germany. He prefers to operate in Holland and Switzerland, where ho searches for new agents for his service On these trips he assumes a false identity. The official bureaux in which Nikolai, von Bonin, and Protze have the key positions, engage in military and naval espionage as well as counter-espionage and similar activities. Political espionage is a sideline with them, and this is where the whole matter becomes really dangerous; political espionage has become mostly an affair of the

National" Socialist Party, and its affiliated and subordinated organisations. The Foreign Office and the German Air Ministry still maintain their own intelligence service, but on the whole all political information on which political decisions are based, is gathered by Nazi circles. The staff at hand is enormous. Every single German abroad, including to a considerable extent the naturalised Germans, who belong to an affiliated organisation on to a foreign unit of the party itself, has to be regarded as a potential German spy. At anv time he may be employed to gather secret information.

The Secret Police (Gestapo), known throughout the world for its ruthless methods —kidnapping of political enemies and extraordinary cruelty—has thoroughly organised the supervision of every German within German borders, and has its official representative in foreign countries as well. There is a Gestapo agent in every German consulate, in every legation, and in every embassy, though he is not designated as such. Sometimes he is in charge of the passport division; in other cases he is an attache whose official position is entirely different. He supervises all Germans who reside or travel in that particular foreign country, and is also liaison officer between the espionage service and the local executives of the foreign units of the National Socialist Party and its affiliated organisations. Tihe latter branch forms a complicated network of party offices in Germany. Its leaders are Mr Bohle, who was recently appointed to a high position in the Foreign Office as “ Fuhrer of Germans Abroad,” and Alfred Rosenberg, head of the Foreign Policy Bureau of the Nationalist Socialist Party, which may well be defined as its private diplomatic service, SECRET CIRCULAR. As early as 1934 the Foreign Office sent a secret circular to all diplomatic and Consular representatives of the Reich, urging them to lay up “in an emergency case” the secret documents of the foreign units in their “extraterritorial ” rooms. In practice, these documents are kept with the official German documents and are thus hidden from any searches that might be made by the Government to which those -Consuls and diplomats are accredited.

The foreign organisation of the National Socialist Party recently started a registration of all persons of German blood living abroad. It is based on the “ Foreign File,” which was set up at the outbreak of the war for the purpose of collecting clippings relating to Germans abroad, and which kept special lists of those who could be used for propaganda or to give secret information. The new Nazi registration works by means of questionnaires, which are specially adapted to members of foreign units, and which cover all spheres of life of the individual. These members of foreign units are asked to fill in where they work, what machines they are able to handle (as possible informants about new patents, producing methods, etc.), what musical instruments they play (to facilitate socia' contacts), and who their relatives or friends are (to determine which of these could be valuable sources of information).

The idea is to bring as many of these persons as possible in their special capacity as houseworker, or factory worker, or by social contact into close touch with individuals and institutions likely to be valuable sources of political, economic, and other information. Practically every American who is in touch with a German Nazi is to-day under the surveillance of the German Secret Service.

MISSIONS ABROAD. The German who travels abroad, especially the travelling salesman, has an important mission. In order to obtain a visa to leave the country, he must be a member of the National Socialist Association of Travelling Salesmen. Prior to his departure he has to call at the Secret Police, where ho is required to fill out a questionnaire. He is asked to give the names of his relatives and friends abroad and the exact date and time of his arrival _ at the destination, so that the local unit, of the Nazi Party may shadow him without difficulty. Once he is granted the visa, he is handed a green card with highly interesting instructions; immediately on arriving in the foreign country he must check with the local executive of the party unit, and if there is none, with the nearest German Consul. Back in Germany, he is obliged to submit to the Secret Police an exhaustive report of the voyage and of the impressions and information which he has gathered.

A glance at the various fields in which this gigantic apparatus of secret informers, special agents, and (professional spies is active shows that its task is manifold. Its purpose is not only the gathering of political information or the accumulation of military and economic material. Its real objective is much more comprehensive. SABOTAGE UNITS. The storm troops and other national socialist or similar associations are undoubtedly intended to form the nuclei of sabotage units, who, in case of war, will be put to work with tested methods and ruthless energy. This sabotage is already being planned on the basis of the information gathered by Germany’s foreign agents. It is also certain that these spying organisations shadow all foreigners who travel to or within Germany.

Between the gigantic network of conspirators, which the new Germany has spread all over the globe, and the secret service of other countries, a comparison is as useless as between the National Socialist (policies and mentality and the policies and mentality of other countries and persons. The German Republic collapsed chiefly because its leaders tried to measure Socialism with the yardstick with which other political movements in democratic countries are usually measured. The democracies of the world are in grave danger if they think they can fight National Social espionage and the nuisance of fanatic agents with the same methods which may be useful in fighting the spies of other Bowers.

When we read about Nazi espionage, it is not of the man with false whiskers. It may be the harmless maid in your kitchen who 'reports on your visitors, your conversations, your commercial relations, and your opinions. Perhaps it is the charming traveller from Berlin, who plays Beethoven so beautifully at your friend’s party and who is making use of his musical talent as an entree into social and financial circles. Once accepted, he lends a careful ear tp everything he hears, searching for victims ready to let themselves be bought by Germany.' Or it can be your secretary, or the barber at the corner shop. It certainly is not the man with false whiskers who mysteriously stalks through the fog.