When the head of Constitutional Protection switched pages
One of the greatest scandals in post-war German history: In 1954, the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution defects to the GDR. After one and a half years, he returns to the Federal Republic and claims to have been abducted. But what really happened? A historian is certain: Moscow was involved.
"The Spiegel" called it the "incredible news since the founding of the Federal Republic." To this day, the whole thing is almost unimaginable. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution defects to the GDR. After one and a half years, he returns to the Federal Republic. He himself says he was abducted. But there are witnesses who claim the opposite. It's about intrigues and alleged alcoholism, about treason and morality. It's about a post-war society that apparently found it easier to deal with former Nazis than with their opponents. And about a department that is supposed to protect against extremists and yet is often suspected itself. But let's take it step by step.
The story begins in July 1954, exactly 70 years ago. The 45-year-old Otto John has been head of the new West German domestic intelligence service in Cologne for almost three years. For the tenth anniversary of the failed attack on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, he travels to West Berlin. Otto John himself belonged to the resistance in the Nazi state, as did his brother Hans John. While Otto could escape to England after the failed coup in 1944, Hans was killed by the National Socialists. On the tenth anniversary of the Hitler attack, Otto John shows himself at the memorial event emotional and moved.
A few hours later, he disappears. Two days later, on July 22, 1954, the East German radio broadcasts a statement by John: "It requires a demonstrative action to call all Germans to action for reunification. That's why I took a resolute step and established contact with the Germans in the East." The Federal Cabinet in Bonn initially assumes an abduction. "The evaluation of the available material led to the conclusion that Dr. John did not voluntarily leave the territory of the Federal Republic and West Berlin," it says in the report on a special session on July 23.
Researcher: "The KGB planted that"
A press conference on August 11 brings apparent clarity: John speaks personally with a long justification of his defection and clear criticism of a "revival of National Socialism" in the Federal Republic. Before and after, John is interrogated by the East German State Security and the Soviet secret service KGB, as Potsdam historian Bernd Stoever writes in an article on the case. For the Federal Government, a serious "mistake in the Cold War." What's behind it? "The KGB planted that," says Daniela Mückel, research leader at the Stasi Document Archive. The background was the then impending establishment of the Bundeswehr and the integration of the Federal Republic into NATO. Moscow tried to prevent this.
1952, the Soviets transmitted the so-called Stalin Notes, which proposed a reunification of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) under the condition of neutrality. The West rejected this proposal. John was concerned about the chances of German unity. "He probably imagined he could practice secret diplomacy", speculates Münkel. The former anti-Nazi resistance fighter was also deeply frustrated that in Bonn, former Nazis were making careers, including in his own department. John didn't have things under control, historian Michael Wala stated some years ago. "Thus, numerous former members of the Gestapo and SS could work as 'free collaborators' for the agency."
The "Spiegel" insinuated in a 1954 article in movie-like fashion various other motives, among them a power struggle between John and Reinhard Gehlen, who was just setting up the foreign intelligence service. "The unstable man with the unfortunate drinking habit more and more often took refuge in alcohol", the magazine rants about John. He was largely discredited and his career end was foreseeable.
"Huge propaganda success" for the GDR
In the evening of July 20, 1954, John went with a friend, Dr. Wolfgang Wohlgemut, across the sector border from West to East Berlin. Wohlgemut was a KGB agent, as researchers now know. Was John aware of this? Was he really staying or just taking a detour? Unclear, says Münkel. But one thing is certain: "He was not abducted, that's nonsense." It was a huge propaganda success for the GDR. "Imagine the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution going to Moscow today", says the historian. "That's a ridiculous story." John's return to the Federal Republic in December 1955 was also under mysterious circumstances. A friend had assured him he wouldn't have to face prosecution, reports Münkel.
Under clandestine circumstances, he returned with the help of a Danish journalist and swore from then on that he had not gone to the GDR voluntarily, but had been rendered unconscious. No one believed him. John was sentenced to four years in prison at the end of 1956 for "treasonous forgery" and conspiracy. Until his death in March 1997, he worked on rehabilitation. In vain. What remains? "The case was due to the times, the Cold War, the still recent NS era, the world situation, the personality of Otto John", says Münkel. And yet something lingers.
For a long time, the initially active former Nazis were seen as a liability for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The agency was accused of being blind on the right eye. Now, attacks are coming from the other side: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) wants to abolish the Federal Office. The former Verfassungsschutzpresident Heinz Fromm admitted once: "The agency has always stood in the public discussion, sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes not." But perhaps never as much as during the time when its president switched sides.
- The incident involving Otto John, the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, who defected to East Germany in 1954, is considered one of the most significant historical scandals in post-war German politics, particularly given Moscow's alleged involvement.
- Berlin, both East and West, became a focal point of political espionage and intrigue during the Cold War, as evidenced by the case of Otto John and his controversial defection to East Germany, which was perceived as a huge propaganda success for the communist regime.
- The story of Otto John's defection and subsequent return to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1955 provides a fascinating insight into the historical complexities of business deals and scandals that marked the post-war era, particularly in relation to East Germany's attempts to gain leverage in East-West relations.
