I'm a Profiteer in Cold War Germany

Chapter 286: Chapter 69: BND and East German Spies

A month later, on a Wednesday evening, Hausen drove to a small tavern in the suburbs of Hamburg.

BND agents followed, taking photos from a distance.

Inside the tavern, Hausen and another man sat in a corner booth, speaking in low voices.

The man handed Hausen a manila envelope. Hausen opened it and looked inside, then nodded and stuffed it into his coat.

The BND agents captured the entire exchange with a telephoto lens.

Once the photos were developed, BND analysts immediately recognized the man—a "cultural attaché" at the East German consulate in Hamburg who was, in fact, a Stasi intelligence contact.

The BND confirmed Hausen’s identity: an East German spy.

*************

Ten days later, in the early morning, the BND and the Federal Criminal Police Office conducted a joint operation, raiding Hausen’s company and home.

Hausen was still asleep when he was dragged out of bed.

"Friedrich Hausen, you are under arrest on suspicion of espionage." The lead officer presented an arrest warrant.

Hausen’s face went pale. "Espionage? You’ve made a mistake!"

"We haven’t made a mistake," the officer said coldly. "We have evidence proving you have contact with East German intelligence and have been gathering information for them."

Hausen was taken away.

His company was sealed, and all its documents were moved to BND headquarters.

The West German media quickly reported on the case, but only with a brief mention that a "Hamburg businessman was arrested on suspicion of espionage," without releasing any details.

*************

In Koko’s office, Werner received a call from Reynard.

"There’s trouble in Hamburg," Reynard said in a low voice. "Hausen’s been arrested by the BND."

Werner’s hand holding the phone remained steady. "On what charge?"

"Espionage. The West German media hasn’t gone into detail, but the news is spreading within our circles." Reynard paused. "Werner, does this have anything to do with you? That faulty shipment of lumber..."

"That was just an accident," Werner said. "It must have been a mix-up during shipment. Who could have imagined it would lead to something this big?"

"Right." Reynard seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "I guess it just means Hausen wasn’t clean himself. He was involved in things he shouldn’t have been."

"Mhm," Werner said. "Keep an eye on our other clients. See if any similar problems arise."

"Will do."

After hanging up, Werner crossed the first name off the list in his notebook.

’One-third.’

He lit a cigarette and stood by the window, gazing out at the dreary, gray sky.

’News of Hausen’s arrest will quickly reach East Germany and get to Von Brown. What will Von Brown think? Will he suspect a leak?’

’No, probably not.’

’From Von Brown’s perspective, Hausen’s exposure would look like it was entirely due to his own carelessness. First, the faulty shipment caused accounting irregularities, which attracted the attention of the tax authorities. Then, the BND followed the breadcrumbs and uncovered his identity as a spy.’

’The entire process would appear natural, with no signs of manipulation.’

But Werner knew the truth: he had meticulously engineered the entire thing.

Werner stubbed out his cigarette and returned to his desk.

’Two more to go.’

The second target would be more difficult to handle than Hausen.

Martin Stein was a veteran journalist with extensive connections in Bonn’s political and media circles.

He frequently wrote articles about East Germany and had contacts in the West German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior.

On the surface, Stein was just an ordinary freelance writer.

But from the intelligence Anna provided, Werner knew that Stein was actually a core operative of a plan codenamed "Autumn Leaves," serving as its main point of contact within Bonn’s political scene.

Stein’s mission wasn’t to recruit other spies, but to use his status as a journalist to gather intelligence from within the West German Government and pass it back to East Germany through secret channels.

’Dealing with Stein couldn’t be done with business tactics like with Hausen. West Germany’s counter-espionage agencies had to "naturally" discover his true identity.’

Werner considered his options for three days before deciding to use Anna.

He sent an encrypted message to Anna through a secure channel: *West German counter-espionage needs to "coincidentally" discover Stein’s true identity. Does he have a regular contact?*

Two days later, Anna replied.

She had discovered that every Wednesday night, Stein went to a bar called the Golden Lion in Bonn’s Old Town.

There, he would meet a man named Gerhard. Ostensibly a publisher’s editor, Gerhard was actually a secret East German intelligence contact in Bonn.

West German counter-espionage had been watching Gerhard for a long time. But they hadn’t arrested him, wanting to "use him as bait to catch a bigger fish" and see who else he was in contact with.

Anna’s plan was to have West German counter-espionage, while surveilling Gerhard, "coincidentally" photograph his meeting with Stein.

This time, she took the initiative and contacted her West German liaison—a mid-level BND officer named Schmidt.

**********

"Mr. Schmidt, I’ve heard a few things recently," Anna said, sitting in a café and lowering her voice. "Regarding East German activities in Bonn."

Schmidt took a sip of his coffee and looked at her. "What things?"

"I have a friend who used to work for the East German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He told me that their intelligence activity in Bonn has been very frequent lately. He mentioned a name—Gerhard."

Schmidt’s eyes immediately sharpened. "Gerhard?"

"That’s right." Anna nodded. "My friend said Gerhard has been in close contact with East Berlin recently and might be planning a major operation. I thought you should look into it."

Schmidt was silent for a few seconds, then said, "We know about Gerhard. He’s been under surveillance."

"Good." Anna sounded relieved. "I just have a feeling he might be making a major move soon. You should probably tighten your surveillance."

Schmidt nodded. "Alright. I’ll report this up the chain."

*************

Three days later, West German counter-espionage tightened its surveillance on Gerhard.

They set up a surveillance post in an apartment across from the Golden Lion, monitoring the bar’s entrance around the clock.

At eight o’clock on Wednesday evening, Gerhard appeared at the entrance to the bar right on time.

He glanced around to make sure he wasn’t being followed, then went inside.

Ten minutes later, another man entered the bar—Martin Stein.

The agents in the surveillance post immediately began taking photos. Through the bar’s window, a telephoto lens captured images of Stein and Gerhard speaking in low voices in a corner booth.

The two spoke for about forty minutes. Gerhard took an envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Stein. Stein opened it and looked inside, then nodded and tucked the envelope into the inside pocket of his coat.

The camera recorded the entire exchange.

The next morning, in a conference room at BND headquarters, Schmidt and several colleagues were analyzing the previous night’s surveillance photos.

"Who’s this man meeting with Gerhard?" a young agent asked.

"Martin Stein," Schmidt said, staring at the photo. "A freelance journalist. He specializes in stories about East Germany."

"A journalist?" another agent frowned. "It’s not that strange for a journalist to meet with Gerhard, is it? It could have just been an interview."

"It’s possible," Schmidt said. "But look at this." He pointed to the photo of Gerhard handing the envelope to Stein. "The handoff is too surreptitious. And after Stein took the envelope, he instinctively glanced around. He was clearly nervous."

"You suspect Stein is one of Gerhard’s assets?"

"It’s worth investigating, at the very least," Schmidt said. "Pull Stein’s background file. Let’s see what past connections he has to East Germany."

Over the next two weeks, the BND launched a covert investigation into Stein.

They reviewed all the articles Stein had published over the past few years and found several suspicious things:

Stein’s articles often contained details that only an East German insider would know—things like an official’s personal habits, the internal debates preceding a new policy, or a factory’s true production numbers.

It would have been impossible to obtain these details through public channels.

Stein either had a very deep source inside East Germany, or he was one of their own.

The BND also investigated Stein’s bank accounts.

They discovered that every month, Stein received a payment labeled as a "writer’s fee" from the "International Cultural Exchange Foundation," ranging from five hundred to one thousand West German Marks.

This "International Cultural Exchange Foundation" was an organization based in Vienna. While ostensibly an NGO, it was actually a front used by East German intelligence to pay its assets in West Germany.

The BND confirmed Stein’s identity: an East German asset.

But they didn’t arrest him right away.

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