Berlin: Ground Zero for Cold War Espionage
Stay-Behind Operations in West Germany and Berlin
In Post World War II Germany, no other city on earth felt the Cold War’s tension like Berlin. A city divided by four powers — with one of those powers going rogue, it became the most volatile political city on the planet. Capitalism and communism went head to head for the next 45 years.
To the rest of the civilian world an appearance of heated diplomatic discussion became the norm, but on the ground soldiers patrolled borders and intelligence agents played an increasingly dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
Berlin was considered a capitalist jewel to dangle in the face of communism, but really, it was a city that stood little chance of survival in the event of a Soviet attack. And the potential for attack seemed real. If it happened, Berlin would be lost forever.
It was time to take drastic measures. Berlin’s underbelly is a maze of tunnels and secret passageways. Many of them built during the Second World War, others remnants of bomb shelters, newer tunnels appeared during the Cold War.
It was decided that units would be mounted and trained to stay behind and disrupt the Soviet onslaught. Their objective would be to disrupt and hinder any strategic advance the Soviets could make into Western territories.
Berlin’s military barracks housed an unusual amount of “liaison officer units”. “Diplomatic Liaison Officer” was the basic title given to various operatives tasked with preparation for an attack on Berlin.
Stay-behind networks were formed; clandestine units of civilians and ex-soldiers, intelligence operatives with special skills, all trained to go underground readied to resist occupation by Soviet forces.
In Berlin, the West-East division took on a special sense of urgency.
If the city was to fall it was imperative to have special agents who were prepared and trained to stay behind and do everything necessary to disrupt Soviet advances and organisation.
These special agents would lead normal lives, work and live in West Berlin. But if the fateful day of attack would come, they would move into a well prepared and planned action group. Weapons and supplies already stashed in bunkers under the civilian world’s feet.
Civilian apartments around the city, basements close to train stations were used as caches to stash weapons and equipment for use in the event of an attack. Safehouses were designated as hideouts.
Civilian people involved in this operation and training were taken off the radar of normal life — they intentionally disappeared, lived in the mists of Berlin’s underground.
NATO knew nothing of them. Their operations were top secret and knowledge of them was kept in tight circles that even much of the German Intelligence Units of BND were ignorant of their existence. The Government in Bonn knew nothing.
Berlin seemed the perfect place to set up such an operation. The city torn apart by the war took years to rebuild. Bombed out sites, derelict houses, and the chaos of construction created a labyrinth of confusion that made hiding in plain sight easier.
Berlin’s East Sector developed into a tightly controlled state. Stasi and KGB operated rigorously and with the support of the newly formed East German GDR government.
West Berlin carried on. The Second World War was over, time had passed, and it was definitely time to enjoy life and have a party.
West Berlin became a fun city. Clubs, discos, and bars opened on every corner. The centre of fun was the Kurfürstendamm — a 3 kilometre long boulevard packed with colourful shopping by day, and anything from cocktail bars to seedy strip joints at night.
In the darker corners of West Berlin’s military operations the city was grinding away 24/7. Patrols along the Berlin Wall border lands, intelligence observation of East German business people entering the West, and a close eye on exactly what the East German Border guards’ orders were — shoot to kill, or shoot to wound. Both options were devastating for attempted escapes.
On the surface Berlin’s defence strategies in the event of a Soviet attack on the city appeared well bolstered and well oiled. The only problem with the traditional military forces as defence was that they’d be wiped out within hours.
The Soviet occupied territories of East Germany surrounded Berlin. The Western allies were operating in a small zone, effectively behind enemy lines, and stood little chance of putting up ongoing resistance to the massive Soviet Army.
The only option was to create a “stay behind” fighting force that would act as a ‘spanner in the works’ to East German and Soviet military operations. Partisan units, highly trained in sabotage and disruption to keep attacking forces occupied with disruptive elements and elusive military units on the prowl.
These secret units would not only disrupt they would also gather intelligence and pass back information about Soviet forces movements and perceived plans.
The West German intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), “The German News Service” , played a key role in setting up an effective operation. The founder, Reinhard Gehlen, an ex nazi officer, was an intelligence officer during the Second World War and worked as a Soviet specialist. He was recruited by Western Intelligence agencies to build a post war intelligence service.
During the Cold War Reinhard Gehlen cooperated with MI6 and the CIA to build these new Stay-Behind intelligence and fighting units. Later, they would be known by their Italian name of, “Gladio”.
Berlin’s bomb shelters, secret tunnels, and abandoned houses served as hideouts, storage spaces, and secret meeting places for the stay-behind units.
The caches of weapons and equipment needed to fight at street level, spread strategically throughout the city of West Berlin, worked well and could be accessed rapidly.
These units and their operational roles were top secret and are still classified information today. Enough evidence and fragmental information is available to confirm that these operations existed, and probably still exist today in its contemporary form.
German journalist, Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, noted that after his investigations into the networks of secret operatives, they were highly trained, disciplined, and compartmentalised into a “need to know” basis of structures.
No single operative could know anything about other units. In the event of being captured they wouldn’t have any useful information to give to Soviet troops invading West Berlin.
West Berlin wasn’t only a surrounded city, it was a potential battlefield waiting for a flash point to ignite the next major conflict.
