Moscow’s mole in the BND: Heinz Felfe

Heinz Felfe, a former Nazi and undercover agent for the SS security service, later became a KGB operative, spying on the BND for the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Warnings about him were disregarded, partly because of his Nazi background. This is his story.

The finale was staged like a movie. First, Heinz Felfe, head of the Soviet counter-espionage division at the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), received an award: The “Saint George” medal was presented to him in a velvet-lined box for ten years of loyal service. As BND President Reinhard Gehlen explained, the medal was “a symbol of our work against Bolshevism.”

Dragon Slayer

Since the BND’s founding on April 1, 1956, every employee who had served full-time for ten years received a bronze medal featuring a portrait of St. George. BND President Gehlen had introduced the award. According to BND chief historian Bodo Hechelhammer, the choice of motif might have been influenced by the large number of employees from East Central Europe, where St. George was “particularly revered as a patron saint.” Heinz Felfe also received the medal—right before his arrest. The award served as a pretext to summon the unmasked KGB mole to the BND president’s office. Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

Arrest

Three criminal police officers burst into the room and arrested the newly honored BND employee—for espionage on behalf of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB. The caught-off-guard Felfe quickly tried to swallow a Minox film containing secret information intended for Moscow, but a quick-thinking officer was able to prevent the destruction of the evidence.

Thus ended the career of double agent Heinz Felfe on November 6, 1961, at Gehlen’s residence on the BND grounds in Pullach near Munich. For ten years, Felfe had been an exceptionally effective “mole” for the KGB within the BND and its predecessor, the “Gehlen Organization” (OG). With his constant access to information on which KGB activities had been uncovered in the Federal Republic, Felfe was able to warn his handlers of impending arrests. Felfe’s betrayal also prevented the BND from carrying out successful counter-espionage operations.

14 Years Prison Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

It was the greatest defeat in the history of the BND. Sources had to be shut down, and operations were halted. Gehlen was humiliated, and German counter-espionage was left in ruins. The Federal Court of Justice, in its 1963 ruling, determined that Felfe’s guilt “weighed heavily, given the exceptionally large scale of his long-standing betrayal and the high significance of the material he provided.” The court also noted Felfe’s “personal danger,” citing his important official position, high intelligence, and lack of conscience. He had “sneaked” into the Gehlen Organization (OG) and “ruthlessly” broken his oath of office. The court sentenced Felfe to 14 years in prison and confiscated the 140,000 marks he had been paid by the KGB.

A Spy’s Biography Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

After the war, Heinz Felfe, born in Dresden in 1918, initially worked as an informant for the British intelligence agency MI6. On their behalf, he spied on communist officials and KPD members in Bonn. Felfe also sold his findings to the predecessor of the West German Office for the Protection of the Constitution. When MI6 dropped him in 1950 for failing to provide useful information, Felfe sought a permanent position in the civil service, applying to several agencies, including the Federal Criminal Police Office. However, his applications were unsuccessful.

In his desperation, Felfe turned to an old acquaintance from his SD days for help: former SS Hauptsturmführer Hans Clemens, who was already working as a double agent for both the KGB and the Gehlen Organization (OG). On September 1, 1951, Clemens arranged a meeting between Felfe and KGB officers in East Berlin, where Felfe agreed to cooperate with the Soviets.

At the same time, Clemens facilitated Felfe’s entry into the Gehlen Organization (OG). This was achieved through Wilhelm Krichbaum, a former SS Oberführer and head of the Secret Field Police, which was responsible for numerous war crimes. Krichbaum recruited personnel for the OG, particularly from former members of Nazi organizations. On November 15, 1951, Felfe began his service at the OG’s Karlsruhe branch.

It wasn’t until four weeks later that negative file entries about Felfe were discovered at the OG headquarters in Pullach, which raised suspicions about him being a supporter of communism or an employee of an Eastern service. Felfe, however, skillfully refuted these suspicions with eloquence. Clarity about Felfe’s past could have been achieved through an inquiry with MI6 or the “Berlin Document Center,” where Nazi personnel records were kept. However, since it was crucial to keep Felfe’s secret employment status confidential, the OG did not seek information from these sources.

Early Warnings Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

In September 1952, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned the OG about Felfe, labeling him as “morally questionable” and “politically unreliable.” The file note was marked by Gehlen as “seen.” Thus, Gehlen was aware of the suspicions against Felfe early on but continued to protect him.

A year later, Felfe transferred to the Pullach headquarters. Soon, new suspicions arose: A colleague noticed that intelligence operations seemed to fail whenever Felfe learned about them. However, Felfe consistently managed to dismiss these concerns by claiming that his peers held prejudices against him.

The KGB provided Felfe with both game material and genuine, crucial information, which helped him gain favor with Gehlen and the Chancellor’s Office. Although the unusually effective counter-espionage raised suspicions, no one suspected that the KGB might be using this to advance Felfe’s career within the OG. Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

In September 1956, Felfe, along with seven colleagues from the BND, which had evolved from the OG, traveled to the USA on an invitation from the CIA. During technical discussions at CIA headquarters, the KGB spy gained firsthand knowledge of the organizational structure and working methods of the US intelligence agency. A later CIA damage report revealed that Felfe had betrayed approximately 100 CIA personnel to the KGB, including 25 by name.

Polish Double Agent

In March 1959, a Polish double agent informed the CIA that, according to a KGB report, two members of the BND travel group were Soviet agents. Since the CIA suspected that the KGB mole was still active in Pullach, it chose not to share this information with the BND to protect their source.

Only after the Polish informant had defected to the West did the CIA inform the BND of his claims. In early 1961, Gehlen was presented with a list of the BND travelers from 1956. According to an eyewitness, Gehlen immediately suspected Felfe. The identity of the alleged second KGB spy among the USA visitors was never determined.

Arrest Moscow’s mole Heinz Felfe

Gehlen established an investigation team, which included monitoring Felfe’s phone. The surveillance revealed conversations between Felfe and Clemens about assignments from their Soviet handlers. The investigators also learned that Clemens was sending a KGB radio message to Felfe’s Munich address via registered mail. The postal package was intercepted, providing evidence of Felfe’s betrayal and leading to his arrest.

At the same time as Felfe, Hans Clemens was also arrested in his Cologne apartment. He was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Federal Court of Justice.

Felfe served his sentence at the Straubing prison. Just a year after his conviction, the KGB sought to secure his release through a prisoner exchange. After protracted negotiations, Felfe was released into East Germany on February 14, 1969, at the inner-German border crossing at Herleshausen. In return, 21 Western spies convicted in East Germany and three West German students imprisoned in the Soviet Union were freed.

The STASI facilitated Felfe’s formal continuation of his interrupted law studies at East Berlin’s Humboldt University, where he completed his degree in criminalistics. In 1972, Felfe was appointed as a professor of criminalistics.

A privileged life in the GDR

Felfe enjoyed a privileged life in East Germany. The STASI provided him with a house, cars, and even a wife. On behalf of the KGB, he wrote his memoirs, published under the title *”Im Dienst des Gegners”* in the Federal Republic in 1986. Two years later, the memoirs, politically adapted by the STASI, were also published in East Germany.

Heinz Felfe, described by his biographer Hechelhammer as an “agent in seven intelligence services,” had “adapted like a chameleon to the changing times” and met “the expectations of his respective surroundings.” He passed away in 2008, shortly after his 90th birthday.

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