Willy Brandt and Guenter Guillaume, 1974
 enlarge | | On April 24, 1974, Guenther Guillaume, a personal assistant to the Chancellor, was exposed as a spy, leading to Willy Brandt’s resignation. Two years later, the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation was able to capture another spy in Oberkochen. He had passed the construction diagrams of the night vision device “Orion 80” on to his commanding officer.
The case was tried in Stuttgart-Stammheim before the 5th criminal division of the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart. The defense employed an attorney from a well-known law firm in Munich, who advised his client to remain silent. As a result, only the offense for transferring data from the “Orion 80” could be proven. Experts believe the attorney was hired by the East German Ministry of State Security (Stasi). |  |  About the book
The author
Introduction
Cooperation
Confrontation
Coexistence
Reunification
 complete article to download
(pdf-document, 13 pages, 426 kB)
 purchase the book
(www.amazon.de) |
| 
General Director Wolfgang Biermann, 1975
enlarge | | In 1975, Guenter Mittag, head of the Economic Commission of the Central Committee, declared that Zeiss “no longer operates properly.” He named manager Wolfgang Biermann as General Director of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, which had been turned into a combine. A year later, Biermann also became a member if the Central Committee of the SED. To “force through” his budgeted figures, he ruthlessly abused his power. “He was the Commander-in-Chief, and no one was allowed to question his orders,” said his personal assistant. “Another style of leadership had no chance in this economic system. The command economy needed commanders.” | | |