Photo Gallery A Mixed Record for German Intelligence
East German communist leader Erich Honecker (third from left) together with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (second from left) in Berlin on Oct. 7, 1989: The quality of information obtained by West Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) foreign intelligence agency varied wildly.
In this 1986 archive photo, then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (center) can be seen with Hans-Georg Wieck (right), who was head of the BND at the time. Today, he says that his workers didn't see what was coming in East Germany and, at least initially, they claimed the communist regime was "firmly in charge" and that the East German people had given up on the prospect of reunification. Senior members of every West German party agreed.
One paper released by the BND claims that Hans Modrow, who was East Germany's final premier, offered to give the state's Stasi intelligence agency to the Russians. During a meeting, Mikhail Gorbachev was said to be interested. Modrow today claims "none of that is ture." But many members of the BND believe the KGB took on at least some of the Stasi's employees.
The truth about the fall of the Berlin Wall: The BND thought that it was SED Communist Party General Secretary Egon Krenz who made the decision to open East Germany's borders. Ultimately, though, it was bewildered border guards who made the decision -- they finally gave in after thousands of East Berliners promptly gathered in front of the border crossings and loudly demanded that they be opened on Nov. 9, 1989.
