The former head of the Stasi foreign intelligence service is Markus Wolf. All over the world he was called "a man without a face." For decades, no intelligence agency could even get hold of his photographs. Today, Wolf is no longer alive. He died almost 10 years ago on November 9 - by the way, this date in Germany is celebrated as the day the Berlin Wall fell. In recent years, he lived on a state-reduced pension and earned only his interviews, memoirs and books. But, despite the interest of journalists and investigators in the methods and employees of the Stasi, Wolf did not name the secret agents until his death.

Markus Wolf was the world's first head of the intelligence service, which used specially trained scouts-ladies to achieve results ...

Amazingly, Markus Wolf became the all-powerful gray eminence of the GDR, even without a higher education. He comes from a family of Jewish emigrants from Germany, studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute. But it was not possible to finish it - in the summer of 51, a Moscow student, like many emigrants, was recalled to post-war Germany - to build socialism. In the same year, on August 16, the first intelligence service begins its activities in East Germany - for conspiracy, its headquarters is called the "Institute for Economic Research". There are only four scientists there so far. And the party decides to appoint 29-year-old Wolf as a senior researcher. The task of the institute's employees is to conduct political, economic and technical intelligence on the territory of Germany and NATO countries. This is how the Stasi is born, and from that moment on, the inexperienced leader of a small underground intelligence service begins to compete with the West German intelligence - the so-called Gehlen organization, which has existed for several years.

By the end of the existence of the GDR, the Stasi, which began its work with only 4 full-time employees, already had 91,000 full-time agents and more than 200,000 freelance ones. That is, approximately every 50th citizen of the GDR was a Stasi informant! But with what money did foreign intelligence, which was not even helped by the Soviet KGB, manage to deploy such a network of agents? Some experts are sure that for this, the Stasi had to resort to fraud.

In 1966, the secret service of the GDR creates a secret association called "CoCo", that is, commercial coordination. And its leader is appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of the GDR, who was an agent of the Stasi. Through a chain of front companies, Koko's employees transported the latest NATO technical developments from the West to the GDR and the USSR - for example, microelectronics or small arms. Valuable art was transported west for hard currency, and weapons were sold to some Third World countries. For enrichment, the Stasi even gave for the ransom of dissidents serving time in the GDR. Only for the release of 34 thousand prisoners, the Stasi earned more than 5 billion marks. All this money went towards a generous payout to recruited agents. That is, blackmail for recruitment was not used.

But foreign intelligence chief Markus Wolf's favorite method of recruiting new agents was sex espionage. And men recruited women. Agents under false names and with non-existent biographies went to Bonn, where the seat of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany was located, and most West German politicians lived, got acquainted with their lonely secretaries, and they shared official secrets with future suitors. Thus was recruited the young secretary Gabriella Gast, who would later become the only woman in the history of the Stasi to reach a leadership position.

The Stasi was the most effective intelligence service in the world. After all, unlike the intelligence services of the United States and the USSR, it operated mainly in a small area, and there was no language barrier between recruiters and a potential enemy. But most importantly, the Stasi, thanks to its methods, almost always remained in the shadows. Unlike the Israeli Mossad, which preferred high-profile killings of Islamic terrorists, the Stasi acted much more subtly. The intelligence of the GDR simply lured their enemies to their side ...

In the fall of 1989, the famous Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany fell. Germany soon became a single state again. At this very time, many social groups are calling on the people to seize the headquarters of the state security agencies. Allegedly, citizens can take from there dossiers on themselves, collected by the Stasi, while journalists want to publish sensational data about intelligence methods and about celebrities who worked for the Stasi. But the first who called on the people to storm were NATO agents - it was they who, in the general confusion, got the most important documents. The rest were cut into small pieces. Today, all these scraps are collected in bags. And until now, historians collect them like a puzzle - one after another. Without the help of a computer, this will take another few hundred years.

Markus Wolf, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, went to his sister in Moscow. By this time he had been retired for several years. In Germany, not only public persecution awaited him, but also a trial. After leaving for Austria, Wolf writes a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev. In it, he reminds the leader of the Soviet Union about how much he and his agents did for the security of the USSR, about the invaluable information received by his agents, who are now in Germany as prisoners of war, even without charges. And at the end, Wolf asks Gorbachev to defend his agents during his upcoming visit to Germany. There was no reaction. In 1991, Wolf returned to Germany, where he was immediately arrested ...

MARKUS WOLFF (1923–2006)

Markus Wolf, "the man without a face" as he is called in the West, is one of the most talented organizers of the intelligence services.

The intelligence service of the GDR headed by him for more than thirty years was the most effective and energetic, and it was not her fault that the state, whose interests she represented and defended, suddenly ceased to exist.

The eldest son of Elsa (German, Protestant) and Friedrich (Jew) Wolf, Markus was born in 1923 in the small town of Hechingen. My father was a doctor, he was fond of homeopathy, vegetarianism and bodybuilding, but in addition he became a famous writer and playwright. The film based on his play "Professor Mamlock", which tells about anti-Semitism and the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, was very popular in our country, and the play itself was shown in theaters around the world. As a Jew and a communist, Friedrich Wolf, after Hitler came to power, was forced to flee abroad and after a year of wandering with his family ended up in Moscow.

Markus, whom his Moscow friends called Misha, together with his brother Konrad entered the Moscow school, and after graduating from it, the aviation institute. Russian became his native language. Marcus grew up a staunch anti-fascist, firmly believed in the triumph of socialism. In 1943, he was preparing to be sent as an illegal intelligence agent to the rear of the Nazi army. But the task was canceled, and until the end of the war, Markus worked as an announcer and commentator at a radio station that broadcast anti-fascist programs. He took up the same work when he arrived in Berlin in May 1945. Then he spent a year and a half at diplomatic work in Moscow. To do this, he had to change his Soviet citizenship to the citizenship of the GDR.

In the summer of 1951, Markus Wolff was recalled to Berlin and offered, or rather ordered, along the party line, to transfer to the apparatus of the intelligence service being created. By this time, intelligence had already existed in West Germany for several years - the Gehlen Organization. In response to this, the Institute for Economic Research was established on August 16, 1951. Such a harmless name was given to the foreign policy intelligence (VPR) of the GDR for disguise. The official day of its foundation was September 1, 1951, when eight Germans and four advisers from the USSR at a joint meeting formed its tasks: conducting political, economic and scientific and technical intelligence in Germany, West Berlin and NATO countries, as well as infiltrating Western intelligence services. The last task was entrusted to the department, which was soon led by Wolf.

The difficulty was not only in the fact that neither Wolf himself, nor his employees, nor Soviet advisers knew anything about these special services, except that they were led by a certain General Gehlen (and even that became known from an article in the London Daily Express"), but that Wolf's department found itself in a confrontation with the Ministry of State Security of the GDR, which had been operating in the same area since 1950.

At first, it was supposed to use the already established agent apparatus of the party intelligence of the KKE, but it soon became clear that it was impossible to rely on it: it was all riddled with enemy agents. They decided to abandon the use of CNG once and for all.

It was necessary to create our own intelligence apparatus, but the solution to this problem seemed vague to Wolf.

In December 1952, he was unexpectedly summoned by Walter Ulbricht, the head of the party (SED) and the de facto head of state. He announced to Markus Wolf that he was appointed head of intelligence. Marcus was not yet thirty years old, intelligence experience was almost zero. But he came from the family of a well-known communist writer, had reliable connections in Moscow, and was recommended by former intelligence chief Akkerman, who retired "for health reasons."

Wolf received a new appointment shortly before the death of Stalin, the events of June 17, 1953, and the collapse of Beria, which to a large extent affected the future fate of intelligence. It was included in the system of the Ministry of State Security, which was headed by Wollweber and then by Mielke.

After the events of June 17, a massive outflow of the population from the GDR began. Until 1957, almost half a million people left it. In this number, it was possible to “launch” specially selected men and women, intelligence agents who have completed a simple training course: elementary rules of conspiracy and tasks that will have to be solved. Some of them had to start life in the West from scratch, engage in manual labor and make a career on their own. For students and scientific workers, in a roundabout way, they looked for places in important scientific centers. Some ended up in secrecy positions, some rose to high positions in the economic hierarchy.

Difficulties were encountered in introducing settlers into political and military circles. They were subjected to too difficult a test and did not always withstand it. There were also objective obstacles: in Germany there were enough applicants for these positions.

The first agent to succeed was Felix. According to legend, a representative of a company supplying equipment for hairdressing salons, he often visited Bonn, where the office of the Federal Chancellor was located. The scouts did not even dream of penetrating there. Felix made up his mind. In the crowd at the bus stop, he met a woman who later became the first source in the department. Over time, they became lovers, and "Norma" (as they called her) gave birth to a son from him. She was not an agent, but what she said allowed intelligence to act more actively and systematically.

Later, Felix became interested in the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (counterintelligence of Germany). He had to be recalled, and Norma remained in the West, because, according to Felix, "she could not imagine life in the GDR." Thus ended the first "case of Romeo". Then there were many similar cases. The whole epic was called "espionage for love."

Markus Wolf, in his memoir Playing in a Foreign Field, writes about this that love, personal attachment to an intelligence officer is only one of the motivations for those who act in favor of his service, along with political convictions, idealism, financial reasons and dissatisfied ambition. He writes: “The allegation in the media that my Main Intelligence Directorate unleashed real “Romeo spies” on innocent West German citizens quickly took on a life of its own. Nothing could be done about this, and since then the dubious words of “heartbreakers” have been attached to my service, who in this way find out the secrets of the Bonn government ... ”They wrote that there was a special department for the preparation of“ Romeo ”. "... Such a department," says Wolff, "belongs to the same category of fantasy as the imaginary division in the British MI5, where the latest aids for agent 007 are invented and tested."

Marcus further notes that the emergence of the "Romeo stereotype" was made possible because most of the spies sent to the West were male bachelors - it was easier for them to create legends and conditions for adaptation.

Here are some examples of "spying for love".

The “Felix” mentioned above, having returned to the GDR, reported on a certain Gudrun, a lonely secretary in the apparatus of the Secretary of State Globke, who could be influenced by the right man. For this purpose, Herbert S. (pseudonym "Astor"), an athlete pilot, a former member of the NSDAP, was chosen. This last was a good reason for his "flight" from the GDR. He went to Bonn, where he made good acquaintances, including with Gudrun. She, even without being recruited, began to give information about people and events in Adenauer's inner circle, Gehlen's contacts with the chancellor and with Globke. "Astor" recruited Gudrun, posing as ... a Soviet intelligence officer. Attention to her person as a representative of a great power impressed her, and she began to spy diligently. Unfortunately, Astor's illness forced him to withdraw, and the connection was cut off.

Roland G., a well-known theater director from Saxony, went to Bonn to meet a woman named Margarita, a zealous, well-bred Catholic who worked as an interpreter at NATO headquarters. He posed as Danish journalist Kai Petersen, speaking with a slight Danish accent. Having become close to Margarita, he “confessed” that he was a Danish military intelligence officer. “Denmark is a small country, and NATO offends it by not sharing information with it. You must help us." She agreed, but admitted that she was tormented by remorse, aggravated by the sinfulness of their relationship. To calm her down, they performed a whole combination. One of the intelligence officers quickly learned Danish (to the required extent) and went to Denmark. I found a suitable church, found out the mode of its work. Roland G. and Margarita also went there. One fine day, when the church was empty, the "priest" took Margarita's confession, calmed her soul and blessed her friend and "our little country" for further help.

Later, when Roland G. had to be recalled for fear of failure, Margarita agreed to supply information to another "Dane", but soon her interest disappeared: she worked only for one man.

In the early 1960s, intelligence officer Herbert Z., who worked under the pseudonym "Kranz", met nineteen-year-old Gerda O. in Paris. She served in the Telko department of the Foreign Ministry, where the telegrams of all West German embassies were deciphered and transmitted further. "Krantz" opened up to Gerda, they got married, and she, under the pseudonym "Rita", began to work for her husband. Being bold and risky, she calmly stuffed her huge bag with many meters of telegraph tapes and brought them to the Kranz. For three months she worked as a cryptographer in Washington, and thanks to her intelligence was aware of US-German relations.

In the early 1970s, "Rita" was transferred to work at the embassy in Warsaw. "Kranz", according to its legend, was supposed to remain in Germany. "Rita" fell in love with a West German journalist, a BND agent, and confessed everything to him, but she had the decency to warn "Krantz" over the phone. He managed to escape to the GDR.

At Wolf's request, Polish intelligence officers at the airport offered to grant her political asylum in Poland before leaving Rita for Bonn. She hesitated for a moment, but entered the plane. In Bonn, she willingly gave information about her work for the intelligence of the GDR and about the Kranz.

But the scout turned out to be "unsinkable." He found another woman who received the pseudonym "Inga". She knew everything about him, especially since in an illustrated magazine she came across an article about the trial against "Rita" and a photograph of "Krantz". Despite this, she began to work actively, quickly found a place in Bonn, in the office of the Federal Chancellor, and for a number of years supplied intelligence with first-class information.

"Inga" dreamed of officially marrying "Kranz", but in Germany this was impossible. We decided to do it in the GDR. "Inge" issued documents for her maiden name and in one of the registry offices they formalized the relationship of the spouses. True, the page with the record of the registration of their marriage was seized and destroyed, which the spouses did not know about at that time.

In 1979, the West German counterintelligence dealt heavy blows to the intelligence of the GDR. Sixteen agents were arrested. Many, including "married couples", had to flee to the GDR. Some of them kept their marital unions and started normal family life. However, intelligence work continued successfully both using classical methods and "espionage for love." (By "classical" methods, the author means ordinary male agents.)

In the 1950s, the Kornbrenner group operated, headed by a former member of the SD - the National Socialist security service. This, by the way, was the only case when the intelligence of the GDR used a former active Nazi.

One of the lucky scouts was Adolf Kanter (pseudonym "Fichtel"). He was introduced into the environment of a young politician, the future chancellor Helmut Kohl. True, his ascent in the ranks of Kohl's supporters was put to an end because of the ridiculous accusation of misuse of donations, on which he was acquitted. However, he maintained good relations with Kohl's entourage. In 1974, he became deputy head of the Bonn bureau of the Flick concern and not only transmitted information about the connection between big business and politics, but also influenced the distribution of rather large "donations".

When a major scandal arose in Bonn over these "donations" in 1981, the GDR intelligence, hiding its source, overcame the temptation to pass the material to the West German media, although they knew a lot. After the scandal, the Bonn bureau was liquidated, but Kanter retained all his connections in the party and government apparatus and continued to inform intelligence. He was arrested only in 1994 and sentenced to two years of probation. Apparently, it worked that during the process he kept silent about much of what he knew about the life of the Bonn political community.

Markus Wolf called his agent "Freddie" (he never revealed his real name) surrounded by Willy Brandt "a source of inestimable importance." He had a successful career, but died after a heart attack in the late 1960s.

One of the most important sources of intelligence information of the GDR was Gunter Guillaume, whose name went down in history (see essay about him). Therefore, we will not talk about it in detail here. Let us only note that it is difficult to say what more for the development of the general political situation in Europe did the Guillaume case bring - good or harm?

Finally, the outstanding intelligence officer was Gabriela Gast, the only woman in West German intelligence to reach a senior position as chief analyst for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. It was she who compiled consolidated reports for the chancellor from all the information received. Second copies of these reports ended up on Markus Wolf's desk. In 1987, she was appointed deputy head of the Eastern Bloc section in West German intelligence. She was arrested in 1990 and released in 1994.

Often, the mission of Markus Wolf was broader than simple reconnaissance. He participated in secret negotiations with some official and high-ranking figures of the FRG. For example, with Minister of Justice Fritz Schaeffer, who outlined his ideas for the reunification of the two Germanys. Or (through intermediaries) with the Minister for All-German Affairs in Adenauer's cabinet, Ernst Lemmer. Confidential political contacts were maintained with the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Heinz Kühn, and with the chairman of the SPD faction in the Bonn parliament, Fritz Erler. His analysis of the processes that took place within NATO, or reports on the plans of the Washington "hawks" were very useful.

To win friends in the higher spheres of Bonn, Markus Wolf used a variety of methods. For example, in order to establish contact with a prominent figure in the Bundestag, who then went under the pseudonym "Julius", Wolf organized his trip along the Volga, and then a visit to a fishing house near Volgograd, where, in the most relaxed atmosphere, under Russian button accordion, dumplings, vodka, caviar and the stories of a fisherman who lost two sons at the front, found a common language with him.

The number of high and highest level contacts of Markus Wolf himself and his people was very large, and listing them alone would take several pages and tire the reader. But both the agents and these contacts provided so much for intelligence that if their information could be and would be realized, it would play a big role in the further development of the GDR-FRG and European relations. But, unfortunately, for both subjective and objective reasons, intelligence information is by no means the only factor determining events.

Markus Wolf received the nickname "The Man Without a Face" in the West, because in the twenty years of his tenure at the head of the intelligence of the GDR in the West, they did not manage to get his photograph. This was possible only after the betrayal and flight to the West of an intelligence officer, Senior Lieutenant Stiller. It so happened that during his stay in Sweden, Wolf was photographed as "an unknown suspicious person". This photograph was kept among many others, and among them was presented to Stiller, who immediately identified his boss. The consequence of this was the arrest of a certain Kremer, a man whom Wolf had met in Sweden. He was considered a very important agent, since the head of the intelligence service himself met with him. By the way, he was not an agent, but only a "bridge" to reach the right person. But this did not help Kremer, and he was convicted.

For many years, the martial arts of Markus Wolf continued with the head of the BND, the "gray general" Gehlen. The struggle went on with varying success. Gehlen sent, more precisely, recruited his agents in many vital objects of the GDR, starting with party and government institutions. Wolf's agents penetrated the most secret places of the BND and NATO. Both suffered from defectors and traitors. Both believed that they were serving the interests of the German people.

Gehlen was dismissed from his post in 1968 and passed away in 1979.

Wolf, in 1983, at the age of sixty, voluntarily resigned. He was not immediately fired, the transfer of cases to the new head of intelligence, Werner Grossman, practically lasted about three years. May 30, 1986 was his last working day, but the official dismissal took place on November 27, 1986.

Wolf was out of work. First of all, he fulfilled the dream of his deceased brother - he completed his film "Troika" about the fate of the people of their Moscow youth. In the spring of 1989, the film was simultaneously released in the East and West Germany and attracted the attention of the audience. In it, the author critically interpreted the gloomy aspects of socialism, demanded openness, a democratic exchange of views, and tolerance towards dissent.

In the middle of the same year, an amazing event occurred: the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Rebman, obtained an arrest warrant for Wolf Markus, who is a citizen of the GDR. It was a senseless and stupid action, causing only irritation.

On October 18, 1989, Honecker and some of his associates retired from political life. On November 4, Wolf spoke at a rally of 500,000 at Alexanderplatz, calling for perestroika and true democracy. But when he mentioned that he was a general of state security, there were whistles and shouts of “Down with!”.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Markus Wolf went to his sister Lena in Moscow to do creative work. But when he returned to Germany, he fell into the "hysterical atmosphere of the battle." The thirst for revenge for many concentrated on the state security agencies and its well-known representatives - Milke and Wolf.

In the summer of 1990, an amnesty law for members of the GDR intelligence service prepared together with the unification agreement, which protected them from persecution, failed. From the day of the unification, that is, from October 3, 1990, Wolf was threatened with arrest. He wrote a letter to the German Foreign Minister, as well as to Willy Brandt, saying that he was not going to emigrate and was ready to consider all the charges against him on fair terms. “But no fair terms were given in that German autumn of 1990,” recalls Wolf.

Together with his wife he went to Austria. From there, on October 22, 1990, he wrote a letter to Gorbachev. In it, in particular, it was said:

“Dear Mikhail Sergeevich…

... The intelligence officers of the GDR did a lot for the security of the USSR and its intelligence, and the agents, which are now being persecuted and publicly harassed, ensured a constant flow of reliable and valuable information. I have been called the "symbol" or "synonymous" of successful intelligence work. Apparently, our former opponents want to punish me for the successes, crucify me on the cross, as they already wrote ... "

The letter ended with the words:

“You, Mikhail Sergeevich, will understand that I stand up not only for myself, but for many for whom my heart hurts, for whom I still feel responsible ...”

But "dear Mikhail Sergeevich" not only did not take any measures, but also did not answer the letter.

From Austria, Wolf and his wife moved to Moscow. But there he felt that there were different opinions in the Kremlin regarding his stay in the USSR. On the one hand, his past obliged him to provide asylum, on the other hand, they did not want to spoil relations with Germany.

After the failure of the "opera" coup in August 1991, Wolf decided to return to Germany and share the burden of responsibility entrusted to his successor and comrades in the service.

On September 24, 1991, he crossed the Austro-German border, where the Attorney General was already waiting for him. On the same day, he ended up in solitary confinement with double bars in the Karlsruhe prison. Eleven days later he was released on a huge bail collected by his friends.

A long and exhausting procedure of the investigation began, and then the trial of Markus Wolf. He, like all sane people, was primarily outraged by the very fact of bringing to justice people who acted in the interests of their legally existing state, a member of the UN.

Even Wolf's former opponents expressed bewilderment.

The former head of the BND, H. Hellenbroith, said: “I consider the process against Wolf to be contrary to the constitution. Wolf was engaged in intelligence on behalf of the then state ... "

Minister of Justice Kinkel: "There are neither winners nor losers in German unification."

The Berlin Court of Justice convincingly substantiated its doubts about the conformity of the charges against the intelligence officers with international law.

Nevertheless, the process took place.

On December 6, 1993, Markus Wolf was sentenced to six years in prison, but released on bail.

In the summer of 1995, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in the case of Werner Grossmann that GDR intelligence officers are not subject to prosecution in the FRG for treason and espionage. On this basis, the Federal Court of Justice also annulled the Düsseldorf Court's sentence against Markus Wolf.

The former head of East German intelligence continued to fight for the rehabilitation of those still being persecuted for their work in the GDR.

It is interesting that Markus Wolf, "a man without a face", during his lifetime became the hero of a spy novel. In 1960, his exploits inspired a young Intelligence Service employee, David Cornwell. Under the pseudonym of John Le Carré, he created the well-known image of Karl, the chief of intelligence of the Communists, an educated and captivating man, dressed in a tweed suit and smoking Navy Cat cigarettes ...

On May 30 and 31 at 21:20 on the Kultura TV channel, the premiere of a documentary film about the head of intelligence of the GDR, Markus Wolf.

This film "Intelligence in faces. Markus Wolf" is worth watching. Film director, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation Irina Georgievna Sveshnikova has been filming the film since 1988. For many years I was familiar with the hero - the creator of one of the best intelligence in the world. And the film about Wolf, who died in 2006 at the age of 83, turned out not so much about scouts as about a man whose fate was intelligence.

The frankness and openness of Wolf is striking. I saw a lot of films about him and with his participation. I met with Markus, who spoke Russian with almost no accent. Corresponded with him. Until now, in the wallet is his business card with a Berlin address. Markus, aka Misha, was exceptionally, it seems to me, lucky, and therefore I carry this card "for good luck."

But our communication with the retired intelligence officer, who headed his Service for 28 years, did not reach such depths of revelation as in the film.

Little Misha found himself with his communist father and brother Konrad (the future famous director) in Moscow in 1934. Fled from the Nazis. And they got into a difficult situation. Socialism, industrialization - and Yezhov's purges. The fight against fascism and the cult of Stalin. The desire to help his native Germany, the Great Patriotic War and, finally, the arrival in the intelligence of a new country called the GDR. Or rather, there is no such Service yet.

And here Wolf makes a great revolution in one of the oldest professions. He creates intelligence on absolutely new principles. Here is the communist idea, and an absolute understanding of the laws by which they live in a neighboring and very rich country called Germany. Knowledge of the psychology of the enemy, yes, the enemy.

What is worth one introduction of the intelligence officer of the GDR Guillaume as an adviser to Chancellor Willy Brandt. And how great and holy is the understanding: only in alliance with the USSR and its special services, especially with foreign intelligence, can success be achieved in a titanic battle with the richest rivals from another world.

In the film, Sveshnikova Wolf will reveal many secrets. He will tell how he introduced his employees and recruited agents in West Germany. How his blue-eyed "Romeos" worked - scouts who attracted single ladies from Germany who had access to classified information. How they helped to exchange Soviet illegal immigrants for captured Western spies in proportion sometimes unprecedentedly unequal - more than ten strangers for a single Russian.

And yet, the main value of the film-confessions in Wolf's monologues about the essence of intelligence. About how loyalty is born, how devotion is brought up. Indeed, even in the difficult years after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, Wolf's agents did not betray their general. Fought for his release. This was also proved by their efforts: Wolf cannot be in prison, because he did not cheat on anyone, but fought for the independence and existence of his state, to which he swore allegiance.

I saw a lot of paintings by Irina Georgievna Sveshnikova about intelligence officers, and film reports from such hot spots as Afghanistan, Angola, Laos, Vietnam, Iran ... Still, I will take the liberty of suggesting that the film about Wolf is the strongest. Her shots are made through suffering along with the hero. He did not retreat, did not betray - he withstood. And even when, at the most difficult moment of changing formations in our country, they did not dare to support him, Wolf found a way out. And he was not offended, did not break ties with the country that raised him.

There is a lot of philosophy and a lot of intelligence in the picture. The documentary is not a sensational one-day film at all, but an investigation. He will be remembered for a long time.

Markus Wolf is rightfully considered one of the most effective and successful scouts of his time. For quite a long time, the secret services of the West called him simply - "a man without a face." And only after another intelligence officer, Werner Stiller, fled to Germany, Wolf's nickname became irrelevant.

Germans in the USSR

Markus Wolf was a native of Germany. He was born in 1923. His mother was German and his father was Jewish. Wolf Sr. adhered to leftist views and openly opposed fascism. That is why, after Hitler came to power, the Wolfs decided it was time to leave. First they went to Switzerland, then to France. However, they did not manage to settle down either there or there. In 1934, the couple arrived in the USSR.

The German family settled in Moscow. There Markus, who was simply called Misha by his classmates, graduated from high school. When the Great Patriotic War began, Volfov, along with many other Soviet citizens, was evacuated to Kazakhstan. Surprisingly, being Germans, they were not subjected to any persecution by the authorities. On the contrary, the authorities decided that Markus could be useful to them and sent him to study at a special school, where they trained agents for sabotage and reconnaissance work.

Stasi

Immediately after the victory in 1945, Markus Wolf went to the German capital Berlin. There he, along with other agents, had to prepare an appropriate springboard for communist power. Wolf got a job as a journalist at the local radio, which by that time had been reclassified as anti-fascist, and even covered the famous Nuremberg trials.

In 1949, a new state of the GDR appeared on the territory of Germany. His education was not recognized by many countries except the Soviet Union. A year later, the Ministry of State Security of the German Democratic Republic, the Stasi, was created. It was there that Markus Wolf was transferred. In 1952, he was already the head of the country's foreign intelligence.

no face

The period when Wolf was in charge of intelligence is even today recognized by many experts as the real heyday of this activity. For example, GDR spy Gunther Guillaume was able to get a job in the administration of the German chancellor himself, and Gabriela Gast managed to become a German intelligence agent. The work of some successful scouts was personally supervised by Markus Wolf.

For quite a long time, Western intelligence agencies could not figure out Wolf himself. They didn't even know what he looked like. Until 1979, they did not have a single photograph of Wolf. Therefore, he was dubbed "the man without a face." Although, perhaps, it would be more logical to call Marcus the king of conspiracies. Because he traveled a lot all his life and never hid. Perhaps the appearance of the head of intelligence of the GDR would have remained a mystery for a long time if not for one agent. Werner Stiller fled from the GDR to the FRG. Once he accidentally saw his boss on one of the photographs and informed the right person about it.