Book Finds Spies Everywhere in E. Germany

A new book says West Germany enjoyed a huge network of civilian spies who monitored Soviet troop movements in East Germany.

Deutsche Welle said Thursday that a pair of Cold War historians have determined that the west had as many as 10,000 East Germans citizens who would provide tips to the Federal Intelligence Agency (BND).

In their book BND Against the Soviet Army historians Armin Wagner and Matthias Uhl said the BND knew something big was about the blow weeks before the Berlin Wall went up in August 1961. They surmised it would be a wall and told officials in Bonn But they didn’t want to accept the idea, Wagner told Der Spiegel Online.

While BND officials were well informed about the locations of Soviet forces, they were less successful in obtaining higher-value, top-secret information and were unable to develop sources within the higher ranks of the East German government.

Their book, which was launched Thursday, made use of new BND records that were recently made public, Deutsche Welle said.