Dieter Popp facts for kids
Dieter Popp (born November 24, 1938 – died November 27, 2020) was a secret agent from West Germany. He worked as a spy for East Germany's military intelligence from 1969 to 1990. His base was in Bonn, which was the temporary capital of West Germany at that time.
In 1990, just before Germany became one country again, Dieter Popp was arrested. In 1991, he was sent to prison for six years and had to pay a large fine for his spying activities. He ended up serving four years of his sentence. After being released in 1994, he strongly believed that East German spies like him were "missionaries of peace." He thought they helped prevent the Cold War from turning into a real war by sharing information with Soviet negotiators. He felt this helped reduce tensions between East and West, which eventually led to Germany's reunification. In 1995, Popp co-founded a group called "Missionaries of Peace demand Justice." This group supported others who shared his views.
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Dieter Popp's Early Life
Growing Up in Berlin
Dieter Popp was born in Berlin. His father was a Communist, which was against the law in Germany since 1933. His father was also involved in secret resistance activities against the Nazis. Popp's mother was considered "non-Aryan" by the Nazis. In 1939, his mother's grandfather, a Jewish surgeon, was arrested and sent to a concentration camp, where he later died.
In 1944, their home in Berlin was destroyed by bombs. The family moved about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north to Fürstenberg/Havel, his father's hometown. They lived very close to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Popp remembered seeing thin women prisoners, often political prisoners, being marched through the town. He never forgot how the townspeople reacted, seeing these women as "their own prisoners."
Life After World War II
World War II ended in May 1945. Popp's father was released from being an American prisoner of war in 1946. The family then moved to Neustrelitz, a small town in the part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union. Popp's father helped start a local branch of the Socialist Unity Party, which was formed in the Soviet zone in 1946.
During this time, the family secretly helped an activist who had been released from a concentration camp but was now wanted by the Soviet authorities. This situation did not end well. Both the activist and Popp's father were arrested by the Soviets. After his father was released from jail, the family moved again in 1950. This time, they went back to West Berlin, as the city was becoming divided. By 1956, Dieter Popp's father had passed away. In West Germany, the Communist Party was banned in 1956. Popp, who was 18, found it hard to understand why Communists were being treated badly again in the West.
Becoming a Spy
Offering His Services
After finishing school, Dieter Popp worked as an insurance agent. He was also active in left-wing intellectual groups in West Germany. In the mid-1960s, he met journalist Ulrike Meinhof, who was well-known among those who disagreed with West Germany's capitalist system. In 1966, Popp offered to work for East German military intelligence. Over the next few years, he received over 110,000 Marks for his spying activities.
The Spy Team in Bonn
In January 1969, Popp moved to Bonn, the center of the West German government. His main target was the West German Defence Ministry. He became friends with Egon Streffer, who was eight years younger. Popp then recruited Streffer to work for East German military intelligence. In spy reports, Popp was known as "Asriel" and Streffer as "Aurikel."
Popp and Streffer were very lucky when Streffer got a job at the Ministry of Defence in 1970. He was assigned to the "planning staff" and quickly became a respected employee.
How They Spied
Soon after starting at the ministry, Egon Streffer had access to many secret documents. He worked alone in his office, and it seemed that the ministry did not check its staff very closely. Popp continued his job as an insurance agent. The two men became a very effective spy team.
Popp received secret messages from his handlers in East Berlin using a special radio receiver. These messages told him what information East German intelligence wanted Streffer to find.
Streffer was in charge of collecting the information. His job involved recording, copying, and disposing of documents. He had access to documents marked "Highly secret," "NATO secret," and "US-top secret." Streffer would take the documents of interest and, during his lunch break, place them in his car, hidden inside popular magazines. At home, his partner would copy the documents. The next day, Streffer would return the documents to the office.
Popp was Streffer's contact agent. He handled the technical side and transported the copied documents using a small camera. Many documents were time-sensitive and needed to be sent quickly. Popp would meet a courier from East Berlin at a secret location, like a restaurant or a department store. They would swap identical bags or briefcases. One bag had the copied documents in a secret compartment, and the other had up to 8,000 Marks. The courier would take the documents to East Berlin, and Popp would go home with the empty bag and the money.
Between 1970 and 1989, the documents they obtained gave East German intelligence detailed information about NATO's plans, military exercises, new weapons projects, and long-term strategies. They were especially interested in the Wintex / Cimex military exercises that NATO held every two years.
The documents also included information about parliamentary discussions and reports on arms reduction talks between East and West Germany. Some reports even reached East Berlin before the West German Defence Minister received them in Bonn!
End of the Spy Operation
The spy operation ended not because of Germany's reunification, but because Egon Streffer died on August 22, 1989. He was only 44 years old and had a heart attack.
After Being Caught
Arrest and Trial
A few months before Germany became one country again, Popp's activities were reported to the authorities. Popp was arrested on May 14, 1990, at his home. He was taken for questioning and decided not to say anything. He was held in jail for a year and a half before his trial.
Dieter Popp's trial took place in Düsseldorf in December 1991. On December 23, 1991, he was found guilty of spying for East Germany. He was sentenced to six years in prison and had to pay a large fine. He also lost his right to hold public office or vote for four years. He served his time in different prisons.
Release and Continued Efforts
Popp's appeal against his conviction was rejected in July 1992. However, on May 11, 1994, he was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence. After his release, he continued to try to appeal the verdict through the German legal system, but he was not successful.
In 1998, Popp took his case to the European Court of Human Rights. He joined another former spy, Gabriele Gast, who had also spied for East Germany and felt she was wrongly imprisoned. They both believed they had done the right thing. The court decided in 2000 that Germany had not violated their right to a fair trial. An appeal to the United Nations also failed.
A Mission for Peace
From 1994 until he retired in 2003, Dieter Popp was officially unemployed. However, he was very active. In 1995, he founded the "Missionaries of Peace demand Justice" (IKF) group. He served as the group's chairman, and Gabriele Gast was his deputy.
The group is made up of people who worked for East German intelligence before 1989. They believe they have nothing to apologize for. They state that their job was to protect their country and its allies, not to win a war, but to help prevent any war from happening. They continue to work for peace and discuss the role of secret services. They believe that after the Cold War, the world did not become more peaceful, and that capitalism has caused more wars and inequality.
Political Involvement
Popp was a member of the Communist Platform, a group within "The Left" Party in Germany. This party's roots go back to the old East German Socialist Unity Party. In September 2004, Dieter Popp was a candidate for "The Left" Party in the local elections in Bonn. He was sixth on the party's list and received 75 votes in his district.
