The Truth, the Absolute Truth

Home , Alfred Frenzel, Bruno Beater, Julius Mader, Liberation (film series)

The Truth, the Absolute Truth- Liberation Policy and DEFA’s For Eyes Only _For eyes only 19.06.13 17:27 1 Seite 17:27 19.06.13 DEFA’s For only Eyes Only _For eyes and Policy Truth- The Truth, Liberation the Absolute incorporate other film documents, e.g. newsreels, into the finished product. In this way a new relationship new a way this In product. finished the into newsreels, e.g. documents, film other incorporate also then and documents on based are films The […] documents. on based were films then—the back new was this “First—and retrospect. in objectivity,”even to “claim fractured artistically and biased this lined the for newsreels making by began who Maetzig, Kurt message. political correct the deliver to supposed were films such however,time, same the at “facts”; and evidence to linked directly was that “truth” a present to was point The piece. theater documentary of sort a showing was it that DEFAinsisted monopoly film German East the rule. communist to end an for hope with fear,with also only but met way no in Curtain—was Iron the behind countries other in as GDR the which—in Policy,Liberation of view this propagating in involved were media Many (MfS). Security State for Ministry the from exposés new by stoked regularly media, German East the of staple a became threat alleged the against warnings accented variously years, forty Over threat. national prototypical the constituted Policy Liberation GDR, the of leadership the Policy.For Liberation of part as made promises the in placed strators demon hopes the overlook to impossible was it argued, continually East the in power in those as outside, control. Soviet under region dissolve—the possible if weaken—and to used be would confrontation military except means every whereby strategy a to referred Policy Liberation Dulles, Foster John of name the to linked Warenemy.Cold Indelibly the of perceptions influenced they extent what to and States, United the of Policy” way.this in extent certain a to functioned WestGermany from television and radio to access although citizens, German East average of part the on information corrective to access limited sphere public SED the by agenda-setting political and censorship of establishment systematic however,and East, early the the West.In the and East needed. as staged be could aspects fictional whose but media, other from public the to known were outlines general whose events,” “real to linked also were these of number nificant success. had they which films—with crime as ways—often attractive in presented were message cal politi central a had that films Many television. on broadcast later people’swere they as memory,especially in audiences—stayed on impression an made that War.films Cold is, the films—that during “Good” being images. and positions predis existing to adapts always information new systems, belief resulting the In role. important an pays nevertheless evidence” “rational which in logic particular,irrational a rather follow if perceptions collective confrontation. this of factor central a be to perceptions held he that War”—madeclear “Cold term the of invention the not if dissemination, the ascribed is whom WalterLippmann—to example, for 1947, In 1991. and 1947 Warbetween Cold the of dynamics changing rapidly e the in factors important most the of one be to found been have opponent the perceptions—of false Perceptions—including importance. particular of were media the via transmitted enemies War,and Cold friends the of of images history the In Stöver Bernd By DEFA’S AND POLICY LIBERATION TRUTH: ABSOLUTE THE TRUTH, THE 7 An important and under-researched observation is that, with regard to its films addressing this topic, this addressing films its to regard with that, is under-researchedobservation and important An “Liberation the addressed films feature German East purpose what for and how at looks article This into came perceptions certain why and how of question the to respect with role special a play Films Although the big uprisings “behind the Iron Curtain” in 1953 and 1956 had not been initiated from initiated been not had 1956 and 1953 in Curtain” Iron the “behind uprisings big the Although Augenzeuge 2 5 affected film production, while the lack of an organized and effective alternate effective and organized an of lack the while production, film affected series and then directed several feature films on the subject, always under always subject, the on films feature several directed then and series FOR EYES ONLY EYES FOR 4 This was true of films in both the both in films of true was This 1 Individual and Individual 6 3 A sig A - - - - -

1 “The Truth, the Absolute Truth: Liberation Policy and DEFA’s For Eyes Only • For Eyes Only — Top Secret • A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library The Truth, the Absolute Truth- Liberation Policy and DEFA’s For Eyes Only _For eyes only 19.06.13 17:27 Seite 2

develops between cinema and reality, a documentary style.”8 It was not meant to be superficial “docutain- ment,” but rather to deliver behavioral guidelines along with the political message. “It seems to me,” said Maetzig, “that this explanatory element is always linked to the attempt to activate the viewer, […] to enable him to make his own creative contribution to the development of socialism.”9

For Eyes Only The DEFA film that dealt with western Liberation Policy the most clearly—and, judging from public interest, the most successfully—was For Eyes Only. Almost two years in production, it came out in East German theaters on July 19, 1963, and was successfully screened in theaters all over eastern Europe, A A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library including in Poland and Romania. János Veiczi directed the film and wrote the screenplay with author Harry Thürk, who later wrote bestsellers on the same topics. The idea for the movie came from actor Hans Lucke, who brought pertinent experience from the DEFA film Geheimarchiv an der Elbe (Secret Archive on the Elbe) and now played Colonel Rock of the American Military Intelligence Division (MID). The storyline is set in the secret service milieu in West Germany. The American secret service, MID, is preparing a “war of liberation” against the GDR, which is to start in fall 1961, shortly after the West German Bundestag elections. The central office in Wiesbaden has already worked out plans for an airborne

assault, sent spies over the border and set up sleeper agents that will be activated when the attack begins • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top on “Day X.” A Concordia Import-Export Company in Würzburg secretly functions as a branch of MID, where the assault is prepared under the supervision of MID Major Ted Collins. As the protagonist of the film, East 10

German Stasi agent Hansen—alias Lorenz—manages to gain access to the plans and, in a wild chase For Eyes Only scene, get them over the border into East Berlin. When the plans are made public, the “Liberation of the GDR” collapses. Formally, For Eyes Only presents itself as a thrilling crime film. In light of Stasi materials and recently opened sources on military defectors from the West,11 however, it seems that For Eyes Only was also the precisely calibrated, political endpoint of a chain of evidence against western Liberation Policies that the GDR had been developing since 1958. Above all, the purpose of the film was once and for all to justify, in the eyes of East German citizens, the construction of a wall that would cut off the GDR. High rates of attendance and the positive reaction of the viewing public indicate that this time there was at least a willingness to accept the official demonstration of an external threat. On one hand, the content of the film relied on multiple examples of alleged evidence of an immanent “war of liberation,” which the East German press publicized in the 1950s and, increasingly starting in early 1960, during the second Berlin crisis and the “Khrushchev ultimatum.”12 The case in question had to do with NATO strategy and planning papers and, in particular, an operation involving the West German Bundeswehr,

codenamed DECO II. The case was nothing new; it had been known since 1955 and an East German docu- Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s mentation about it had already been published in 1959.13 That the MfS had been meticulously preparing to present the case to the international press since 1959 under the name of “Operation Straußenei” (operation “ostrich egg”), however, indicates that it was only after the collapse of Soviet pressure in the second Berlin crisis that the case was used to justify the planned structural sealing off of the GDR. It only acquired its public meaning as the “total solution” of the border question—the building of the Wall—was being consid- ered and domestic and international justifications were urgently being sought.14 The MfS, which was more involved in the production of For Eyes Only than in any other DEFA feature film about the West’s Liberation Policies, had not only handed over the plans for the “liberation,” however. It also organized appearances by several active or recently separated members of the West German Bundes - wehr who had defected to the GDR, quasi as witnesses for the prosecution. In a press conference on July 8, 1960, former career officers Bruno Winzer and Adam (von) Gliga were presented to the international press. Winzer, the most important witness for the East German leadership, had himself been a press officer in West Germany, while collaborating with the MfS over several years (code name “Rebe”). He had offered to work

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with the MfS on November 18, 1957, if the MfS would help him “fulfill his financial responsibilities.” According to the MfS, Winzer had delivered “much important internal information” about the Bundeswehr and its allies, and had proven himself a “very valuable and reliable source.” On May 1, 1960, he was nevertheless “withdrawn” (as it was called in MfS jargon) when faced with the danger of being exposed, “because his safety could no longer be guaranteed.”15 Once in the GDR, he was provided with a new existence. That both the “evidence” and the choice of “witnesses” presented on July 8 were selectively planned is revealed by the fact that Adam (von) Gliga—who was dismissed from the Bundeswehr in 1959 and had defected on January 16, 1960—had been “saved” for the big day. As far as can be discerned from

the recently released files, Gliga—who was introduced as “Adjutant Kammhubers”—did not work closely A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library with the head of the West German Luftwaffe and had not defected because he was a Stasi collaborator or even a committed communist. Gliga was simply eluding prosecution for fraud and hoped to be able to start a new life in the GDR. As soon as he was released from detention in Munich, he boarded a plane for West Berlin, where he got on a city train to East Berlin.16 DECO II, according to key witness Winzer and establishing a clear connection to western Liberation Policies, was the “crusade plan of NATO and the Bundeswehr.”17 The center of the plan was to develop a “fifth column” in the GDR in order to “separate the people of the GDR from their government, prepare a • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top second [uprising like on] June 17, 1953, which would then give the Bundeswehr the Christian responsibility to march in to ‘liberate’ the GDR.” In Bonn, Winzer continued, “people were convinced that they had missed their chance with June 17 and the Hungarian uprising [of 1956].” Adenauer was selling “American policies that Strauß was thinking to implement with the means available to him.”18 A few years later, Winzer submitted For Eyes Only his “autobiographical report” to the Verlag der Nation publisher in East Berlin under the title Soldat in drei Armeen (transl. A Soldier in Three Armies), in which he repeated the same arguments in detail.19 Significantly, this volume sold briskly and was reprinted several times in quick succession. This too indicates that there was significant readiness on the part of the East German population to at least listen to the official argument regarding the threat to the GDR posed by the West’s Liberation Policies. DECO II was central in the chain of evidence supporting the official narrative, as well as in justi fying for building a wall. Already in February 1960, MfS chief Erich Mielke wrote about DECO II and an imminent “Blitzkrieg” in the Neues Deutschland daily paper.20 Walter Ulbricht, the head of state and of the SED party, also referred to it on August 18, 1961, in his main televised appearance addressing the construction of the Wall. On October 20, 1961, DEFA’s official release of the film For Eyes Only then referred to Ulbricht’s arguments in turn. Naturally, the demand for “truth” was also central here. “With this film we attempt to expose,” read the statement on the film scenario, drafted by DEFA’s chief dramaturg, Dieter Wolf,21 and the dramaturg for the film, Heinz Hafke, “The Truth, the Absolute Truth: Liberation Policy and DEFA’s Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s … that the imperialist powers are waging the Cold War as a permanent battle against the socialist camp. This Cold War could become a hot war hourly, if the forces of peace are not constantly on the lookout. […] Taking into account poetic license, in this film we try to stay true to the main lines of factual material and authentic documents (DECO II and MC 96). Although the actual events that we use as a basis for the film are already in the past, we believe we are warranted in setting them in the period leading up to August 13, 1961. In this, we refer to the decalarations of the Chairman of the State Council of the GDR, Walter Ulbricht.22 The document MC-96, to which the dramaturgs refer explicitly, is a paper of the NATO Military Committee, several of which had been made public and used of in propaganda before the Wall went up. Here was the film’s second link to reality. MC-96 treated the possible deployment of atomic weapons on enemy territory and was known about through corresponding East German publications.23 Shortly before the construction of the Wall, however, it was particularly NATO Directive MC-70 that was publicized by GDR

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media. This secret document, which treated NATO strategic concepts spanning 1958 to 1963, came into the possession of the GDR through one of the most spectacular West German espionage cases. Along with the aerial defense plan of the FRG, it was handed over to the Czechoslovakian secret service by the Sudeten German SPD Bundestag representative Alfred Frenzel, then forwarded to the East German Stasi.24 Like the Bundeswehr officer Winzer, Frenzel had already been involved with eastern intelligence services for a long time. Since 1956, he had been working for the Czechoslovakian secret service, which had been able to blackmail him by means of an alleged case of fraud that had taken place while he was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, as well as his less-than-forthcoming avowal of this period in the West German Bundestag. Frenzel was finally arrested in the FRG on October 28, 1960, and sentenced

to fifteen years in prison for treason; in 1966, however, he was traded against prisoners in the GDR and A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library Czechoslovakia. The importance of Frenzel’s treason is lessened by the fact that the most crucial contents of MC-70 had been public since 1958. As of April of that year, West German papers had reported on the acquisition of tactical atomic weapons by the Bundeswehr, and there had been hefty debates in the Bundestag about leading up to the adoption of the directive at the NATO conference in Paris on April 15, 1958.25 The thesis that there were targeted releases of “new evidence” of the “war of liberation against the GDR” is supported by the fact that in the summer of 1960, such well-known information became the basis for a press conference in • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top East Berlin and was woven into a “chain of evidence” for allegedly imminent aggression against the GDR on the part of the West. The “current” trigger issue to which this was linked was the arrest of members of the American military mission in East Germany. As MfS files attest in this case as well, these “current” events had actually taken place one year before; on July 11, 1959, three US officers had been arrested in the vicinity For Eyes Only of Karl-Marx-Stadt.26 The arrest report notes that, among other things, they were found with “1 briefcase containing diverse maps.” In the “chain of evidence” here presented, the existence of which Ulbricht expressly confirmed at the press conference of July 19, 1960, the information about atomic weapons was inserted in the following fashion: What we uncovered in January, which was confirmed by the West German officers who defected to the GDR, has now been virtually acknowledged by Mr. Strauß himself. During his short stay in the USA, Mr. Strauß concluded agreements regarding the delivery of a wide range of missiles, including those that are only suited to aggression. […] As US officers in the vicinity of Karl-Marx- Stadt were working on preparations for war and civil unrest, our State Security organs confiscated all their maps. […] Are we to believe it is a coincidence that NATO’s plans for aggression, Mr. Strauß’ plan for a “little war,” the markings on the maps of the US officers, and the materials that were found on the arrested West German spies all match? […] Mr. Strauß and the Hitler generals

in Bonn have planned the following: To begin with fascist provocations in the GDR by infiltrating Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s West German fascists into the ranks of displaced persons, returnees and visitors. At a specific point in time, these fascists […] are to stage provocations, while simultaneous provocations on the border furnish the excuse for the invasion of West German Special Armed Forces. The script of For Eyes Only would later also reprise this scenario almost word for word. As usual, the “incon- trovertible proofs of NATO preparations for war” were thereafter expressly emphasized in individual news items.27 GDR exposés published in the 1980s, in turn, cited these central texts once more.28 The production’s third link to reality was the success of the MfS against the MID in Würzburg, West Germany, seven years before the film’s release in 1963. In May 1956, MfS agent Horst Hesse and Hans Wax, an agent who had been called in later, succeeded in bringing all GDR-related data on MID agents to East Berlin. A direct result of this was the arrest of 140 people in the GDR. As we now know, the actual unfolding of the otherwise successful Würzburg action had very little to do with its representation in the film. The operation got more than a little chaotic before the secret documents were finally brought across the border.

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Hans Wax, the undercover Stasi agent code-named “Donner,” first talked about what actually took place in an interview 25 years later, which was kept under wraps until the end of the GDR. For one thing, the recruitment of Hesse in Würzburg was more or less accidental. Hesse had landed in the Department for Agent Recruitment and had been able to get promoted to Deputy Chief for Security Issues. Moreover, during the operation Hesse—who in the GDR was later represented as a role model for younger members of the MfS— proved to be far from a hero.29 “If it had been up to Comrade Hesse,” explained Wax in his 1984 interview, “I would still be stuck in Würzburg today, waiting for the all-clear signal to begin. And here, on my oath of office […], I’ll state that the success of the Würzburg action was solely thanks to Comrade Beater and Comrade Kiefel.”30 A A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library When I returned from Berlin […], the signal didn’t come, something had happened again […], and that just kept up, on and on. Comrade Hesse was more or less at the end of his rope. […] When it was time and I noticed the signal wasn’t coming, I told my driver to start the car. […] I said, we’re […] going to take the safes with us today and you [Hesse] are coming with us.31 Because the safes would not fit in the car, the report continues, they broke them open and took only the papers with them into the GDR. According to Wax, the “border breakthrough”—which was always central in propaganda representations and then also played an important role in For Eyes Only—also didn’t happen. And Wax’s • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top version clearly contradicts the assertion that Otto Grotewohl personally spoke about a “delivered safe.”32 Despite materials that are now available, some other things in the Wax report can no longer be verified. All this “proof” of the allegedly imminent “war of liberation” against the GDR, with which the public was familiar from the newspapers in recent years, contributed to the script for an exciting crime movie. For Eyes Only Well-worn justifications from the first DEFA film on the Liberation Policy were concurrently incorporated. Already in Hans Lucke’s first film scenario—which had the working title Freitag Nacht fällt die Entscheidung (transl. The Decision Will Be Made on Friday Night) and had little in common with the final screenplay—the opening scenes were set in the I.G. Farben building in Frankfurt am Main, like Kurt Maetzig’s 1950 film Der Rat der Götter (Council of the Gods). Even in the final version, a series of US agencies, including MID, had a prominent place. On a map of the GDR, the General shows the “roll back” plan. The hour is approaching, in which the decision in Europe must be made. There’s been some headway. The stream of emigrés is growing, but in the end that’s not what it’s about. The unrest must be stoked. Everything will be ready in the fall. It will be up to existing anti-communist groups, reinforced by armed agents who will be introduced at the pre-determined time. The action must be more forceful than in 1953. Our opponents have learned and are on the look out. When these groups strike the military action

must be mobilized fast as lightning, allowing these East German groups to create a popular move- Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s ment justifying a military intervention, or at least the excuse for one.33 Lucke arranged the scene at the MfS in parallel: The General indicates some papers on this desk. Reliable information that the opponent plans to wrap up the GDR in the fall at the latest. CIA, CIC, MID, the East Bureaus and whatever else the different secret services are called—they have all been engaged in feverish activity in the last weeks. We already know details about certain plans. He turns to a comrade in civilian attire: […] We need MID’s “top secret” material to fill out the information we have.34 In contrast to its forerunners that relied on “evidence,” the content of For Eyes Only blended fictional narrative and reality much more convincingly. DEFA namely insisted, even afterwards, that the methods used had been documentary. In 1974, a DEFA retrospective asserted that “plans of this sort existed,” as those ruling in Washington, Bonn and elsewhere still labored under the delusion that on “Day

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X” they could still roll socialism back eastwards and get the GDR, at least, under the control of Messrs. Flick, Abs & Co. This is why they fought so hard to deny the existence of the GDR. Chancellors in Bonn, whose names are today only remembered with difficulty, spoke arrogantly and disdainfully about the “Zone” and “constructs.” The Cold War was still in full swing; there was no sign of the peaceful co-existence and measured relations of the two German states, which the GDR repeatedly proposed. This is the situation in which For Eyes Only appears—one can only say: right on time.35 The “documentary content” had already been foregrounded by the time the film was released in 1963. The Volkswacht in Gera wrote that people would be interested in knowing what was truth and what was poetry A A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library in this film. Lieutenant Colonel Kehl of the MfS, an expert advisor for the film, emphasized that “truth and fic- tion blend together”;36 although the action was invented, it grew out of “many facts, findings and experi- ences in a years-long battle with imperialist secret services.” In fact, preparations for the film had included more extensive consultations with the MfS than for any other DEFA film. The Ministry saw an opportunity to optimally represent its operations to the public and to polish its public image. For Eyes Only thus also became an advertising vehicle for the MfS and was pro- duced in continuous and close collaboration with the secret service.37 On January 24, 1963, the rough cut

was screened for employees of the Stasi; those in charge could in good conscience confirm “that the film • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top was shot with an eye to the duties accruing to the Ministry for State Security,” and that they expected “unusually good results with respect to the public,” which was especially meaningful because “politically, 38

the film is framed correctly.” For Eyes Only The film itself clearly expressed its claim to reality as of the first credits, which read: “The action of the film is fictional—similarities to actual events and living persons is intentional.” For this reason, dialogues were partially in English and then translated by a German voice-over. János Veiczi had insisted on this approach. The original plan had actually been to subtitle the English sections in German.39 The “liberation plan” was also introduced in the original language. In the film, it is first discussed by Americans at a secret conference at the I.G. Farben building in Frankfurt am Main. The decisive sequence begins: “The plans for the real thing are ready and will be handed out to you today.” There are three parts: psychological preparations, diversionary activities and military strategic actions. We will start with a report on the state of preparations. The psychological preparations are going well. Radio, television and press are concentrating on two things: generating increasingly strong discontent in the central German population and escalating the mass emigration psy- chosis. The core of the diversionary activities is to infiltrate and fortify existing anti-communist groups. The network sleeper agents is ready to go; we are more or less abreast of military move- ments in the [Soviet] Zone. Reconnaissance for infiltrating key centers, such as radio, television, Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s post and telegraph offices, is almost complete. The simultaneous attack by the dissident groups we started will create a state of civil war, and with it a situation that justifies a military invasion. Mock attacks on Helmstedt-Berlin and Lübeck-Berlin and a simultaneous breakthrough from West into East Berlin. The goal: joining up with the airborne units in the Potsdam region and south of Berlin. Main thrust along the Czech and Polish borders, moving westward. Responsible for the attack: the Bundeswehr, US contingent and NATO are standing by. The action follows naturally from Allied maneuvers in the fall; we need not repeat that they must catch the East German regime absolutely unawares.40 This passage in fact contained everything associated with the Allied Liberation Policy. The film’s representation of the US and Americans was also in keeping with the negative stereotypes of earlier DEFA films. In the screenplay, Major Collins was not only an unscrupulous secret service chief and personally suspect character, but he also led a criminal double life. According to the screenplay, he is also involved in art thefts and the

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black market. “Someone who knows business can get almost as much out of the collapse of an old culture, as out of the development of a new one” is the core of what he says to Hansen, who plays his opposite in terms of moral integrity, as they view antiquities from the German middle ages. Hansen, in contrast, is above all doubt and suspicion, at the same time as he is a professional secret service agent who believes he is working for the better cause. As a consequence, when he later flees to the GDR, he convinces a Czech who also works for the Americans and has been influenced by the West to return with him and pick up his old profession as a gardener. Without faltering, of course, Hansen also pulls through his MID lie detector test, which takes place in a cellar that intentionally reminds viewers of a Gestapo interrogation chamber with an SS doctor. In general, the motif of National Socialism is present

throughout For Eyes Only. At MID headquarters in Würzburg there are many employees who had been in the A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library Gestapo, the SD or the SS. Dramaturg Heinz Hafke emphasized this particular element and pushed it to the forefront. In this film the opponent—according to the written summary of a consultation between Harry Thürk and János Veiczi—must appear “much more intelligent, ingenious and determined than in earlier ver- sions.” This meant that the opponent must not be represented solely as the protagonist’s employer [“Job- maker”], but also as the “advocate and supporter of an ideology.”41 Also the positive antithesis—Hansen (originally called “Berger”)—was to be represented as a “genuine, large, unmistakable character,” as is expressed in another letter from Hafke addressed to the • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top studio director and chief dramaturg; he should “emotionally engage the viewers.” In keeping with the positive representation desired by the MfS, this character would make it possible to communicate something about “the character of those who work in our secret services,” whose “humanistic principles” could here be displayed. For this reason, “it must not seem as if Berger [Hansen] alone saves the peace. He has his con- For Eyes Only crete assignment in a specific part of the secret front.” Hansen’s special status was even an agenda item at a DEFA executive meeting on October 7, 1961, where commentary focused on the still inadequate depth of the character.42

Reception The reception of For Eyes Only in the eastern press was consistently positive. Here too, the “truth factor” received particular praise. This was the case, for example, in the Schweriner Volkszeitung on July 23, 1963, under the heading “It’s Exciting Because It’s True.” “Such a plan really existed, the plan to overrun the GDR in the summer of 1961, which was foiled by August 13th.” Das Freie Wort in Suhl also saw “Nothing Fantastic” in the storyline and emphasized the existence of “diversionary groups” in the GDR. “And that […] is the ‘liberation of the GDR’ that Bonn has repeated so often” (8/10/63). The Märkische Volksstimme recog- nized a “dramatic reality in the superb DEFA film For Eyes Only” (8/14/63) and the Thüringer Tageblatt also

saw only “factual material” (7/10/63). The Freie Wort gave Harry Thürk the word in their September 17, 1963, Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s edition: “Of course we shouldn’t be so naïve as to say that the measures taken on 8/13/196143 prevented a war that would have broken out the next day,” he began. But as I have already said, I had the occasion to study certain goals and methods of western secret services for my work on this film. In the process, I came across things that even I would not have thought humanly possible. I remind you of the scene that takes place at MID headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. The espionage “experts” review how the GDR can be “undermined” by a wide range of agent groups and a state of civil war created, in order to elicit a cry for help from the West that would yield grounds to attack and take over the GDR. Just as in this case, all the scenes are based on the experience we in the GDR gained after these kinds of plans were exposed. The film is like in real life: all insidious, imperialist endeavors are trained upon “Day X” at such-and-such a time. For this they spent and continue to spend millions to grease the wheels of every possible espionage organization. And has anyone ever known a monopolist to “invest” this much without a goal in mind? No, never! 44 7 The Truth, the Absolute Truth- Liberation Policy and DEFA’s For Eyes Only _For eyes only 19.06.13 17:27 Seite 8

The film was officially approved—including for export—in the category “contemporary political film” on May 15, 1963, by the Film Approval and Control section of the Ministry for Culture. According to the minutes, Deputy Minister for Culture Hans Rodenberg and DEFA Studio Director Joachim Mückenberger were present.45 In his evaluation for the Central Film Administration, Mückenberger emphasized the alleged authenticity of the material once more. Here, he said, “they had succeeded in presenting an actual contemporary event in keeping with a genre,” in that “publicly known and authentic events […] were skillfully used to develop an exciting and adventurous tale.”46 The film was not an end in itself, made “for the satisfaction of justified entertainment needs”; here the potential of the material was used to clearly present “important political connections for our struggle for peace in Germany and Europe.” The hero was given a “genuine

and human profile,” thereby eschewing the danger of creating “false and damaging espionage roman - A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library ticism.” “Despite the obvious superiority and confidence of Hansen, his actions are not glorified, but rather characterized as hard work that is necessary for the existence of our country.” Only at a few points were the dangers of this occupation not entirely clear. In developing the screenplay and staging, “the portrayal of representatives of our national institutions presented great difficulties.” Political interests and questions of conspiracy in defense work would have severely limited the possibility of a realistic presentation. Changes were made so that negative persons were more removed. This allowed “the moral-political superiority of our side to be convincingly portrayed.” • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top How extremely pleased MfS Chief Mielke was with the film after the premiere can be gathered from his insistence that he personally give the Medal of Merit of the National People’s Army’s to scriptwriter Thürk, the dramaturg, the editor and the main actors.47 On October 26, 1963, the film was ranked “especially valuable,”surpassing the original decision to rank it as simply “valuable.”48 In his justification for this on For Eyes Only September 19, 1963, Mückenberger wrote that For Eyes Only was the most publicly effective contemporary political film from the DEFA Studio in a long time. “This fact is even more meaningful as the film addresses the important theme of the anti-imperialist struggle of our Republic against the preparations for war and diversions being mounted on West German soil, and does so in a way that is convincing and exciting for viewers.” Furthermore, it disposes the public “to gain insight into the role of our state and its represen - tatives, thereby strengthening their trust in the strength of our socialist system.” The film also succeeds in representing the integrating figure of the story—the agent Hansen—as a positive hero in an aesthetic sense, “who [also] fully wins the sympathies of the audience—[which] seldom [happens] enough in DEFA films.” Reason and the heart are equally addressed. Especially the numerous younger viewers (the film was approved for viewing by those 14 years and older) could identify with the employee of the MfS. Hansen’s character set a new bar for representations of positive heroes. The end result is a film of a “high political- ideological level.” It has succeeded in achieving a confluence of its concerns with public sympathies and taste and the opinion of the press.49 In contrast to the critical reaction of the western press to other DEFA films on the topic, which was Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s almost entirely negative, For Eyes Only was received as a surprising achievement on the part of DEFA. The film was the “most attractive example” of DEFA productions of 1963, wrote the Frankfurter Rundschau on February 1, 1964, while simultaneously offering the ironic commentary: “The American agent central offices (from the images, they must be somewhere near the Eschenheim Tower in Frankfurt) attempt to subvert the GDR in the rudest manner and prepare precise deployment plans. A villa in Würzburg provides a proper storage place. Here an East German counter-agent works as the assistant to the chief and in a masterful coup whisks the plans, along with the refrigerator in which they are hidden, away to the East.”

Summary Conclusion This case study of the DEFA film For Eyes Only allows us to draw certain conclusions about the larger questions with which this article opened. Given the bipolar fronts of the Cold War in the 1950s and

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1960s, for example, US Liberation Policy was an obvious and natural theme for feature films to address. Furthermore, the image shown of “the West”, “America” and West Germany built on belief-systems estab- lished before 1945 that easily drew on images of “National Socialism” as the enemy. Complications in this transfer—for example that on June 17, 1953, those involved in the uprising hoped for help from the West— were not fully ignored, but seemed manageable. It also appears that feature films in this period were the most important medium for propagating awareness of Liberation Policy and for bridging official propaganda and the public. Films that addressed US Liberation Policy seem to have been successful at the box office when they were both exciting and could be perceived as the “truth.” The well-made, at times exciting films made in the “documentary style” were politi-

cally effective because the “evidence” they presented was perceived as “true.” The constant repetition of A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library the same arguments in the films—in addition to parallel representations of the same, spectacular “evidence” in periodicals and documentations—contributed significantly to the consolidation of perceptions. In the particularly successful case of For Eyes Only, it is possible to trace how the “documentary” film became a political “demonstration of evidence.” Finally, the effect of the best-loved films on this topic made in the “documentary style” was enduring; people remembered the films they perceived as “good” and, with them, a general sense of US Liberation Policy as a real option on the part of the West that might be mobilized at any point in time. • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top

Bernd Stöver is Professor of Modern History, with emphasis on Contemporary History, at the University of For Eyes Only Potsdam, Germany. His recent research focuses on the history of the Cold War, Germany, dictatorship, migration and emigration and extra-European history. He is the author of several books and articles, including: Geschichte des Koreakrieges. Schlachtfeld der Supermächte und ungelöster Konflikt (transl. History of the Korean War: Battlefield of the Super Powers and Unsolved Conflict, 2013); United States of America: Geschichte und Kultur von der ersten Kolonie bis zur Gegenwart (transl. United States of America: History and Culture, From the First Colonies to the Present, 2012); Zuflucht DDR. Spione und andere Übersiedler (transl. Refuge GDR: Spies and Other Migrants, 2009); Der Kalte Krieg. Geschichte eines radikalen Zeitalters (transl. The Cold War: History of an Extreme Era, 2006); and Die Befreiung vom Kommunismus. Amerikanische Liberation Policy im Kalten Krieg 1947–1991 (transl. Liberation from Communism: American Liberation Policy in the Cold War, 1947–1991, 2002). “The Truth, the Absolute Truth: Liberation Policy and DEFA’s Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s

Bernd Stöver’s complete article was originally published as “Das ist die Wahrheit, die volle Wahrheit: Befreiungspolitik im DDR-Spielfilm der 1950er und 1960er Jahre” in Massenmedien im Kalten Krieg: Akteure, Bilder, Resonanzen, Thomas Lindenberger, ed. (Zeithistorische Studien Vol. 33. Böhlau Verlag: Cologne, Weimar, Vienna, 2006, pp. 49-76.)

Translated by Skyler Arndt-Briggs, DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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______1 Walter Lippmann, The Cold War: A Study in US Foreign Policy. New York/London 1947. 2 Thus, in 1945 the ambivalent images of the USA in Germany already had a long history, whereby “good” or “bad” images dominated depending on conviction and prior information, but also on the status of evidence for each. See, among other sources, Rainer Schnoor, “Das gute und das schlechte Amerika: Wahrnehmungen der USA in der DDR.” In Detelf Junker, ed., Die USA und Deutschland im Zeitalter des Kalten Krieges: Ein Handbuch, Vol I, Stuttgart/München, 2001, pp. 932-943. 3 See, e.g., Horst Schäfer and Wolfgang Schwarzer, Top Secret - Agenten- und Spionagefilme: Personen, Affären, Skandale. Berlin, 1998. A A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library 4 Compare to Stöver, Der Kalte Krieg. Geschichte eines radikalen Zeitalters. Munich, 2006, p. 59 ff. 5 The East German Socialist Unity Party, or Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands. 6 On the role, access and effect of radio stations during the Cold War, see Bernd Stöver, Die Befreiung vom Kommunismus: Amerikanische Liberation Policy im Kalten Krieg 1947-1991. Vienna, Cologne, Weimar, 2002. 7 See ibid. p. 35 ff. 8 Kurt Maetzig, Filmarbeit. Gespräche. Reden. Schriften, Ed. Günther Agde. East Berlin, 1987, p 58. 9 Ibid. p. 136f. 10 The Stasi is a popular name for the East German secret police, based at the Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, also referred to as the MfS). 11 See, for example, the author’s DFG-sponsored project “Übersiedler und Überläufer in die DDR.” • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top 12 The second Berlin crisis took place from 1958 to 1962; it was unleashed by an ultimatum Khrushchev presented to the West in fall 1958. For more on these events, see: Vladislad M. Zubok, “Khrushchev and the Berlin Crisis (1958-1962),” Woodrow Wilson Working Paper No. 6. www.wilson- center.org/sites/default/files/ACFB7D.pdf

13 “Deutsche Kriegsbrandstifter wieder am Werk. Eine Dokumentation über die Militarisierung Westdeutschlands nach Materialien des For Eyes Only Ausschusses für Deutsche Einheit.” East Berlin, 1959, p. 168. 14 On the debates leading up to the construction of the Wall, see: Hans-Hermann Hertle, Konrad Jarausch and Christoph Kleßmann (eds.), Mauerbau und Mauerfall. Ursachen, Verlauf, Auswirkungen. Berlin, 2002. 15 Information retrieved March 22, 1962. Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, MfS AOP 1528/89, B1., p. 29f. 16 That he was in no way ideologically committed is also to be discerned from the fact that in 1963 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for spying for the BND (West German Federal Intelligence Service). In 1970 he was traded to the FRG. 17 Statement by Federal Armed Forces Major Bruno Winzer at the International Press Conference on July 8, 1960 in Berlin. Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, MfS ZAIG 10590, B1. 25-43 (here: B1. 30). 18 Ibid, B1. 39. 19 See: Bruno Winzer. Soldat in drei Armeen. Bruno Winzer berichtet über Erlebnisse in Reichswehr, Wehrmacht und Bundeswehr. Autobiographischer Bericht. East Berlin: 1976, esp. starting p. 7. 20 Neues Deutschland, 2/7/1960, p. 1. 21 See written interview with Dieter Wolf on this disc. 22 Wolf and Hafke, “Statement for the exposé For Eyes Only,” October 20, 1961. Bundesarchiv Berlin, DR 117/3670. 23 See, e.g., “MC 96 Will Not Take Place.” Confederation of Free German Trade Unions. Berlin, 1961. 24 See: Richard Gerken, Spion in Bonn. Der Fall Frenzel und andere, Donauwörth, 1964; Ernst Nolte, Germany and the Cold War, Stuttgart, 1985, p. 404f. 25 See: Kriegsbandstifter, p. 223ff. “The Truth, the Absolute Truth: Liberation Policy and DEFA’s Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s 26 See: Protocol, July 11, 1959. Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives MfS, ZAIG 19590. B1. 171. 27 See, for example: Volksarmee, July 21, 1960. 28 See: Heinrich and Ullrich, Befehdet seit dem ersten Tag. Über drei Jahrzehnte Attentate gegen die DDR, Berlin: Dietz Verlag, 1981, p. 230. 29 See the MfS propaganda film Kühler Kopf, heißes Herz, saubere Hände (1967). Behörde des Bundesbeauftragten für die Stasi-Unterlagen. MfS- Agit/Fi/88. 30 Bruno Beater was the Deputy Minister for State Security; Josef Kiefel was the Head of MfS Department II (Espionage Defense). 31 Behörde des Bundesbeauftragten für die Stasi-Unterlagen. MfS AIM 11599/85, Vol. II/24, B1. 152-156; Here: B1. p. 152f. 32 Julius Mader, Gangster in Aktion. Aufbau und Verbrechen des amerikanischen Geheimdienstes. Berlin, 1961, p. 224. 33 Hans Lucke, “For Eyes Only!,” October 10,1961: 1. Bundesarchiv Berlin, DR 117/Exposé. 34 Ibid, 2. 35 “DEFA Retrospective For Eyes Only – Top Secret,” 33/74, Ed. Berlin: Progress Film-Verleih. All of the citations are in the Department of Press Documentation at the library of the Academy for Film and Television ‘Konrad Wolf,’ Potsdam. 36 Volkswacht 20/7/1963. The aforementioned MfS collaborator was Gerhard Kehl, who was Acting Director of the Department of Agitation. See: Jens Gieseke, ed., Wer war wer im Ministerium für Staatssicherheit. Berlin, 199, p. 36. 37 Report for the state and development of the project For Eyes Only. Bundesarchiv Berlin, DR 117/3670. 38 Note in file about approval of For Eyes Only by associates of the Ministry for State Security, January 24,1963. ibid.

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39 Letter to DEFA Studio Director Mückenberg, August 10, 1962. Bundesarchiv Berlin DR 117/3670. 40 From the original screenplay of For Eyes Only. 41 Letter from Hafke to the DEFA Studio Director and Head Dramaturg, January 12, 1962. Bundesarchiv Berlin, DR 117/3670. 42 Excerpt from the protocol of the director’s meeting of November 11, 1961 and November 8, 1961.; ibid. 43 The day the Berlin Wall was built. 44 All quotes found at the Department of Press Documentation at the Academy for Film and Television ‘Konrad Wolf,’ Potsdam. Further reception material at the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, File 4546. 45 See: Confidential Protocol 93/63, May 16, 1963. Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, DR 1 MfK/HV Film, File 345. 46 “Einschätzung des Spielfilms For Eyes Only, “ May 14, 1963. Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, DR 1 MfK/HV Film, File 345. 47 See: Berliner Zeitung, July 21, 1963. 48 See: Confidential Protocol of the State Committee for Cinema, October 28, 1963. Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, DR 1 MfK/HV Film, File 345. 49 Mückenberg’s Statement of Justification to the Film Rating Commission, MfK, September 19, 1963. Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, DR 1 MfK/HV Film, A DVD Release by the DEFA Film Library File 345. • • For Eyes Secret Only • — Top For For Eyes Only “The Truth, the Absolute Truth: Liberation Policy and DEFA’s Liberation the Policy Absolute “The and Truth: Truth, DEFA’s