Thursday, May 28, 2009
News from Germany: The killer was a Commie
If you can believe the New York Times, Germany is a socialist country today because of Communist subversion:
It was called “the shot that changed the republic.”
The killing in 1967 of an unarmed demonstrator by a police officer in West Berlin set off a left-wing protest movement and put conservative West Germany on course to evolve into the progressive country it has become today.
Now a discovery in the archives of the East German secret police, known as the Stasi, has upended Germany’s perception of its postwar history. The killer, Karl-Heinz Kurras, though working for the West Berlin police, was at the time also acting as a Stasi spy for East Germany.
It is as if the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard had been committed by an undercover K.G.B. officer, though the reverberations in Germany seemed to have run deeper.
With every new discovery in the Cold War archives, we are learning that much, even if not all, of that era's right-wing paranoia was actually justified. You know, like the part about the Rosenbergs actually having been traitors.
11 Comments:
By 
D.E. Cloutier, at
Thu May 28, 10:24:00 AM:
Spiegel Online in Germany had a story about this on May 22: "East German Spy Shot West Berlin Martyr."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,626275,00.html
Spiegel Online also had a related article on May 27: "Western Germany Wants Stasi's Influence to Remain Hidden."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,627115,00.html
By 
, at
Thu May 28, 10:37:00 AM:
So will the hate mongers on the left who belittled us for all those years now apologize?
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Thu May 28, 10:50:00 AM:
P.S. Spiegel Online just added another story today. This one is from the magazine Der Spiegel: "The Truth about the Gunshot that Changed Germany."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,627342,00.html
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu May 28, 10:50:00 AM:
Hah!
Peruse the Mitrokhin Archive sometimes, for some really scary moments. Like how close the country came to having bona fide Soviet spies appointed to the President's Cabinet. (yes, they were Democrats, in the 1940s)
Apparently, the Red Scare of the 50s convinced the KGB that trying to recruit new agents at that time would be counter-productive... so they waited till the 60s and started recruiting and funding 'activists' who were supposed to act as political subversives in the greater service of the USSR.
What, you thought that FBI/CIA penetrations of activist groups was because they gave a shit about hippies and their silly philosophies?
There were some great uses of black propaganda, as well. The original author of the 'CIA killed Kennedy' conspiracy theory worked for the KGB.
It's a great read. There is a sequel too, called The World Was Going Our Way about Soviet intelligence in the Third World.
By , at
Thu May 28, 11:01:00 AM:
"...so they waited till the 60s and started recruiting and funding 'activists' who were supposed to act as political subversives in the greater service of the USSR."
You mean the 60's KGB "activists" that are now running our government?
By , at
Thu May 28, 12:07:00 PM:
Another thing this has in common with more recent history is that the German press at the time was interested in reporting only interpretations favorable to the left, so sure were they of the rightness of its positions.
They, in their ignorance and arrogance, were at least equally responsible for the fact that the public never found out what it should have known.
By , at
Thu May 28, 12:21:00 PM:
No, I can't believe the NYT. Get that garbage off your blog, please.
By , at
Thu May 28, 03:21:00 PM:
We will find out, Roy, but this has been said about President Obama and it is even true about the NYT, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day"
By , at
Thu May 28, 11:19:00 PM:
> With every new discovery in the
> Cold War archives, we are learning
> that much, even if not all, of that
> era's right-wing paranoia was
> actually justified.
A couple of years ago (7-8?) I read that during the 40's and 50's the State Department (IIRC) was infiltrated by communists even more than Joseph McCarthy suspected. The problem was, that he approached the problem in such a clumsy asshome way, that after him, it was impossible to do anything meaningful. Hey, even more than 50 years later, his name still reverberates.
> You know, like the part about the
> Rosenbergs actually having been
> traitors.
Actually, their executions was really helpful for the communists. After all, they could point out,that the West was executing people who sympathize with the Soviet system which proves how cruel heartless they were. After divulging the nuclear secrets, the Rosenbergs were much more useful to the Soviet Union dead, than alive. There is a phrase in my native Hungarian: "The moor has done his duty, the mooor can leave now".
Vilmos
By , at
Fri May 29, 03:19:00 PM:
This might be an important story. I can't tell because a f@*#ing Orange Julius add is blocking it out.
By , at
Sun May 31, 11:52:00 AM:
Hungarian Anon,
In the USSR the Rosenbergs execution was hardly known at all. Big deal was made about Sacco and Vanzetti (even state pencil factory was named after them), but Rosenbergs were hardly ever mentioned.
Possibly the reason for that was it would undermine Soviet claim they designed A-bomb without any help from outside. Authenticity of Soviet designs was one of the biggest fictions maintained by Soviet regime.
