The Spying Game: Tales from the Cold War

During the Cold War, tensions between East and West mount alarmingly. In consequence, western intelligence services shift their focus on East Germany as the Warsaw Pact’s major deployment zone. Nowhere else did western services get as close to Soviet military equipment. Their prime targets are missiles, nuclear depots and airbases. At the same time, the KGB, as well as Soviet military intelligence, were sending their spies to reconnoitre NATO forces in the West. The game of spies was in full swing.

Some just counted tanks, others stole blueprints for bombs. The Cold War was the battleground for thousands of spies and spotters. Even the Allied Military Missions in Germany doubled as covert observers in the spying game. Whether military observers, spies or traitors – they all acted as suppliers of intelligence for their masters in Washington or Moscow. Many of them risked their lives, and quite a few lost it. Yet, did the spying game really contribute to keep the Cold War cold in the end?