went bankrupt, Frederik began a new venture—Verlag Politisches
Archiv—based in Landshut. Especially noteworthy was his 1971 ac-
count of the Otto John affair, which included an interview with an
official KGB spokesman, “Colonel Karpov,” who denied that John
was either abducted or forcibly detained in the German Democratic
Republic (GDR). After the collapse of the GDR, internal documents
revealed that Frederik (code name fredy) had maintained a close
relationship with the active measures or disinformation unit of the
Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung. In addition to generous subsidies,
the HVA had provided him with documents and prepared manu-
scripts that discredited leading West German politicians such as Her-
bert Wehner, Franz Josef Strauss, and Karl Schiller.FREMDE HEERE. The unit of the German General Staff charged
with intelligence assessment, the Fremde Heere (Foreign Armies)
was formed following the outbreak of World War I as the Nachricht-
enabteilung (Intelligence Division). It was renamed Fremde Heere in
- The unit obtained most of its raw data from Abteilung IIIb and
was led initially by Richard Hentsch. Although officially disbanded
after the war, it continued to function disguised as an army statistical
office until its reinstatement in 1931. Seven years later, a bifurcation
of responsibility along geographic lines created the Fremde Heere
Ost and Fremde Heere West.
FREMDE HEERE OST (FHO). The principal body responsible for
collating and analyzing intelligence concerning the armed forces of
the Soviet Union, the Fremde Heere Ost (Foreign Armies East) was
officially established on 10 November 1938. Its initial head, Eber-
hard Kinzel, was replaced in March 1942 by Reinhard Gehlen, who
served until April 1945. In Gehlen’s major reorganization, the FHO
was divided into six groups containing several subsections: Group I
prepared daily situation reports; Group II analyzed Soviet military
operations; Group III translated captured documents, radio transmis-
sions, and Soviet propaganda and periodicals; Group IV focused
on Scandinavia; Group V drew up situation maps; Group VI was
charged with general administration. Given the scope of its assign-
ments, the staff was a relatively small one, consisting of 50 officers,
70 noncommissioned officers, and 60 clerks.
FREMDE HEERE OST • 115