Manfred Gerlach had been a returnee to the German Democratic
Republic (GDR) two years earlier. A specialist in the manufacture
of jet engines, he headed the research and development divis-
ion of a company in Pirna (Saxony) and was a member of the
Scientific-Technical Council of the aircraft industry. With such a
large purview—including knowledge of joint Soviet-GDR projects—
his information was highly valued by the BND. His recruiter and
control officer was Helga Bock, the wife of another important figure
in German aeronautics. Their meetings frequently took place in West
Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany, as Gerlach managed to
take advantage of scientific meetings and vacations outside the GDR.
After his arrest in 1959, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.GERLACH, RUDOLF (1887–1946). A German agent at the Vatican
during World War I, Rudolf Gerlach was a Bavarian priest who be-
came a private chamberlain and close confidant of Pope Benedict XV
following his assumption of office in September 1914. According
to evidence obtained by Italian counterintelligence, Gerlach chan-
neled German subsidies to anti-interventionist newspapers during
the period of neutrality and later used the papal diplomatic pouch to
communicate with his handler, Franz von Stockhammern, based in
Switzerland. When discretely informed of these findings, the Vatican
permitted Gerlach to be escorted by Italian police to the Swiss border
on 5 January 1917. Several months later, after his name appeared in a
list of individuals charged with treasonous activity, an Italian military
tribunal sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment. Despite his
adamant claims of innocence and firm support by the Vatican, the
Gerlach Affair confirmed the widespread suspicion in Western capi-
tals that the Holy See covertly sought the victory of the Central Pow-
ers. With his personable manner, Gerlach suffered no diminution of
status in German and Austrian diplomatic circles and also managed
to persuade the Vatican to release him from his priestly vows.
GERSTEIN, KURT (1905–1945). An anti-Nazi informer and sabo-
teur within the ranks of the SS, Kurt Gerstein was born in Münster
(Westphalia) on 11 August 1905. Trained as an engineer and mining
assessor, he joined the Nazi Party and the Sturmabteilung in 1933
but soon came into open conflict over his activities as a Protestant
GERSTEIN, KURT • 133