a German Spy in America)—appeared in 1957 and included the claim
that information about the atomic bomb project had been acquired and
transmitted to Berlin, but the FBI transcripts of his and Copelaugh’s
testimony make no mention of this allegation. The supposition that the
mission involved primarily sabotage, notably of heavy water produc-
tion in the United States, also lacks corroborating support. Germany
apparently gained nothing of value from Gimpel’s exploit.GIRAFFE. The procurement of confidential material regarding Rus-
sian high-tech military equipment and codes, Operation giraffe
was a joint endeavor of the Bundesnachrichtendienst and the U.S.
Defense Intelligence Agency following German reunification. A
group of Russian officers agreed to serve as informants during the
withdrawal of former Red Army troops from the Federal Republic
of Germany between 1991–1994. Despite the seeming success of
the operation, the BND later charged two of its own ex-officers with
the misuse of funds valued at 100,000 euros and designed for agent
recruitment and payment.
GISEVIUS, HANS BERND (1904–1974). A key member of the
Abwehr resistance to Adolf Hitler, Hans Bernd Gisevius was born
in Arnsberg (Westphalia) on 14 July 1904. Completing a doctorate in
law in 1929, he joined the circle of “young Rightists” and became a
member of the Deutschnationale Volkspartei as well as the Stahlhelm
veterans’ organization. Accepted into the Prussian civil service in
August 1933 and aspiring to head the state’s newly created politi-
cal police, or Gestapo, he conspired with another official, Arthur
Nebe, to remove Rudolf Diels from that position by charging he was
a crypto-communist. When their attempt failed, Gisevius found his
career derailed and was forced to take a number of minor postings in
the Prussian and Reich ministries.
As the military intrigue against Hitler formed in 1938, Gisevius
was drawn into that group through Hans Oster, a deputy head of the
Abwehr, and reported on the Gestapo. General Erwin von Witzle-
ben, the Berlin military district commander, also employed him as
a liaison to the Oster group, providing him with a cover name and
an office. With the outbreak of World War II, Oster helped bring
Gisevius into the Abwehr and installed him as an undercover agent
140 • GIRAFFE