Goltz traveled to Berlin in October 1914 to discuss further mis-
sions with both the Foreign Office and Abteilung IIIb but was ar-
rested by the British when attempting to return to the United States.
In January 1915, the confiscation of incriminating papers belonging
to Papen caused Goltz, facing a likely death penalty, to reveal his
true identity and offer state evidence. Amid much publicity, he was
released from British captivity in order to testify at the New York
trial of Hans Tauscher, his explosives expert in the Welland Canal
conspiracy. Tauscher was acquitted, and Goltz received asylum in
the United States. Occasionally prone to exaggeration, his memoirs,
My Life as a Secret German Agent, appeared in 1917. The next year,
Goltz played the role of a villainous German spy in the Hollywood
propaganda film The Prussian Cur.GÖRSDORF, DIETER (1936– ). An agent of the Verwaltung
Aufklärung (VA) active in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),
Dieter Görsdorf entered the Nationale Volksarmee of the German
Democratic Republic (GDR) at the age of 18. To prepare for a ca-
reer in the intelligence division, he attended the school for naval
officers in Straslund. He then received several assignments before
being selected by the VA in 1965 as an undercover agent. Hearing
of exploits firsthand from Max Clausen made a strong impression
on him. Görsdorf’s further instruction included intensive briefings on
the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stationed in the
FRG, details about ordinary life in West Germany, and the biography
of Herbert Fährmann—the man whose identity he was to assume
despite being 10 years younger.
In 1967, Görsdorf spent five months in Canada, where Fährmann
had eventually immigrated after leaving the GDR (they even met
once without Fährmann suspecting Görsdorf’s real purpose). Arriv-
ing in Bremen directly from Canada, Görsdorf found employment
with an electrical appliance manufacturer and began to cultivate rela-
tionships in conservative political circles. A move to Wilhelmshaven
in 1969 brought a new job and more opportunities to collect military
information from his political contacts, but his ultimate goal of join-
ing the Militärischer Abschirmdienst remained elusive, since a
background check would have revealed that Fährmann had living
relatives in the GDR. Nevertheless, Görsdorf managed to acquire
GÖRSDORF, DIETER • 145