was monetary gain and not ideological commitment. He was sen-
tenced to 40 years in prison, fined $50,000, and given a dishonorable
discharge. Despite the reservations of the National Security Agency,
Yildirim, who was believed to have enticed other army intelligence
personnel into his network, was tried before a federal court in Sa-
vannah, Georgia. In September 1989, found guilty of conspiring to
commit espionage against the United States and acting as a courier
for Hall, he received a life term. The lax security measures in place
at the time also received extensive criticism.HANFSTAENGL, ERNST (1887–1975). A cultured member of
Adolf Hitler’s inner circle who eventually became an intelligence
advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ernst Hanfstaengl was
born in Munich on 2 February 1887. His father was a prosperous
art publisher, and his mother was an American descended from a
distinguished New England family. To prepare him to take over the
New York branch of the family firm, Hanfstaengl was sent to study
at Harvard University in 1905 and did not return to Munich until
after World War I. Shocked by the political and economic chaos of
the early 1920s, he was impressed by Hitler’s oratory and formed a
close personal tie, not only lending some financial assistance to the
Nazi movement but also helping to provide an entrée to Munich’s
upper-class society. He participated in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch
in 1923, and it was to the family’s country home south of the city in
Uffing that Hitler fled in its aftermath. Known for his sardonic wit
and love of practical jokes, “Putzi,” as he was nicknamed, was also
a gifted pianist and often provided a musical diversion at informal
gatherings of the party leadership.
In 1931, Hitler appointed him the party’s foreign press secretary
because of his many contacts abroad. Although Hanfstaengl retained
this position following the Nazi seizure of power, his advocacy of
more moderate positions on political and racial matters, combined
with his “cosmopolitanism,” soon caused his relationship with Hitler
to wane. In addition, his candid assessment of other leading officials
—Joseph Goebbels in particular—did not go unnoticed. Had Hanfs-
taengl not been attending a Harvard reunion at the time, it is quite
probable that he would have been another victim of the Night of the
Long Knives in June 1934. Two and a half years later, after being
160 • HANFSTAENGL, ERNST