Sissi, he was assisting with the exfiltration of Winfried Baumann
and Christa-Karin Schumann as a courier when his arrest in Poland
occurred on 16 June 1979. Returned to the German Democratic Re-
public, Hering was given a life sentence, but a spy exchange allowed
his return to the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1982.HERMES. A successful initiative of the Organisation Gehlen (OG)
that commenced in summer 1947, Operation Hermes obtained com-
prehensive information about the Soviet Union through systematic
questioning of returning German prisoners of war. The results of
an initial screening by OG members at the West German reception
camps were first forwarded to the main headquarters at Oberursel.
If the person’s information was deemed accurate and promising, a
further interview took place, the OG official posing as a representa-
tive of the Historical Research Institute in Wiesbaden. The resulting
analyses, painstakingly assembled and frequently reaching book
length, focused on such topics as Soviet industry, armaments, com-
munications, and the morale of the population. That tank and aircraft
production had increased since 1945 proved especially alarming
to American military authorities, who also received the finished
reports.
HERRE, HEINZ-DANKO (1909–1988). A veteran West German in-
telligence officer, Heinz-Danko Herre was born in Alsace, the son of
an army major. Despite his preference for frontline duty, Reinhard
Gehlen persuaded him to become his deputy in the Fremde Herre
Ost in April 1942, particularly in light of his extensive knowledge
of Russia. The following year, he launched Operation silberstreif
(Silver Lining), a propaganda campaign designed to induce Red
Army soldiers to defect. He later had responsibility for the Vlasov
liberation army. In 1945, Herre was at Gehlen’s side during the
negotiations in Washington, D.C., that led to the establishment of
the Organisation Gehlen. Herre (code name herdahl) also played
a key role in Operation hermes, and he headed the analytical sec-
tion of the OG beginning in 1952. Shortly after the transition to the
Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) in 1956, his focus shifted to the
communist bloc, and he ended his career in 1970 as the BND Resi-
dent in Washington, D.C.
HERRE, HEINZ-DANKO • 183