sailors at waterfront establishments to acquire data regarding the
convoy traffic to Europe. Some 600 messages—sent either via the
German naval attaché in Washington or by regular mail to cover ad-
dresses abroad—were ultimately registered by the Abwehr. Alerted
by suspicious coworkers at the movie theater, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation arrested Koedel in October 1944. He was given a
15-year prison sentence; his daughter was sentenced to seven and a
half years.KOENEN, FRIEDRICH VON (1916–1944). The commander of a
North African Abwehr unit during World War II, Friedrich von
Koenen was born in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) on 28 June 1916.
Raised in German South West Africa (now Namibia) he joined the
Abwehr’s emerging Brandenburg Division in 1941 and assumed
command of the Tropenkompanie (Tropical Company; later named
Tropenabteilung Koenen, or Tropical Division Koenen) in North
Africa. Its members were handpicked, fluent in other languages, and
used equipment acquired from Allied forces (such as a British Spit-
fire aircraft). Deployed on numerous commando and reconnaissance
missions, the Tropenkompanie served as an advance unit for Erwin
Rommel’s Afrika Korps. One particular success occurred in February
1943, when Koenen conducted a raid against American troops at the
village of Sidi-Bou-Zid, Tunisia, and captured 27 tanks and armored
troop carriers along with large supplies of guns and munitions. A
Knight’s Cross was awarded to him later that year. Transferred to
Yugoslavia, Koenen was killed in action on 22 August 1944 near
Visegrad, Croatia.
KÖHLER, ARTHUR (1935– ). An early Perspektivagent of the Min-
isterium für Staatssicherheit, Arthur Köhler was recruited in 1955
and given the code name Kolb. Enrolling as a law student in the
Federal Republic of Germany, he was expected to become an official
in the Chancellor’s Office or the Foreign Office, but authorities ar-
rested him at a meeting with his handler in March 1962. After serving
a sentence of two and a half years, Köhler returned to the German
Democratic Republic.
KOKO. See SCHALCK-GOLODKOWSKI, ALEXANDER.
238 • KOENEN, FRIEDRICH VON