KURJO, ANDREAS. An agricultural specialist who worked for the
Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), Andreas Kurjo was re-
cruited while a student in West Berlin in 1970. Given the code name
thaer (and later alexander), he proved to be an exceptionally pro-
lific agent, concentrating initially on the agricultural institute at the
Technical College before becoming a leading figure in the West Ber-
lin trade fair organization and an advisor to the agricultural attaché at
the U.S. embassy in East Berlin. In May 1992, a court gave Kurjo a
suspended sentence of one year along with a fine of 4,000 DM.
KURON, KLAUS (1936– ). A highly prized double agent of the
Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) in the Bundesamt für Ver-
fassungsschutz (BfV), Klaus Kuron was born in Recklinghausen
(North Rhine-Westphalia) and joined the BfV in the late 1960s.
Despite the expertise he developed regarding East German coun-
terintelligence, his career advancement was stifled due to lack of a
university degree. Frustrated by his lack of recognition and in need of
additional funds for his family, Kuron made contact with the HVA in
September 1981, and a lucrative monthly salary of 4,000 DM along
with pension provisions was arranged after a meeting with Markus
Wolf near Dresden. Working under the code names berger and
stern, he earned effusive praise from his HVA superiors. That his
BfV division chief (and later defector) Hansjoachim Tiedge suf-
fered from multiple personal problems only facilitated his activities.
At least 18 East German double agents, including Horst Garau and
his wife Gerlinde, were identified by Kuron, but they were merely
downgraded to lesser positions temporarily in order not to arouse
undue suspicion.
Following the collapse of the German Democratic Republic in
1990, Kuron’s first HVA handler, Karl-Christoph Grossmann, di-
vulged his name to West German authorities. Although offered the
opportunity to relocate to the Soviet Union under the aegis of the
KGB, Kuron preferred to stay in Germany and face the legal conse-
quences. In 1992, a Düsseldorf court found him guilty of treason and
sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a fine of 692,000 DM based
on his HVA earnings. Released in 1998, Kuron settled in a small
town near Remscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia). See also MOITZ-
HEIM, JOACHIM.
254 • KURJO, ANDREAS