of the eavesdropping requests were initiated by the Hauptverwal-
tung Aufklärung, although other MfS main divisions—along with
the KGB and the Czechoslovakian service—made use of this system.
Only in special instances could Main Division III start the process
itself. To preserve the secrecy surrounding its existence, the OZK
could not be cited as a source in an MfS report, and an informer was
normally substituted instead. A further technological advance was in
place by 1985, which involved automatic voice recognition on the
basis of collected speech samples (or Stimmenkonserven). People liv-
ing in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin, especially
former East German citizens such as Jürgen Fuchs and Roland Jahn,
counted among the prime targets.OPERATIV-TECHNISCHER SEKTOR. See SCHMIDT, GÜNTER.
OPPENHEIM, MAX BARON VON (1860–1946). An archeologist,
diplomat, and intelligence operative who attempted to spark a Mus-
lim uprising against Great Britain during World War I, Max Baron
von Oppenheim was born in Cologne on 15 July 1860, the son of a
wealthy banking family. Drawn to the Orient and fluent in Arabic,
he undertook extensive travels and research financed by his family.
From 1896 to 1910, Oppenheim, an ardent Anglophobe, worked for
the Foreign Office as an attaché at the German consulate in Cairo,
cultivating ties with Egyptian nationalists and other dissidents while
writing numerous memoranda on Muslim affairs stretching from
Morocco to China. His conviction that pan-Islamism could subvert
Germany’s potential European enemies made a strong impression
on Emperor William II, who referred to Oppenheim as the “feared
spy.”
With the outbreak of World War I, he was recalled to head the Is-
lamic section of the Foreign Office’s political office. One of his early
proposals was the creation of the Nachrichtenstelle für den Orient,
although his lack of administrative talent led to his departure the fol-
lowing spring. The British, anxious about Oppenheim, monitored his
travels, warning Indian officials of his capacity to do “infinite harm.”
By early 1916, their fears receded, as he was in Constantinople pro-
moting German economic propaganda among the Ottomans. Oppen-
heim returned to archeological exploration and writing after the war,
332 • OPERATIV-TECHNISCHER SEKTOR