Scientology organization was judged by two of Germany’s high-
est courts to be not a religion but a commercial enterprise. A report
issued by the BfV on 12 October 1998 further concluded that its
“agenda and activities are marked by objectives that are fundamen-
tally and permanently directed at abolishing the free democratic basic
order.” While this surveillance was upheld by a Cologne court in
2004, another in the Saarland ruled a year later that the monitoring
of the Scientology organization in that region could not be supported
by its meager results.SEBOLD, WILLIAM G. (1899–?). A German American who became
a double agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), William
G. Sebold was born Wilhelm Debowski in Mülheim an der Ruhr.
After serving in a German army engineering corps during World War
I, he left a merchant ship docked in Galveston, Texas, and took up
residence in the United States. Following a series of industrial jobs,
Sebold acquired American citizenship in 1936 and found steady em-
ployment two years later as a mechanic in a San Diego aircraft plant.
A desire to see his family again prompted him to return to Germany
in February 1939 and take a temporary position at a steam turbine
factory in Mülheim to finance the trip.
In probing the Mülheim police records under his original name, the
Gestapo discovered that Sebold had been jailed for smuggling and
unspecified felonies in 1920. Under the threat that his undisclosed
criminal record would be relayed to American authorities and his
new citizenship revoked, he reluctantly agreed to work as a German
agent. Approved by Nikolaus Ritter of the Abwehr, Sebold was
sent to the training school in Hamburg. Beforehand, however, Sebold
had apprised officials in the American consulate in Cologne of his
situation and was instructed to continue the charade until his return
to New York. With the completion of the intense four-month course
came a new identity as Harry Sawyer (code name tramp) and the
names of various collectors in the United States to be contacted. Se-
bold was to resign his job in San Diego and set up a sham company in
New York—the Diesel Research Company—which would serve as
a conduit for information to be transmitted to Germany. Because of
the proficiency he demonstrated at the training school, Sebold would
also be placed in charge of shortwave radio communications.
412 • SEBOLD, WILLIAM G.