block the appointment of a man he regarded as a dangerous turncoat.
Nevertheless, because the new chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, wanted
additional channels of information, a military intelligence division
within the revived Zentrale für Heimatdienst (ZfH; Internal Services
Center) was established and headed by Achim Oster, the son of
Heinz’s former superior. In 1950, Heinz was persuaded by Oster and
ZfH head Gerhard von Schwerin to form an intelligence network,
whose findings would remain privy to the chancellor and whose ex-
istence would be hidden from other government ministries.
What became known as the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Heinz-Dienst
(FWHD) had its first office in Bad Godesberg and then Wiesbaden,
growing from a staff of three to more than 30 by 1953. Focused
primarily on the remilitarization efforts of the German Democratic
Republic, it possessed roughly 170 informants, many drawn from
Heinz’s earlier contacts, and included posts in Austria and Italy. The
FWHD also monitored right-wing and left-wing extremist groups
in the FRG and found early cooperation with the BfV. By contrast,
relations with the rival U.S.-sponsored Organisation Gehlen were
never cordial and reached a critical point in spring 1953 when a par-
liamentary commission indicated that the FWHD possessed greater
potential as West Germany’s official foreign intelligence organiza-
tion. To prevent that outcome, Gehlen purposely aroused John’s
suspicions of Heinz, and as a result, a thick dossier of grievances
was compiled by the BfV. Although most of the charges had little
credibility, Schwerin’s successor, Theodor Blank, decided to send
Heinz on vacation.
His difficulties continued to multiply. Two allies of Gehlen—Adolf
Heusinger and Hans Globke—occupied influential positions in
the Adenauer government and actively sought Heinz’s dismissal.
A severe blow came in November 1954, when, after being charged
with misstating his military rank after the war, he was found guilty
of perjury and given a six-month prison term. Although a court later
suspended the sentence, his reputation was further tarnished by a
controversial visit to Karlshorst in East Berlin in mid-December.
According to Jakob Kolb, his longtime associate who had recently
been dismissed as head of the Berlin office because of financial ir-
regularities and recruited by the KGB, Heinz had accepted an offer
by Soviet intelligence. This charge, however, was firmly denied by
HEINZ, FRIEDRICH WILHELM • 175