MfS, he completed a doctoral dissertation on Richard Sorge at the
Juristische Hochschule des MfS in 1979 and assumed a number of
responsibilities, including safeguarding the East German embassy in
Moscow and surveillance of foreigners living in the German Demo-
cratic Republic. He also continued to have connections to the VA.
In 1990, fearing the lack of a retirement income following the de-
mise of the MfS, Lehmann established contact with the Bundesamt
für Verfassungsschutz and was given the code name Glasschüs-
sel. Unknown to him, however, was that his handler, Klaus Kuron,
had been in the employ of the MfS since 1981. In any event, Lehm-
ann identified between eight and 20 agents in the Federal Republic
of Germany who had earlier worked for the VA. His testimony was
used in numerous later trials but was always cited as originating from
an anonymous source.LEHMANN, WILLY (1884–1942). A valuable Soviet spy working
within the Gestapo, Willy Lehmann was born near Leipzig on 30
May 1884. A member of the Berlin police force, he was recruited by
the Soviets during the early 1930s and given the code names brei-
tenbach, breitmann, and dike. During his long career, he provided
a vast array of information, including the counterintelligence methods
employed by the Nazis, reports on new weapons systems, and details
on liquid-fuel rockets. The last meeting with his Soviet handler was
on 19 June 1941, during which he confirmed the scheduled date of
22 June for the beginning of Operation barbarossa. The capture of
a Soviet agent, Albert Barth, in August 1942 led to Lehmann’s secret
arrest and execution.
LEISSNER, WILHELM (1892–?). A key Abwehr officer assigned
to Spain, Wilhelm Leissner was born on 3 May 1892 and served in
the imperial navy during World War I. Afterward, he immigrated to
Nicaragua and opened a small publishing firm. Upon the outbreak
of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Wilhelm Canaris persuaded him
to return to Germany and join the Abwehr. Dispatched to Madrid
as head of the Abwehr’s Kriegsorganisation, Leissner assumed
the role of a respected businessman (pseudonym Gustav Lenz) con-
nected to an import-export firm dealing in strategic metals. With the
outbreak of World War II, he transferred all operations to the German
LEISSNER, WILHELM • 261