States in 1938. Remaining politically detached, he found work as a
weaver in a New Hampshire factory and obtained American citizen-
ship in 1945.
Prompted by a crisis in the textile industry that cost him his job,
Tejessy returned to Germany in September 1949. Using his prewar
connections and his spotless political record, he secured a position
in the Interior Ministry of the North Rhine-Westphalian government
based in Düsseldorf. Although officially called an information of-
fice, it was in actuality a fledgling intelligence organization designed
originally to combat the black market and other corrupt practices and
established without the knowledge of British occupation officials (ap-
proval was granted in May 1950). With his main assistant Johannes
Horatzek, Tejessy engaged freelance agents to penetrate extremist
organizations seeking to undermine the new democratic order of the
Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). His first comprehensive list
included political parties such as the Deutsche Reichspartei, the Na-
tionaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, and the Kommunistische
Partei Deutschlands (KPD), as well as groups such as the Nauheimer
Kreis that called for the neutralization of postwar Germany.
Strictly adhering to the letter of the law in procuring information,
and maintaining high standards regarding the selection of his staff,
Tejessy described his endeavor as “applied political meteorology.”
Following the establishment of the Bundesamt für Verfassungs-
schutz (BfV) in November 1950, he became an increasingly adamant
spokesman for the regional offices, warning against the dangers
of overly centralized operations. The first scandals of the BfV—
Operation vulkan and the Otto John affair—occurred, in his opin-
ion, as a direct result of a top-heavy approach. Although he had to
transfer some of his most valuable agents to the BfV, his primary
sources of information continued to involve exchanges with regional
colleagues throughout the FRG. As the KPD had established its
headquarters and the majority of its front organizations in North
Rhine-Westphalia, Tejessy maintained that it was better controlled
through extensive penetration by his agents rather than by outright
prohibition. Unlike many at the time, Tejessy also saw right-wing
extremism as an acute danger. His 11-year tenure ended in December
1960 because of age restrictions. He died in Bonn, largely forgotten,
four years later.
TEJESSY, FRITZ • 457