TELEPHONE EAVESDROPPING AFFAIR. The revelation of il-
legal surveillance techniques in the Federal Republic of Germany,
the Telephone Eavesdropping Affair was sparked in 1963 by Werner
Pätsch of the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV). Operational
details—including assistance provided by U.S. security personnel—
were conveyed by Pätsch to the lawyer Josef Augstein, brother of the
publisher of the newsmagazine Der Spiegel. Responding to articles
in Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer appointed
a commission headed by Judge Max Silberstein to undertake a thor-
ough investigation for violations of the law. As a result of his report,
not only were numerous practices revised, but BfV officials found to
have had an earlier Nazi affiliation (such as Richard Gerken) were
promptly dismissed.
“TEN COMMANDMENTS” AGREEMENT. An understanding
that sought to minimize the jurisdictional conflict between Wil-
helm Canaris and Reinhard Heydrich, the “Ten Commandments”
agreement originated in a conference held on 17 January 1935 with
representatives of the Abwehr, the Gestapo, and the Sicherheits-
dienst (SD; Security Service). According to the 10-point program
(which was reclarified the following year), the Abwehr retained
responsibility for all military intelligence and counterintelligence
while acknowledging that executive action such as the power of
arrest belonged to the Gestapo. The primary task of the SD was de-
fined as the collection of political intelligence, but any information
would be shared between the SD and the Abwehr if it had bearing
on the other’s field. This overlap, however, allowed for greater en-
croachment on Abwehr territory as the Gestapo and SD continued to
expand their authority. Following further negotiations, Canaris and
Heydrich presided over a large joint gathering on 18 May 1942 at
the Hradshin in Prague to explain the revised “Ten Commandments”
agreement to top officials. According to Walter Schellenberg, the
Abwehr chief viewed this new compromise with mild resignation,
fearing that it provided no more than a respite from Heydrich’s drive
for unbounded dominance.
TER BRAAK, JAN WILLEM (1914?–1941). An Abwehr agent who
operated briefly in Great Britain during World War II, Jan Willem
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