large public protest in West Berlin, the MfS transferred Linse to the So-
viet MGB on 3 December 1952. Tried and convicted the following year
by a military tribunal, he was taken to Moscow and shot to death (his
rehabilitation by the Russian government occurred in 1996). On 20 Au-
gust 1958, Erwin Neumann, Linse’s successor as head of the economic
section, was kidnapped by the MfS while on a sailing expedition on the
Wannsee in West Berlin. He was given a life sentence for espionage
and placed in solitary confinement in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, where
he died on 3 July 1967.
The MfS also conducted numerous defamation campaigns, such
as Operation wiedersehen (Reunion) against individual members
of the UFJ. Erdmann came under particular fire and had to concede
that parts of his résumé had been falsified. Following his resignation
on 6 July 1958, a highly capable former judge, Walther Rosenthal,
became the new director. Although by no means as effective as in
its early years, the UFJ survived the construction of the Berlin Wall
and was officially absorbed by the Federal Ministry for All-German
Affairs on 25 June 1969. See also SCHLICHT, GÖTZ.UPRISING OF 17 JUNE 1953. The first major revolt within the
postwar Soviet bloc, the Uprising of 17 June 1953 was sparked by
increased work quotas instituted by the communist regime of the
German Democratic Republic (GDR). The grievances of the demon-
strators, however, extended well beyond economic considerations, as
unrest spread from East Berlin throughout the GDR and ultimately
required the intervention of Soviet troops. Although GDR leaders
characterized the uprising as “a putsch organized by provocateurs
working inside and outside the state,” there exists no evidence that
Western intelligence organizations played an active role. In addition
to the harsh retribution that followed—18 people were sentenced to
death and more than 1,300 received prison sentences—the Ministe-
rium für Staatssicherheit underwent significant alterations in light
of its flawed performance. See also ZAISSER, WILHELM.
– V –
VALTIN, JAN. See KREBS, RICHARD.
VALTIN, JAN • 469