In 1985, West Germany's top counter-spy defected to the East and exposed hundreds of agents

History
In 1985, West Germany's top counter-spy defected to the East and exposed hundreds of agents

Hans-Joachim Tiedge, the man entrusted with protecting West Germany from Soviet spies, shocked the world in 1985 by crossing the border into East Berlin and compromising decades of intelligence operations.

Hans-Joachim Tiedge was the head of West German counter-intelligence, tasked specifically with catching East German spies. In August 1985, he boarded a train to East Berlin, defecting to the very side he was supposed to guard against. His betrayal was catastrophic, as he possessed intimate knowledge of West Germany's entire network of informants.

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