Section 37 of Directorate I

  • Section 4 of the political foreign intelligence – Germanic region (1956-1963), Section 2 of the political foreing intelligence (1964-1968), Section 2 of Directorate A (1969-1971), Section Germany, Austria, Netherlands (1971-1974)

“For Directorate I of the Ministry of interior of the ČSR, the penetration into the intelligence and counterintelligence bodies of Austria and West Germany is paramount, as well as into the intelligence bodies of the USA, England and France which are located on the territory of Austria and West Germany, because they are the two main bases for expediting bourgeois foreign intelligence services into the ČSR and other people‘s-democratic countries“ (from the plan of activity of Directorate I of the Ministry of interior 1957-1958).

Chiefs:

  • 1956 – 1962 Capt. Milan Michel "Mozr“
  • 1962 –  Maj. Zdeněk Skoba "Sýkora“
  • 1964 – 1970 Maj. Václav Táborský "Majer"
  • 1969 – 1981 Lt.Col. Miroslav Burgr "Bareš"
  • 1971 – 1974, 1978 – 1981 deputy chief Lt.Col. Věroslav Sobotka "Štros"
  • 1972 – deputy chief Lt.Col. Jiří Karbus "Kuchař"
  • 1981 – 1984 Maj. Vilém Václavek "Kainar“
  • 1984 – Maj. Oldřich Vaca "Drtina“
  • 1988 – Maj. Karel Platl "Falkman“

Between 1974-1990, Section of the political foreign intelligence. The main focus was on intelligence work on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Abroad it operated from the residenturas Bonn, Frankfurt am Main, West Berlin, Vienna, The Hague and it secured the cooperation on West German issues with the residenturas of other sections of the political foreign intelligence. In the ČSSR, it organised and carried out the assessment of utilisable domestic bases and bases of visa foreigners in close cooperation with Directorate II of the Federal ministry of interior.

At the end of the 1960s, an important agent was won for cooperation, with the code name Pedagog. He worked as deputy headmaster at an evening school in Frankfurt am Main. He was very active in the SPD. At the beginning of the 1980s, he won an agent with the code name Haribo for cooperation under a foreign flag (probably Mossad). He was a deputy in the defence and security committee of the Bundestag. In the evaluation from the end of the 1980s, agent Pedagog is considered “the crucial agent of the entire Section...“.  In spring 1990 he visited the congress of the renewed ČSSD (Czechoslovak social democratic party). Agent Haribo, who also was an agent of the East German Stasi, was the only collaborator directed in the 1980s under a foreign flag.

In 1982-1986, top agent Meson (Clyde Lee Conrad) worked in the leadership of the Section – a staff petty officer of the US-American 8th infantry division in the Federal Republic of Germany, who provided secret NATO information to the ČSSR and Hungary, which was highly valued by the Soviet KGB.

In 1988, Sections 37 and 42 merged resulting in a new structure of Section 37:

  • Leadership
  • Internal group
  • Deapartment 1 – FRG, West Berlin
  • Department 2 – Austria, Switzerland, Bern, Geneva
  • Department 3 – Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal
  • Department 4 – France, Belgium, Netherlands
  • Deaprtment 5 – Balkans

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