Story: What did the GDR secret service in Switzerland do?

On a September morning in 1981, two officials from the Swiss Federal Police in Lugano interview a German entrepreneur. The federal prosecutor’s office has initiated a court investigation against the 54-year-old man on suspicion of espionage. The well-dressed gentleman with the amputated arm becomes his business connections to the GDR and for four hoursinterviewed with the Ministry for State Security.

The accused and his claims

The accused pretends to be ignorant, denies any relationships with the Stasi and assures that he only does legal transactions with the GDR. However, these claims are difficult to refute because the suspect is Ottokar Hermann, who for decades acted as a kind of Swiss representative of the East Berlin coco head Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski. Herman, aShady businessman and former member of the Waffen-SS, was the focus of the Swiss state security for many years, since he was involved in the illegal trade in technologies in the Eastern Bloc, handled hidden financial and foreign exchange transactions for the GDR and managed secret accounts.

Background and entanglements in the East-West trade

With the support of a former Stasi-IM, Ticino became one of the most important foreign trade centers and smuggling routes in the West in the West. After the turn of the century, he was also accused of having enriched himself to a considerable extent to the assets of the GDR. Despite the serious allegations and numerous indications, the dubious merchant was never legally able tothe craft to be put. Hermann never threatened expulsion from Switzerland either before he was naturalized.

Herman: From young people in war to international smear trade professional

Ottokar Hermann, born in Znaim in Sudetenland in 1926, was called up for military service as a teenager. He was a member of the Hitler Youth and joined the infamous Waffen-SS in December 1943, at the age of only seventeen. As a sub-commissioner (non-commissioned officer), he fought in the reconnaissance department of the 2nd SS Panzer Division “The Reich”. This SS Panzer Division was for numerouswar crimes responsible. Members of this unit in June 1944 in Oradour-sur-Glane committed a massacre of sad celebrity: Waffen-SS soldiers killed 642 people there, almost all residents of the French village. However, it is not known whether Hermann was involved in such or other war crimes in France.

From the turmoil of war to an entrepreneur in post-war Germany

In August 1944, his unit was on the retreat from the Western Front when the accident happened: A shrapnel of shrimp hurt Hermann so badly that he lost his left arm. He was taken to the Fritzlar reserve hospital near Kassel. After the war, he was taken prisoner by American in Austria, from which he was released in February 1946. The Americans had Hermann asserved interpreter. After the war he settled in Munich, where he first worked at BMW and later at the locomotive and tank builder Krauss-Maffei. In 1953 he moved to West Berlin, where he opened a shop for radio and TV sets. After his sale, he entered the domestic German trade. In 1962 he settled in Ticino – allegedly on the instructions of his liaison peopleEast Berlin to manage the financial affairs of the GDR from Switzerland.

The Ticino domicile: residence with political significance

In Montagnola near Lugano, together with his wife Gerda, he moved into the “Casa Maroccana”, which offered a panoramic view of Lake Lugano and the Piedmontese Alps. The modern flat roof house, which he had built on a preferred hillside location, became his long-standing residence. Later he lived in a magnificent Italian-style villa surrounded by a densely overgrown park with hightrees. He retained his residence in West Berlin until the 1970s.

The image of the bourgeois entrepreneur in Ticino

Ottokar Hermann, some of whom was described as a “reducer” in Hermann-Hesse-Dorf, built up a bourgeois existence: He presented himself as a serious, wealthy and cultivated business and husband, collected stamps, drove a blue Mercedes 280 and struggling to have a good relationship with his neighbors. In the village he was well integrated; He was a member of the localfootball clubs and often appeared as a generous patron. In the 1980s, for example, he donated at least half a million francs to the FDP Orchestra “Filarmonica Liberale Radicale della Collina d’Oro Gentilino” for the renovation of a building with a concert hall and restaurant.

Facade of a harmless wealthy?

What sounds harmless turned out to be the perfect facade: From the Ticino, Ottokar Hermann, who was inaugurated in the subsoil of the Stasi in the 1960s, controlled an international network of camouflage companies in the GDR, which had been specially set up to procure foreign exchange and high technology. At the center of this company network were those controlled by HermannCompany based in Lugano. Stasi-Colonel and Deputy Koko boss Manfred Seidel held important holdings in these companies.

The complex corporate network in Switzerland

Intrac S.A. and its subsidiaries in West Berlin were directly involved in the procurement of high-tech equipment and embargoes and in financing such bypass transactions. The BEFISA and its subsidiaries were used to generate foreign exchange. The profits of the Befisa Group flowed into the so-called Mielke account. The use of this money was up to himChief of the GDR State Security Service, Erich Mielke. According to his specifications, the funds for Stasi operations and the supply of the SED peak in Wandlitz were used.

The political advancement and the double role

From the mid-1970s, Ottokar Hermann sought to obtain Swiss citizenship, which was granted to him in 1985. A year later, his donation of half a million francs – divided into five tranches – is said to have flowed to the FDP Orchestra; His lawyer is said to have asked him to do so. As a thank you, Hermann became an honorary member of the Philharmonie in 1991. Despite this oneRecognition, Spartaco Arigoni, then chairman of the Philharmonie, considered a connection with his naturalization to be absurd.

Systematic bypass of the embargo

Hermann seemed to be always ready to donate: he procured an ambulance and state-of-the-art equipment in a hospital in Lugano; The Montagnola school received generous funds for its library. It is rumored behind closed doors that he bought friends with money.

The role of Switzerland in the east-west embargo

The GDR was able to make a significant proportion of the systematic bypass of the embargo, which prevented the West from delivering high and military technology to the Eastern Bloc, with the help of companies based in Switzerland. In this context, Ottokar Hermann played a central role in the procurement of high-tech goods; In fact, he acted as the “general representative” of the GDR foreign trade in theSwitzerland. He was already in the service of the Stasi as a supplier of embargoed goods in the 1960s.

The company network and the entanglements in Switzerland

From his headquarters at Intrac S.A., founded in Lugano in 1970, Hermann managed a widely branched network of companies in Liechtenstein, Germany, West Berlin and Austria. He was described by the authorities as a ruthless businessman and “white collar criminal”. He had excellent connections deep into the ministries of the GDR and is said to have beenhave maintained conspiracy contacts with later GDR ministerial officials.

Undercover contacts and the files of the Federal Archives

Contrary to his statements during the Federal Police interrogation in 1981, Hermann also had the best contacts with high-ranking Stasi employees; This is proven by files from the Swiss Federal Archives. Accordingly, he was targeted by the German secret service in the 1960s, but was relieved of suspicion of espionage in 1967.

Trust and close connections at the highest level

Hermann not only enjoyed the trust of Schalck-Golodkowski; He was also in close contact with his deputy Manfred Seidel. He stayed in Switzerland several times and was officially a shareholder at Befisa S.A. and Intrac S.A. with significant shares.

Meeting points and conspiracy activities in Lugano

The Intrac in Lugano was an important meeting point: here, travel squads from the GDR foreign trade departments and Stasi officers met regularly. Even if the Swiss federal police had names from Stasi agents, Switzerland granted unhindered access for East German business partners for years, which underlines the importance of the location for East-West smuggling.

The economic dimension: sales, commissions and assets

In 1979, the Swiss Federal Police estimated Intrac S.A.’s annual turnover at CHF 400 million. Hermann earned a commission of up to 15 percent, his assets amounted to 4.6 million francs at the end of the 1970s, plus accounts of up to 80 million francs. It cannot be ruled out that this money was managed in trust for the GDR or the Stasi.

The Fall of the Wall and the Hidden Funds

After the fall of the Wall, 50 million DM were found in a Swiss account in Lugano; Manfred Seidel had a single signature authorization for this. The money was used for dubious foreign exchange transactions, often without supporting documents, including a disbursement of one million DM in May 1982.

The financing of GDR operations through secret channels

The billions for embargo goods were generated, among other things, by the “Commercial Coordination”, a top-secret department of foreign trade that was under the control of the Stasi. At its head was Schalck-Golodkowski, who fled to the West in 1989. Hermann was considered its “governor” in Switzerland and was a major player in the smuggling of high-tech andForeign exchange to secure the economic interests of the East.

The KoKo Empire: From High Technology to Luxury

The complex KoKo empire included at least 160 trading companies and shell companies worldwide. One of the properties of the Ticino company Befisa was a holiday resort on Fuerteventura. The tentacles of this system reached deep into Switzerland, even to the Alps, where KoKo had a stake in Zermatt’s Sunnegga funicular.

A network in the shadow of the Cold War

Ottokar Hermann was a central figure in covert East-West trade, whose activities significantly influenced the Cold War. His life and work reflect the complex entanglements between intelligence services, business and politics – a shadow world that has only been partially enlightened to this day.