Norbert Moser

Norbert Moser (* 15. December 1930 in Bensheim , † April 1984 ) was a German officer of the Air Force of the Armed Forces , most recently in rank of a lieutenant colonel and an unofficial member of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Life

Moser's career in the Bundeswehr began in the tank destroyer force . From 1960 to 1968, Moser was a member of Lufttransportgeschwader 61 in Neubiberg near Munich . In the 1970s he was a liaison officer to various major formations of the army , including the Armored Brigade 21 in Augustdorf and the armored brigade 20 . As an "Air Liaison Officer" (ALO) he took part in numerous combat exercises, for example in September 1974 in the division exercise "Tough Nut".

Espionage

Moser worked since 1957 for the civilian foreign intelligence service of the GDR, the main intelligence administration (HVA) of the MfS. He was recruited by his brother-in-law, a full-time MfS employee of the MfS district administration in Magdeburg . Moser's mission was primarily to scout out details of the General Defense Plan for the 1st Corps . As agent's wages he received 4,000 DM per month  and a total of 300,000 DM in bonuses.

In 1972 Moser met the Deputy Head of the HVA, Lieutenant General Hans Fruck, at the GDR embassy in Helsinki . In January the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) received a tip from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) that a staff officer of the Air Force might be working for East Berlin. MAD Group III took over the case and initiated the "Kalkar" defensive operation. The Mosers were observed and G 10 measures were applied for in July 1975 . In October 1975 the couple was arrested by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The main hearing took place from September 20 to December 6, 1977 before the Bavarian Supreme Court in Munich . Lieutenant General Bruno Loosen was heard as a witness . On the last day of the session, Moser was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment for jointly committed treason in a particularly serious case in unity with continued violation of official secrets and bribery . Moser's wife Ruth was given exemption from prison because of a serious illness . It was in 1971 due to a cerebral embolism for nursing care become and settled in April 1977 in the GDR, where she lived as a highly decorated "scout of peace." Norbert Moser came to the GDR at the end of 1980 as part of an agent exchange . In return, two employees of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) who had been sentenced to long prison terms in the GDR were released. The Mosers died in April 1984.

According to MAD, Norbert Moser's wife Ruth is said to have married her first husband, Bundeswehr officer Karl-Heinz Knollmann, born in 1918, on behalf of the MfS and recruited as a spy. This was bearer of the Knight's Cross and company commander of her later second husband Norbert Moser in Marburg in 1956/57. At that time, she is said to have had a relationship with her future second husband. Neighbors of the Knollmanns, who lived in Düsseldorf , reported the high standard of living and recognized on vacation photos a couple friends with the Knollmanns that were working as an agent leader. In 1974 or 1975 this couple fled the Federal Republic of Germany. According to a written report , Knollmann has worked for the HVA since 1962 at the latest. When Knollmann became increasingly unproductive as a source , his wife Ruth is said to have divorced him and married Moser, according to the MAD. Knollmann's second wife committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills in November 1977 . The MAD saw a connection here with her husband's involvement in the intelligence service .

Helmut R. Hammerich judged that the Moser case was one of the MAD's most remarkable defensive successes. The success is based on the qualified work of the operational workers and the observation forces. In addition, the case is considered a prime example of the good cooperation within the MAD, with the BfV, the BKA and the Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice .

See also

• List of German spies
• List of espionage cases in Germany

literature

• Helmut R. Hammerich : “Always on the enemy!” - The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) 1956–1990 . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-36392-8 , pp. 334–337 ( limited preview in the Google book search - chapter “The case of Lieutenant Colonel Moser”).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hendrik van Bergh: Cologne 4713. History and stories of the Cologne Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . JW Naumann Verlag, Würzburg 1981, ISBN 3-88567-010-0 , p. 464 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Helmut R. Hammerich : “Always on the enemy!” - The Military Shield Service (MAD) 1956–1990 . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-36392-8 , pp. 334–337 ( limited preview in the Google book search - chapter “The case of Lieutenant Colonel Moser”).
3. ^ Bernadette Droste: Handbook of the constitution protection law . Boorberg, Stuttgart a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-415-03773-1 , pp. 742 , Appendix 12 (entry 1975 "M., N.") .
4. ^ Heinrich Hannover: The Republic in front of the court 1954-1995: Memories of an uncomfortable lawyer . 1st edition. Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-7466-3436-4 ( limited preview in Google book search).