Secret Armies | Page 4

the
military forces and emigré anti-fascist groups. The country, before it
was cut to pieces and even now, is honeycombed with Gestapo agents
sent from Germany with false passports or smuggled across the border.
Often the Gestapo uses Czech citizens whose relatives are in Germany
and upon whom pressure is put. The work of these agents consists not
only of ferreting out military information regarding Czech defense
measures and establishing contacts with Czech citizens for permanent
espionage, but of the equally important assignment of disrupting

anti-fascist groups--of creating opposition within organizations having
large memberships in order to split and disintegrate them. Agents also
make reports on public opinion and attitudes, and record carefully the
names and addresses of those engaged in anti-fascist work. A similar
procedure was followed in Austria before that country was invaded,
and it enabled the Nazis to make wholesale arrests immediately upon
entering the country.
Prague, with a German population of sixty thousand is still the
headquarters for the astonishing espionage and propaganda machine
which the Gestapo built throughout the country. Before Czechoslovakia
was cut up, most of the espionage reports crossed the frontier into
Germany through Tetschen-Bodenbach. The propaganda and espionage
center of the Henlein group was in the headquarters of the Sudeten
Deutsche Partei at 4 Hybernska St. A secondary headquarters, in the
Deutscher Hilfsverein at 7 Nekazanka St., was directed by Emil
Wallner, who was ostensibly representing the Leipzig Fair but was
actually the chief of the Gestapo machine in Prague. His assistant,
Hermann Dorn, living in Hanspaulka-Dejvice, masqueraded as the
representative of the Muenchner Illustrierte Zeitung.
Some aspects of the Nazi espionage and propaganda machine in
Czechoslovakia hold especial interest for American immigration
authorities since into the United States, too, comes a steady flow of the
shadowy members of the Nazis' Fifth Column. It is well to know that
the letters and numbers at the top of passports inform German
diplomatic representatives the world over that the bearer usually is a
Gestapo agent. Whenever American immigration authorities find
German passports with letters and numbers at the top, they may be
reasonably sure that the bearer is an agent. These numbers are placed
on passports by Gestapo headquarters in Berlin or Dresden. The agent's
photograph and a sample of his (or her) handwriting is sent via the
diplomatic pouch to the Nazi Embassy, Legation, Consulate or German
Bund in the country or city to which the agent is assigned. When the
agent reports in a foreign city, the resident Gestapo chief, in order to
identify him, checks the passport's top number with the picture and the
handwriting received by diplomatic pouch.

Rudolf Walter Voigt, alias Walter Clas, alias Heinz Leonhard, alias
Herbert Frank--names which he used throughout Europe in his
espionage work will serve as an illustration. Voigt was sent to Prague
on a delicate mission. His job was to discover how Czechs got to Spain
to fight in the International Brigade, a mystery in Berlin since such
Czechs had to cross Italy, Germany or other fascist countries which
cooperate with the Gestapo.
Voigt was given passport No. 1,128,236 made out in the name of
Walter Clas, and bearing at the top of the passport the letters and
numbers 1A1444. He was instructed, by Leader Wilhelm May of
Dresden, to report to the Henlein Party headquarters upon his arrival in
Prague. Clas, alias Voigt, arrived October 23, 1937, reported at the
Sudeten Party headquarters and saw a man whom I was unable to
identify. He was instructed to report again four days later, since
information about the agent had not yet arrived.
Voigt was trained in the Gestapo espionage schools in Potsdam and
Calmuth-Remagen. He operates directly under Wilhelm May whose
headquarters are in Dresden. May is in charge of Gestapo work over
Sector No. 2. Preceding the granting to Hitler of the Sudeten areas in
Czechoslovakia, the entire Czech border espionage and terrorist activity
was divided into sectors. At this writing the same sector divisions still
exist, operating now across the new frontiers. Sector No. 1 embraces
Silesia with headquarters at Breslau; No. 2, Saxony, with headquarters
at Dresden; and No. 3, Bavaria, with headquarters at Munich. After the
annexation of Austria, Sector No. 4 was added, commanded by Gestapo
Chief Scheffler whose headquarters are in Berlin with a branch in
Vienna. Sector No. 4 also directs Standarte II which stands ready to
provide incidents to justify German invasion "because the situation has
got out of control of the local authorities."
Another way in which immigration authorities, especially in countries
surrounding Germany, can detect Gestapo agents is by the position of
stamps on the German passport. Stamps are placed, in accordance with
German law, directly under the spot provided for them on the passport
on the front page, upper right hand corner. Whenever the