Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
‘FABULOUS’ IN HUNGARY - Sympathetic journalism
FABULOUS SPY GAMES he was in custody. After his release, ‘ Csepeli’ attempted to resolve this unplanned revelation against him by writing Hoffmann a letter in guarded language that he had been released, and informing his German partner to feel free to contact him next time he visited Hungary.345 Hoffmann did indeed contact Szolcsányi, the Ministry of Interior was relieved to see that the cover of their man had not been blown prematurely, but documents also suggest that ‘Fabulous’ was probably well aware of how his acquaintance avoided prison. He never asked Szolcsányi for any written documents, which could have proved his espionage to state security, but civilian intelligence also spotted that from then on that Hoffmann refused to talk to Szolcsányi anywhere other than Szolcsányi ’s flat, which went completely against any reasonable conspiracy rulebook. The flat was bugged of course, and putting the bugs in place had required complex organisation to remove every member of the family, including the journalist himself, from the flat for a few hours to do the work.346 The operation, however, failed to yield the desired results as no truly compromising remark was made during these conversations, and it struck even the analysts as odd that “Hoffmann should prefer talking to the agent in his flat rather than in a public place.”347 We know that Hoffmann was exceptionally at ease in the world of secret services; I believe he guessed what forces could be behind Szolcsányi ’s arrest and fortunate release, and probably factored in that the Hungarian journalist was wired, which is why he chose to talk to him only at his apartment. Alternatively, he may have wanted to save Szolcsányi, or to make the job of those working against him more difficult and uncertain by refusing to give counterintelligence anything useful. 345 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/1 p. 149 Recommendation, 6 April 1960 346 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/1 p. 210 30 July 1960 347 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/1 p. 198 Report, 31 May 1960 Recruiting and using Szolcsányi did not deliver actual results, but he was not the only agent, of course, who was used during the investigation. Ervin Rojkó worked for the Communist state security service as a reliable old agent who had already collaborated with the Soviets during the war after he was taken prisoner as a forced labourer on the eastern front. “He worked in the Soviet Union in camp districts 101 and 307 as a labourer, squadron and battalion 130
